02122015_MCEdition - The Sentinel Newspapers

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February 12, 2015 -February 18, 2015
Last Week
NTSB calls WMATA on the carpet even as metro suffers another scare
A month ago
By Julian Sadur
$2.30 per gallon
Special to The Sentinel
A year ago
WASHINGTON – The National
Transportation Safety Board issued
urgent recommendations Wednesday
for Metro to improve its ventilation
procedures in the wake of a deadly
smoke incident in the tunnel at L’Enfant Plaza.
Findings from a federal investigation on the deadly Jan. 12 L’Enfant
Plaza Metro incident reveal ventila-
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$3.35 per gallon
AVERAGE PRICE PER GALLON OF
UNLEADED REGULAR GAS IN
MARYLAND/D.C. METRO AREA
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tion fans sucked smoke in from the
tunnel, engulfing the train and the
passengers inside. Federal investigators found the Metro has no way to
pinpoint the location of smoke and
has no written procedures on how to
operate ventilation fans in the event of
a fire.
Only a few hours after the NTSB
released its safety recommendations
Metro experienced a small track fire
near Arlington’s Court House Station
according to WMATA spokesperson
Morgan Dye. Dye said the fire was
caused by an issue with the arcing insulator and that the tracks are reopened after Arlington firefighters
handled the situation.
Metro managers refused to answer questions about the NTSB investigation, but released a statement,
“We welcome the NTSB recommendations issued today and have begun
to address these at Metro. Following
the January 12 incident, we conducted
system wide inspections and tests of
all tunnel fan shafts and found them to
be in good working condition. We
also completed familiarization training for all 39 Controllers in our rail
control center and we are reviewing
additional protocols and training associated with tunnel fan use that are
responsive to the NTSB recommendations issued today. We continue to
give our full cooperation to the ongo-
See “NTSB” page 8
Rockville buries APFS changes
By Rebecca Guterman
Staff Writer
For Sale!
A parcel of land in Bethesda could lead to a huge residential development now that
it is up for sale.
Page 9
Valentine
Fun
Find out where the greatest
Valentine fun can be had this
week.. And The Sentinel
sponsors its first “Entertainment Special” Night.
Page 9
ROCKVILLE – In a twist to
the debate over Rockville’s Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance
and Standards (APFO/APFS) Monday night, Councilmember Tom
Moore withdrew his motion to align
with the county’s standards when
Councilmember Beryl Feinberg
said she would vote against the motion.
Feinberg later took Moore to
task for what she called “inaccurate” a social media post regarding
her actions.
The Rockville mayor and City
Council decided to delay action and
wait instead for the outcome of
County Councilmember Roger
Berliner’s (D-1) forum on the county’s ordinance on March 7. The forum “is intended to serve as the beginning of a conversation about
what is working well in our county
and frankly, what is not working so
well,” Berliner wrote in a letter to
each member of the mayor and
council.
“Mr. Moore withdrew his motion due to lack of support and I
look forward to the meeting on
March 7 that Berliner is putting forward and any follow-up that might
be warranted,” said Mayor Bridget
Newton. “This is a problem that the
county is facing as a whole. It’s not
just a Rockville problem.”
The APFO/APFS for schools
set guidelines for when there is
enough room in schools to support
residential development. Moore’s
proposal would bring Rockville’s
standards from 110 percent to 120
percent capacity, use cluster averaging instead of capacity per school
and judge capacity five years from
the application date rather than two
years from the approval date.
Moore, who proposed changing the standards on Nov. 17, said
he was surprised by Feinberg’s
speaking out against the changes
but viewed her comments as saying
she did not want to take the vote
that night. The morning after the
meeting, Moore posted on his Facebook page he had expected Feinberg to vote with him, but did not
view this as her reneging on her
promises.
“Some people are saying this
PHOTO BY REBECCA GUTERMAN
morning that it looks like Coun- Concerned parents and children conduct a “Sleep In” in support of changing
cilmember Feinberg has abandoned Bell Times for the county schools.
her vow to align Rockville's school
standards with the county's. I want
to make it clear that that is false,”
Moore said. “From the very beginer than before, adding 10 minutes to
ning, Beryl gave me her word that By Rebecca Guterman
recess and lunch. Shortening the
she would vote for this, a promise Staff Writer
transportation window will offset the
that has enabled me to be very pubROCKVILLE – The Mont- $1.07 million cost for extra lunch
licly out on a limb pursuing this issue on her behalf for the past sever- gomery County Public Schools Board hour aide positions.
BOE Vice President Mike Durso
al months. Beryl Feinberg is a of Education voted 5-3 on Tuesday to
push school start times 20 minutes voted against the measure along with
woman of her word,” Moore said.
But Feinberg said some parts of later for high school and elementary members Chris Barclay and Judy
Moore’s Facebook post were inac- school, against the wishes of many Docca.
Board President Patricia O’Neill
curate and changing the APFS was parents hoping to delay high school
said this will likely not be the last
never her top priority. Although she by an hour.
The BOE chose the lowest-cost time the board acts on this issue.
said during the campaign a year and
“We’ve debated this quite a bit,”
a half ago that she would support option to start for the 2015-2016
changing the city standards to align school year, which means that high O’Neill said. “Issues continue to rewith the county’s, she had not spo- school would start at 7:45 instead of cycle. The issue of bell times has
ken publicly about the issue once 7:25, middle school would start at come before the board several times
elected. She also said she told 8:15 instead of 7:55 and elementary before. This is just hitting the snooze
schools tier 1 and tier 2 would start at
See “Moore” page 8 9:00 and 9:25 but end 20 minutes latSee “Bell Times ” page 8
Schools change bell times
2
FEBRUARY 12, 2015
THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY SENTINEL
R
EFLECTIONS
January 19,1989
Merry Millionare faces additional fraud charges
Each week The Sentinel visits a
memorable story from its archives.
A former Silver Spring man
who faces jail here and possible
charges in Connecticut for not paying employment salaries apparently
has long had a successful career as
a flamboyant make-believe millionaire.
Steven DeShields, 40, who authorities say has used at least five
other names while posing as the
beneficiary of a phony trust account, was expected to be charged
with theft by deception this week in
Tolland County, Conn.
Authorities there are investigating allegations that DeShields
failed to pay employees, tradesmen
and restaurant owners for their
work in arranging elaborate preholiday parties last fall.
Meanwhile, DeShields is
scheduled to be sentenced in Montgomery County Circuit Court on
Feb. 10 after a guilty verdict here
on similar charges. Last month,
Judge William C. Miller found that
DeShields failed to pay employees
and contractors nearly $63,000 during 1985 and 1986.
Now facing up to $2,000 in
fines and 30 years in jail, DeShields
has been free on a $10,000 bond
since the Dec. 13 trial.
Montgomery County authorities, who confiscated DeShields’
passport after his trial in December,
expressed concern last week that
DeShields may not appear for sentencing, although he has not missed
any previous court proceedings.
Authorities believe DeShields has
lived in Connecticut since August,
and currently resides in Willington,
Conn.
DeShields could not be
reached for comment, despite repeated telephone calls to that residence.
Through a Hartford, Conn.,
temporary employment agency,
DeShields allegedly hired support
staff last fall to arrange parties he
threw in the Connecticut area,
sources said.
DeShields allegedly refused to
pay the $10,000 bill, and at least
one temp, who reportedly worked
for the Tolland County State’s Attorney’s office in its investigation
of the incident, The Sentinel has
learned. However, Dominick Galluzo, chief deputy for that office,
said he would not comment on the
investigation until warrants are issued.
DeShields allegedly promised
high wages to employees for
preparing invitations and arranging
parties to be held at several Manchester and Hartford areas restaurants then stiffed restaurant owners
for over $17,000 in bills, sources
said.
A charming con
Described by acquaintances as
charming man with a sense of humor, DeShields apparently convinced hundreds of people over a
decade that he had access to unlimited funds. DeShields reportedly
told creditors that payments from
his trust accounts were often held
up or delayed by attorneys.
But in fact, an investigation
into DeShields’ background by The
Sentinel, shows DeShields had no
trust account, shows DeShields had
no trust account, apparently is unemployed and has lived on little
more than a military disability pension since the 1970s.
Born Steven Ross Hamilton in
New Hampshire in 1948, the selfproclaimed millionaire changed his
name to DeShields in 1974, according to Susan Cherry, a Maryland assistant attorney general. It is unclear whether the name change was
official.
Often driven to his own parties
in a chauffeured limousine,
DeShields would boast at the extravagant gatherings—which included entertainment—that he has
attended royal weddings in England, sources said.
DeShields reportedly told party-goers in Connecticut he was
planning a New Year’s Eve party.
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NEWS
County outlines five options for liquor control
By Rebecca Guterman
Staff Writer
ROCKVILLE – Montgomery
County’s Office of Legislative
Oversight (OLO) released a report
Tuesday presenting five options for
private versus public liquor control,
which the County Council’s ad hoc
committee on liquor control will review over the coming months.
Montgomery County is the
only liquor control jurisdiction in
Maryland, which means the county
government serves as the wholesale
source of alcohol for retail stores
and owns the 25 retail liquor stores
in the county. Over the years many
consumers and groups like the
Montgomery County Taxpayers
League have advocated privatizing
the system to lower prices, increase
availability and generally improve
service.
The five options inlude:
1. Fully privatize the wholesale distribution and retail sales of
alcohol.
2. Privatize wholesale distribution but maintain county control
of liquor retail.
3. Privatize only the wholesale distribution of beer and wine
but keep county control of whole-
sale and retail sale of liquor.
4. Privatize only the wholesale distribution of special order
beer and wine.
5. Do not privatize anything
but improve Department of Liquor
Control (DLC) structure.
The report found the Liquor
Fund made a net profit of about $32
million for the past three years, selling 1,024 licensees and 29,390 alcoholic products. The survey results in
the report also indicate that licensees are dissatisfied with the
DLC operations and availability of
wine special order products.
Because each of the first four
options would bring in less revenue
for the county, the report also details
potential alternate revenue sources.
For all four options, the county
could potentially enact a variable or
flat fee on wholesale distribution to
bring in $7-$29 million or a special
county sales tax on retail sales to
bring in about $3 million for each 1
percent of tax rate.
If the county council enacted
option 1, the county could bring in
$229,000 by increasing licensing
fees for private retail sellers of
liquor or $2.8-$5.3 million per auction period by selling or auctioning
the rights to operate a liquor store.
According to the report, many
of these options would require
changes to state law, which jointly
governs the sale of alcoholic beverages with the county.
For option 5, the DLC implemented a new system on Feb. 1 to
streamline communication and the
ordering process, particularly for
special orders.
But OLO only received 96 responses to the survey – a 25 percent
response rate that the report’s authors said was still helpful but not
“high enough to draw statistically
valid conclusions.”
Councilmember Hans Reimer
(D-At large), chair of the ad hoc
committee, requested the report.
"I requested the OLO report
and the formation of the ad hoc
committee because, whether due to
management or structural failures,
our current system is not working
for our county," Reimer said. "This
report confirms that we have many
options for reform. I am confident
that, by conducting a thorough review of all options, we can strike the
right balance of public safety, public
health, economic development,
quality of life, county revenue, good
jobs and fair treatment for public
employees."
Write us
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FEBRUARY 12, 2015
THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY SENTINEL
3
NEWS
Rockville pushes for park as
county looks for bus depot
By Rebecca Guterman
Staff Writer
ROCKVILLE – This week the
County Council approved two feasibility studies for the best location of
the Blair G. Ewing Center while
Rockville struggles with the future
of the Mark Twain Athletic Park
next door.
The park, which Rockville
maintains and uses after school
hours per an agreement with Montgomery County Public Schools,
could be the site of a future MCPS
bus depot. The park takes up eight
acres of the 22.5 acre site that houses
the Ewing Center as well as six acres
of a forest conservation easement
area.
At Monday night’s meeting the
Rockville mayor and council agreed
to include a few sentences in the
mayor’s testimony at the county’s
budget hearing on Feb. 24 to urge
the county council to fund a feasibility study for the bus depot relocation. MCPS’s Capital Improvements
Program requests $32 million to replace the bus depot. Most of the
mayor’s testimony will focus on
school construction funding.
The city’s current agreement
with MCPS runs through June 2018.
According to Deputy City Manager
Jenny Kimball, MCPS has made
some mention of breaking ground
for the bus depot in January 2018. In
that case, Kimball said MCPS would
have to rework their agreement with
the city.
“If they are going to require us
to break an agreement that we have,
that does give us more of a voice,”
said Councilmember Tom Moore.
Mayor Bridget Newton also
said this might be a case in which the
development should not move faster
than the infrastructure to support it.
The county plans to use the current
site on Crabbs Branch Way for
“smart growth” redevelopment and
implementing the Shady Grove Sector Plan. The early 2014 request for
development proposals for the bus
depot site said developers should
identify a replacement site but are
not responsible for the design or
construction of the facilities.
“This is an interesting predicament that the county is finding itself
in when the contract originally said
that the developer is responsible,”
Newton said.
The working deadline for
MCPS to relocate the buses from the
current site is January 2017, according to Department of Facilities Management Director James Song. At a
briefing before the county council on
Tuesday, Song presented some temporary solutions for the buses, including using 10 current school parking lots, the Equipment Maintenance
and Transit Operations Center and
Carver Educational Services Center.
But according to a memo to the
council, that would still leave 130
buses out of the 410 currently
housed at the Shady Grove bus depots without even a temporary
home.
Song said MCPS has looked at
dozens of sites over the past decade
for permanent solutions and none
have seemed perfect. In the memo to
the council, staff presented a site on
Woodfield Road East near the Mont-
gomery County Airpark as well as
the Oaks Landfill site in Laytonsville as alternatives to the Blair
G. Ewing site.
Residents near the Ewing Center and Mark Twain fields have said
they like the school where it is and
worry about how traffic will increase if the bus depot is located
near the intersection of Route 28 and
Avery Road.
“I’m concerned about safety.
Avery Road is a two-lane winding
country road with no shoulders, absolutely none, and when I encounter
a school bus now I have to virtually
come to a stop,” said resident Brenda Vaughan at a rally on Jan. 29. “I
can’t fathom the amount of traffic.”
A group of residents united under “Save Blair Ewing,” (originally
Save English Manor) organized the
rally and have tried to push the county to stop relocation of the bus depot
and the Ewing Center and to include
more transparency in the process.
Rockville first acquired the land
for the park in 1999 with help from
the state’s Program Open Space
funds. At the time, the city paid
$196,000 from CIP funds to supplement the state’s $593,000 contribution. Kimball said the city is still
working with the Department of
Natural Resources to determine the
Open Space requirements for the
land 15 years later.
According to Rockville statistics, an average of at least 1,000 individuals use the Mark Twain fields
each day except Saturday during the
spring and summer months and an
average of at least 600 use it most
days during the fall season.
City manager says Gaithersburg is in strong financial position
By Peter Rouleau
Special to the Sentinel
ADVERTISE
in
Call Lonnie Johnson at 301-306-9500
or e-mail [email protected]
GAITHERSBURG – Though
the state of Maryland is facing a large
budget shortfall, the city of Gaithersburg is in a strong financial position,
according to a report presented by
Gaithersburg City Manager Tony
Tomasello.
According to the report, which
Tomasello presented to Mayor Jud
Ashman and the city council at the
annual budget forum at City Hall
Monday night, city revenues exceeded budget projections by over $3 million while expenditures for the same
year were nearly $6 million below
budget. Additional sources of revenue are predicted from new residents moving to the city, large-scale
development projects and rising assessments of existing properties.
Personnel budget growth is expected to be a priority for Gaithersburg in the coming fiscal year, as hir-
ing resumed after the recession and a
number of new staff members have
been hired across several departments in order to meet the needs of
new residents and developments.
Other priorities include managing
new storm water drainage programs,
stewarding existing infrastructure
and continuing large-scale projects,
such as the new Gaithersburg police
station, through the Capital Improvements Program.
