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Wednesday, August 14, 2013
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Six cents for Pepco
What amounts to only 6 cents on a monthly Pepco bill is anything but a penny ante change in Maryland policy. The addition will pay for “grid resiliency” projects — projects meant to strengthen the utility’s electrical grid to withstand unusual weather events. It’s a first for the state. Florida put such a “tracker” in place, and other states are considering similar surcharges. Before, Pepco — and by definition, its shareholders — would have been expected to fortify its power lines to protect against big winter and summer storms. Now, some projects will be forward-funded with those pennies, transferring the responsibility to ratepayers. The 6-cent surcharge will increase to 19 cents in 2015 and 27 cents in 2016, raising $24 million for the company. This is on top of a general rate increase that will add $2.41 a SURCHARGE month to the average Pepco SHOULD BE customer’s bill. ELECTION ISSUE Power companies have been asking for similar charges for some time, and the Public Service Commission — the state agency that approves utility rates — has turned them down previously. In Pepco’s 2012 rate case, the PSC said it opposed the surcharge, in part, because it would reduce incentives for innovation and efficiency. The flip-flop follows a September 2012 report from a state task force that looked at how utilities can improve reliability in the face of ravaging storms that favored such charges. Curiously, less than a year before, the PSC fined Pepco after a series of stunning power failures. After hundreds of thousands lost power after the June 29, 2012, storm, Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) promised, famously, that he would keep his boot up the company’s backside until power was restored. Montgomery County and other interested parties have filed appeals to the PSC’s rate decision, in part because of the grid surcharge, meaning the policy change is likely to face judicial review. (Pepco also is unhappy with the results of its rate request and has filed its own appeal.) It should be a policy change also reviewed by voters. Utility regulation arcana is rarely grist for the campaign trail, but the surcharge looks and smells like a tax and voters should think of it like one. When gubernatorial and General Assembly candidates ask for your vote, you should ask them — a penny for their thoughts — what they think of the surcharge and why.
Be skeptical and aware; stay safe
A spate of despicable crimes in recent weeks in which senior citizens were victims should make you boiling mad. According to Montgomery County Police: • At Montrose Crossing Shopping Center in North Bethesda, two strangers conned a 77-year-old man into withdrawing $10,000 from his bank account and giving it to them. The swindlers — both men — used a peculiar scripted dialogue about “trust” and the man fell for it. • On another day, a 68-year-old woman encountered a man and a woman at the shopping center and was sweettalked out of $1,700. The con couple claimed they’d invest her money and make her a large profit. • The Washington Post reported that last week, two men at a Home Depot parking lot in Fairfax County, Va., asked a 68-year-old man for help and directions, then got him to withdraw a large sum of money and give it to them. There also is no end to mail, email and phone scams. A recent one in Montgomery County is based on a “Medical Alert” device. The caller tries to ferret out credit card information from the person who answers. Police urge people to always ask questions, which often drive scammers away. Morton A. Davis, the program coordinator of Keeping Seniors Safe, a Montgomery County police program, adds: • Don’t leave keys in the car at a gas station. At the mall, have your keys in your hand, not buried in your purse, when you head toward your car. • If you get tricked, tell police right away; don’t worry what your children or grandchildren will say later. Davis has heard about numerous scams, like the jury coordinator calling to get your Social Security number or the free trip you’ll get after sending taxes on the prize to a post office box. Davis talks to groups (at least 15 people) on ways to think more astutely about keeping safe. Call him at 240773-5625 or 240-242-3742. If only the community could appeal to the morals and conscience of cold-hearted people behind sleazy attacks, but the plea is unlikely to find its mark. Instead, it’s best to emphasize common sense and, unfortunately, skepticism. Too many unsolicited alluring offers and sad tales turn out to be false.
The Gazette Karen Acton, President/Publisher
LETTERS TOT HE EDITOR
Let’s not hatch problems with chickens The cartoon “Chicken Zoning” [Aug. 7] makes light of the proposed relaxation of Montgomery County agricultural zoning restrictions for keeping chickens. The County Council also has made light of the matter, but there are very valid concerns that warrant serious consideration. NBC News recently reported that “Hundreds of chickens, sometimes dozens at a time, are being abandoned each year at the nation’s shelters” due to the backyard chicken fad. For the past few years, I have helped local shelters and sanctuaries try to accommodate neglected and abandoned chickens.
