TAKING ON PARKINSON’S Silver Spring nurse running to support a cure. A-3
The Gazette
NEWS: Holiday tree to be unveiled this weekend in Silver Spring. A-7
SILVER SPRING | TAKOMA PARK | WHEATON | BURTONSVILLE
SPORTS: Sophomore QB leads Blair’s football team into first-ever playoff game. B-1
DA I LY U P DAT E S AT G A Z E T T E . N E T
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
25 cents
Takoma Park passes a ban on polystyrene
Remembering their service
Ordinance affecting Styrofoam cups, to-go packaging to start July 1 n
BY
KEVIN JAMES SHAY STAFF WRITER
Takoma Park will become the first area government entity to implement a comprehensive ban on Styrofoam cups, to-go packaging and other polystyrene eating ware in restaurants and retailers such as supermarkets. The council on Monday finalized its proposal, which is scheduled to take effect July 1. Montgomery County is consid-
GREG DOHLER/THE GAZETTE
World War II veteran Keith Van Ness (left) of Silver Spring meets fellow World War II veteran and former U.S. Sen. Robert Dole prior to a ceremony honoring veterans at the Natonal World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., on Saturday.
AFI program connects education, film Silver Spring theater helps students learn critical thinking n
BY
RAISA CAMARGO STAFF WRITER
Last week, Matt Boratenski introduced an auditorium of middle-school students to a different way of learning about “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” through film. Boratenski, program administrator for education at the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center, invited the Montgomery Village and A. Mario Loiederman middle schools to watch the screening Friday morning.
“If you haven’t read the book — picture Bart Simpson back in the 1860s and the kinds of things he would be doing, the kind of trouble he would be getting into, the kind of mischief that he’d be getting into,” Boratenski told the students. “That’s what Tom Sawyer is all about.” Boratenski instructed students to pay attention to where Sawyer is placed in certain scenes, like when he is being heroic or how the camera is framing the characters in the shots. “How does the camera show him to you?” he said. AFI offers the Educational Screenings Program to public and private schools in the Washington metro area. He said the
screenings are usually showcased throughout September to June, with most in October, November, January and February. The program has provided screenings to 91,600 students and teachers, Boratenski said. A teacher or administrator usually contacts the program. A range of movies are screened, depending on the school’s specific curriculum in social studies, English and science. Each screening includes a lesson with discussion questions, film terms and a reading tailored to the teachers’ objectives, according to AFI. A post-film discussion
See AFI, Page A-10
ering a similar ban. Washington, D.C., has passed a ban on polystyrene food ware that takes effect in January 2016. Council members praised members of the Young Activist Club — made up of students from Piney Branch Elementary School and local middle schools — which introduced the issue in 2010. The city banned using public money for polystyrene products then and disallowed their use at city festivals and by food trucks last year. “This just shows the power of a small group,” Councilman Jarrett Smith told the students, many of whom attended the
See BAN, Page A-10
Purple Line hopes live in Silver Spring Gov.-elect Hogan could support project due to economic benefits
n
BY
KEVIN JAMES SHAY STAFF WRITER
About two weeks before last week’s election, county political leaders and mass transit advocates gathered in downtown Silver Spring to denounce Larry Hogan, the Republican gubernatorial candidate, for being less than enthusiastic towards the $2.4 billion Purple Line. The Democratic leaders urged voters to support Democratic candidate Anthony Brown, as Hogan continued to
insist the state could not afford mass transit projects like the Purple Line “right now.” Purple Line advocates were dejected when Hogan prevailed, stunning many in the state Democratic establishment. Now, they are left to wonder if the 16-mile rail line — which is proposed to run from Bethesda through Silver Spring to New Carrollton — will move ahead. “I hope the Purple Line will still be able to break ground next year,” said Tina Slater, a Silver Spring resident and vice president for the Purple Line of the advocacy group Action Committee for Transit. “But we will have to wait and see.”
See PURPLE LINE, Page A-10
Wheaton rescue building to take champion’s name n
‘The house that Tom built’ BY
RAISA CAMARGO STAFF WRITER
Tom Brown spent 21 years trying to get a new building for the Wheaton Volunteer Rescue Squad. On Sunday at 2 p.m. — one year after the building officially opened — the rescue squad will rededicate it to honor Brown, who died last April. People who knew Brown refer to his perseverance despite hurdles he faced. “It was recognized by everybody that Tom had a special ability to get things
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done,” said Chief Mark Dempsey of the Wheaton Volunteer Rescue Squad, who worked on the squad with Brown for 36 years. Brown was described by his wife, Betty, as a calm, low-key person. He wasn’t one to take credit, but he took charge, believing in the squad’s mission of service to the community. In a walk through of the rescue squad building at Arcola and Georgia avenues, Betty pointed out many areas Brown helped create. The building has upgraded offices, two kitchens, a spacious garage for emergency vehicles, a workout room, a 24-hour bunkroom
and a TV room. It also has a ballroom for special events. When the building opened last year, volunteers were busy transferring equipment from the old station on Grandview and Blueridge avenues to the new station. They went back in service and 10 minutes later, they received their first call. “I think it’s fair to say, and others would agree with me, that if Tom decided that it couldn’t be built or it had to hold, I think everybody else would have agreed with that, because I think he was the leader of this effort,” Betty Brown said. “He was the right person for the
right time.” Tom Brown started volunteering as a senior in high school at age 17. The squad ran calls out of a tent that at a church because a squad building wasn’t ready. Brown rose up the ranks to eventually become the squad’s president in 1992. Brown, a fire protection engineer with the D.C. Fire Department, continued as president for 21 years. He recognized that the squad couldn’t stay where it was for long and needed a new building. It also needed to attract more
See RESCUE, Page A-10
ENTERTAINMENT B-11 A-2 B-8 B-4 A-13 B-1
AN OOKY GOOD TIME
Kensington Arts Theatre to put on ‘Addams Family’ musical.
A-11
Volume 27, No. 46, Two sections, 28 Pages Copyright © 2014 The Gazette Please
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PHOTO FROM BETTY BROWN
Tom Brown was president of the Wheaton Volunteer Rescue Squad for 21 years. He will be remembered Sunday for his dedication to the constructing and opening of the rescue squad’s new building.