Despite the report’s generally
positive financial prognosis, there
are areas of concern. The report notes
the Hogan administration intends to
address the state’s budgetary shortfall by means of expenditure cuts, including aid to local municipalities.
Additionally, while some indicators
point to continued economic recovery and Montgomery County’s unemployment rate is the lowest in the
Washington, D.C. region, the report
notes income tax revenue continues
to decline.
The fiscal 2026 budget will be
introduced March 30.
Priscilla Fox-Morrill, director
of Homeless/Housing Services for
Interfaith Works, thanked Ashman
and the council for their continued
support of her agency, which provides assistance and vocational services to a number of city residents.
“Gaithersburg does a fabulous
job,” Fox-Morrill said.
Pam Plaisted called for better
lighting to prevent crime and protect
pedestrians near Gerard Street and
other areas.
“It’s not just the city – there are
plenty of streets in the county that
need better lighting,” Plaisted said.
“Unfortunately, pedestrians think
that they’re safe because they’re in a
crosswalk, but if they’re wearing
dark clothing and there’s not enough
light shining on the crosswalk, it
doesn’t help them. I’m sure the city
will do what they can as the budget
allows.”
4
THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY SENTINEL
OPINIONS &VIEWS
Parting the Red Sea
Brian Williams has been suspended from NBC for six months
while Jon Stewart announced this
week he’s leaving the Daily Show after 16 years of anchoring the fake
news show that many have come to
see as more vital than the real news.
I can only say “Oy.”
Williams is the instrument of his
own demise and is being held accountable for lies he told while serving as a reporter in the second Gulf
War. Stewart, on the other hand,
lamented that perhaps some of those
actually responsible for taking us to
war should be held accountable for
Editorʼs Notebook
by Brian J. Karem
the lies they told to get us there.
Once again a man wiser than me
correctly pointed out men will swallow the big lie far easier than the
small one.
In the case of the Gulf War we
swallowed an immense lie about
weapons of mass destruction and
danger to our way of life and we are
paying for swallowing that lie to this
day.
ISIS and the continued bloodletting in that part of the world speak
volumes about our ability to be
fooled while puffing up our chest
with pride for ousting a reporter who
lied about being onboard a helicopter
that took RPG fire when in fact he
was not.
Do not get me wrong. It’s hard
to feel upset with a guy who makes
as much as Williams does and then
decides to inflate his self-worth on
television to a very gullible public.
But, then again, Dan Rather lashed
himself to a tree in a hurricane to get
to the network and there are few television reporters who haven’t engaged in some subterfuge with their
audience. I once watched a reporter
do a live-shot from a satellite truck
some 75 miles from a Texas hurricane who wore a yellow rain slicker
and had his photographer pour water
on him so he could pretend he was
closer than the parking lot of a motel
well inland from the disaster.
Television has taught me to take
everything I see with a grain of salt.
So, I am merely amused by Brian
Williams’s self-aggrandizement. I
am not that angry.
I am far more upset we continue
to give pass to those who spread the
bigger lies. I am also upset with people who say, “We expect politicians
to lie. Journalists shouldn’t.” Well if
that’s the case someone better flush
the Fox News Channel right quick.
The fact is, however, I don’t expect
people to lie to me and I hold them
accountable for those things they
claim to be true which I find are not
true.
Accepting lies from politicians
is not only sad, but anathema to the
democratic process. People have to
be credible and accountable. Otherwise, do not expect me to buy your
baloney. I am immune and I don’t
like it at all.
My favorite recent example of
bad baloney not passing the sniff test
comes from the Montgomery County
Republican party. This week the local GOP sent out a press release announcing that former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore won a Presidential straw poll among GOP members
in our county.
I resist the urge to engage in hyperbole regarding the lack of GOP
numbers in the county and instead
point to Gilmore’s assertion that
President Obama engaged in antiChristian remarks in a National
Prayer Breakfast. He also claimed
“We need a President who believes
in America.”
Empty hollow words filled with
rhetoric.
Gilmore went on to recommend
a flat rate tax, the elimination of inheritance taxes and sided with the
rich getting richer while stripping the
poor of any wealth.
That’s reality. That’s a fact.
It is also a fact the GOP misled
us and led us into a war that got
valiant young men and women killed
and injured.
It is also a fact the military-industrial complex doesn’t care anything about people, but greedily
cares about gobbling up as much
money as possible.
It is a fact we live in a country
more enamored with appearances
than reality and where the poorest of
us are conned into selling our collective souls to those who own more
than most of us will ever be able to
steal…How does it feel?
No direction home. Like a complete unknown?
Meanwhile we have become
fixated on Brian Williams being suspended. In the scheme of things Brian Williams will be a footnote in history for his actions which led to his
suspension. Jon Stewart and he may
merely have engineered an elaborate
job swap and we soon may see
Williams on The Daily Show and
Stewart on NBC.
But if we don’t want the U.S. to
be a footnote in history we should
wake up and pay attention to facts
and the “Big Lie” a little bit more.
By the way, I’m Brian Karem
and I parted the Red Sea. Prove me
wrong.
FEBRUARY 12, 2015
FEBRUARY 12, 2015
THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY SENTINEL
LETTERS
5
LEGAL MATTERS
Catch a falling Starr...
To the editor;
When the Montgomery County Board of Education decided not to renew
Dr. Starr's contract, they essentially fired him. The obvious outcome under
these usual circumstances is for the terminated individual to leave almost immediately. This is what Dr. Starr wisely chose to do, admittedly while under
pressure, to allow the usual temporary replacement to occur and a search started for a new superintendent
Having said this, I hope that the Board will find an individual who is
more politically savvy and socially acceptable to that body. In contrast to
their judgment,, Dr. Starr made substantial strides, while he was superintendent, during a period of budget restraint, increasing school enrollment and student diversity. I wish him well in his search for a new position with a more understanding board
N. Marens
Silver Spring
State of Rockville City
To the editor;
The idea that we can have someone steamroll us into abandoning our
cherished long-held beliefs about protecting our schools in Rockville is not
something we can take with ease.
Thankfully there are cooler heads in Rockville.
I just hope we move forward by getting more people involved in the political decisions in Rockville.
G. Stein
Rockville
Flaws in comparative bullet analysis
A technique formerly used by
the FBI called Comparative Bullet
Lead Analysis (CBLA) was used as
a forensic technique for many years
to try to connect bullets found in a
victim to other linked to a criminal
THE
COURT
REPORT
by Tom Ryan
defendant. CBLA analysis has been
debunked and has led to reversals
of many convictions, and recently
led to a writ of actual innocence being issued by Maryland’s intermediate appellate court in the case of
Gary Ward v. State.
The opinion indicates that after a victim was shot to death,
anonymous calls to the police identified Ward as the shooter. Police
got a warrant to search his car, and
found three .357 magnum bullets.
At trial, an FBI expert testified that
CLBA analysis comparing bullet
fragments in the victim’s body to
the bullets found in defendant’s car
came from the same composition
source. The expert said that this
could reasonably lead to the belief
that the bullets came from the same
box of ammunition. The State
called one witness who claimed to
have seen Ward arguing with the
victim, and seeing him run away
holding a gun after he heard gunshots. Ward testified and denied
shooting the victim, and his parents
said he was home at the time of the
shooting. After his 1993 conviction
of first degree murder was affirmed
on appeal, in 2012 Ward’s attorneys filed a petition for a writ of actual innocence, which must be
based on newly discovered evidence that creates a substantial or
significant possibility that the outcome of the case would have been
different had the new evidence
been introduced. They argued that
scientific studies had cast doubt on
the validity of CBLA, that the FBI
stopped doing the analysis in 2005,
and in 2006 Maryland’s highest
court ruled such evidence inadmissible in Court. The trial judge denied the petition and Ward appealed.The Court of Special appeals reversed, holding that later
scientific studies could be newly
discovered evidence that in this
case would have made the FBI witnesses’s testimony inadmissible at
trial. It discussed the history of
CBLA testing, including that a
study commissioned by the FBI debunked the theory that each batch
of lead used to produce bullets was
unique, and that the FBI witnesses
overstated what conclusions could
be drawn from comparisons of lead
in bullets. The Court noted that
Maryland’s highest Court last year
reversed another conviction based
in part on CBLA evidence, which
warranted reversal of Ward’s conviction and referral back to the trial
judge to determine if a new trial
should be ordered.
Thomas Patrick Ryan is a partner in the Rockville law firm of McCarthy Wilson, which specializes in
civil litigation.
Learning to protect your online identity
Last year, hackers targeted a
number of retailers to compromise shoppers’ financial and personal information. A recent hack
of a health insurer possibly jeopardized policy holder data. And
Krebbs Security (krebsonsecurity.com) reported on February 15th
Write us
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REAL
ESTATE
SOLUTIONS
By Dan Krell
about an investigation being conducted by the Defense Contract
Management Agency of a possible
hacking.
Surely the reports of stolen
data by hackers have made you
more aware of protecting your
credit cards when shopping. But
how protective are you about
handing over personal information to mortgage lenders, real estate brokers/agents, and title companies? If not managed or disposed of properly, your sensitive
personal information could be at
risk of being stolen – an identity
thief only needs a few pieces of
personal information to access
bank accounts, credit card accounts, health record/insurance,
etc.
When buying a home, your
information is “out there” and you
are trusting those who have it will
protect it. If you want to obtain a
mortgage, you must complete a
mortgage application; which requires a social security number,
date of birth, address, employment, and other information.
Mortgage lenders also collect financial documents (such as w-2’s,
tax returns, and bank statements)
to verify income and asset information on your application.
Additionally, your real estate
agent may ask you to complete a
financial information sheet to
demonstrate to the seller your
ability to purchase the home. And
as a means of record keeping,
transaction files maintained by
brokers and agents may also contain copies of deposit checks,
credit card information, and other
financial instruments.
Renters may be required to
submit personal information too.
A rental application is a lot like a
mortgage application, asking social security number, date of birth,
address, employment, and other
information.
The National Association of
Realtors® (realtor.org) Data Security and Privacy Toolkit states
that although there is no federal
law specifically applicable to real
estate brokers, the Gramm-LeachBliley Financial Modernization
Act applies to businesses that
qualify as financial institutions;
which may subject brokers to
comply with “Red Flag Rules”
(and other rules), and require
policies and procedures to protect
against identity theft.
States have also implemented
laws to protect consumers from
identity theft. The Maryland Personal Information Protection Act
(MD Code Commercial Law § 143501) describes personal information as an individual's first name
or first initial and last name in
combination with any one or more
of the following: Social Security
number; driver's license number;
financial account number (including credit cards); and/or an Individual Taxpayer Identification
Number. Additionally, the law requires a business to take reasonable steps to protect against unauthorized access to or use of the
personal information when destroying a customer's records that
contain personal information.
When choosing a mortgage
lender and real estate agent, you
might consider asking about the
company policy on protecting
personal information. Some
questions about personal data
might be: what types of information will be collected; what is it
used for; who has access; when
transmitted, is it encrypted; how
long will the information be retained; and how will the information be disposed? Besides the
management of your personal
data, you should ask about procedures in case there is a suspected
data breach.
Dan Krell is a Realtor® with
RE/MAX All Pro in Rockville, MD.
You can access more information at
www.DanKrell.com.
6
THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY SENTINEL
FEBRUARY 12, 2015
FEDERATION
Now it’s time for the
Federation Budgetpalooza
By Paula Bienenfeld
Montgomery County Civic Federation
Every year at this time the
Montgomery County Public
Schools (MCPS) superintendent announces his operating budget for the
upcoming fiscal year. And every
year, with little or no discussion, the
Montgomery County Board of Education and the County Council approve it. This year, the proposed
budget is $2.4BILLION. As we say
many times, this
amount is half of our
entire county operating
budget. Every other
thing that we ask our
county elected officials and our county
employees to do, from
keeping our libraries
open and running, to
our arts programs, to
first responders who
save lives, our police
service, our parks, our
health and human services, taking care of
the needy and the
homeless, all of it,
every penny, comes
from the other half of
our money. So, it’s
worth a close look and
robust discussion.
Is this the best way to spend
$2.4B of our hard-earned money?
Let’s find out. Let’s have a Budgetpalooza!
What do we find out? Every
year there are surprises. Here’s an
example from our FY14 Budgetpalooza!, part of an analysis by
Gordie Brenne, Taxpayers League
Vice President:
“The Taxpayers League compared green and red zone performance and salaries. After a decade
of efforts to boost red zone performance, math and reading scores are
still lower (-12% and -5%), and red
zone teachers are paid 4% less reflecting their lower levels of experience. Surprisingly, there doesn’t
seem to be much of a correlation between salaries and test scores in either zone, although red zone salaries
are slightly correlated to improved
performance. There is absolutely no
correlation between green zone
salaries and performance in math,
showing MCPS has reached the
point of diminishing returns with
higher salaries in the green zone.”
We know the Board of Education isn’t going to discuss the money
allocations. So, let’s do it ourselves.
Let’s find out.
The third annual Budgetpalooza! is coming soon. The date
this year is Thursday, February
26th, the time is 7-9:30 pm, and the
place is the Bethesda-Chevy Chase
Regional Services Center, at 4805
Edgemoor Lane in Bethesda, convenient to the Bethesda metro stop on
the red line. As usual we are teaming with our partners, the Montgomery County Taxpayers League,
and the Parents’ Coalition of Montgomery County to go through the
MCPS FY16 budget chapter by
chapter.
We need you, the residents of
this county, who pay for every
penny that the Board of Education
spends, to sign up and take a
chapter. To sign up, go to
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/
10c094cadac28a3fb6-mcps. The
event is titled, ‘MCPS FY16 Operating Budget Budgetpalooza!
There are still chapters to choose
from. There are 11 chapters in all
and appendices. Each chapter
discusses budget and staffing allocations, with some explanatory
text on programs.
Let’s take a peek at Chapter 1,
K-12 Instruction. There the budget
has increased from $942,015,166 to
$983,334,751, an increase of
$41,319,585. Why? Travel alone is
over $1M. Why? I’ll let you read
through and find out.
How about Chapter 6, the Office of Shared Accountability? This
is the office that includes the ‘Division of Accountability Initiatives.’
Here the budget actually went down.
Why? Because, according to the
budget text, “There is reduction of
$150,000 for a FY 2015 study of
special education programs and services which will not require funding
in FY 2016. In addition, a .5 evaluation specialist position and $35,000
was budgeted to conduct a study of
the Kennedy Cluster project. This
study is expected to be completed in
FY 2015.”
Has everyone seen the study
that we paid for?
And here’s an interesting section, Appendix E, ‘NonOperating Budget Positions.’ What’s that doing
in an Operating Budget?
Let’s find out. Here we
appear to have dozens of
staff salaries paid for out
of the Capital Budget
and Trust Funds, and not
the Operating Budget.
These include positions
in the Office of Communications, and the Office
of Chief Technology Officer, positions like, ‘IT
Systems Engineer,’ and
‘Environmental Safety
Specialist.’
The appendices include nuggets on
salaries, and an appendix titled, ‘Special Education Staffing Plan and Budget
Guidelines.’ If you are interested in
Special Education, we would appreciate your taking that appendix
and reviewing it. Let us know what
you think. Is our money well
spent? Any interesting patterns in
budget, program or staff allocations?
The chapter by chapter analysis is simple and will only take as
much time as you want to put into
it. Please step up and help your
community to understand how our
$2.4Billion is being spent. Because
we know the Board of Education
won’t.
The entire budget, by chapter, is
here:
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/budget/fy2016/superintendent/index.aspx
And this is how we do it.
The views expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect formal
positions adopted by the Federation.
To submit an 800-1,000 word column
for consideration, please send an
email attachment to [email protected].
SUBSCRIBE TO The Sentinel!
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www.thesentinel.com
FEBRUARY 12, 2015
THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY SENTINEL
7
NEWS
Board approves Starr replacement search firm
By Rebecca Guterman
Staff Writer
ROCKVILLE – Following the
resignation announcement of Montgomery County Public Schools superintendent Joshua Starr last week,
the Board of Education is moving
swiftly to find his replacement.
