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The Gazette SILVER SPRING | TAKOMA PARK | BURTONSVILLE
DAILY UPDATES ONLINE www.gazette.net
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
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Montgomery thinking green thoughts for school buildings STATEWIDE PROGRAM PROTECTS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE VICTIMS
DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE
A group of county officials visits the newly renovated Weller Road Elementary School in Silver Spring on the opening day of school. Here the group visits the school roof, which has a mix of 10 different plants.
Leah talks about the Maryland Safe at Home program, which provides victims of domestic violence with a substitute address for them to use for mail.
BILL RYAN/THE GAZETTE
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Addressconfidentiality BY
KATE ROYALS
SPECIAL TO THE GAZETTE
After filing a restraining order against her abusive ex-husband and buying a house to live in with her children, a Montgomery County woman who goes by the name of Leah struggled to keep her address secret from her abuser. Even with the restraining order, he continued to harass her, making threatening phone calls and blocking her car from leaving a parking lot. In 2008, the Motor Vehicle Administration asked her for her new address while she was re-registering a car she still owned with her
ex-spouse. She realized that if she provided it, her abuser, who was in and out of jail, could find her and her children again. Today, Montgomery County has 72 people enrolled in a staterun program to help domestic violence victims hide from their abusive partners. After the incident at the Motor Vehicle Administration, Leah became one of them. Up to that point, she says, “I felt like I was strong. I thought I could handle stuff on my own.” But when someone with the MVA told her about Maryland’s Safe at Home Address Confidentiality
See VICTIMS, Page A-12
BY
‘We’re just there with them, we’re not deciding if their story is right or not’ BY
KARA ROSE
SPECIAL TO THE GAZETTE
It might be 8 a.m. on a Tuesday. Maybe it’s 10 p.m. on a Wednesday, or 1 a.m. on a Sunday. Whenever that beeper sounds, the on-duty volunteer
at the county’s Victim Assistance and Sexual Assault Program springs to action. The 24-hour, seven days a week crisis intervention program is an agency of the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services and is staffed by mental health professionals and trained volunteers. When the crisis center is contacted by the police department
See VOLUNTEERS, Page A-12
ELIZABETH WAIBEL STAFF WRITER
County volunteers provide 24-hour support to victims of sexual assault n
Silver Spring school one of the latest to get vegetative roof renovation
When Weller Road Elementary School in Silver Spring unveiled its renovated facilities for the new school year, one of the most striking additions was plants covering the roof. The vegetative, or green, roof is designed to capture and soak up rain water so it doesn’t all run into the ground at once, flooding sewers and eroding the ground as it goes. It also helps regulate the buildng’s temperature, saving the school money. “It actually helps keep it warmer in the winter and a little bit cooler in the summer, and it does help with our energy consumption,” said Craig Shuman, director of the Division of Construction for Montgomery County Public Schools. Weller Road is not the first district school with a green roof. “We’ve been putting them on for several years now,” Shuman said. Hillary Kirchman, program manager for the district’s School Energy and Recycling Team, said the school system is planning to install
See GREEN, Page A-12
County, local groups helping people displaced by fire Red Cross gave Silver Spring residents debit cards to buy essential items n
BY
ALINE BARROS
SPECIAL TO THE GAZETTE
Claudia Bachez, 34, was getting ready to cook dinner for her two children in Silver Spring on Aug. 27 when a neighbor shouted that smoke was coming out of the stairs. “She screamed, ‘It is a fire,’ but we weren’t really sure if
NEWS
A FOCUS ON AFTER-HOURS Survey reveals Montgomery County short on nightlife options.
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it were a fire because the fire alarm didn’t go off,” said Bachez, who works at a fruit factory, but had the day off when it happened. “We simply saw smoke, and when we finally got out, we saw the fire,” she said. “It was a really terrible experience.” The fire at the apartment complex in the 9300 block of Piney Branch Road in Silver Spring was ignited when an electric socket near a bed sparked a mattress fire, according to fire officials. The flames were brought under control within 2½ hours,
but left 100 people displaced from 27 units. Seven people, including three firefighters, were taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, Scott Graham, the assistant chief of Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service, has said on Twitter. Graham has said that damage was estimated at $1 million for the building and $500,000 to the contents. On Friday, the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services organized a resource fair for fire victims at the Long Branch Commu-
nity Recreation Center in Silver Spring. Victims of the fire came to find out about housing and gather school supplies for children, as well personal items such as soap, toothpaste, toiletries, and clothes. Other organizations, such as IMPACT Silver Spring, Casa of Maryland, Tess Center and Adventist Community Services of Greater Washington, also offered help. “It is absolutely amazing how people come together. The calls of people wanting to do-
SPORTS
VOLLEYBALL: THE END OF AN ERA
For first time in four years Alex Holston won’t dominate county’s volleyball season.
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See FIRE, Page A-12
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PHOTO BY ALINE BARROS
Pastor Pranitha Fielder of the Sligo Seventh-day Adventist Church organizes a donation table full of school supplies before Piney Branch fire victims visit the community center.
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