THE GAZETTE
Page A-4
Wednesday, January 29, 2014 r
New roads’ impact on White Flint considered n
Street realignment depends on development schedules, funds availability BY
ELIZABETH WAIBEL STAFF WRITER
A new road network is an integral part of the county’s White Flint Sector Plan, but many hurdles stand in the way before construction can begin. Planners are still designing the details of a road network in the rapidly urbanizing area around the White Flint Metro station, according to Dee Metz, Montgomery County’s White Flint implementation coordinator. They are well along in the design process, she said, and are currently working on the layout for utilities and a stormwater management plan. “Even though we might not build it all at one time, we’re designing it all at one time,” she said.
The county’s long-term plan for the area includes new roads and intersections that in some places cut through properties that already have parking lots or buildings on them. The plan calls for realigning Executive Boulevard, which runs behind the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center. In order to straighten out the street, it would have to run through what is now a parking lot for the conference center and a building that formerly housed VOB Auto Sales. Before construction can begin on the new road network, the county must build a parking garage for the conference center and figure out what will happen to the car dealership building, Metz said. “The conference center is very successful; we can’t take up so much of their parking,” Metz said. “... We’re putting the garage there, but eventually that will turn into a more mixed-use [building] behind
the conference center.” Funding is already in place for a conference center parking garage, Metz said. Other projects, such as a parking structure for Wall Park is still not funded nor is there funding in place to obtain land for roads from private property owners. Metz said the sector plan anticipated private property owners redeveloping at the same time as the road network was being built. If they don’t, the government may have to buy the property or go through the costly process of taking land through eminent domain, also referred to as condemnation. The owners of the VOB building have said they are interested in redevelopment, Metz said, but they have not yet submitted any development plans. “Unless the property owners are developing at the same time, to go forward, we would have to condemn that property,” she said. Planners are still talking to the
property owner and looking into whether they could build that segment of the road at a later date, Metz said, so they might not move forward with condemning the oneacre property. “The real discussions are timing right now,” she said. The county hopes that construction on the roads will be able to start sometime in mid to late 2016, Metz said. County planners are also starting to look at plans for pedestrian access along Nebel Street, Metz said. Friends of White Flint, a group that promotes implementing the sector plan, blogged about possible pedestrian improvements, such as reducing the number of lanes and adding a median, Jan. 16. County planners are expected to give an update on plans for Nebel Street to the White Flint Downtown Advisory Committee in March. ewaibel@gazette.net
‘IT’S A ... ’
Baby Joy 3D/4D comes to the parents n
ALINE BARROS STAFF WRITER
Baby Joy 3-D/4-D Mobile Ultrasound promises expecting mothers and fathers a personal and intimate experience — finding out their inutero baby’s sex — away from a doctor’s office. Baby Joy 3D/4D Ultrasound, a Silver Spring business, was an idea that grew from a mother of two who believes seeing a baby in the womb is a special bonding moment. “I see pregnant women every day. ... Some of them want to show the pictures to their husbands that couldn’t make it to the doctor’s office ... or they want to show the pictures to the grandparents who were watching the kids at home,” Betelhem Seleshi said. And that’s when Seleshi thought: Why not bring the experience to people’s home?. On Sunday, Seleshi went to a baby shower party in Silver Spring at which the baby’s sex would be revealed. The expecting mother, Deisy Izquierdo, did not know Seleshi was coming. When Seleshi walked in the house, Izquierdo was so surprised, she couldn’t hold back her excitement, cheering when Seleshi entered the living room. Izquierdo has two daughters — Lucia, 6, and Hannah, 4 — with her husband, Josue Izquierdo. The Izquierdo family now was hoping for a baby boy. The ultrasound machine is hooked up to a video screen. The mother then lies on a couch, while Seleshi puts ultrasound gel on the mother’s pregnant belly. More than 30 people witnessed Seleshi’s ultrasound. Some exclaimed: “How beautiful” and “Look at the hands” and “The baby is waving.” Seleshi finally typed in the ultrasound machine: It’s a boy! The whole experience can take 15 to 30 minutes. “This is incredible. ... We have been hoping for a boy,” Deisy Izquierdo said. The tears flowed in a room filled with grandparents, uncles, cousins, and close friends. “This is better than watching the Super Bowl,” Josue Izquierdo said. When families react, Seleshi is moved, too.
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Driver was turning onto Nebel Street BY KRISTA BRICK STAFF WRITER
A Rockville man died in a single-car crash Saturday in Rockville. Rufino Pangramuyen Lopez Jr., 26, of the 4400 block of Bel Pre Road died after his Ford F-250 pickup truck hit a utility pole at about 1:50 a.m. Lopez was driving his truck east on Old Georgetown Road, turning left onto northbound Nebel Street, according to county police. For reasons still under investigation, Lopez lost control of the truck, which crashed into the utility pole. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Anyone with information about the crash is asked to call the Collision Reconstruction Unit at 240-773-6620.