Tuesday the BOE approved a
$35,000 contract with Hazard,
Young, Attea & Associates to lead a
national search for the next superintendent. Starr steps down Feb. 16 and
Chief Operating Officer Larry Bowers will take his place as interim superintendent until the end of the term
on June 30.
Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates led the last two superintendent
searches for the school system, leading MCPS to hire Jerry Weast in
1999 and Starr in 2011. The current
contract includes additional appropriate expenses and gives the board
the option to request additional services.
Board President Patricia
O’Neill said she wanted to get the
process going as quickly as possible
because they were already somewhat
behind the hiring schedule of four
years ago, when they hired a search
firm in early January.
“We’re a little bit behind the
curve but not that much. We have to
meet the July 1 deadline or have an
interim for a year,” O’Neill said.
The board discussed Starr’s status behind closed doors prior to the
announcement of his resignation, citing it as a personnel decision. After
the announcement, the board also declined to give specific reasons why
some members did not want to renew
Starr’s contract.
In an interview O’Neill would
not comment more than she had at
the initial press conference, saying
she could not speak for why individual board members made their decisions.
“I can’t see into their brains or
their hearts on any decisions. Everyone weighs, makes their own choices
based on their own personal information,” O’Neill said. “I just can’t speculate on how individuals reached
MCPS prepares for emergencies
Jonathan Elbaz
Special to The Sentinel
ROCKVILLE – In the wake of a
high school shooting last week local
educators say they have the proper
protocol in place to assist students in
case of extreme emergencies.
Last week, a gunman shot and
injured two high school students outside a Frederick County school basketball game. Police arrived and
locked down the campus, questioning about 200 people in the school
cafeteria. The two victims were treated for non life-threatening injuries,
officials cancelled the following day
of school, and police continue to
search for evidence and suspects.
MCPS, which previously categorized emergencies as Code Red or
Code Blue, now divides emergency
protocol into three scenarios: lockdown, evacuation, and shelter.
During a lockdown, which signals imminent danger in or outside
the school, teachers secure classrooms while administrators call 911
and the MCPS central office. During
an evacuation, administrators direct
students to a secure location outside
the building and students with special needs have staff members designated to assist them. Shelter emergencies are divided into three subcategories, with specialized
instructions for “public safety” (similar to a Code Blue), “severe weather” and “outside hazardous materials” emergencies.
Additionally, MCPS spokesperson Gboyinde Onijala said at every
high school football and basketball
game—typically the two sports that
draw the biggest crowds—there are
two Montgomery County police officers on duty alongside security staff.
There were two private security
guards and no police officers working at the Frederick County basketball game.
“We have visitor management
and access management systems at
all of our schools,” Onijala said. “All
of our schools conduct drills
throughout the year around a variety
of scenarios, including active shooter, emergency weather, evacuation,
etc.”
The School Resource Officer
(SRO) program also deploys one
sworn police officer to each of the
county’s 26 high schools. The officers assist in emergency preparedness, start dialogues with students
and parents and serve as a point of
contact with the police department.
Each school has an onsite emergency team (OSET) made up of administrators, teachers and security
staff that convene during emergencies to coordinate and execute response plans. According to the county, the OSET staff receives in-depth
training for handling crises.
Emergency protocol came into
play Monday during a standoff between police and an armed gunman
in Silver Spring. The principal of
nearby Woodlin Elementary School
announced a Shelter in Place response plan. According to the school,
officials locked exterior doors,
moved classes from portables to indoor classrooms and held recess inside the main building. The principle
sent updates to parents through the
school PTA’s Facebook page.
their own decisions.”
Starr’s amended contract also
contains a clause that he and the
board members cannot make “disparaging remarks regarding the other.”
Some county residents have
now turned their attention to how
public the hiring process will be.
O’Neill said she could not speculate
on whether they would make the interviews or applicants public but said
the search firm always solicits community input.
But O’Neill said making applicants public is a risky move.
“In some communities, they trot
out the three finalists for a dog and
pony show. We’re hiring a top executive, a CEO who in all likelihood is
already in a job,” she said. “What can
be public will be public. What has to
be confidential so that we don’t hurt
anyone’s career where they’re sitting
(will be confidential).”
O’Neill did not comment on the
public knowledge that in late 2013
Starr applied to the New York City
Chancellor job and did not get it.
Shortly after Starr’s announcement last week, Councilmember
Hans Reimer called for a very public
process to select his replacement.
Reimer said he could see an argument
for making all interviews public despite concerns of what happened with
Starr when he applied for the New
York City job.
Former board member Laura
Berthiaume said she understood the
need for confidentiality but the board
could be clearer about the direction
they want for the next superintendent.
“The board is very aware of the
fact that they are dealing with a person’s career and to go out into public
session and lay out a bill of particulars is not a kind act for somebody
who certainly to my knowledge (has
not done or said anything) that’s unforgivable,” she said. “The board
could have been a little more articulate about why it made the choice it
made in terms of stability versus
moving in a different direction.”
Berthiaume said she thought it
could have had to do with personal
dynamics between Starr and some
board members, but the board has to
lay out what plans they are looking
for in the future.
“If the accusation is going to be
‘he talks good game, but he didn’t
propose any concrete plans,’ well
what concrete plans were they looking for?” Berthiaume said. “They’re
going to be asking the next person
coming in to face a lot of big challenges.”
Laurie Halverson, who opposed
O’Neill in the most recent election,
said she knew some principals did
not feel Starr supported them well
enough with all the changes from
Curriculum 2.0 and Common Core.
Halverson said Weast had more political savvy, which could be valuable in such a large county, but Starr
was very engaged with students and
on social media.
Through her involvement in the
Montgomery County Council of Parent Teacher Associations (MCCPTA), Halverson said she knows MCCPTA has had a say in the selection
process in the past and is able to articulate their priorities.
County Council addresses Ten Mile creek
sewage and environmental concerns
By Rebecca Guterman
Staff Writer
ROCKVILLE – The County
Council plans to approve water and
sewer amendments later this month
that will allow for sewer systems to
support development in the area of
Ten Mile Creek while still protecting the environment as they intended in the amendment to the Clarksburg Master Plan.
“Our council worked very hard
to make sure that Ten Mile Creek
and resources associated with that
were given the maximum protection possible and it is the chair’s
view that we should not allow a
sewer to undermine that effort. The
language that we are seeking to do
is both consistent with the master
plan and making very clear this
council’s intent that we care deeply
about Ten Mile Creek and only under extraordinary circumstances
will we see something that could
possibly have an impact on it,” said
Roger Berliner (D-1), chair of the
Transportation, Infrastructure, Energy and Environment committee
(T&E).
The amendment changes the
designation for major properties for
development to W-3/S-3, which allows the Washington Suburban
Sanitary Commission (WSSC) and
county Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to move forward with figuring out how to link
the sewer systems to these areas. It
also designates open space as W-
6/S-6 to preserve them and adds
language to the amendment that
limits the environmental impact of
the sewer systems.
“We have given clear guidance
to our DEP and WSSC as to how
this must be constructed so it is
technologically feasible, keep it out
of the creek and to minimize any
harm to buffers, to the stream, to
tributaries, to all the values we
worked so hard to protect in our
master plan,” Berliner said before
the full council Tuesday.
The language in the amendment specifically mentions buffer
zones, forested areas and tributaries, according to the draft from
staff.
In the Ten Mile Creek Limited
Area Amendment to the master
plan, the council tried to strike a
balance between major developments and environmental protections, according to councilmember
Craig Rice (D-2), who represents
Clarksburg. Pulte Homes, one of
the major developers for the area,
sued the county in November for
$86 million for the limits the council passed in the plan.
“Let me say thank you to chair
of the T&E committee as well as its
members for really focusing on
what is important to continue the
spirit of the master plan...allowing
us to proceed with some of the decisions that we made last year while
allowing us to ensure connectivity
for those particular properties to allow them to move forward,” Rice
said. “It means a lot to the Clarksburg area.”
During the process of approving the master plan, the Audubon
Naturalist Society advocated for
protection of the creek.
“This vote is a victory for citizens and scientists working together
with elected officials to protect our
last, best creek: Ten Mile Creek,”
said Diane Cameron, director of the
Audubon Naturalist Society Conservation Program, after the council
vote in April 2014. “Ten Mile Creek
is the cleanest source of water to
Little Seneca Reservoir, our only
nearby emergency drinking water
source in severe droughts serving
4.3 million people in Maryland, the
District of Columbia and Virginia.”
Rice said properties in the
Clarksburg historic district operate
on septic systems, which is why the
county and WSSC need to evaluate
and implement the sewer connectivity needs.
The WSSC is currently going
through a comprehensive sewer
study for the Ten Mile Creek area
and has come up with five alternatives for a Citizens Advisory Committee to consider. Some members
of the public said the WSSC did not
solicit enough input to come up with
these alternatives, but council staff
member Keith Levchenko said
WSSC assured him the committee
would be able to consider additional
alternatives if the members want to.
The council plans to vote on the
amendment at the Feb. 24 meeting
8
THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY SENTINEL
FEBRUARY 12, 2015
COVER STORY
NTSB demands immediate action from Metro rail on ventilation
“Fix it Now”
from page 1
ing NTSB investigation," said Dan
Stessel spokes person for WMATA.
The National Transportation
Safety Board (NTSB) issued what it
called urgent safety recommendations Wednesday afternoon to Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority (WMATA) in an effort to prevent
accidents and save lives.
“Procedures for ventilation of
smoke in emergencies can be critical,
but they vary across systems, and in
some systems are inadequate – as we
have found in the present WMATA
investigation,” said NTSB Acting
Chairman Christopher A. Hart. “Although the investigation is ongoing,
WMATA should immediately address these issues to prevent any
chance of a recurrence and other systems should be audited for similar
problems.”
During the Jan. 12 incident,
train 302 stopped after encountering
heavy smoke in the subway tunnel.
Several passengers suffered injuries
from the smoke and one passenger,
Carol Glover, died from smoke inhalation.
Patrick Regan, who is representing the Glover family in its $50 million lawsuit against WMATA, said
they learned nothing new from the
report. Regan said through talks
with the engineers who designed the
system in the 1970s they confirmed
there was no way the ventilation sys-
tem was working properly.
According to NTSB, investigators learned WMATA Operation
Control Center (OCC) first activated
under-platform fans in the exhaust
mode at the L’Enfant Plaza Green
and Yellow Line platforms during
the incident. Because the train
stopped in front of the station and
smoke emanated from in front of the
train, the ventilation system pulled
the smoke directly into the train. The
report also reveals the train operator
did not shut off the train’s ventilation
system, which continuously drew
smoke into the train.
Regan said smoke billowing
into the car and WMATA experiencing delays in addressing the situation
“definitively” caused Glover’s death.
Existing WMATA procedures
required the train operator to receive
permission from the OCC to shut off
the train ventilation, according to
NTSB.
According to NTSB, less than
10 minutes after WMATA activated
the under-platform ventilation fans,
WMATA then activated vent shafts
with additional ventilation fans, located ahead of the source of smoke,
in exhaust mode.
NTSB said because WMATA
activated both the platform and vent
shaft fans in exhaust mode, no supply of fresh air could aid in moving
the smoke through the tunnel to the
exhaust.
During a post-accident inspection investigators also found two of
the four fans located inside of the
ventilation shaft had tripped an overload circuit breaker and were nonoperational. The investigators could
not conclude whether the two fans
became non-operational before or
during the event.
NTSB recommends assessing
and verifying the state of good repair
of the ventilation system with industry best practices and standards and
developing and implementing detailed written procedures on the ventilation fans based on the most effective strategy for fan direction and activation to limit passengers’ exposure
to smoke. NTSB recommends then
incorporating those procedures into
ongoing training.
Moore withdraws plans after others on council line up against him
“Rockville” from page 1
Moore privately she supported him
“several months ago” but changed
her mind after going through the
public hearing process.
“I was very proud of that vote
(the vote to add a second public
hearing) because I thought it improved the process. (Moore) was
the one who was only looking at
letting us just get this resolved
very quickly,” Feinberg said. “His
error is that he was not really serving the city by refusing to hear all
the comments and I think that’s
what you have to do as an elected
official.”
Moore was the lone opposing
vote in adding a second public
hearing on Jan. 26. Originally, the
only public hearing on the issue
would have been on Jan. 5, which
some in the public and on the dais
felt was too soon after the holidays.
In response, Moore said he be-
lieved Feinberg would keep her
word when the issue came back to
the council for a vote until he heard
otherwise from her directly, even
given her statements Monday night.
He said Feinberg had not communicated with him prior to Monday’s
meeting and did not tell him she
was going to change her vote.
“She gave me her assurance
she would be with me on the final
vote and that’s the reason I was out
there in front on her behalf for
months,” Moore said. “I believe
her to be an honorable person and I
will believe she is breaking her
word on this when I see it.”
He also said he did not vote
for the second public hearing because he was surprised when it
came up so late on the agenda and
said he set the schedule based on
Feinberg’s wishes. But he said he
was ultimately glad for the second
hearing as well.
“I absolutely listened to every
public comment. I respond to a
great deal of them over email far
more than any other member (of
the mayor or council) does. I have
convened public hearings, I have
made presentations, I have spoken
to many, many more people on this
issue than others,” Moore said.
Although Moore withdrew his
motion at the meeting, he also
Monday night added it to future
agendas with the support of Councilmember Julie Palakovich Carr
so the discussion would not “get
lost” after Berliner’s forum. He
added it during the “future agendas” portion of the meeting after
Newton, Feinberg and Onley voted
against his motion to set the discussion for a date in March earlier
in the meeting.
Newton said she voted against
setting a date because she did not
want to continue to rush the discussion and was sure the council
would not forget the issue even if
they did not set a date that night.
“It puts us all under a pressure
point and I don’t like feeling that
way about something that is so important to this community,” Newton said. “I think it’s time we hear
the people and hear them with ears
that are really listening.”
Moore said he did not think
any immediate changes would
come from Berliner’s forum, especially considering the county’s
Subdivision Staging Policy does
not go through a review process
until 2016.
But Newton said some action
items or next steps could come
from the meeting even if there is
no immediate change.
Throughout the APFS discussion Newton said she wanted to
bring in the Planning Commission
and talk to other stakeholders, not
just those at the public hearings.
“Had we handled this differently from the very beginning, we
could have had a public conversation in the community that didn’t
pit our neighbors against neigh-
bors and our business against our
residents,” she said, adding that
Moore and Palakovich Carr tried
to push the process’s timeline from
the beginning.
Onley also said she has concerns about development in the
city for fear of ending up as a
“ghost town.”
Feinberg also denied claims
from some constituents that she
should recuse herself because she
is deputy director and chief operating officer for the county’s Department of General Services, which
oversees major construction projects in county government. But
Feinberg said she had talked with
the city attorney and confirmed
she has no financial or economic
conflict of interest because her role
in the county has nothing to do
with the school budget or funding
decisions.
Palakovich Carr did not comment on her views on the issue during the meeting.
Bell times are pushed back 20 minutes in move by BOE to help children
“Schools”
from page 1
button maybe two cycles.”
The board considered school
start times for high schoolers after a
workgroup considered the increasing scientific research showing the
detrimental effects of sleep deprivation on adolescents. After initially
recommending a $21 million dollar
option, Superintendent Joshua Starr
came back with lower-cost recommendations ranging from no-cost to
nearly $6 million.
Durso said he ultimately did not
vote in favor of even the low-cost
option because of the effects on lowincome families. Durso said in his
experience as a principal in Washington, D.C. public schools versus
other districts, he did not see start
time make an overwhelming differ-
ence in student behavior or performance.
“I didn’t see any reason to make
that change even though it was very
small. Now the majority voted for
that. It does not have a price tag so I
think we can live with that, but I just
didn’t see (the need for) that,” Durso
said. “I was concerned about a later
end of the day for elementary, as I
mentioned in there I was really concerned about having elementary
start first. Almost every rationale has
a corresponding reason not to do it.”
The board also discussed and
voted down board member Phil
Kauffman’s proposal to delay implementation for a year but use one of
the options that started elementary
school first and middle school last,
which cost $3.9 million. Only three
members voted in favor.
