BERRY, BERRY GOOD County to celebrate strawberries on Saturday. A-4
The Gazette
NEWS: Wheaton Claridge Local Park lined up for improvements. A-3
SILVER SPRING | TAKOMA PARK | WHEATON | BURTONSVILLE
NEWS: Wheaton’s boys volleyball team undefeated, on verge of appearance in title game. B-1
DA I LY U P DAT E S AT G A Z E T T E . N E T
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
25 cents
Music teacher pleads guilty to child sex abuse
Teens with app-titude
Charges involved 15 students at Silver Spring schools
and May 26, respectively. The Gazette generally does not identify by name the victims of sex offenses. Montgomery Circuit Court Judge Joseph M. Quirk accepted BY VIRGINIA TERHUNE the guilty pleas in the case involvSTAFF WRITER ing 14 girls and scheduled Joynes A former Montgomery for sentencing on Aug. 28. In the case of the middle County music teacher who used school student, Circuit Court photos and videos of 14 girls at New Hampshire Estates El- Judge Gary E. Bair accepted the plea and scheduled ementary School in Joynes to be sentenced Silver Spring to fuel on Sept. 1. his sexual fantasies Maximum senpleaded guilty to 14 tences in both cases counts of sex abuse of total a combined 113 a minor on Monday. years. Lawrence Wes“The objective is to ley Joynes, 56, also make sure he remains pleaded guilty Monbehind bars,” county day in a second case to Joynes State’s Attorney John a charge encompassing multiple acts of child abuse, McCarthy told reporters in a including second degree rape, press conference following the involving one student who at- hearing. “He’ll be unable to have tended Eastern Middle School in contact with children because he’ll be behind bars — probably Silver Spring in the early 1990s. The pleas mean that Joynes, for the rest of his life.” A former resident of who is in the county jail in Boyds, will not go to trial as scheduled See TEACHER, Page A-10 for the two cases on Monday
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TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE
Kevin Zhang (left) and James Liao (center), seniors at Blair High School, have created multiple mobile applications. With Zhang’s brother, Albert (right), a freshman at Richard Montgomery High, the group created a game titled “Angry Pat,” about a virtual pet you try not to make happy.
Blair senior leads high-tech game company BY
KEVIN JAMES SHAY STAFF WRITER
L
ike many high school students, Kevin Zhang enjoys playing hightech games. This senior in the science, mathematics and computer science magnet program at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring is also trying his hand at designing some, particularly mobile
apps. In 2012, Zhang and his brother, Albert, a freshman at Richard Montgomery High, released their first app, called Orb Juggle. The fairly simple game involves attempting to keep orbs bouncing as long as possible without letting them fall. They founded a business called Innoga, with Kevin as CEO and Albert as chief creative officer. James Liao, also a senior in the Blair magnet program, is the
head coder. Other students help with coding and designing, giving Zhang managerial experience as well. “We make decisions with our games democratically, by vote,” he said. “I del-
See GAME, Page A-10
Silver Spring road closing raises concerns Planner say Musgrove Road project at U.S. 29 could save money
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BY
KEVIN JAMES SHAY STAFF WRITER
State highway planners should consider residents’
concerns over closing Musgrove Road for a potential multimillion-dollar interchange in northern Silver Spring, the Montgomery County Planning Board recommended. If the state closes the Musgrove crossing at U.S. 29, or Columbia Pike, planners should look at doing a smaller
interchange at Fairland Road, commissioners said during Thursday’s board meeting. They also want to see the state present more alternatives to residents. Dan Wilhelm, a nearby resident who regularly drives on Musgrove, told the board that he and “a lot of people”
use Musgrove, and he wanted to see it remain open. “The first thing that I think needs to be done is to convince us that this interchange is needed at all,” Wilhelm said. If the interchange is done, traffic likely will move to roads
See CLOSING, Page A-5
Takoma Park eyes lower tax rate hike Budget would raise level by 1.5 cents, first increase since 2002 n
BY
KEVIN JAMES SHAY STAFF WRITER
The Takoma Park City Council on Monday preliminarily approved a fiscal 2016 budget that raises the tax rate slightly lower than the 2-cent hike proposed by City Manager Suzanne Ludlow. The council agreed by a 6-1 first-reading vote to raise the tax rate to 58.5 cents per $100 of assessed valuation from 57 cents,
which would be the city’s first rate increase since 2002. A final vote is slated for Monday. Mayor Bruce Williams noted that there had been detailed discussions on the budget in recent weeks, and council members did not debate the matter Monday. Councilman Tim Male cast the lone vote opposing the budget and new tax rate. At a meeting in late April, Male said the city has generally ended up with more money in the general fund than expected, and the city has “amazing reserve funds
See TAX, Page A-10
Montgomery County council to decide energy tax Wednesday n
Proposal would cut it slightly; committees deadlocked on what to do BY
KATE S. ALEXANDER STAFF WRITER
The Montgomery County Council will decide Wednesday if it will continue reducing the energy tax.
coal, fuel oil, or liquefied petroleum gas,” according to county budget documents. The tax is based on how much energy is supplied and is paid by the supplier, who generally passes it on to customers. Montgomery hiked the energy tax in fiscal year 2010 to generate about an extra $110 million in revenue and close budget gaps during the recession. County Executive Isiah Leggett had
proposed doubling the energy tax rates, which would have raised an additional $133 million in revenue. The council instead chose a lower rate that would raise about 85 percent of what Leggett had proposed, or about $110 million. The increase was to “sunset,” or revert back to the previous rate, at the end of fiscal year 2012. However, Leggett recommended not following through on the sunset. In-
stead, the council committed to gradually reducing the rate over several years. For fiscal year 2016, Leggett (D) has again recommended keeping the tax as it is — something he has done since his fiscal 2013 proposed budget. On Wednesday, the council will debate a proposal to cut the tax rate yet again, Council President George L.
See ENERGY, Page A-10
A&E
INDEX A&E Automotive Business Calendar Classified Obituaries Opinion Sports
Two council committees could not reach consensus Thursday on a proposal to reduce the fuel-energy tax revenue. The proposal was to give up 10 percent of the revenue added through the tax in fiscal 2010. That 10 percent totals about $11.5 million. Montgomery County levies the fuel energy tax on “persons transmitting, distributing, manufacturing, producing or supplying electricity, gas, steam,
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HARMONIOUS LILIES Boxcar Lilies return to BlackRock with new music, old favorites.
Volume 28, No. 17, Two sections, 28 Pages Copyright © 2015 The Gazette
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