Frequently, we have to resort to transporting them hours away in order to find suitable placement — if that is available. Just this past week one local shelter was inundated with 54 chicks in poor health. Providing appropriate care for these animals is laborious, expensive and time consuming. There is a dearth of area veterinarians with expertise and experience to treat them. Roosters are not to be allowed, but what will become of those who inadvertently are sent from mail-order hatcheries, as commonly occurs? Unless there is a ban on slaughter, unskilled amateurs will cause animals to suffer gruesome and horrific
Parents who allow underage drinking courting risk Regarding your July 17 article, “Bethesda parent fined for furnishing alcohol to underage teens in March party”: Well-intentioned parents who allow teens to consume alcohol in their home are sidestepping the medical risks of underage drinking, such as potentially fatal or permanently brain-damaging alcohol poisoning, impairing adolescent brain development, and rape or other risky behaviors that can lead to serious or permanent injuries, not to mention the legal risks and the mixed messages teens
get when adults violate adult host laws. Parents who enable underage drinking can rationalize, “I drank in high school and I turned out OK” or “I won’t let them drive” or “It’s a rite of passage” or other hollow points — or they can realize their children deserve better than an example of breaking a law in place for their welfare and putting them at risk for preventable, life-altering tragedies. To these parents I say, don’t underestimate the influence you have when your
children, their friends, and their friends’ parents think, “Hey, if those ‘cool’ parents are finding safe, healthy and responsible ways for their teen to be popular, maybe we should do the same.”
own, did not have anything better to do. I remember back then that many in our community were complaining. There were calls for a teen curfew and even for the movie theater to be shut down. But what has emerged just a few short years later has been a remarkable turnaround. Through a strong publicprivate partnership between the county and Peterson Cos., the atmosphere along Ellsworth has undergone an amazing transition. The vision of a family-friendly area has been realized. No longer do my wife and I drive to Bethesda or Columbia for dinner or a movie. Now we seek out opportunities to walk to down-
Robert Rand, Managing Editor Ken Sain, Sports Editor Andrew Schotz, Assistant Managing Editor Dan Gross, Photo Editor Jessica Loder, Web Editor
Dennis Wilston, Corporate Advertising Director Neil Burkinshaw, Montgomery Advertising Director Doug Baum, Corporate Classifieds Director Mona Bass, Inside Classifieds Director
Support for outlets at Cabin Branch
town Silver Spring, grab dinner, listen to all the great music (my wife is a true fan of the Tuesday night Zumba dance), and of course let our now two kids run around in the fountain. As a community we are often very quick to rise up and complain, but often too slow to show our appreciation and compliment people for a job well done. In this case, I applaud the County and Peterson Cos. for forging a strong partnership and for all their hard work and effort they have put into turning around the atmosphere in downtown Silver Spring and making it family friendly.
Bruce Altevogt, Silver Spring
Sarah Long, Clarksburg
Patty Winters, Derwood The writer is the coordinator of the Brave and Bold Coalition, which formed in the wake of a May 2011 crash that killed three teenagers. The 20-year-old behind the wheel, driving drunk, was convicted of vehicular manslaughter.
Kudos for the Silver Spring turnaround Just four years ago, right before our first child was born, my wife and I met up with some friends in downtown Silver Spring. It was a nice summer evening and we wanted to relax and enjoy one of our last nights out before our son arrived, so we all walked to Ellsworth Drive and sat outside and had dinner and drinks. Like many of our previous experiences we left that evening shaking our heads and wondering what was going on in our neighborhood. In a matter of 1.5 hours police had to break up two fights and there was the usual harassment that you would have to deal with from high school kids, who, through no fault of their
Mary Finelli, Silver Spring
I have lived in Clarksburg for 11 years. Like so many of my Clarksburg neighbors, I have been waiting a long time for something that will stimulate retail and business in our community. That time has finally come. The County Planning Board gave its unanimous support to Clarksburg Premium Outlets at Cabin Branch, a proposal that will bring upscale shopping and familyfriendly dining to Clarksburg. This project is ready to go now. Utility infrastructure, traffic evaluation and environmental impacts on the site already have been vetted, while zoning and subdivision approvals have been granted. Water and sewer construction and road improvements are underway. Unfortunately, there is a risk that the County Council could hold up the Cabin Branch application for an indefinite period of time, until a competing proposal in Ten Mile Creek comes before them. The approval process for that proposal will take years and there are no guarantees that the plan will ever be approved. It is fraught with uncertainty and ultimately will need to overcome major environmental, zoning and master plan hurdles. Its location at Md. 355 and Stringtown Road presents tremendous traffic issues in our neighborhoods, not to mention potential damage to our precious Ten Mile Creek watershed. Given that, I urge the County Council to move the Cabin Branch proposal forward. The Clarksburg community has waited long enough.
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deaths. Cockfighting and related vices also will likely increase. Arlington County is considering a similar proposal. Animal control agencies already are stretched without trying to ensure that untold additional numbers of farmed animals are responsibly cared for. This is especially true given that additional ducks, rabbits and goats also would be allowed with the Montgomery proposal. Who will pay for the extra resources that would be required? Anyone who genuinely cares about the well-being of these animals should oppose the proposal.
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POST-NEWSWEEK MEDIA Karen Acton, Chief Executive Officer Michael T. McIntyre, Controller Lloyd Batzler, Executive Editor Donna Johnson, Vice President of Human Resources Maxine Minar, President, Comprint Military Shane Butcher, Director of Technology/Internet