O’Neill voted in favor of the
20-minute change, but said it was
not possible to make more drastic
changes in the current budget conditions. Most of the cost for the other
options would have come from buying more buses as the window for
buses to complete their routes would
overlap.
But parents and students,
dozens of whom attended a “sleepin” protest the day before the vote,
said the budget is no excuse for what
is a “matter of public health,” in the
words of Erica Antonelli, a parent of
two middle schoolers.
Antonelli said her children already have trouble falling asleep
early enough because of their circadian rhythms. She also said many
other jurisdictions have already implemented later start times for high
schoolers, including Fairfax and
Loudoun counties in Virginia.
“It’s a matter of public health
and so we should be able to figure
out...because it has such a huge effect,” she said. “If everybody else
has been able to figure it out, I don’t
know why MCPS hasn’t.”
Officials at the American Academy of Pediatrics have said adolescents should start no earlier than
8:30 for their health. Many parents
cited how sleep deprivation has been
linked to increased likelihood of depression and thoughts of suicide.
But some board members said they
found testimony that linked a student’s suicide Monday night to sleep
deprivation “hurtful.”
“I have never been so offended,” said board member Rebecca
Smondrowski, who said she had
been affected by loss in her family
and did not think anyone could
imagine what the student’s family
was going through.
“I would never use a tragedy in
our system to push forward my
agenda or any agenda I think is worthy,” Barclay said.
At the sleep-in the day before,
students said the research on sleep
deprivation and better performance
in school held true in their daily
lives. Theresa Davison, a freshman
at Walter Johnson High School, said
she usually goes to sleep close to
midnight and wakes up at 5:30 a.m.
to catch her 6:43 a.m. bus.
“I always have a lot of difficulty
focusing in class and later when I’m
working on homework,” Davison
said. “(Sometimes) I won’t remember what the teacher said because I
was focused on staying awake.”
Davison also said 20 minutes is
enough to get dressed or watch part
of a TV show, but it’s not really
enough to make a difference for
sleep. Her sister Natalie, a seventh
grader at Tilden Middle School,
agreed.
FEBRUARY 12, 2015
THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY SENTINEL
9
NEWS
Going, going . . .
Huge potential development in Bethesda with sale of 75 acres
By Jonathan Elbaz
Special to The Sentinel
BETHESDA - The owner of
Washington area radio station
WMAL (630 AM) put the station’s
75-acre transmitter site here on the
market earlier this week, the first step
in what will likely be the area's
largest redevelopment project in
years.
Cumulus Media is receiving offers until March 12 from developers
interested in the residential property,
located at 7115 Greentree Road near
the Beltway and I-270 spur.
Local real estate experts estimate the property may be worth nine
figures. There is no asking price, but
a representative from Cumulus’ brokerage firm CBRE Group, Inc. said
the property’s size and location
should command strong competition.
“Seventy-five acres in Bethesda,” said John Sheridan, Senior Vice
President for CBRE. “You don’t
need to say anything more than that.
It is a huge parcel of land with some
of the highest income demographics.
There’s the potential to build 300 or
more homes.”
The site is residential—part of
the R-90 zone—allowing prospective developers to use it to build
homes in varying sizes. Currently the
space is a hilly expanse of grass with
WMAL’s four massive transmitter
towers, satellite dishes and a transmission building the station hasn’t
manned in years.
Cumulus took control of the 90year old station in 2011 when it purchased Citadel Broadcasting for $2.2
billion. Soon after, it started simulcasting the station’s programming on
105.9 WVRX-FM, renamed
WMAL-FM.
The company hasn’t shared specific details about relocating the
transmission equipment but said in a
statement that it remains committed
to broadcasting through the AM frequency.
“We expect to realize substantial value from this land sale, which
will not disrupt our current programming in the Washington area nor our
long-standing commitment to the existing live and local programming
that is important to our listeners,” the
statement read.
Last year, Cumulus agreed to
sell its 10-acre broadcast facility in
Los Angeles for $125 million.
Other aspects about the potential development are unclear, including questions about access and a possible need for new traffic patterns.
The southern edge of the property
runs adjacent to the Beltway between
Old Georgetown Road and the I-270
spur, but it’s unknown whether developers will propose to build a new
PHOTO BY JONATHAN ELBAZ
This quiet parcel of land up for sale in Bethesda could be site of a huge residential development.
exit for the Beltway.
The site is just a half-mile from
the second richest neighborhood in
the United States, according to Business Insider, which estimated the average household income for the
Bradley Manor-Longwood neighborhood of Bethesda—farther south
on Greentree Road—is nearly
$600,000.
Though the transmitter site is
private, local residents use it yearround. The “dog park,” as many call
the space, is a de facto recreational
spot for dog-walking groups, cross
country teams and kids playing
sports.
“It will be sad to lose this place
because of the community,” said
Bethesda resident Jinks George
Millspaugh. “Some people have
been coming here with their dogs,
children and friends for 30 years.
When people have gotten an illness
in the family or lost their job, we
have been here gathering and supporting one another for years."
Valentine’s Day is special in Montgomery County
Julian Sadur
Special to The Sentinel
ROCKVILLE – Chocolates
and roses aren’t the only attractions
for Valentine’s Day in the county.
Those looking to make special plans
can find plenty to do right here in
Montgomery County.
Duke Ellington Orchestra – 8
p.m. at Bethesda Blues and Jazz
Club
The world famous Duke Ellington Orchestra will be playing music
that will take you back to the times
of the big band dance era. According
to Sche Brown, marketing assistant
and server for Bethesda Blues and
Jazz Club, the Duke Ellington band
represents an era when you still
asked a lady to dance.
“Whether you fall in love with
your husband or wife again or fall in
love on your first date, it will be that
type of evening,” Brown said. “And
for those who don’t remember the
times of chivalry and romance,
they’ll learn that night.”
District Comedy – 8:30 p.m. at
BlackRock Center for the Arts
PHOTO COURTESY RICK MILLER
Richard Rosenblatt will be wailing with the Rhythm Bandits Saturday at La Mexicana in Gaithersburg.
All the way from the nation’s
capital D.C. District Comedy will
bring their comedy act to Germantown for a laugh-filled night.
NIH Community Chorus presents “A Winter Valentine” – Saint
Mark Presbyterian Church
The NIH Community Chorus in
association with the East Avenue
Ensemble of Chevy Chase will present “A Winter Valentine” for free,
though donations are welcome. According to Teddi Pensinger, the
group’s publicity chair, a chocolate
buffet will be provided with original
chocolate donations from the chorus. Pensinger said those who attend
will be in for a treat.
“(The show) combines a few
perfect elements: music, chocolate
and raising money for charity. So
what’s not to love about those?”
Pensinger said.
Laugh Riot at Hyatt – 8 p.m. at
Hyatt Regency Bethesda
Three local stand-up comedians
will perform their sets. Tickets are
$10 cash at the door. Seating is firstcome first-serve with doors opening
at 7 p.m.
Rhythm Bandits – 9 p.m. at La
Mexicana The Sentinel sponsors its
first entertainment night. Come listen to rock’n’roll by local rockers
and enjoy Mexican cuisine at La
Mexicana on Rockville Pike.
Owl-n-tine’s Day – 5 p.m. at
Croydon Creek Nature Center
Learn about how owls stay near
home for their winter mating season,
dissect an owl pellet and see the nature center’s resident owl.
Rapture, Blister, Burn – 3 p.m.
at Roundhouse Theatre
Tickets can be purchased online
or by calling the box office at 240644-1100.
Godspell – 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. at
Olney Theatre Tickets can be purchase online or by calling the box office at 301-924-3400.
10
THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY SENTINEL
Whatʼs happening this week in Montgomery County
C
FEBRUARY 12, 2015
ALENDAR
FEB. 12
FAITH COMMUNITY WORKING GROUP
(FCWG) JOINT SUBCOMMITTEE MEETING: OPEN TO PUBLIC
Feb. 12. 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. Please join us as we
discuss our ongoing and future FCWG initiatives.
Snacks will be provided but please feel free to bring
your own dinner. WHERE: The Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC), 6101 Executive Blvd.
North Bethesda, MD 20852. Email
[email protected] for more information.
FOREVER YOURS BEREAVEMENT
WORKSHOP
Feb. 12. 6:30 p.m. – 8 p.m. A special workshop
for widows, widowers and life partners who want to
honor and remember their loved ones on Valentine’s
Day. Free and open to any Montgomery County resident. Registration required. Call (301) 921-4400.
Montgomery Hospice, 1355 Piccard Dr., Rockville,
MD 20850.
FEB. 13
LEATHER & LACE STEVIE
NICKS/FLEETWOOD MAC TRIBUTE
BAND
Feb. 13. 9 p.m. Rocky Gap Casino Resort’s Allegheny Event Center will host Leather & Lace: A
Tribute to Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac.
Leather and Lace is focused on bringing the intensity and glamour of Stevie Nicks to the stage in the
form of an entertaining presentation that draws the
audience in on their journey through Stevie's music.
General admission tickets are $20, or $35, which includes a buffet. More information about Leather &
Lace is available at
http://stevienickstributeband.com. Guests must be
21 years-old to attend and tickets are non-refundable. Tickets can be purchased by calling the box office at (301) 784-8573 or at
http://rockygapcasino.com/tickets. 16701 Lakeview
Rd., Flintstone, MD 21530.
FOREVER YOURS BEREAVEMENT
WORKSHOP
Feb. 13. 1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. A special workshop for widows, widowers and life partners who
want to honor and remember their loved ones on
Valentine’s Day. Free and open to any Montgomery
County resident. Registration required. Call (301)
921-4400. Montgomery Hospice, 1355 Piccard Dr.,
Rockville, MD 20850.
POETRY CONTEST
Deadline: Feb.13. Requirements: Poems cannot
be more than 21 lines of text. Eligibility: Contest
open to residents of Washington, D.C., Maryland
and Virginia who are 14 or older at the time of the
entry deadline. Awards: First Place: $500 and published on The Writer's Center's "First Person Plural"
blog Second Place: $250, Third Place: $150, Young
Poet: $100. Questions? Please email
[email protected] or call 301-215-6660 ext. 117
BETHESDA PAINTING AWARDS
Deadline: Feb. 13. Requirements: Each artist
must submit five images, application and a non-refundable entry fee of $25. Eligibility: Artists must
be 18 years of age or older and permanent, full-time
residents of Maryland, Virginia or Washington, D.C.
Awards: Best in Show: $10,000, Second Place:
$2,000, Third Place: $1,000, Young Artist: $1,000.
The Bethesda Painting Awards is downtown
Bethesda's annual juried art competition that exclusively honors painters from Maryland, Virginia and
Washington, D.C. $14,000 in prize monies are
awarded to the top four painters annually. For more
information call Bethesda Urban Partnership at 301-
February 12, 2015 – February 18, 2015
Germantown, MD 20874. PRICE: FREE - For
more information, please visit: www.blackrockcenter.org
215-6660 or go to [email protected]
VALENTINE’S CABARET AND DINNER
Feb. 13 and 14. StageCoach Theatre Company
presents “He Loves Me, She Loves Me Not” Valentine’s Cabaret and Dinner on February 13 and 14.
The show begins at 7:30 and dinner is served at 8:15
p.m. Come and enjoy a cabaret performance featuring great music that will transport you to the grandest stages of New York City without having to leave
your seat at Oatlands! Tickets are $75. Dinner will
be catered by The Chef’s Table. . For more information, visit www.oatlands.org or call 703-777-3174.
ROMERO: SUITE PARA CUERDES
Feb. 21. 8 p.m. National String Symphonia presents "Romero: Suite Para Cuerdas.” This complete
suite is a rhythmic, sensual piece that weaves
Venezuelan folk music with traditional European
forms and energizes any space it fills. Romero is
best known for his popular works and was creator of
Venezuela's new wave "Onda Nueva" school of music. Tickets: $10-$37.50. Learn more at
www.rockvillemd.gov/theatre or (240) 314-8690. F.
Scott Fitzgerald Theatre, Rockville Civic Center
Park at 603 Edmonston Dr., Rockville, MD.
FEB. 14
DISTRICT COMEDY’S SPECIAL VALENTINE’S DAY PERFORMANCE
FEB. 14. 8:30pm (doors open at 8:00pm). DCbased Comedy Group Returns to BlackRock to
Share Laughs and Love. BlackRock Center for the
Arts is thrilled to welcome District Comedy back to
the ‘burbs for a very special evening of local comedy designed for those who love to laugh. Tickets are
just $15-$18 and are on sale in person, over the
phone by calling 240.912.1058, or online at blackrockcenter.org. The Valentine’s Day comedy night
performance by District Comedy will be hosted by
Simone, features Johnny Black, opener Hemu Nair,
and headliner David Tveite. The performance will
take place in BlackRock’s flexible dance theatre,
which will be transformed into cafe club-style seating for the evening. BlackRock’s bar will be open
throughout the night so audiences can enjoy local
beer and wine, and comedy.
STORYTELLER DIANE MACKLIN
Feb. 14. 3 p.m. – 4 p.m. Join us for a special interactive story experience! Diane Macklin will be
presenting tales involving rhythm, music, songs,
chants and movement in celebration of Black History Month! A show for the whole family; no registration required. Program sponsored by the Friends of
the Library, Quince Orchard Chapter. For more information, call (240) 777-0200. Quince Orchard Library, 15831 Quince Orchard Rd., Gaithersburg,
MD 20878.
FEB. 15
FAMILY RAMBLE: WINTER ADAPTATIONS
Feb. 15. 1:30-2:30 p.m. Explore the winter
adaptations of plants and animals while on a brisk
walk in Rockville Civic Center Park on Sunday, at
Croydon Creek Nature Center. Age 1 and up. For
more information call 240-314-8770.
FEB. 16
SERENITY IN THE GARDEN: SIMPLICITY, SANCTUARY & DELIGHT IN THE
GARDEN
Feb. 16. 8:00pm (Doors open at 7:30pm) Why
do some gardens make us feel so relaxed and refreshed? Professional landscape designer Jan
Johnsen shares her passion for creating peaceful, enticing gardens and reveals the three features of a
serene outdoor setting: simplicity, sanctuary, and delight. Drawing on her 40 years of experience in the
design and horticulture professions, Jan illuminates
the surprising role that layout, power of place, color,
trees, and even rocks play in enhancing our wellbeing outdoors. Location: Montgomery College,
Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus, Health Sciences Center Building, Room 122. This meeting is
free and open to the public. Refreshments are served
after the meeting.
COURTESY PHOTO
The National String Symphonia presents "Romero: Suite Para Cuerdas” at
the F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre in Rockville on February 21st at 8 p.m.
FEB. 17
NARFE ROCKVILLE LUNCHEON
Feb. 17. Deadline to make reservations for
monthly luncheon of the Rockville chapter of the
National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association on Tuesday, Feb. 24. It will feature a talk
on risk assessment for toxic chemicals by Bruce
Fowler, Ph.D. The meeting is held from 11:30 a.m.
to 1:45 p.m. at the Village at Rockville, 9701 Veirs
Drive (off Wootton Pkwy), Rockville, MD 20850.
Cost is $25. Reservations required. Call (301) 2940566
UPCOMING
WOUNDED WARRIORS MHSTIVAL
FEB. 20. 6 p.m. -9:30 p.m. Magruder High
School presents its annual MHSTIVAL at Magruder
H.S. auditorium. Admission is $5.00, donations will
also be accepted. This will feature multiple bands
comprised of students and staff within Magruder as
well as other high schools. All proceeds will go to
the Wounded Warrior Project. All ages are welcome.
PLAY IN A DAY
Feb. 20-21. Six professional Washington, D.C.
area theatre companies will write, direct, rehearse
and perform original plays based on similar themes
in only 24 hours. The plays will be presented at the
tenth annual Play In A Day, a one-of-a-kind theatrical event. Play In A Day kicks off on Friday
evening, February 20th where playwrights and directors come together to receive their assigned
themes and props. Playwrights then work through
the night to create their ten-minute masterpieces. As
the sun comes up, rehearsals begin as teams of directors and actors prepare anxiously to make the
8pm performance deadline on Saturday, February
21, 2015. Tickets are $15
Participants: Adventure Theatre MTC, American
Ensemble Theater, Flying V, Imagination Stage, Olney Theater, Round House Theatre.
