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The Gazette
PICKUP ‘LINE’ Olney Theatre Center energized by massive musical production. A-11
SILVER SPRING | TAKOMA PARK | BURTONSVILLE
DAILY UPDATES ONLINE www.gazette.net
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
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Report: No fault with construction practices, methods Berliner objects to WMATA ‘posturing’
report, however, does not explore if those practices are being implemented properly. “We believe the OLO has validated that the practices emBY KARA ROSE ployed by Montgomery County STAFF WRITER are keeping with other muDespite the laundry list of nicipalities in this area who do problems at the Silver Spring similar work,” said David Dise, Transit Center, a report deliv- director of the county’s Department of General Serered to the county vices. Tuesday found the The county is county uses the best awaiting another public facility design report, which will and construction assess operation practices in the inmaintenance costs dustry. SILVER SPRING for the Silver Spring The report TRANSIT CENTER Transit Center. KCE — “Managing the Structural Engineers Design and ConThe Gazette’s page devoted to the transit of Washington is perstruction of Public center now includes forming the assessFacilities: A Cooperaan interactive timeline ment at the request of tive Review” — by the of the milestones of the Washington MetOffice of Legislative the project. Go to ropolitan Area Transit Oversight compared www.gazette.net/ transit. Authority, and results the county’s policies are expected soon, against those in 13 other jurisdictions and found Dise said. The burden of maintethat the county policies and nance costs have been a point of procedures are among the best See CONSTRUCTION, Page A-10 practices in the industry. The
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GREG DOHLER/THE GAZETTE
Leah King, technical leader of the Forensic Chemistry Unit, works in the Montgomery County Crime Lab in its new digs in Gaithersburg.
microscope Crime under a
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Police lab scientists, analysts break down cases as part of investigations
ST. JOHN BARNED-SMITH
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STAFF WRITER
ith tweezers, Leah King takes a pinch out of a small, leafy bud. She drops it in a vial and adds a few drops of chemicals. “It’s going to turn a nice, dark purple,” she predicts, giving the vial a couple of swirls. Sure enough, in just a few seconds, the solution fizzes deep purple, showing that
the sample is likely strong, high-quality marijuana. “If you were looking to smoke, this would be the stuff,” joked King, the technical leader of the Forensic Chemistry Unit in Montgomery County Police’s Crime Laboratory. The lab processes evidence connected to the thousands of arrests police officers make and the hundreds of cases they investigate every year. The nationally certified lab takes up a swath of the fifth floor of Montgomery County’s new public safety headquarters, tucked away next to a bucolic lake on Edison Park Drive in Gaithersburg.
The lab — which moved, along with the rest of the department, this year from the department’s old home in Rockville — looks like a cross between a suburban office and a high school lab on steroids. Five units — Firearms Examinations, Latent Prints, Forensic Biology, Forensic Chemistry and Crimes Scenes — operate in the lab, which takes up about 20,000 square feet, according to lab director Ray Wickenheiser. A sixth unit, Electronic Crimes, also falls under the lab’s authority, but operates under Montgomery County police’s
BILL RYAN/THE GAZETTE
A Dutch windmill, built for Kappa Delta Phi in 1899, is one of the eight historic sorority houses at the National Park Seminary in Silver Spring.
Silver Spring homes offering a world tour
See CRIME, Page A-10
Leggett wants concert canceled over ‘anti-gay’ lyrics But Fillmore sticking to its plan; band expresses ‘respect’ for gay community
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KATE S. ALEXANDER STAFF WRITER
Fillmore Silver Spring will not cancel a performance by Mexican rock group Molotov despite pressure from its landlord to pull the act for its “antigay” lyrics. Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) asked the venue to cancel an Aug. 26
performance by the controversial band, saying the lyrics of its 1997 song “Puto” verge on hate speech. “I have serious concerns about this booking. I am personally offended,” Leggett wrote in a letter to the venue’s general manager, Stephanie Steele. Montgomery leases the Fillmore to Live Nation for
$90,000 a year. In his letter, Leggett noted that the lease agreement does not allow the county say in what acts are booked. He also acknowledged protection provided the group by law. “I understand that the First Amendment provides for freedom of speech, and that even distasteful speech may be protected speech,” he wrote. “Just because one might argue that everyone has the right to say, show, or sing something doesn’t mean they ought to
exercise that right. It also does not mean that The Fillmore should provide a forum for such an exercise.” Leggett said there was confusion among the public about the county’s role in the situation. As landlord, some people thought the county would have a say in the acts booked, he said. So Leggett said he wrote the letter to express his position on the performance and
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SPORTS
Fresh food is on the menu for a number of Montgomery County Public Schools.
Screaming Eagles adjust after second star player transfers out in consecutive seasons.
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MARLENA CHERTOCK STAFF WRITER
Driving through the National Park Seminary on Linden Lane in Silver Spring can seem like country-hopping. You’ll pass a Swiss chalet, a Japanese pagoda, a Japanese bungalow, a Dutch windmill, a Colonial house, a Spanish mission-style house, a castle, and an American
See LYRICS, Page A-10
NEWS
‘GROWING’ TREND IN SCHOOLS
Historic houses at National Park Seminary undergo renovations n
bungalow. “That’s what makes this site very unique,” said Bonnie Rosenthal, the executive director of Save Our Seminary, an organization dedicated to restoring the site and educating the public about it. “It is a cultural melting pot to look at.” Most of the eight architecturally unusual houses in the National Park Seminary are nearing the end of their renovations by private owners and developers. Three soon will be put on the real estate market. And a
See HOMES, Page A-10
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