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DA I LY U P DAT E S AT G A Z E T T E . N E T
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
25 cents
Master plan for White Oak gets longer deadline
Making waves to aid swim club
Council gets 60 more days to complete work
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BY
KATE S. ALEXANDER STAFF WRITER
Montgomery County now has until Sept. 15 to complete a White Oak master plan. Prior to the vote Tuesday, the County Council had to complete its work on the White Oak plan by July 17, according to council documents. The council voted to give itself 60 more days to complete
DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE
Brian Camp, coach of the Robin Hood swim team, runs a practice at the West Hillandale swimming pool while the Robin Hood pool undergoes repairs.
Damaged Robin Hood pool closed for 2014 BY
ALINE BARROS STAFF WRITER
After a rainstorm flooded and led to a crack in a Silver Spring community pool, a spirit of cooperation came to the surface. Seven community pools from Silver Spring to Derwood are helping members of the Robin Hood Swim Club in the Sherwood Forest neighborhood. They are pitching in to raise money to repair and renovate the broken pool. According to pool officials, Robin Hood needs $250,000 to pay the initial expenses. To renovate the pool, it might cost anywhere from $500,000 to $1.25 million. Due to the damage, the pool has been closed for the 2014 swim season. “We cannot operate the pool in its
current condition,” said Dany Burns, a Montgomery County Swim League representative. A June 24 letter to members urges them to share Robin Hood’s story on their social media pages. On May 1, the storm hit the Robin Hood pool, which is at 225 Mowbray Road, near New Hampshire Avenue and Randolph Road. It opened in 1968. Burns said everything was set for the 2014 swim season, but after the May 1 flood, they had to “figure it out” — where practice would take place and if they would even be able to fill the swim team. “Swim team for a lot of these families is what they do in the summer. ... And summer swimming is the cherry of their hard work all year,” Burns said.
West Hillandale Swim Club, also in Silver Spring, offered to share its pool with Robin Hood. Burns said West Hillandale made room and allowed Robin Hood’s swim and dive teams to practice in their pool for the 2014 swim season. Robin Hood started the swim season with 80 people on its swim team, according to Burns. It is back to more than 100 children competing in the Montgomery County Swim League. Once Robin Hood officials found a place to practice, the swim team membership grew. Other community pools around the region have offered to host events or have hosted events to raise money for Robin
See POOL, Page A-9
the master plan. However, the council still must wrap not only the plan, but also the accompanying sectional map amendment. After that deadline, a a statutory blackout will prevent the county from acting on land-use issues until the new council takes office. Planners have been working on ideas for new mixed-use projects along U.S. 29 and the Hillandale Shopping Center near the Beltway and New Hampshire Avenue, with new office
See PLAN, Page A-9
Broad Acres ES eyes name change Community seeks to honor late principal who helped guide school n
BY
LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER
The Broad Acres Elementary School community in Silver Spring wants to change the school’s name to honor a former principal who helped push the school to dramatic improvement. JoAnn “Jody” Leleck was principal from 1999 to 2004 and made an impact that is still in the hearts of the staff and parents who knew her. She died in 2012 at age 62 after fighting colon cancer for about six years.
The school community, led by a group of teachers, has gathered pages of signatures — including those from parents, teachers and former students — in a petition to Montg o m e r y County Public Schools to show interest in the name change. Leleck’s Leleck name also had been nominated earlier this year for the school system’s new Clarksburg elementary school. Her name drew support from
See NAME, Page A-9
Montgomery Blair students to Glass concedes in council race Victorious Democrat lead U.S. team in physics event Hucker unopposed in n
Teens will take part in international competition
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BY
ALINE BARROS STAFF WRITER
Two students from Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring were selected for the 2014 U.S. physics team competing in the International Physics Olympiad in Kazakhstan next week. Alexander Bourzutschky, 18, of Potomac and Michael Winer, 17, of Rockville will travel to Astana, Kazakhstan, to compete from July 13 to 21.
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There are five members on the traveling team: two are from California, and one is from Indiana. More than 400 students from 92 nations are expected to compete. The International Physics Olympiad, a competition featuring high school students from all over the world, was started in 1986 by the American Association of Physics Teachers, according to a news release. Today, other institutions have joined to support the program, which promotes academic excellence. “I am feeling happy about
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all of it and I am very glad I made the team. I think it will be a great experience,” Winer said. Winer, from the class of 2015, and Bourzutschky, from the class of 2014, are co-captains of the Montgomery Blair physics team. At the competition, teams will solve problems on thermodynamics and molecular physics, oscillations and waves, electric charge and electric field, and mechanics of rigid bodies, among other topics. Students attended a training camp at the University of
See PHYSICS, Page A-9
November election
BY
STAFF WRITER
Evan Glass has conceded to Del. Tom Hucker in the closely contested Democratic primary in Montgomery County Council’s 5th District. In an email Thursday morning to supporters, Glass, an activist and former journalist, said he called Hucker to congratulate him on the victory. A copy of the email was provided to The Gazette. “I applaud Tom and all the candidates, as each ran a good campaign and collectively
BRINGING ‘MUSIC’ TO THE MASSES “The Music Man” theater production marches onto a county stage.
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KATE S. ALEXANDER
helped elevate the conversation about how to tackle our community’s challenges,” Glass wrote. “Now is the time for us all to work together. The campaign may be over but the important work of improving our community continues. I look forward to working with Councilmemberelect Hucker to make the 5th District a great place to live, work and play.” Hucker — who served the last two terms in the House of Delegates, representing District 20 — returned the accolades, congratulating Glass and all his opponents on hard-fought campaigns. “I learned a lot from all my close work with all of them,” Hucker said Thursday. “I hope they all stay very involved in the
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community and I hope to work with them in the future.” A mere 217 votes separated Glass and Hucker, both of Silver Spring, after the polls closed June 24. Hucker’s lead in the five-way contest widened to 222 votes after the counting of provisional and absentee ballots. Christopher Barclay, Terrill North and Jeffrey Thames finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively, in the Democratic primary. Glass did not respond to a request for comment. The 5th District stretches from Silver Spring and Takoma Park northeast along the Prince George’s County line to Burtonsville.
See COUNCIL, Page A-9