ANNUAL SPRING GARDENING CONFERENCE
Feb. 21. The Montgomery County Master Gardeners are holding their 15th Annual Spring Gardening Conference. The daylong event offers multiple workshops, morning snacks, a delicious bag
lunch, door prizes, networking with other gardeners,
answers to your gardening questions, handouts, and
reference materials. Participants can attend three of
nine concurrent workshops, all taught by Master
Gardeners. This year’s topics include water features,
herbs, perennials for shade, urban gardening, design
tricks, DIY irrigation, peppers, and much more, plus
several lunchtime presentations. The event will be
held at the University of Maryland Extension Montgomery County Office, 18410 Muncaster Rd, Derwood, MD, at the Agricultural History Farm Park.
Advance registration is $55 (box lunch included);
bring a friend and the cost is $100 for two. Registration information can be found at:
http://goo.gl/i4nalm
The registration deadline is February 17, 2015.
Space is limited and workshops will be filled on a
first-come, first-served basis.
CHINESE NEW YEAR CELEBRATION:
YEAR OF THE SHEEP
Feb. 21. 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Usher in the Chinese
New Year 4713, Year of the Sheep, with the
Gaithersburg Chinese School. Enjoy folk dancing,
performances and arts and crafts. Performances at
11:00 a.m. and arts and craft activities at 12:00 p.m.
Space is limited. Presented by the students and staff
of Gaithersburg Chinese School and sponsored by
the Friends of the Library, Quince Orchard Chapter.
For more information, call (240) 777-0200. Quince
Orchard Library, 15831 Quince Orchard Rd.,
Gaithersburg, MD 20878.
LUNAR NEW YEAR CELEBRATION AT
BLACKROCK CENTER
Feb. 21. 10:00am – 1:00 p.m. Celebrate Lunar
New Year at BlackRock . Join us for a Free Family
Fun Day with kid-friendly tours of the exhibition
“Transformations of Brush and Paper,” drop-in art
making activities with a Lunar New Year theme,
and performances of traditional Asian music, dance,
and more. The event is free but advance registration
is recommended. Drop-ins are welcome. Participation is on a first-come, first-served basis. Recommended for ages 5+ with adult. Live music and
dance performances have been organized in partnership with the Chinese Cultural and Community Service Center (CCACC), located in Gaithersburg,
MD, and will include music performed by the
CCACC Gu Zheng Club, martial arts by the MoyYat Ving Tsun Athletics Association, traditional
dances by the Graceful Posture & Dance Class and
the Carol Kuo Dance Class, and choral music by
The Potomac Youth Choir. For more information
about the Chinese Cultural and Community Service
Center (CCACC), please visit: www.ccacc-dc.org
LOCATION: Main Gallery (first floor) BlackRock
Center for the Arts 12901 Town Commons Drive,
GUY DAVIS & ERIC BIBB: BLUES
TROUBADOURS AT BLACKROCK CENTER FOR THE ARTS
Feb. 21. 8:00 p.m. W.C. Handy Award-winner
Guy Davis and Grammy-nominee Eric Bibb will
join their formidable blues lineages together in a
performance at BlackRock Center for the Arts designed to celebrate and preserve the core of the
blues. Each with his own distinctive voice and style,
these two blues veterans will perform their own sets,
collaborate on several numbers, and come together
for a rousing joint finale. The performance of Guy
Davis & Eric Bibb: Blues Troubadours will be held
on the BlackRock Mainstage Saturday, February
21st at 8:00pm. Tickets cost $15 - $28, and can purchased in person, over the phone by calling
240.912.1058, or online at blackrockcenter.org. Discounts for seniors are available. Tickets are selling
fast. Advance reservations are recommended.
RAPTURE, BLISTER, BURN
Through Feb. 22. In a comedy hailed by The
New York Times as “intensely smart and immensely funny,” Gina Gionfriddo (Becky Shaw) takes a
sharp, unflinching look at 21st century gender politics. After grad school, Catherine built a career as a
rock-star academic while Gwen built a home with a
husband and children. Decades later, unfulfilled in
opposite ways, each woman covets the other’s life,
and a dangerous game begins as each tries to claim
the other’s territory. For more information, call
(240) 644-1100 or visit roundhousetheatre.org.
Round House Theatre, 4545 East-West Highway,
Bethesda, MD 20814.
ART EXHIBIT: “PAWS ‘N CLAWS FOR
ART”
Feb. 21 – Mar. 31. “Paws ‘N Claws for Art” exhibit at Vola Lawson Animal Shelter. Del Ray Artisans and Animal Welfare League of Alexandria
teamed up to present this animal-themed, fundraising exhibit. Both nonprofits receive a percentage of
each sale. Also showing, but not for sale, will be
UpCycle’s Fur-Vor project community-based student-recycled dog art. Reception: Friday, February
27, 7-9pm. View the art: Monday-Thursday 127pm, closed Friday, Saturday-Sunday 12-5pm.
www.TheDelRayArtisans.org/GWW
BLACKJACK TOURNAMENT
Feb. 22. 3 p.m. Rocky Gap Casino Resort will
host a CASH Blackjack tournament in which players can win a share of $1,500. The buy-in is now
just $30 and the top five winners are guaranteed
cash prizes. For more information, call (301) 7848400 or visit rockygapresort.com. 16701 Lakeview
Rd., Flintstone, MD 21530.
TAKOMA PARK JAZZFEST BAND
BRAWL
Feb. 22. 6 p.m. Three jazz bands will compete
Continued on page 11
FEBRUARY 12, 2015
THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY SENTINEL
Whatʼs happening this week in Montgomery County
C
11
ALENDAR
Continued from page 10
for a showcase at the 20th Takoma Park JazzFest
plus $600 prize. The 20th JazzFest will be Sunday,
June 14 in downtown Takoma Park (two stages,
workshops, crafts and international foods). For more
information, visit www.tpjazzfest.org or contact
Bruce Krohmer, producer, at [email protected]
or (240) 277-6291. Busboys and Poets, 234 Carroll
St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20012.
THE ASPEN HILL SUNDAY MOVIE MATINEE
Feb. 22. 2:00 to 5:30 p.m. Panda Extravaganza
Sunday movie matinee at the Aspen Hill Library!
Kung Fu Panda and Kung Fu Panda 2 will be
shown on Sunday, February 22, from 2:00 to 5:30 at
the Aspen Hill Library, 4407 Aspen Hill Road, Aspen Hill, MD. Set in the Valley of Peace, Kung Fu
Panda follows Giant Panda Po’s adventures as he
becomes a true Kung Fu Master. The sequel sees
Po as he strives for inner peace. Award winners
both, from Dream Works. Admission is free and
everyone is welcome. The Aspen Hill Sunday
Movie Matinees are sponsored by the Friends of the
Aspen Hill Library. For more information, call
(301) 871-1113 or e-mail [email protected].
ALZHEIMER'S ASSOCIATION "LEGAL
AND FINANCIAL PLANNING FOR
ALZHEIMER'S"
own yard and garden? Montgomery County officials agree. Join us on Monday February 23 from
12:15 to 2:00 PM at the Wheaton Library, 11701
Georgia Avenue, Wheaton, Maryland, to learn more
about what the County is doing about the problem
of excessive deer populations and non-native invasive species control and how we can support these
efforts. Guest speaker Rob Gibbs, Department of
Parks and Recreation, will share his expertise on
both issues and answer questions about what you
can do safely in your own yard or garden to combat
these problems. The public is welcome. Drinks and
dessert provided. For information, contact Cindy
Snow at 301-984-9585; email:[email protected].
EMPTY BOWLS - FIGHTING HUNGER
Feb. 25. 6:00-8:00 p.m. Empty Bowls is an international grassroots effort to fight hunger. The
premise is simple: potters and other craftspeople,
educators and others work with the community to
create handcrafted bowls. Attendees are invited to a
simple meal of soup and bread. In exchange for a
cash donation, guests keep a bowl as a reminder of
all the empty bowls in the world.
VisArts’ resident artist Kate Westfall and ceramic
students have created hundreds of handcrafted
bowls for an Empty Bowls event in our community
that will take place on February 25th at VisArts.
Nourish Now, a local non-profit that provided
127,000 meals to those in need in 2014, will prepare
soup and bread for attendees. Since its inception in
May 2011, Nourish Now has rescued more than
300,000 pounds of unused food from restaurants,
caterers and other licensed food providers, which
equates to more than 237,000 prepared meals.
Ticket Prices: Early Bird Ticket $35.00, On Line
Ticket $25.00, At the Door Ticket $30.00 Early
Bird Bowl Selection 5:30-6:00 p.m. Buchanan
Event Room, 2nd Floor
ROCKVILLE’S LUNAR NEW YEAR CELEBRATION
Feb. 28. - 10 a.m.-2 p.m. A special Lunar New
Year celebration will honor Rockville's Asian cultures at the F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre at Rockville
Civic Center Park, 603 Edmonston Drive.
COURTESY PHOTO
Come out and listen to bands comprised of local students and school
staff at Magruder High School's annual MHSTIVAL. All proceeds will
go to the Wounded Warrior Project.
Feb. 24. (part one) and Mar. 3. (part two) 6:00 7:30 p.m. Easter Seals, 1420 Spring St, Silver
Spring, MD 20910. This free two-part workshop is
for individuals and families who would like to know
more about what legal and financial issues to consider and how to put plans in place when they or a
loved one have received a diagnosis of Alzheimer's
disease or dementia. To register, call the
Alzheimer's Association 24/7 Helpline at
800.272.3900.
LEARN WHAT THE COUNTY IS DOING
ABOUT EXCESSIVE DEER POPULATIONS
Feb. 23. 12:15 - 2:00 p.m. Do you think there
are "Too Many Deer and Invasive Plants" threatening our parks and public areas, not to mention your
The event will feature samples of Asian cuisine
and a variety of multigenerational performances and
exhibitors including several dance groups. Also performing will be Flowers of Beijing Opera, the boys
Korean drum group from Spark M. Matsunaga Elementary School in Germantown and the FilipinoAmerican Community of St. Rose of Lima Parish in
Gaithersburg. For more information, contact Janet
Kelly at 240-314-8316 or [email protected]
or visit www.rockvillemd.gov/apataskforce. For information about access, call the City's ADA coordinator at 240-314-8108.
ERNESTO BAZAN PHOTOWORKS
@GLEN ECHO PARK
Feb. 28. 9:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Portfolio Reviews
with Master Photographer Ernesto Bazan - One-OnOne Reviews $150 for up to 30 prints.
3:00 PM - 5:00 PM "A Cuban Trilogy" Ernesto
Bazan Lecture & Book Signing, Elsie Hull Memorial Lecture Series $25 per ticket. Visit glenechophotoworks.org for information & tickets, or check out
our Facebook events page.
WALTZ DANCE SPANISH BALLROOM AT
GLEN ECHO PARK
Mar. 1. 2:45 - 3:30 p.m. - Introductory Waltz
Workshop, 3:30 to 6 p.m. – Dance. Join us for a
Waltz Dance in the Spanish Ballroom at Glen Echo
Park on Sunday, March 1, 2015 featuring the ensemble Taylor Among the Devils playing a lively
mix of folk waltzes with a few other couple dances,
including Hambo, Schottische, Swing, Tango, and
Polka. The 45-minute dance lesson begins at 2:45
p.m. with a half-hour introductory Waltz workshop
February 12, 2015 – February 18, 2015
and a more advanced move presented the last 15
minutes. Social dancing follows until 6 pm. Admission is $10. No partner required. For more information, call Joan Koury at 202-238-0230 or Glen
Echo Park at 301-634-2222, go to www.WaltzTimeDances.org or e-mail [email protected]. The Glen Echo National Park is
located at 7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo, MD
20812.
ONGOING
TEEN WRITER'S CLUB
Thursdays 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Join us at the
Marilyn J. Praisner Library, at 14910 Old Columbia
Pike, Burtonsville, MD 20866, to meet other teens
who share your interest in writing. Learn to improve
your writing and try new approaches. Ages 12 and
up are welcome. For additional library events and
information call 240-773-9460.
A DAY AT THE POOL EXHIBITION
Through Feb. 23. "A Day at the Pool" depicts
the anxiety that underlies a mother's love. Na'ama
Batya Lewin is a photographer and video artist living in Maryland. Her art often explores the roles of
women in society. The responsibilities, expectations
and emotions that come from being a daughter, a
wife and a mother have been recurring themes in
her work. Ms. Lewin has served as adjunct faculty
at the Corcoran College of Art and Design for
eleven years. For more information, visit
www.glenechophotoworks.org or call (301) 6342274. Photoworks Gallery and Photography School,
7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo, MD 20812.
GALLERY B - EXHIBITION: COAXING
THE ELEMENTS
Through Feb. 28. 6 – 9 p.m. Gallery B is
pleased to present its first February exhibition:
Coaxing the Elements featuring woodwork by Lynda Smith-Bügge and jewelry by Katja Toporski.
Coaxing the Elements will be on display from February 4-28, 2015 at Gallery B, located at 7700 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite E, Bethesda, MD. Gallery
hours for the show will be Wednesday – Saturday,
12 – 6 p.m. The exhibition’s opening reception will
coincide with the monthly Bethesda Art Walk on
Friday, February 13th from 6-9pm. Presented by
Bethesda Urban Partnership. Admission: Free.
Phone: 301-215-6660
EXHIBITION: “A POINT IN TIME”: PHOTOGRAPHIC WORKS BY RONALD BEVERLY
Through Feb. 28. Emphasizing texture and detail, Ronald Beverly’s images capture the elusive
quality of light and reveal a sensibility that is clearly
inspired by the masters of large format photography.
Without losing sight of the essential qualities, this
mid-career photographer seizes the opportunity to
refine his vision by embracing the technological advancements of photography and digital imaging.
Price: Free. Location: BlackRock Center for the
Arts, 12901 Town Commons Drive, Germantown,
MD 20874. On INFORMATION: 301.528.2260 or
www.blackrockcenter.org
ART EXHIBIT
Through Feb. 28. - 3:00pm to 5:00pm, FREE.
The public is invited to a reception to meet local
artists Kit-Keung Kan, Freda Lee-McCann, and Insoon Shin whose work is featured in the exhibition
“Transformations of Brush & Paper,” an installation
exploring new directions in Asian brush art, which
will be on view in the Main Gallery at BlackRock
Center for the Arts through February 28, 2015. Free
and open to the public.
WILEY AND THE HAIRY MAN PRESENTED BY IMAGINATION STAGE
COURTESY PHOTO
Leather and Lace bring the intensity and glamour of Stevie Nicks to Rocky
Gap Casino Resortʼs Allegheny Event Center on February 13th.
Through Mar. 15. Written by Suzan Zeder; Music by Harry Pickens; Directed by Kathryn Chase
Bryer This traditional tall tale tells of Wiley who
lives in fear of the Hairy Man who lurks in the
swamp. When Wiley’s Momma attempts to prepare
him to confront the wicked trickster, he pays little
mind. As Wiley ventures into the swamp, he is
forced to think on his feet in order to outwit his opponent. Will Wiley succeed in banishing the big bully from the territory? Best for Ages 6+. Address:
4908 Auburn Ave. Bethesda, MD 20814. Parking:
Parking Lot on Auburn Avenue adjacent to the
building. Free on weekends! Street parking is free
on Sundays. For more information call: 301-2801660. Admission Info: $10+
AFTERNOON GRIEF SUPPORT GROUP
Tuesdays 1:30 p.m.-3 p.m. For anyone grieving
the death of a love one. Registration required at
(301) 921-4400. North Bethesda United Methodist
Church, 10100 Old Georgetown Rd., Bethesda, MD
20814.
