PURPLE LINE PROJECT Lynn Drive underpass cost could reach $7 million. A-3
The Gazette
A&E: Large and in charge: Imagination Stage brings Big Friendly Giant to life. A-12
BETHESDA | CHEVY CHASE | KENSINGTON DA I LY U P DAT E S AT G A Z E T T E . N E T
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Bethesda Fire Department has growing pains
Family has a goal in sight
Son’s vision problem drives support for nonprofit
Public meetings to be scheduled
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BY EMILY BIRNBAUM SPECIAL TO THE GAZETTE
It’s tough to fail a test when you’re 4 years old. It’s even more disheartening — and potentially devastating — when it’s a vision test. Every year, the Prevention of Blindness Society of Metropolitan Washington sends representatives into local schools to screen for vision abnormalities. These screenings test for distance acuity, lazy eye and turned eye, problems commonly found in 3- to 18-year-olds. They screen about 8,000 children annually and identify vision problems in about 5 percent of them. When he was 4, Matthew Denchfield of Bethesda was one of that 5 percent. He came home with a notice saying he had failed the vision test. “It was shocking to my husband and I because he was so coordinated and there were no exterior signs of a problem,” Matthew’s mother, Heather Denchfield, said. Matthew didn’t report any abnormality because he didn’t realize most children could see perfectly out of both eyes. “He didn’t know he had a problem because that’s just how his eye always was,” Denchfield said. She and her husband, Kurt, took Matthew to Gonzalo Vicente, a pediatric ophthalmologist, who discovered he had amblyopia, or lazy eye syndrome. “Amblyopia is when the brain shuts down one eye from disuse,” Vicenete said. “If you don’t use the eye, you go blind in the
TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE
“The patching was horrible, but I got to stick every patch anywhere I wanted in the yard after I was done with it,” says Matthew Denchfield, 9, of Bethesda, holding some of the eye patches he needed to wear to help correct his vision problem. eye from disuse.” Matthew was legally blind in his left eye. According to Vicente, it was best to catch this condition before Matthew turned 6 because after that, he would have been at a high risk of going blind and cross-eyed.
For one year, Matthew underwent patching treatment. For three hours a day, he would put an eyepatch over his good eye, thus forcing the left eye to work harder.
See VISION, Page A-9
The four corners of Bradley Boulevard and Wisconsin Avenue are valuable pieces of property. On one corner is the Chevy Chase Club. On another is St. John’s Episcopal Church. On a third corner is the CVS-Staples-PetSmart retail complex. And on the fourth corner is the Bethesda Fire Department’s Station 6. The department, a private nonprofit separate from the public Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service, is considering redeveloping the firehouse to raise money for station renovations or rebuilding. “The station’s approaching 50 years old, and it’s going to need to be either renovated or rebuilt,” said Nathan Finkelstein, a director and counsel for the fire department. A major factor driving the initiative is population growth. Citing county figures, the department’s website says that downtown Bethesda’s population has grown 25 percent since 2000 and that by 2040, it’s expected to double, with
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Resurfacing in Bethesda to start a week later than initially planned ELIZABETH WAIBEL STAFF WRITER
Rainy weather has delayed the start of a road resurfacing project in downtown Bethesda. The State Highway Administration had planned to start closing lanes to repave Wisconsin Avenue on Sunday night, but heavy rain that evening made that impossible. Kellie Boulware, spokeswoman for the State Highway Administration, said work is now scheduled to begin next Sunday night. The road resurfacing is part of a $2.5 million project that includes resurfacing the road and building sidewalks. Lanes may be closed overnight Sundays through Thursdays and during the day on weekdays, according to the administration. Weather permitting, the work is expected to finish up by late fall.
INDEX Automotive Calendar Classified Entertainment Obituaries Opinion Sports
NEWS B-11 A-2 B-7 A-12 A-10 A-11 B-1
BILL RYAN/THE GAZETTE
Montgomery County plans to crack down on people who put up signs in public rights of way. On July 9, these illegally placed signs were collected and deposited at the Shady Grove Processing Facility and Transfer Station in Derwood.
The signs of the times County confiscates signs, will start tracking offenders n
BY
RYAN MARSHALL STAFF WRITER
If you drive around Montgomery County, you’ve probably seen the signs that spring up at virtually every major intersection — or sometimes even nowhere near an intersection — advertising everything from political can-
didates to weight loss programs and offers to buy your house fast. On July 9, a mix of county staffers fanned out around the county, collecting more than 2,500 signs, signaling what one official said will be an increased effort to crack down on people who repeatedly put signs in public rights of way. The signs create nuisances for communities, and the number of calls
THE BATTLE AGAINST BULLYING Sherwood High School juniors put together video to fight growing problem.
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“The station’s approaching 50 years old, and it’s going to need to be either renovated or rebuilt.” Nathan Finkelstein, fire department director and counsel the number of households to increase by 82 percent and employment growing 38 percent. Finkelstein said finding money for renovations is a problem, and getting public funding is difficult. To raise money for a new station, the department is looking into partnering with a company that would build residences on vacant property next to the station. Redevelopment is just one option, and no decisions have been made, Finkelstein said. The county’s Planning Department also is working on a new sector plan for downtown
See GROWING, Page A-9
URBNmarket back with crafts, goods
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ewaibel@gazette.net
ELIZABETH WAIBEL STAFF WRITER
Rain delays Wisconsin Ave. roadway work BY
SPORTS: Bethesda rugby organization successful in growing Olympic sport. B-1
See SIGNS, Page A-9
Volume 3, No. 22, Two sections, 28 Pages Copyright © 2014 The Gazette Please
RECYCLE
BY
Market is Sunday in Bethesda ELIZABETH WAIBEL STAFF WRITER
A homegrown crafts and vintage market is set to return to Bethesda on Sunday. URBNmarket Bethesda is a shopping venue that hosts 35 vendors from the area selling handmade and vintage items. Julie Greenstein and Debbie Sonnenreich, who both live in Bethesda, organized the first URBNmarket Bethesda in May. “Bethesda really doesn’t have any markets other than the farmers markets, that we’re aware of, and the occasional annual events,” Sonnenreich said. The market gives people the opportunity to support local businesses that may not be able to afford retail space in Bethesda, she said.
IF YOU GO n What: URBNmarket Bethesda, a crafts and vintage market with 35 vendors. n When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday n Where: Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad ballroom, 5020 Battery Lane, Bethesda. n Cost: Free admission. n Information: urbnmarket.com
“I have a cookie and confection business, so I can speak to the fact that retail space is very challenging,” Sonnenreich said. With retail space unaffordable for some small businesses, some business owners have taken their wares online to ven-
See MARKET, Page A-9