AN EYE ON PAY Takoma Park reviews its salary structure. A-3
NEWS: 20th annual Takoma Park Jazzfest hits the streets on Sunday. A-4
The Gazette
SILVER SPRING | TAKOMA PARK | WHEATON | BURTONSVILLE
SPORTS: Paint Branch football continues to thrive this summer despite many new faces. B-1
DA I LY U P DAT E S AT G A Z E T T E . N E T
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
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Investigators bust drug rings in two counties
Rejoicing together
Indictments lead to arrests in Silver Spring and Forestville n
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VIRGINIA TERHUNE STAFF WRITER
After a year of surveillance and undercover work, law enforcement officers arrested 17 people in the predawn hours Monday for conspiring to distribute heroin and crack cocaine in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, according to authorities. The operation backed by search warrants began about 4:30 a.m. and netted 11 handguns, an unspecified amount of drugs and more than $70,000 in cash as of Monday afternoon, said Montgomery County police
(Above) McKenzie Glotzbach (center) hugs Nathasha Gonzalez after graduates turned their tassels Monday at the Kennedy High School graduation at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. At left is Rahel Girma. About 370 graduates heard senior addresses from Kiana Jackson and Nestor Leche and a commencement speech by DeRionne P. Pollard, the president of Montgomery College. (Right) Teacher Joanna Greer (center), who has been out of work since the fall as she battles cancer, surprised the class by visiting. She teaches video production and journalism.
Governor expected to make decision on rail project’s future soon n
Matthews joins District 8 House race Ervin said she will announce her campaign next week BY
See BUST, Page A-9
Ridership data for Purple Line raise questions
PHOTOS BY DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE
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Chief Thomas Manger during a news conference hosted by the FBI in Rockville. The blitz of arrests based on indictments by a federal grand jury effectively breaks up a drug ring operating in Silver Spring, which had been working with a smaller operation in Forestville, according to federal indictments. “They’re no longer there — they’ve been taken out of the neighborhood,” said Stephen Vogt, a special FBI agent who coordinated the arrests, at the news conference. “This slows the potential for violence [in neighborhoods] ... and sends a message [to drug distributors] that you could be next,” Vogt said.
KATE S. ALEXANDER STAFF WRITER
Kathleen Matthews, a former local TV news anchor and Marriott International executive, and Valerie Ervin, a former Mont-
gomery County councilwoman, are the latest Democratic candidates to vie for the party nomination in Maryland’s 8th Congressional District. From the noisy steps of the Silver Spring Metro station on June 3, Matthews announced her campaign, saying she wants to bring an “opportunity agenda” to the voters of the district. Ervin said Monday she plans to launch
her campaign next week. Describing herself as a strong fighter for opportunity, dignity and equality, Matthews said, “those are the values I want to bring to the U.S. Congress.” “It’s something I’ve spent my lifetime fighting for,” she said. Matthews said her agenda will focus
See DISTRICT 8, Page A-9
BY
KEVIN JAMES SHAY STAFF WRITER
As supporters and opponents of the proposed Purple Line await Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s decision on the lightrail project, one question that remains unclear is how many riders the system is expected to carry. Hogan (R) was expected to make a decision on the project in mid-May, but he put off do-
ing so until at least this month. A timeline for that decision has not been made, Shareese Churchill, a Hogan spokeswoman, said Monday. The proposed $2.45 billion, 16-mile line would link Bethesda and New Carrollton, stopping in Silver Spring, College Park and other areas. If approved, the federal government is expected to contribute the Purple Line’s largest share at $900 million, with the state kicking in at least $360 million. Local governments and the private sector would pick up the rest.
See PURPLE LINE, Page A-9
Bowers: Cut 340 jobs to help fill $53M hole in school budget Proposal includes delaying purchase of laptops for students n
LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER
Interim Superintendent Larry A. Bowers put forward on Tuesday a plan to cut millions from Montgomery County Public Schools’ fiscal 2016 operating budget to align it with countyapproved funding.
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operating budget for fiscal 2016 that the Montgomery County Council approved. The amount leaves the district with about $53 million less than what the board asked for, according to district officials. “There are no easy answers when you have to make a budget cut of this size, especially in an organization like MCPS, where 90 percent of our budget goes toward paying for the people who do the important work every day,” Bowers said in a school system press release
Tuesday. Bowers recommended that the district eliminate more than 340 school employee positions, including teacher, media specialist and instructional data specialist positions. In March, he held back about 370 such positions because of a gloomy budget outlook. His recent proposed reduction would trigger class-size increases at all county schools, though less so at schools with higher percentages of students who receive free or reduced-price
meals, an indication of poverty, according to Dana Tofig, a school system spokesman. The school-based positions, combined with an earlier cut of about 40 central office positions, marks a $25.5 million shift to fill the gap, according to the release. The proposal would restore about 30 positions Bowers had held back tied to working with special education and
See BUDGET, Page A-9
A&E B-4 B-11 A-11 A-2 B-8 A-12 A-13 B-1
HEAVY SEAS Baltimore’s Clipper City Brewing is the second largest brewery in Maryland and is celebrating its 20th anniversary.
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Volume 28, No. 21, Two sections, 28 Pages Copyright © 2015 The Gazette Please
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To help fill a $53 million budget gap, Bowers recommended the district eliminate about 340 full-time-equivalent school employee positions, not buy more Chromebook laptops next fiscal year and delay by a couple of weeks employee compensation increases. The county school board will vote on a final budget on June 16. Board members will consider at the same meeting whether to include Bowers’ changes. The board faces a $2.32 billion
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