LOSS OF A CHILD SUPPORT GROUP
Wednesdays, 6:30 p.m. – 8 p.m. For parents
grieving the death of a child of any age. Registration
required at (301) 921-4400. Montgomery Hospice,
1355 Piccard Dr., Suite 100, Rockville, MD 20850.
EVENING GRIEF SUPPORT GROUP
Thursdays 6:30 p.m. – 8 p.m. For anyone grieving the death of a loved one. Registration required at
(301) 921-4400. Hughes United Methodist Church,
10700 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring, MD 20918.
PARENT LOSS SUPPORT GROUP
Thursdays 6:30 p.m. - 8 p.m. For adults who
have experienced the death of one or both parents.
Registration required at (301) 921-4400. Mt. Calvary Baptist church, 608 North Horner’s Lane,
Rockville, MD 20850.
BACKGAMMON TOURNAMENT
Tuesdays. 6:30 p.m.-10 p.m. Local backgammon tournament on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of
each month starting March 11. More information at
MeetUp.com-DC Metro Backgammon Club. Ruby
Tuesday Westfield Wheaton Mall 11160 Veirs Mill
Rd, Wheaton-Glenmont, MD 20902
[email protected]
CHAMPAGNE BRUNCH
Sundays 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. $33 $12 for unlimited champagne cocktails Executive Chef Todd Wiss
has cooked up a seasonal brunch menu complete
with a brunch time standard – Champagne! Guests
are welcome every Sunday to indulge on Black’s favorites like Smoked Salmon, Chesapeake Bay Blue
Fish Rillette, Herb Crusted Pineland Farms Prime
Rib or breakfast treats like House Made Brioche
French Toast, Quiche and a selection of Chef Wiss’
homemade jams. Visit http://www.blacksbarandkitchen.com or call (301) 652-5525. Black’s Bar
and Kitchen, 7750 Woodmont Ave., Bethesda, MD
20814.
LAUGH RIOT AT THE HYATT
Saturdays 8 p.m.- 10 p.m. Check out a live
standup comedy show by local stand up comics
every weekend at the Hyatt Regency Bethesda.
There's a $25 cash prize joke contest for non-comedian audience members after the show. Check it out
every Saturday night! Comedians can sign up to
perform by emailing [email protected].
$10 at the door. Visit http://www.StandupComedyToGo.com or call (301) 657-1234. Hyatt Regency
Bethesda, 1 Bethesda Metro Center, Bethesda, MD.
CORPORATE BARTENDING FOR CHARITY
Wednesdays 4 p.m.-7 p.m. Send your CEO or
VP to Tommy Joe's to bartend for charity! Can't bartend? No problem, the on-staff bartenders are there
to help for a good cause (no experience necessary).
Represent your company during happy hour, and a
portion of the proceeds will go to the charity of your
choice. Maybe you can even pull off some flair behind the bar and make Tom Cruise proud. Visit tommyjoes.com or call (301) 654-3801 for more information. 4714 Montgomery Ln., Bethesda, MD
20814.
LIVE MUSIC FRIDAYS
Fridays 9:30 p.m.-12:30 p.m. Rock Bottom
Restaurant & Brewery features different music
styles by various live bands that perform both original and cover songs. So come relax and enjoy live
music and Rock Bottom's award-winning handcrafted beer. Visit http://www.rockbottom.com or call
(301) 652-1311 for more information. 7900 Norfolk
Ave., Bethesda, MD 20814.
SALSA NIGHT
Tuesdays 7:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. Come to the
Barking Dog every Tuesday night for their sizzling
Salsa Night. Take lessons with salsa instructor
Continued on page 12
12
Continued from page 11
Michelle Reyes from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. for only
$10. Learn to shake those hips, and then show off
your new skills to the music of a live salsa band during the open dance after class. Visit salsawild.com
or call (301) 654-0022 for more information. 4723
Elm St., Bethesda, MD 20814.
HEY MR. DJ
Fridays 9 p.m.-2 a.m. It’s time to dance! Grab
your friends and come to The Barking Dog for a
good time on the dance floor. Every Friday and Saturday night the Dog brings in a DJ to play the Top
40 and your favorite songs. Make sure you check
out their great drink specials before you show us
what you got! The Barking Dog, Elm Street Bethesda, MD 20814. Free admission.
SPAGNVOLA CHOCOLOATE FACTORY
TOUR
Saturdays and Sundays : 2 p.m. - 6 p.m. Meet
the owners, learn about the origin of chocolate, and
see how it is grown and processed. Experience how
chocolate is made from the actual cacao seed to the
final chocolate during this "sweet" educational tour,
from chocolate bars to truffles to bonbons. Each tour
also includes a FREE chocolate tasting! 360 Main
Street Suite 101 Gaithersburg, Maryland 20878.
Visit http://www.spagnvola.com or call (240) 6546972.
COUNTRY THURSDAYS
Thursdays, 9 p.m. Union Jack's traditionally
British pub in Bethesda heads to the South for their
all new Country Night every Thursday. Live country/rock bands, free cowboy hats for the cowgirls,
bandanas for the cowboys, drink specials, including
$2 PBR cans, $2 Budweiser bottles, $4 Jack Daniels
drinks, food specials including 50 cent hot wings.
Best of all, there's no cover to get in! And be sure to
get there early for Union Jack's famous Beat. 4915
Saint Elmo Ave., Bethesda, MD 20814.
WORLD SERIES OF POKER
Every Tuesday and Sunday night Flanagan's
hosts Poker in the rear from 8-10 p.m. it's Bethesda's
own version of The World Series of poker. Call
(301) 951-0115 for more. Flanagan's Harp and Fiddle, 4844 Cordell Ave., Bethesda, MD 20814.
THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY SENTINEL
Fridays, 8 p.m. Astounding magic and slight of
hand with interactive theatre and hilarious fun. Ages
10 and up. 311 Kent Square Rd, Gaithersburg, MD
20878. For more information: 301-258-6394. Price:
$12 to $15
DROP-IN YOGA IN BETHESDA
Fridays, 6 – 7 p.m. Community classes are
mixed level, one-hour asana classes taught by a rotating selection of Unity Woods teachers. Just drop
in – no registration required! Unity Woods Yoga
Center, 4853 Cordell Ave. Bethesda. Ages 18+.
Cost: $5. For more information, call 301-656-8992.
TEEN SK8 AT WHEATON ICE
Most Friday evenings 8 p.m.– 10 p.m. The
Wheaton Ice Arena is the place to be on Friday
nights! Play along with our theme to get the 'Cheapskate' rate of $6.50 for admission and skates.
Wheaton Regional Park, 11717 Orebaugh Ave in
Wheaton, MD. For more information, call: 301905-3000 or visit: montgomeryparks.org.
THE WIDOWED PERSONS SERVICE OF
MONTGOMERY COUNTY
Weekly support groups for newly widowed persons at three locations: at Margaret Schweinhaut
Center 1000 Forest Glen Rd. Silver Spring on Mondays, at Holiday park Senior Center, 3950 Ferrara
Drive, Wheaton, on Thursdays and at Jane Lawton
(Leland) Center, 4301 Willow Lane, Chevy Chase
on Thursdays. These support groups are open, free
of charge, to all widowed persons who have suffered a loss within the past two years. Those preferring an evening group are encouraged to call the
WPS office. The groups are facilitated by trained
volunteers. For more information or to register,
please call: 301-949-7398 to register. The Widowed
Persons Service is a non-profit volunteer organization sponsored by AARP, the Montgomery County
Mental Health Association, and other community
organizations.
– Compiled by Rebecca Guterman
TAKOMA MOVES! COMMUNITY DANCE
CLASS AT DANCE EXCHANGE
Thursdays, 6:30 - 8 p.m., $10 per class. First
Thursday of each month from 6:30 - 7 p.m., free!
This open-level, community modern class brings together movers of all ages and abilities to move and
make at Dance Exchange. Led by teachers from the
DC region, Takoma Park Moves creates a space to
explore improvisation, technique, and choreography
in an intergenerational class. This drop-in class will
kick off on the first Thursday of each month with a
free, 30 minute get to know you class. New to
dance? Join us. Returning to dance? Join us. Just
want to dance with your family and neighbors? Join
us. Presented by Dance Exchange, 7117 Maple Avenue, Takoma Park, MD. For more information,
please visit: http://danceexchange.org/ or call: 301270-6700.
The Montgomery County
NEED A SITTER? IT’S LEGO TIME AT
VISARTS!
Saturdays, 12 – 5 p.m. at VisArts in Rockville.
Go on a date, get some shopping done, or just relax
for a few hours while your kids get to play with
more than 15 pounds of LEGO bricks! Children can
play on our LEGO race track, build a car, a tall tower, a city or free build. They can even take part in a
LEGO craft project! Our top-notch staff are LEGO
enthusiasts and ready to entertain your kids while
you get some "me" time. Register at [email protected].
Send news of your group’s
event AT LEAST two
weeks in advance to:
GAITHERSBURG ROTARY CLUB WEEKLY MEETING
Every Tuesday, 12:15 to 1:15 p.m. Hilton Hotel,
620 Perry Parkway, Gaithersburg. For more information, please visit www.gaithersburgrotary.org.
THE COMEDY AND MAGIC SOCIETY
Sentinel
regrets to inform
organizations that only
Montgomery County
groups or events located
within the county will be
published on a space-available basis.
The Montgomery County Sentinel
22 W Jefferson St. Suite 309
Rockville, MD. 20850
or email [email protected]
or call 301.838.0788
Some Fun
FEBRUARY 12, 2015
FEBRUARY 12, 2015
THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY SENTINEL
13
14
FEBRUARY 12, 2015
THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY SENTINEL
C
LASSIFIEDS
2039 - In Memoriam
Automotive
1035 - Antiques & Classics
1039 - Domestics
1040 - Imports
1041 - Sports Utility Vehicle
1043 - Pickups, Trucks & Vans
1045 - Motorcycles/Mopeds
1046 - Auto Services
1047 - Parts/Accessories
1051 - Vehicles Wanted
RVʼs
1059 - Airplanes
1065 - Boats
1067 - RVs
Announcements
2001 - Adoptions
2003 - Carpools
2004 - Happy Ads
2005 - Camp Directory
2006 - Classes/Seminars
2008 - Found
2031 - Lost
2033 - General Announcements
2037 - Personal Ads
3089
3093
3095
3101
3102
3103
3104
3105
3107
3109
3115
3118
3123
3125
3129
3130
3133
3135
3137
3141
3143
3145
Services
3000 - Accounting Services
3017 - Business services
3021 - Carpet services
3030 - Ceramic Tile
3031 - Child care services
3033 - Chimney cleaning
3035 - Cleaning services
3039 - Computer Services
3041 - Concrete
3045 - Decorating/Home
Interior
3052 - Editing/Writing
3053 - Elder Care
3055 - Electrical Services
3057 - Entertainment/Parties
3062 - Financial
3066 - General Services
3071 - Gutters
3072 - Hauling
3073 - Health & Fitness
3075 - Home Improvement
3085 - Instruction/Tutoring
3086 - Insurance Services
-
Landscaping
Lawn & Garden
Legal Services
Masonry
Medical/Health
Moving & Storage
Painting
Paving/Seal Coating
Pet Services
Photography
Plumbing
Pressure Cleaning
Roofing
Sewing/Alterations
Snow Removal
Tax Preparation
Tree Services
Upholstering
Wallpapering
Wedding/Parties
Window Cleaning
Windows
Employment
4107 - Resumes/Word
Processing
Professional Services
MDR Contracting
443-506-9222
www.networx.com/C.MDR-Contrete
FREE ESTIMATES
• Driveways
• Roofing
• Decks • Kitchens
• Room Additions
• Baasement Remodels
Seenior Discounts
MHIC#88812
Vacuum Cleaners
Serviced All makes
Free
Estimates
& models
VEHICLES
WANTED
CARS/TRUCKS WANTED!
Top $$$$$ PAID! Running or
Not, All Makes!. Free Towing!
We’re Local! 7 Days/Week. Call
1-800-959-8518
CASH FOR CARS!
Any Make, Model or Year. We
Pay MORE! Running or Not. Sell
Your Car or Truck TODAY. Free
Towing! Instant Offer:
1-888-545-8647
DONATE AUTOS, TRUCKS,
RV’S. LUTHERAN MISSION
SOCIETY Your donation helps
local families with food, clothing, shelter, counseling. Tax deductible. MVA License #W1044.
410-636-0123 or www.LutheranMissionSociety.org
Merchandise
5000 - Give Aways
5002 - Antiques
5003 - Appliances
5004 - Arts, Crafts & Hobbies
5005 - Auction & Estate Sales
5008 - Building Materials
5012 - Cemetery Lots & Crypts
5014 - Computers & Software
5015 - Consignment
5016 - Events/Tickets
5018 - Flea Market
5020 - Furniture
Rentals
6035 - Apartments/Condos
6037 - Apartment Complexes
6039 - Commercial Space
6043 - Homes/Townhomes
6047 - Industrial/Warehouse
6049 - Office Space
6051 - Roommates
6053 - Room for Rent
6057 - Storage Space
6059 - Vacation Rental
6061 - Want to Rent
• 2-story Foyers/Vaulted Ceilings
• Military Discounts
• Drywall/Water Damage Repair • Senior Citizen Discounts
• Power Washing/Decks/Homes
• Licensed & Insured
• Handyman/Carpentry
• MHIC#70338
• Wallpaper Removal
Our showroom & service dept.
ACCOUNTING
SERVICES
BUSINESS
SERVICES
GET CASH NOW
for your Annuity or Structured
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Fast, No Hassle Service! 877693-0934 (M-F 9:35am-7pm ET)
DRIVE TRAFFIC TO YOUR
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1-855-721-6332 x 6 or 301-8528933 today to place your ad before 4.1 million readers. Email
Wanda Smith @ [email protected] or visit our website
at www.mddcpress.com.
PROBLEMS WITH THE IRS OR
STATE TAXES?
Settle for a fraction of what you
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Call 855-970-2032
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SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY
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Unable to work? Denied benefits? We Can Help! WIN or Pay
Nothing! Contact Bill Gordon &
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to start your application today!
PLACE YOUR AD TODAY
IN THE AREA’S PREMIER
NEWSPAPERS,
The Baltimore Sun and The
Washington Post newspapers,
along with 10 other daily newspapers five days per week.
Reach 2.5 million readers with
your ad placement in every
daily newspaper in Maryland,
Delaware and the District of
Columbia. For just pennies on
the dollar reach 2.5 million
readers through the MDDC’s
Daily Classified Connection Network. CALL 1-855-721-6332 x 6;
SPACE is VERY LIMITED; email
[email protected]
or visit our website at
www.mddcpress.com.
To Advertise in The Sentinel:
Phone: 1-800-884-8797
(301) 317-1946
DEADLINES:
Prince Georgeʼs Sentinel
Monday 12:30 pm
Montgomery County Sentinel
Monday 12:30 pm
Specializing in Concrete &
Masonry Construction Since 1977
Driveways
Brick
Sidewalks
Stone
Patios
Stucco
Steps
Chimneys
Custom Design
Basements
(o) 410.663.1224
(c) 443.562.7589
Aerus Electrolux
1702 Joan Ave • Balto 21234
Real Estate
6101 - Commercial property
6117 - Lots & Acreage
6119 - Mobile Homes
6121 - Owners Sale
6123 - Real Estate
6127 - Real Estate Services
6131 - Real Estate Wanted
6133 - Vacation Property
To Place Your Ad Call 410-884-4600 Today!
Factory Authorized Provider
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5022 - Garage/Yard Sales
5024 - Health & Fitness
5026 - Horses, Livestock &
Supplies
5030 - Lawn & Garden
Equipment
5032 - Merchandise For Sale
5034 - Miscellaneous
5036 - Musical Instruments
5040 - Pets & Supplies
5045 - Trips, Tours & Travel
5048 - Wanted to Buy
Positions Wanted
Child Care Wanted
Domestic Help Wanted
Volunteers Wanted
Career Training
Help Wanted, General
Medical
Dental
Allied Health
Part-time Positions
Seasonal Help
Business Opportunities
91 years of service 1924 - 2015
FREE MEDICARE QUOTES!