InBrief County and Rockville plan race forum
Ultrasound company delivers the big news at home BY
Man dies after truck strikes a utility pole
The Montgomery County and city of Rockville Human Rights commissions will hold a public forum on race, community and ethnic relations in the county. “Do you think a Trayvon Martin-type incident could occur in Montgomery County?” will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Executive Office Building, 101 Monroe St., Rockville. Moderated by Sheryl Brissett Chapman, executive director for the National Center for Children and Families, a group of relations experts and other participants will have the opportunity to share viewpoints on race and community relations. The death of Trayvon Martin, which took place two years ago in Sanford, Fla., will be a point of reference throughout the discussion, as participants discuss what their actions would be in a similar situation. For more information, call James Stowe, director of the Office of Human Rights, at 240777-8490.
Jewish group offers employment classes The Jewish Council for the Aging will offer Career Gateway classes starting Feb. 10 at 12320 Parklawn Drive, Rockville. The classes are for job-seekers older than 50. The program comprises 30 hours of group instruction over five non-consecutive days in two weeks, take-home materials, a post-course job club and one-on-one mentoring. The cost is $75. For more information, email Ellen Greenberg at egreenberg@AccessJCA.org or call 301255-4215.
TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE
Betelhem Seleshi (right) of Baby Joy 3D/4D Mobile Ultrasound reveals the sex of Josue and Deisy Izquierdo’s child during a shower on Sunday in Silver Spring.
“For me, I get so satisfied [and] I get emotional,” she said. On a busy weekend, Seleshi visits up to four clients at their homes. Seleshi thinks her company is the only one of its kind in the Washington area. It performs ultrasounds at the client’s convenience. It might be a baby shower, a sex-revealing party, or just an intimate moment between the parents and close family members. Seleshi has portable equipment — approximately the size of a laptop — that can be connected to a big screen TV. She also carries
a projector. The mobile ultrasound packages vary from $150 to $250. That gives clients 10 to 30 minutes of 2-D, 3-D or 4-D session, color printed pictures, and a DVD with the entire session. According to the Baby Joy 3D/4D website, ultrasound in an elective, noninvasive procedure offers a “peek” inside the womb. Conventional 2-D ultrasound returns a black-and-white image of the fetus in utero. 3-D ultrasound uses advanced technology to capture a detailed image. A 4-D ultrasound includes a video image of the fetus.
Seleshi said sex verification can be done in any package, but only if the parents want to know. She can perform the ultrasound and not disclose what the sex is. Seleshi, a Silver Spring resident, is certified through the American Registry for Diagnostic Medical Sonography and specialized in obstetrics/prenatal ultrasound. She holds a bachelor’s in sonography from Georgetown University. For nine years, she has performed thousands of ultrasound services in women with high-risk pregnancies, she said. Seleshi said a mom-to-be does not need to get a doctor’s permission for the ultrasound, but she requires that a client be under a physician’s care. Seleshi said she needed about $36,000 to start her business. It took about 10 months to get the business fully running. Her first client was seen on Nov. 23. Since then, she has been booked every weekend, she said. She still works Monday to Friday at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring. “I have a good amount of clients every weekend. ... People that I scan say to me, ‘I wish I had known about this business before,’” Seleshi said. abarros@gazette.net
POLICE BLOTTER
Complete report at www.gazette.net The following is a summary of incidents in the Rockville area to which Montgomery County and/or Rockville city police responded recently. The words “arrested” and “charged” do not imply guilt. This information was provided by the county and Rockville city police media services office.
Auto theft and residential burglary • Between 3:30 p.m. Jan. 13 and 7:30 a.m. Jan. 14 in the 12500 block of Shoemaker Way, North Potomac. Unknown entry, took vehicle. Robbery • On Jan. 14 at 11:20 a.m. at BB&T Bank, 1470 Rockville Pike, Rockville. Unsuccessful attempt. Commercial Burglary • On Jan. 13 between 3:25 and 3:30 a.m. in the unit block of Southlawn Court, Rockville. Unknown broke front glass door at a business and took a television and cash from two unsecured cash boxes. Larceny • Unit block of Church Street, Rockville, between noon and 2 p.m. Jan. 13. The complainant reported that an unknown subject removed a wallet from her unattended purse at an office building. • 1300 block of Clagett Drive, Rockville, between 10 a.m. and 4:45 p.m. Jan. 16. Unknown subject removed a snow thrower and a 2.5-gallon gas can from a front porch. Residential burglary • 1800 block of Piccard Drive, Rockville, at 10:21 a.m. Jan. 6. Unknown subject entered an unsecured open residential garage, entered an unsecured vehicle and removed a pair of designer sunglasses. • 1000 block of Carnation Drive, Rockville, between 11:45 p.m. Jan. 13 and 7:18 a.m. Jan. 14. Forced entry, took nothing. • 300 block of Watkins Circle, Rockville, between 8:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Jan. 15. Unknown subject gained access by forcing open a rear basement door at a residence and took jewelry.