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A breakdown of all 30 Montgomery County teams, preseason rankings, and features. B-1
The Gazette SILVER SPRING | TAKOMA PARK | BURTONSVILLE
DAILY UPDATES ONLINE www.gazette.net
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
PurpleLine IN THE PATH OF THE
SOUNDING OFF
A2020Vision
WOODSIDE/16TH STREET STATION, 9:07 A.M. “It doesn’t make sense, to put all this in jeopardy for nothing,” said Babou Jobateh, as he stood outside the
Jerry’s Subs he has owned for six years. Jobateh said he worked at the store for 20 years, until he had saved enough money to take out a loan and buy the franchise. He is there from open until close, seven days a week, and is hoping the Purple Line turns out to be just talk.
DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE
Austin Lee, owner of Spring Discount Beer & Wine on 16th Street in Silver Spring, will have to find another location when the Spring Center is demolished to make way for one of the Purple Line stations.
A virtual ride
16-MILE LIGHT RAIL LINE WILL LINK BETHESDA WITH NEW CARROLLTON
n
BY JAMIE
T
ANFENSON-COMEAU AND KARA ROSE STAFF WRITERS
he Purple Line has been on the books in Maryland for decades, but as 2020 looms, Purple Line planners and Montgomery County residents are hammering out the nitty-gritty details of exactly what this $2.2 billion light rail line will look like. The 16-mile line, which will link Bethesda with New Carrollton, will cross parts of both Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, linking up with Metro stops and MARC train stations. The $2.2 billion price tag is
to be divided among federal, state and local governments. The U.S. and Maryland governments each are expected to contribute about $900 million, and Montgomery and Prince George’s counties are expected to provide the remainder, said Leif Dormsjo, Maryland’s deputy secretary for transportation. State officials recently announced that $680 million was earmarked from the recently raised fuel tax for the project. The state also is pursuing a public-private partnership to help defray its costs. Besides being responsible for designing, constructing, operating and
BY KARA ROSE, AGNES BLUM AND MARLENA CHERTOCK STAFF WRITERS
Burtonsville, Silver Spring students included BY
LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER
At Neelsville Middle School in Germantown, Principal Vicky Lake-Parcan said she sees students facing obstacles to their emotional well-being. Some students have been in seven or eight schools before reaching Neelsville Middle. Others have parents working two or three jobs. Still others come from families experiencing housing issues.
MTA RENDERING
See PURPLE, Page A-11
ONLINE
In an effort to help these students and others, Lake-Parcan said, the school has joined nine others in Montgomery County Public Schools’ new Interventions Network, in which the schools will work together and with the school system’s central office staff to address each school’s specific needs and close achievement gaps. Superintendent Joshua P. Starr announced the first 10 schools to enter the network during the county Board of Education’s Aug. 21 meeting, with participating elementary schools including Damascus, College Gardens in
See NETWORK, Page A-14
n
See RIDE, Page A-11
Weller Road enrollment reaches 628 BY
ELIZABETH WAIBEL STAFF WRITER
DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE
Montgomery County Council President Nancy Navarro (D-Dist. 4) of Silver Spring speaks at Weller Road Elementary School in Silver Spring as the school opens Monday after major renovations.
An electrical fire at a Silver Spring apartment building causes $1.5M in damage, uproots 100 tenants.
County residents remember the historic 1963 March on Washington.
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The Purple Line station will be at the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and Elm Street, just outside the Regal Bethesda movie theater. Stairs or a high-speed
elevator will lead to the platform. The drop is too steep to allow for escalators. Trains will run every six minutes during peak hours, and 10 to 12 minutes during off-peak hours. As the above-ground train travels west toward Silver Spring, riders will be able to watch cyclists and runners on the adjacent 16-foot-wide Georgetown Branch Trail extension of the Capital Crescent Trail, separated from the rails by a fence. Formerly a freight rail line run by CSX, the line was purchased by Montgomery County in 1988 and preserved as a hikerbiker trail until it could be converted for future rail use.
School debuts renovated facility
NEWS
50 YEARS LATER: A MARCH TO CELEBRATE A-5
Bethesda Station, 9 a.m.
n For an interactive map of the Purple Line and more stories about the project, go to www.gazette.net/purpleline.
NEWS
RESIDENTS DISPLACED BY FIRE
The Purple Line is a $2.2 billion light rail project that will cross 16 miles to connect Bethesda and New Carrollton, passing through many communities along the way. Take a virtual morning ride on the transit line from Bethesda to Takoma Park to see the project’s impact on Montgomery County.
A Purple Line light rail car pulls into the Bethesda station, as envisioned by the Maryland Transit Administration.
County names 10-school Interventions Network n
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RECYCLE
As students at Weller Road Elementary School started work on their first few assignments of the school year Monday morning, school officials also kicked off the school year by touring the newly renovated facility. The 628-student school in Silver Spring recently got $23.1 million in renovations, including technology upgrades and eco-friendly design elements. One such feature is the roof covered in small plants, which should help reduce rainwater runoff while keeping the school cooler and reducing air conditioning costs.
See FACILITY, Page A-14
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