Get Covered and Save!
Explore Top Medicare Supplement Insurance Plans For
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So Call Now! 877-243-4705
VEHICLES
WANTED
-
Free pick up
& delivery
410-882-1027
AUTO
SERVICES
4109
4121
4122
4123
4134
4135
4139
4140
4141
4142
4155
4163
www.handsonpainters.com 410-242-1737
BUSINESS
SERVICES
PLACE YOUR 2X4 AD IN
THIS NETWORK IN 82 NEWSPAPERS
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Call 1-855-721-6336 x 6 to
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HAULING
1-1 MIN. CALL
HAULS IT ALL
Any size job welcome. Guar.
to beat comp. price. Free est.
Call Mike 410-294-8404.
1AAA ABC Attics, Bsmt, Garage, Yards. 25 yrs of honest
hauling. Same Day. Call Mike:
410-446-1163.
ABM’S HAULING
Clean Houses
Basements, Yards & Attics
Haul free unwanted cars
Match Any Price!!!!!
443-250-6703
HOME
IMPROVEMENT
ALL THINGS BASEMENTY!
Basement Systems Inc. Call us
for all of your basement needs!
Waterproofing, Finishing, Structural Repairs, Humidity and
Mold Control FREE ESTIMATES!
Call 1-800-998-5574
LEGAL
SERVICES
MHIC #3802
WWW.LSCMD.COM
LEGAL
SERVICES
LEGAL
SERVICES
D RIVATE
3044585-1
P
RESOLUTION OF DISPUTES
3 X 2.51 i
Judge NANCY B. SHUGER served for 18 years as an Associate Judge on the
22095
- CNG
District Court Legal
of Maryland forServices
Baltimore City, handling
various civil and criminal
matters.
Alternative
Dispute
Resolution
(ADR)
offers
a creative, positive alterna3044585-1
tive tot the cost and uncertainty of litigation for individuals, businesses, organiza004676NANCY
tions and families. As a former judge, she can assist disputing parties to achieve
reasonable results. ADR offers a way for her to help people discover common
SENTINEL
interests which can allow them to shape their own resolution to their disputes.
Nancy
As a mediator, she acts as a private neutral. She emphasizes that mediation can be
effective wether the parties desire to address differences in an ongoing relationship,
or to reach a mutually agreeable solution to a single dispute, without trial. She uses
mediation, arbitration and settlement conferences successfully for conflict involving
personal injury (including auto torts and premises liability), employment, workplace
conflict, child access, elder law, ethics, collections, contracts and other civil matters.
Nancy B. Shuger • Baltimore, MD
410-903-7813 • [email protected]
MEDICAL/
HEALTH
CAREER
TRAINING
CAREER
TRAINING
ACORN STAIRLIFTS
CURVED OR STRAIGHT MENTION THIS AD SAVE $200.00
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ESTIMATE;
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AIRLINE CAREERS START
HERE
Get hands on training as FAA
certified Technician fixing jets.
Financial aid if qualified. Call for
free information Aviation Institute of Maintenance
1-877-818-0783
www.FixJets.com
AVIATION GRADS WORK
WITH JETBLUE,
Boeing, Delta and others- start
here with hands on training for
FAA certification. Financial aid if
qualified. Call Aviation Institute
of Maintenance 866-823-6729
FEBRUARY 12, 2015
HELP WANTED,
GENERAL
HELP WANTED,
GENERAL
WEBMASTER
D 3044722-1
2 X 3.01 i
47135 Help
Wanted,
General
- CNG
Webmaster
needed
to manage
website
for two
3044722-1
weekly
newspapers.
Responsibilities
include, but
004011WEBMASTER
SENTINEL
not
limited to: Preparing the electronic version
Webmaster
of the publications, designing ads and overseeing
the website. Call 301-728-7949 to apply.
Detailed Job Description
• Placing the PDFs online via FTP site (includes
Display Ads, Classified Ads, and Obituaries)
• Designing/Placing Ads online
• Overseeing website (working the back-end
of the website)
• Creating a new website
The two publications are tabloid size and
the P.G. Sentinel runs about 24 pages
weekly, the Montgomery Sentinel runs
about 64 pages weekly.
Mechanic II
D 3044841-1
2 X 1.76 i
Maryland
Environmental
Service
47135 Help
Wanted, General
- CNGseeks
a3044841-1
Mechanic II at the MRF in
003173MDEVSERVICEMEC
Montgomery
County, MD. Must have a
SENTINEL
HS
diploma/GED
plus 5 years experience.
MDEvService
Mechanic
View all requirements on Careers Page
on www.menv.com. Send resume Attn:
400385 to MES 259 Najoles Road,
Millersville, MD 21108, or fax to
410-729-8235,
or
email
to
[email protected]
CAREER
TRAINING
YOU CAN BE CAREER-READY
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16
THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY SENTINEL
FEBRUARY 12, 2015
TRAVEL
The last post card from little Nakhchivan
Travel Tales
By
Llewellyn Toulmin
Today I’ll tell you a true story
about a sort-of country that I bet you
never heard of. What do you want to
bet?
I am talking about Nakhchivan
(or Naxҫivan, or about ten other
similar names), and it is just east of
Turkey, northeast of Iran, and southwest of Armenia. I’ll bet I won our
bet!
If it makes you feel better, I had
never heard of it either, until it was
added a few years ago to the list of
worldwide “countries and sovereign
territories” compiled by the Travelers’ Century Club (TCC). The TCC
is a club for people who have been to
more than 100 places on their list of
315 countries, and there are about
1000 members in various chapters
around the world.
Naturally, since it is remote, little-known, on the list, and I am a
TCC member, I had to go.
That is not easy. Nakhchivan is
an Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan, but is an “exclave” of that
country, meaning it is separated
from Azerbaijan by a disputed area,
held by Armenia. You cannot take a
train, since those were stopped
decades ago by Armenian gunfire,
and you wouldn’t want to try to drive from Azerbaijan, unless you
dipped down into Iran to avoid Armenia. Like most Americans, I am a
tad nervous about dipping into Iran.
And eastern Turkey is a rather dangerous these days.
The only feasible way to get
there is to fly from Baku, the capital
of Azerbaijan. There are one hour
flights every day, which (oddly) fly
over Armenian airspace, headed
west to the capital of Nakhchivan,
which is, naturally, Nakhchivan.
You can’t book your flight from
abroad, but must work with an Azerbaijani travel agent, who will also
help you get a visa for Azerbaijan.
(Don’t bother with the Government
of Azerbaijan website that promises
to get you a visa -- it doesn’t work
and apparently never has!)
By the way, most people do not
know that Azerbaijan means “land
of the fiery lane stradlers,” after
their driving habits going back to
Neolithic times.
The Nakhchivan Autonomous
Republic has a population of about
434,000, and the capital has 86,000
inhabitants. The “country” has 2100
square miles, a little smaller than
Delaware.
As I flew in, I started to wonder
why I was going. The land was arid,
ridged and brown, with apparently
no crops, no trees, no grass – pretty
much no nothing. Taking a taxi in to
town from the airport, I was reminded of those former Warsaw Pact
countries I had worked in during the
early 1990s after the Iron Curtain
fell. The architecture and the cars
were very blocky and Soviet, the infrastructure was run down, the
buildings had peeling paint, the
streets were dusty and full of potholes, and there was little traffic -unlike oil-rich Baku, which was
stuffed with late model Range
Rovers.
The Tabriz Hotel, the largest
and finest in the Republic, had some
issues, too. The heating in December was on full blast, so the temperature in my room was 95 degrees F
(typical Soviet style). To get the
temperature down to something livable, I had to open the window and
the door, and pry off the part of the
wall covering the heater, to turn it
off. Naturally, the Internet connection did not work, so I could not look
up the local sights.
But I remembered some interesting facts from my previous Internet research. The name Nakhchivan
means “place of descent” or “first
landing” – meaning the place where
Noah’s Ark first touched down after
the Flood. Local residents say that
the top of nearby Snake Mountain
was hit by the keel of the Ark. Mt.
Ararat in Turkey, where the Ark finally came to rest, is only 70 miles
away from the city of Nakhchivan,
and just 30 miles from the closest
part of the Republic of Nakhchivan.
Nakhchivan’s history goes back
to Biblical times, but its present existence and borders are largely the
work of Vladimir Lenin, who in
1920 ordered a referendum asking
the residents whether they wanted to
be part of Azerbaijan or Armenia. If
you can trust Lenin, the vote was 80
percent for Azerbaijan.
Next month we will go on a
tour of the exclave, and I will fight a
titanic battle to send the last post
card ever mailed from Nakhchivan.
Lew and Susan Toulmin live in
Silver Spring and have sailed on
every ocean. Star Clippers line can
be reached at 760 NW 107th Ave.,
Suite 100, Miami, FL 33172; 800442-0551, 305-442-0550; www.starc l i p p e r s . c o m ;
[email protected].
PHOTOS COURTESY LEW TOULMIN
Above, the airport in tiny Nakchivan. At right, Snake Mountain, where Noahʼs ark grounded the first time.
PHOTOS BY LEW TOULMIN
The mighty Hotel Tabriz in Nakhchivan, where it is 95 degrees all winter
February 12, 2015
The Montgomery County Sentinel
17
R.M. survives B-CC scare in overtime 57-49
By Julian Sadur
Sentinel Sports
ROCKVILLE – The Richard
Montgomery trio of Nick Jackson,
Renzo Farfan and Daniel Alexander
combined for 15 of their team’s final
22 points to lift the Rockets (16-1, 70) over Bethesda Chevy-Chase (105, 5-2) 57-49 in overtime at home
Friday night.
The Richard Montgomery victory puts the Rockets back on the
winning side of things after Springbrook brought an end to their undefeated season last Friday.
“This was a more important win
to us than anything that Springbrook
could have offered,” said Rockets
coach David Breslaw. “This puts us
two games ahead of everyone for the
division. As long as we don’t just
think we’re going to coast through
the rest of the division season then
we’re going to be able to get that banner and that’s something we haven’t
had for five years – that’s history.”
During the first half the Rockets
stretched their lead over the Barons
to as much as six points but could not
put their opponents away.
A 3-pointer by Rockets guard
Justin Nikakhtar gave his team a slim
28-27 lead over the Barons at the
half.
Farfan ended the third in similar
fashion, knocking down a triple to
give the Rockets a one-point lead
heading in the fourth quarter.
The Barons came out in the
fourth hot, opening the quarter on a
7-2 scoring run after Kevin Holston
sparked the team with an and-one –
but the Rockets answered back.
Down four points with less than
4 minutes to go in the game Farfan
converted a key and-one to pull the
Rockets within one point of B-CC.
Minutes later Jackson hit a triple
out of a Rockets timeout before BCC’s Livio Caputo sank a layup to
send the game into overtime.
Jackson said he never doubted
the 3-pointer and that it “looked good
as soon as it left my hand.”
Alexander would take care of
the job in overtime, tallying eight of
his total 13 points in the period to
seal the key divisional win for his
team.
“Like (Rockets assistant) Coach
Schools always tells me, let the game
come to you,” Alexander said. “And
I think the team finds me late in the
game.”
Defensively the Rockets contained Barons leading scorer Justin
Carter, holding him scoreless from
the field so that all five of Carter’s
points came from the free throw line.
Baron’s coach Sean Tracy
chalked Carter’s subpar performance
to a mixture of fatigue and bad
chance.
“He looked a little tired out
there, maybe I kept him out there too
long, didn’t really give him a break
as he needed,” Tracy said. “But those
are shots he normally hits and they
were just falling short and that’s just
the way the ball rolled tonight.”
The Rockets also shut down the
Barons’ perimeter shooting, holding
them to a 1-of-11 night from beyond
the arc. Breslaw praised his team for
the shutdown and said it was a focal
point of his team’s strategy coming
into the matchup.
“A lot of what we focused on
this week was preventing the three
and closing out on threes,” said Breslaw. “And that is the one goal we accomplished today, that we can say
outright ‘we did that’ and that’s not
always something basketball teams
do after a game.”
PHOTO BY DAVID WOLFE
Richard Montgomery defenders corner B-CC during overtime.
Springbrook takes to the road and excites crowd in victory over Sherwood
By Brandy L. Simms
Senior Sports Writer
SANDY SPRING – Friday
night’s colossal matchup on the
hardwood between host Sherwood
and visiting Springbrook lived up
to its star billing as standout guards
Donovan Walker and Xavier McCants went head-to-head for five
quarters before the Blue Devils
emerged with a 73-68 road win
over the Warriors in overtime.
Walker, Springbrook’s leading
scorer, finished with a season-high
28 points including five threepointers to help the Blue Devils
clinch the division championship.
The win also helped Springbrook
avenge a four-point loss to Sherwood last month.
Springbrook also got a solid
performance from Falu Seck and
Aaron Burton who both scored in
double figures. Seck finished with
15 points and Burton added 10
points for the Blue Devils.
“I thought that young man
Donovan took the game over and
he wanted to make sure that we
didn’t want to lose that game,” said
Springbrook head coach Darnell
Myers, “and I thought E.J. Dyson
and Aaron Burton got some crucial
rebounds down the stretch.”
Sherwood led after the first period but Springbrook rallied to tie
the game at halftime, 34-34. The
teams went back and forth in the
third and fourth quarters before
Walker’s sharpshooting in overtime helped the Blue Devils prevail.
“It showed we had a lot of
confidence in each other,” said
Walker. “We listened to our coach
who was very confident in his play
calling and everything. We just
knew we could beat them. They’re
a very good team to play against.”
Meanwhile, Sherwood was led
by Geremiah Charles who scored a
team-high 22 points and McCants
who added 21 points before fouling
out in overtime.
18
THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY SENTINEL
February 12, 2015
SPORTS
Kennedy tops Q.O. in a defensive struggle
By Brandy L. Simms
Senior Sports Writer
GAITHERSBURG – Kennedy
head coach Diallo Nelson was quite
animated during Tuesday night’s
road contest against Quince Orchard
at Thomas R. Kautz Memorial Gymnasium.
Nelson told his team in the huddle after the third quarter, “I don’t
care if nobody scores another point
as long as we have 26 and they have
24.”
A few moments later, Kennedy
sophomore guard Jonathan Mustamu knocked down a 3-pointer to
help lift the Cavaliers to a 42-35
road victory over the Cougars.
“He’s always pushing us to play
our hardest,” Mustamu said about
Nelson’s inspirational speeches.
“That’s just how he does it and it
works so I’m glad.”
Mustamu, Kennedy’s leading
scorer, finished with a game-high 18
points while teammates Kani Channer, a sophomore, and junior Dexter
Pelap each scored 10 points for the
Cavaliers.
“Three of my top four scorers
are sophomores,” said Nelson, who
noted Mustamu has drawn interest
from some prominent local AAU
programs.
For Kennedy, the win marked
the Cavaliers’ tenth win this season
and snapped a three-game losing
streak.
Kennedy controlled the tempo
for much of the game and outscored
Quince Orchard in the fourth quar-
Friedgen out as Rutgers OC
By Brandy L. Simms
Senior Sports Writer
Former Maryland head coach
Ralph Friedgen is one and done as
the offensive coordinator at Rutgers.
Rutgers head coach Kyle Flood
announced Tuesday that Friedgen
would not return as the Scarlet
Knights’ offensive coordinator but
would instead transition to the role of
special assistant to the head coach.
“He’s been very valuable to us
over the last year,” said Flood, who
guided Rutgers to an 8-5 record last
season in its inaugural Big Ten campaign, “and there’s no doubt that
he’ll be valuable to the program going forward.”
In his lone season as Rutgers offensive coordinator, Friedgen directed an offense that rushed for 340
yards in the Quick Lane Bowl during
a 40-21 victory over North Carolina.
Friedgen also helped engineer
the Scarlet Knights to a 41-38 victory
over Maryland in the regular season
finale. The win marked the biggest
comeback in school history.
