RETURN of the PIXIES
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Popular band stops by Strathmore with retooled lineup B-5
The Gazette POTOMAC | NORTH POTOMAC
DAILY UPDATES ONLINE www.gazette.net
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
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Women charged with murder in exorcism held without bond n
Hearing for Monifa Sanford postponed until Friday
BY
ST. JOHN BARNED-SMITH STAFF WRITER
She saw the devil possessing her four children, turning their eyes black, leaping from child to child, prosecutors said. So to try to exorcise the demon, Zakieya L. Avery, along with another woman who
lived with her, attacked the little children. Avery stabbed them, killing her 1-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter. Thinking the devil inhabited the bodies of her older children, she attacked the other two — one, 5, the other, 8 — prosecutors said. Avery, 28, and her roommate Monifa Sanford, 21, call themselves the “Demon Assassins” and each faces two counts of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder. They appeared in court via closed-circuit television Tuesday at a
bail review hearing, where Montgomery County District Judge Gary G. Everngam ordered the two women remain in custody without bail. Avery must undergo a psychiatric evaluation by health officials. Sanford’s hearing was postponed to Friday. Officials say once the psychiatric evaluations are completed, both women will likely be transferred to a maximum security psychiatric hospital to receive further evaluation and care.
See EXORCISM, Page A-10
Sanford
Avery
Pond where boy drowned was lacking safety fence
Running through woods on a snowy morning
Westbrook Acquisitions cited for failing to have fence around sediment pond n
BY
ST. JOHN BARNED-SMITH AND KRISTA BRICK STAFF WRITERS
The building will include a gymnasium, exercise hall, social hall, kitchen and senior/community lounge. It also will have an arts room, game room, conference room, offices, lobby, restrooms, vending space and storage space. The total cost for the center, according to the fiscal 2015 budget, is $37.46 million. Of the total, $19.25 million is in the proposal. Much of the preliminary work for the center has
The iced-over Gaithersburg sediment pond where a 10-year-old boy slipped through on Jan. 13 and later died lacked fencing required by city officials. On Jan. 13, D’Angelo Jayvon McMullen of Rockville had been playing with his brother and another boy on the pond when the ice gave way. Montgomery County Fire and Rescue personnel rescued two of the boys quickly, but had to search for D’Angelo for much longer. Rescue officials surmised that he could have been submerged for up to half an hour. He died at a local hospital later that night. The pond was only partially fenced. On Jan. 14, the city issued a Notice of Violation to Fran Speed, a representative of Warner Construction, the site managers for Westbrook Acquisitions LLC, the developer. The notice required a 42-inch high safety fence to be reinstalled on all open sides of the pond pursuant to the sediment and erosion control plan, according to Wes Burnette, division chief for the city’s Permits and Inspections Division. While there is not a city or state code requiring safety fencing on sediment ponds, a fence was required here as part of the planning approval process during construction. John Schlichting, Gaithersburg’s director of Planning and Code Administration, said in an email that the fence must be at least 42 inches high, have posts spaced no farther apart than 8 feet, have mesh openings no greater than two inches in width and four inches in height, with a minimum of 14-gauge wire. Once construction is complete on the property and the pond is converted to a stormwater management pond, the fence can be permanently removed, Burnette wrote in an email to The Gazette.
See BUDGET, Page A-10
See POND, Page A-10
DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE
During the season’s first major snowfall Tuesday morning, Richard Novak of Bethesda finishes a 40-minute run along the C&O Canal towpath at Old Anglers Inn in Potomac. Montgomery County was expected to receive anywhere from 4 to 10 inches, as the storm snarled traffic throughout the region. The snow was accompanied by temperatures falling through the 20s and teens, with the unseasonably cold weather forecast to linger into the weekend.
Berliner introduces package of green energy bills One measure would increase energy efficiency for buildings
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BY
RYAN MARSHALL STAFF WRITER
The chairman of the Montgomery County Council’s Transportation, Infrastructure, Energy and Environment Committee has introduced a package of bills and zoning changes that he believes will help cement the county’s standing as one of the
country’s leaders in clean and sustainable energy. The legislation would make the county a “community that embraces sustainability at our core,” Councilman Roger Berliner wrote in a Jan. 14 letter to his council colleagues. The 11 bills in the package are scheduled for public hearings at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 11. The two zoning text amendments are scheduled for public hearings at 1:30 p.m. Feb. 25. Among the bills are ones that would seek to increase energy efficiency by requiring the county government to increase the chances for telecom-
muting, making it easier to approve alternativeenergy projects and creating preferences in the county’s procurement process for companies that are green-certified. Councilwoman Nancy Floreen (D-At Large) of Garrett Park is cosponsoring all 11 bills. Council President Craig Rice (D-Dist. 2) of Germantown, Vice President George Leventhal (D-At Large) of Takoma Park and Councilmen Philip M. Andrews (DDist. 3) of Gaithersburg, Hans Riemer (D-At Large)
See BILLS, Page A-10
Executive’s budget includes funds for two Potomac projects Spending proposed for Adaptive Sports Court and Community Recreation Center
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BY
PEGGY MCEWAN STAFF WRITER
Two long-awaited Potomac-area recreation facilities are in Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett’s proposed fiscal 2015 capital budget and fiscal years 2015-2020 capital improvements pro-
gram. One is the previously delayed North Potomac Community Recreation Center. The other is the completion of the Potomac Adaptive Sports Court, planned for the abandoned roller hockey rink behind the Potomac Community Recreation Center. The North Potomac Community Recreation Center will be a 33,000-square-foot community center on approximately 17 acres at 13860 Travilah Road in Rockville.
SPORTS
500 TO 1,000 SHOTS
Sandy Spring Friends basketball player finds perfection in repetition.
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