Behind senior quarterback Gary
Nova, Rutgers rallied from a 25point deficit in the second quarter en
route to the three-point road win over
Maryland.
During a Tuesday teleconference, Friedgen said he’s not stepping
down for health reasons but instead
wanted to enjoy the fruits of his labor
and focus on his family including a
new grandchild.
“I think it’s time for me to smell
the roses,” he said, “and what Coach
Flood has given me an opportunity to
do which I think is very unique is still
be in a support role and be able to
contribute to Rutgers football, which
has been unbelievably good to me,
and still be able to do the things that I
want to do, and I feel very fortunate
that I have that opportunity.”
Makosy takes Kennedy job
By Brandy L. Simms
Senior Sports Writer
Former Damascus head football
coach Dan Makosy is back in the
saddle again.
Makosy, who spent last season
as Good Counsel’s special teams coordinator, has landed the head coaching job at Kennedy.
“I’m very excited about it,” said
Makosy. “We’ve got a very supportive administration over there.”
Makosy, who replaced Carlos
Smith at the helm, becomes
Kennedy’s fifth head coach since
2000 and will inherit a program that
finished 1-8 last season.
Smith compiled a 10-29 record
in four seasons including three consecutive 3-7 campaigns. The Silver
Spring public school has not made
the postseason since Gunnard Twyn-
er guided the Cavaliers to back-toback playoff appearances in 2006
and 2007.
During a decade-long tenure at
Damascus, Makosy became one of
the most successful football coaches
in Montgomery County history. He
compiled a 102-20 record and guided
the Swarmin’ Hornets to three Maryland state titles.
In 2005, Makosy led Damascus
to a 14-0 record including the Maryland 3A state championship and was
named The Sentinel Coach of the
Year.
Amid complaints to school administrators over his personal finances, Makosy was unceremoniously removed from the head coaching position at Damascus and had a
brief stint as an assistant at Einstein
before landing the head job at Hammond in 2009.
ter.
“We just continued to play defense and execute on offense and we
did our thing tonight,” said Mustamu.
Meanwhile, Quince Orchard
sophomore Matt Kelly finished with
a team-high 14 points including four
3-pointers while Eli Maynard and
John Fierstein – two of the Cougars’
leading scorers – combined for just
two points in a game that marked
Quince Orchard’s third consecutive
loss.
“There’s the whole story right
there isn’t it?” Quince Orchard head
coach Paul Foringer said afterward.
“And you know what? They weren’t
even guarding those kids man-toman.”
After opening the regular sea-
PHOTO BY DAVID WOLFE
Dylan Bikim makes his move for Quince Orchard.
son with nine straight wins, the
Cougars have shown they are mortal. Quince Orchard seeks to snap
their current losing skid and close
out the regular season with wins
over Watkins Mill, Sherwood and
Tuscarora in their final three games
before the postseason.
Junior College talent converges on Rockville
Julian Sadur
Sentinel Sports
ROCKVILLE – This weekend
Maryland’s top eight men’s and
women’s junior college basketball
teams will converge at Montgomery
College’s Rockville campus to compete for the title of Maryland Junior
College (MDJUCO) Tournament
champions.
“It’s exciting anytime you get
the schools from the state to come. It
should be great basketball and very
competitive. There isn’t a vast difference between the one and eight seeds,
so I’m looking for four days of great
basketball,” said Derek Carr, athletic
director for Montgomery College.
Montgomery College’s women’s
team will be competing this weekend.
This is the first year that Montgomery College will host the newly
formatted MDJUCO Tournament,
which in previous years allowed
every team in the conference a shot at
getting in by way of play-in games. In
the new format, only the top eight
teams in the conference standings at
the conclusion of the season get to
play.
“Everybody’s familiar with
March madness – this is similar, it’s
the conference tournament,” Carr
said. “It’s the beginning of that time
of year when bragging rights take
place.”
Tara Owens, athletic director
and women’s head coach for Baltimore City Community College
(BCCC), said there is a $5 admission
charge for each day of the tournament, but fans that come will get to
see potential division I talent. Both
BCCC men’s and women’s teams
will play this weekend.
“I coached basketball in the
NCAA in division I and division II
for 15 years, these are the players that
the coaches want,” Owens said.
According to Rocco Geppi, athletic operations assistant for Community College of Baltimore County
(CCBC) Dundalk, which also has
both men’s and women’s teams in the
tournament, the MDJUCO is a bargain for anyone who enjoys the game
of basketball.
“I think what you’re going to
see, to sum it all up, is a huge amount
of athletics, the (division I) studentathletes of tomorrow and the most
bang for your buck,” Geppi said.
The women’s tournament will
start on Thursday at 1 p.m. with No. 1
seed BCCC playing No. 8 seed
CCBC Dundalk. The men’s tournament will start Friday at 1 p.m. with
No. 3 seed CCBC Dundalk playing
No. 6 seed CCBC Catonsville.
The semi-final games for both
the men’s and women’s tournaments
will take place Saturday followed by
the championship games on Sunday
at 3 p.m. and noon respectively.
Fans who want to cheer for their
team on social media are being asked
to use the hashtag #MDJUCO. The
complete tournament schedule and
additional information can be found
on the Montgomery College athletic
department’s website.
Men’s Teams and Conference
Record
No. 1 Frederick Community College (11-3)
Player to Watch: #10 Taeshun
Huffman, sophomore guard – 16.3
points per game (ppg)
No. 2 Garret Community College
(11-3)
Player to Watch: #24 DeAndre
Davis, sophomore forward – 17.8 ppg,
11.5 rebounds per game (rpg)
No. 3 CCBC Dundalk (10-4)
Player to Watch: #1 Malachy Onwudiegwu, sophomore guard – 16.8
ppg, 1.7 steals per game (spg)
No. 4 Baltimore City Community
College (10-4)
Player to Watch: #0 Brian Kelley,
sophomore guard – 10.4 ppg, 5.5 assists
per game (asg)
No. 5 Howard Community College (9-5)
Player to Watch: #3 Ian Vasquez,
sophomore guard – 17.2 ppg, 4.2 rbg
No. 6 CCBC Catonsville (9-5)
Player to Watch: #23 Marcus
Knight, freshman guard- 13.8 ppg
No. 7 Harford Community College (9-5)
Player to Watch: #1 Brandon
Spain, sophomore guard - 19.4 ppg, 5.5
ppg, 4.5 ppg
No. 8 Cecil Community College
(8-6)
Player to Watch: #3 Fateem
Glenn, freshman guard - 18.8 ppg, 9.9
apg
Women’s Teams and Conference
Record
No. 1 Baltimore City Community
College (11-1)
Player to Watch: #24 Michelle
Wright, sophomore guard -21.1 ppg,
10.3 rbg, 3.9 spg 1.7 blocks per game
No. 2 Harford Community College (11-1)
Player to Watch: #1 Jazmin Johnson, sophomore guard -21 ppg, 6.4 apg,
3 spg
No. 3 Chesapeake Community
College (10-2)
Player to Watch: #21 Daria Simmons, sophomore guard – 17.2 ppg, 3.5
spg
No. 4 Hagerstown (9-3)
Player to Watch: #40 Olivia Turner, sophomore forward – 12.4 ppg, 7.2
rbg
No. 5 College of Southern Maryland (7-5)
Player to Watch: #20 Amber
Lewis, freshman forward – 10.5 ppg,
8.3 rbg
No. 6 Montgomery College (6-6)
Player to Watch: #4 Jerbia Smith,
sophomore guard – 19.2 ppg, 7.6 rbg,
4.4 apg, 3.4 spg
No. 7 Prince George’s Community College (6-6)
Player to Watch: #20 Jaida Jenkins, sophomore forward – 19.7 ppg,
15.5 rpg, 1.6 spg
No. 8 CCBC Dundalk (5-7)
Player to Watch: #21 Hollie Booker,
freshman center – 7.9 ppg, 10.4 rbg
Statistics courtesy of MDJUCO.org.
FEBRUARY 12, 2015
19
THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY SENTINEL
SPORTS
Seneca Valley rallies to beat Damascus 59-58
By Julian Sadur
Sentinel Sports
DAMASCUS – First-year
Seneca Valley basketball coach Brian Humphrey won plenty of games
at Damascus High School both as a
coach and a player.
Tuesday night the former Hornet coach’s Screamin’ Eagles (11-6,
11-2) rallied from being down eight
points with a minute and a half left to
give Humphrey his first win at Damascus (8-8, 5-3) as a visitor 59-58.
Humphrey, who coached the
Hornets junior varsity program for
eight years and summer league team
for four in addition to playing every
one of his four years attending the
school, has to thank junior forward
Quentin Twyman for Tuesday
night’s win. Twyman contributed 13
of his team-high 20 points in the
fourth quarter, including two stretches where he scored six straight
points and five straight points for his
team.
“It feels great to pull off a win
for us and coach,” Twyman said.
“We have his back through thick and
thin, he’s like our brother and we
love him like one of us.”
Humphrey said he was almost
lost for words by the effort Twyman
displayed on the court.
“To dig deep like that and really
get back-to-back-to-back baskets
when we need them, you know I
don’t even know what to say, it
makes me want to give (Twyman) a
big old hug,” Humphrey said. “He’s
had the potential all year and he’s really started to come around these last
couple games and started to use his
body to finish around the basket.
He’s great.”
The Screamin’ Eagles led
briefly in the first quarter 11-10, but
Damascus would regain the lead before the quarter’s close and would
not relinquish it until the final seconds of the game.
After Seneca Valley leading
scorer Brandon Simpson scored six
points in the first quarter, Damascus
took Simpson out of the game offensively with a box-and -one defense,
putting a man on Simpson wherever
he went.
The next two quarters the stifling Damascus defense would hold
Simpson scoreless and force the Eagles to settle for jump shots and runners. But despite the Hornets’ efforts
to pull away, Seneca Valley closely
trailed the Hornets 40-34 heading
into the final stanza.
The resiliency of the Screamin’
Eagles paid off as missed freethrows would give them a chance
late in the fourth quarter to mount
their comeback. After Damascus senior guard Matthew Torrence missed
one of his two bonus free throw
shots, Seneca Valley’s Dejuan Smith
rose to the occasion and knocked
down a huge triple to bring his team
within two with 52 seconds left.
Damascus turned over the ball
on the next play, giving Twyman the
opportunity to tie the game at 57
with 45 seconds to go with a tough
bucket in the paint.
Damascus again hit only one of
its two bonus free throw attempts,
opening the court for Simpson to
score the game-winner with 6.5 seconds left after getting his own rebound and putting it back up.
“We’re two-for-six from the
free throw line in the last minute, so
you’re not going to win many basketball games that way,” said Damascus coach Butch Marshall.
Marshall said he felt proud of
his team for battling against a
Seneca Valley team bigger and more
athletic than his Hornets.
The Hornets will have a key divisional game Friday when they host
Einstein (9-6, 6-2). Seneca Valley
will host division opponent
Poolesville (2-14, 0-2) on Friday
ut instead we get to play the
game.”
Carter signs to play with Penn State
By Brandy L. Simms
Senior Sports Writer
Like father, like son.
Nearly three and a half decades
after former football standout Aaron
Carter signed a national letter of intent
with East Carolina in 1981, his son
Kamonte made his verbal pledge official last week when the Gaithersburg
High School senior signed with Penn
State on National Signing Day.
Aaron Carter said Kamonte’s
signing with the Nittany Lions was
like déjà vu.
“I was recruited and offered by
Penn State as well,” said Aaron
Carter, a former Gaithersburg defensive end who played for the legendary
John H. Harvill.
Carter recalled sitting in
Harvill’s office 34 years ago and signing his letter of intent as a heavily recruited high school senior. The proud
father now toils as Gaithersburg’s defensive coordinator and has watched
his son develop into a major college
prospect over the past few years.
Kamonte Carter, who also received offers from Illinois, Maryland,
Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska
and Pittsburgh among others, said his
father’s influence on his football career has been “ideal.”
“He’s been there in every which
way,” admitted Kamonte Carter, who
plans to play defensive end in college.
“In home life. Academic support. On
the field, off the field, even car rides
home. Whenever we could get a
chance to talk about football we talk
about football.”
Meanwhile, longtime Gaithersburg head coach Kreg Kephart, a
Gaithersburg alumnus who also
played for Harvill, recalled watching
Aaron Carter play in high school.
“I remember watching him play
against Magruder one Saturday,” said
Kephart. “He wasn’t bad. We’ll see if
Kamonte can step into those shoes.”
During Kamonte’s tenure at
Gaithersburg, the 6-foot-4, 257pounder was a two-way standout for
the Trojans. He even lined up at quarterback on occasion in addition to his
duties on the defensive line.
“If Kamonte can fulfill his potential,” said Kephart, “he’ll be very successful at Penn State.”
2015 Montgomery County
Football Signees
Grant Ibeh, Avalon, Central Connecticut State
Garrett Kapstein-O’Brien, Blair,
Fairmont State
Tuflah Davies, Paint Branch, Fairmont State
Martin Tamga, Paint Branch, Saint
Anselm
Kamonte Carter, Gaithersburg, Penn
State
Adam McLean, Quince Orchard,
Maryland
Dorian Jones, Quince Orchard,
Gannon
PHOTO BY DAVID WOLFE
Dejuan Smith expresses his excitement as Seneca Valley wins.
Currie signs with Mercury
Jonathan Holland, Bullis, Penn
State
Devonte Williams, Bullis, Indiana
Damola Orimolade, Bullis, Marist
Andrew Ashley, Good Counsel,
Monmouth
Darius Fullwood , Good Counsel,
Virginia Tech
Nick Miller, Good Counsel, Pennsylvania
Jared Hardie, Good Counsel, Arizona
Roger Richardson, Good Counsel,
Robert Morris
Myles Robinson, Good Counsel,
Virginia
Keon Paye, Good Counsel, Towson
David Forney, Georgetown Prep,
Navy
Paul Padalino, Landon, Richmond
Kolby Williams, Landon, Richmond
Jalen Christian, Damascus, South
Carolina
Barrington Davis, Clarksburg, Nassau Community College
Jimmy DeLuzio, Clarksburg, Massachusetts Maritime Academy
Jesse Locke, Churchill, Gannon
Neven Sussman, Sherwood, Albany
Calvin Bacon, Sherwood, Cheyney
Tyler Jones, Sherwood, Notre Dame
College (Ohio)
Brendan Thompson, Northwest,
Millersville
Brandon Williams, Northwest,
Georgetown
Anton Casey, Whitman, Brown
By Brandy L. Simms
Senior Sports Writer
Former Bullis School basketball standout Monique Currie has
signed a free agent contract with the
Phoenix Mercury.
The D.C. native has spent the
majority of her professional career
with the Washington Mystics but
joins a three-time WNBA Champion
as she enters her 10th season in the
league.
“Monique is a proven scorer
who is versatile and athletic,” said
Mercury General Manager Jim Pitman. “She can handle the ball, create, slash and rebound. Her strength
and length also will help us defensively, and we are excited to add her.
She has been known throughout her
career for athleticism and rebounding, but she can also open up the
court for us offensively as she is an
excellent passer. Having this veteran
presence on our team immediately
makes us better.”
Currie boasts career averages of
10.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists over nine WNBA seasons with
Washington and Charlotte.
Currie was originally selected
by the Charlotte Sting with the third
overall pick in the 2006 WNBA
Draft out of Duke University and later selected with the first overall pick
in the 2007 WNBA Dispersal Draft
by the Chicago Sky. She was traded
from the Sky to the Mystics during
the 2007 campaign.
During her high school career at
Bullis, Currie helped lead the Bulldogs to back-to-back Independent
School League championships in
her junior and senior campaigns. A
four-year varsity starter, Currie
earned numerous individual accolades during her high school career
including being named All-ISL
throughout her tenure at the Potomac private school. She was also
named Parade second team AllAmerican, Nike All-American and
earned the Maryland Gatorade Player of the Year honor during her senior campaign.
Your community. Our world.
The Prince George’s Sentinel
www.thesentinel.com
20
THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY SENTINEL
FEBRUARY 12, 2015