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The Gazette GERMANTOWN | POOLESVILLE | BOYDS
DAILY UPDATES ONLINE www.gazette.net
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
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Council leaning toward transit instead of M-83 Transportation issue factor in upcoming election n
BY
VIRGINIA TERHUNE STAFF WRITER
TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE
Poolesville High School senior Olivia Jackson, 18, hung 45 poster-sized images of senior class students along the exterior of the Poolesville school on Thursday. Jackson is exploring graffiti as public art instead of vandalism. Using the Inside Out Project (insideoutproject.net) to support her magnet program project, Jackson organized her peers and photographed them, with Inside Out printing the posters for her exhibit.
Student takes art to the street
Poolesville High School senior explores urban works, posts photos of classmates on school
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BY
SARAH SCULLY STAFF WRITER
Walking up to Poolesville High School, the senior class of humanities students stare back at you. Some smile, a few raise their eyebrows, a couple peer through fingers formed into circles or peace signs around their eyes. Their black and white photos, nearly four and a half feet tall, are Olivia Jackson’s senior project. The 45 photos wrap around several of the school’s outside walls. Jackson became interested in the idea of graffiti and street art and decided to bring the Inside Out Project, a global street art project, to Poolesville High School after hearing about it from her advisor, Shannon Heaton. “I’ve always been really fascinated by how [street art and graffiti] can transform public spaces completely,” Jackson said. Inside Out Project participants post portraits like those Jackson took, in public places. According to the project website, over 200,000 people in 112 countries have engaged in the effort “to share their untold stories and transform messages of personal identity into works of public art.” Based on Jackson’s interests, Heaton suggested that she watch an HBO documentary on the project, “Inside Out: The People’s Art
Project,” which discusses, “the world getting used to street art, and even some countries commissioning it,” Heaton explained. “I mentioned that that would be a possibility and she just went for it,” Heaton said. The organization prints the 36 by 53 inch posters and sends them to participants, asking for a $20 donation for each poster. As part of her project, Jackson applied to have the organization donate the posters. The photos are part of a larger research project on street art that Jackson has been working on since last fall. “I analyzed how graffiti has become separate from vandalism and has branched out into all these new forms,” Jackson explained. She referenced how famous artists like Banksy, an activist and graffiti artist turned international icon, use street art to send a message. These artists toe the line between vandalism and work widely recognized as art. “It’s incredible how art can be transformed in all these differ-
See ART, Page A-11
A majority of the present nine-member County Council appears to support construction of a transit system to connect Clarksburg to down county jobs and shopping instead of spending more than $350 million on an extension north of the Midcounty Highway. “I do believe our council has adopted a transit-first mentality,” said Roger Berliner (D-Dist. 1) of Bethesda on Tuesday. “When you look at the cost of M-83 [the extension], it is so significant compared to other priorities.” The county is picking up the total cost of extending a highway from Gaithersburg to Clarksburg. As of right now there is no additional planning money and no construction money in the Fiscal Year 2014 budget, pending responses from the environmental agencies. There is also associated en-
vironmental damage with proposed route, which some critics say can’t be entirely mitigated. If built as proposed the M-83 would be a 5.7-mile highway from Montgomery Village Avenue to Ridge Road east of Interstate 270. Though the final design and route has not been set, it’s been described as a fourlane road. Some Clarksburg residents take the opposite view, saying they moved to the suburban area expecting the highway to be extended north. “Our quality of life and our mobility is greatly reduced if that road doesn’t get built,” said Doug Reimel, who moved from Rockville to the east end of Clarksburg Village near Md. 27 about a year ago. “The roads around here are already gridlocked— Md. 355 out of Clarksburg, 27 is very bad, and I-270 is typically jammed,” said Reimel, who also cited commuter traffic coming south from Carroll County. Brian Donohue of Clarksburg is a member of the ap-
See TRANSIT, Page A-11
Community garden sprouts in Poolesville n
Official opening on May 10
BY
SARAH SCULLY STAFF WRITER
There has been no shortage of rain for gardeners beginning to dig into their plots at the new community garden at the Poolesville Presbyterian Church. The garden officially opens with an event on May 10, but several of the individuals and groups renting the 12 raised
beds have already begun planting. Poolesville Green, an environmental education group led by Executive Director Joyce Breiner, organized the effort to create the garden. All 12 plots have been rented out for $50 for 4-foot-by-4-foot beds or $55 for four foot by eight foot beds for the growing season. Poolesville Green plans to add another 12 beds as soon as next year. Breiner said financial assistance is available for those
See GARDEN, Page A-11
Germantown incubator startup takes off n
eLaunchers locates headquarters in Germantown BY
VIRGINIA TERHUNE STAFF WRITER
Parthiv Shah is a data scientist. “I smell and chase money!” Shah said. He’s got a program to help businesses connect with clients and close deals. Shah has taken his business, eLaunchers, from a three-person data-driven marketing startup located in the county’s Germantown business incubator to a company of eight full-time employees and a
network of contractors and vendors in the U.S. and India. “It’s friendly and fertile soil,” said Shah, eLaunchers company founder and president. Shah lives with his family in Boyds and recently bought commercial condo space on Executive Park Terrace in Germantown for his new company office — a graduate of the county’s incubator program. “I want to be in this county – where else can you get this kind of support,” he said. Shah’s company is one of more than 125 startups that have graduated since 1999 from the five incubators in the Business Innovation Network run by the county’s De-
partment of Economic Development. “He’s a great example of what the program is,” said network director John Korpela. “He has grown in the program, taken advantage of all the education and shared his knowledge with other [incubator tenants].” Shah’s company offers market technology, list and data services, web and app development and other services. It helps its clients target customers and also develops relationships with potential customers for clients with a strategy that Shah explains in his book, “Business Kamasutra,” set for
See STARTUP, Page A-11
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Once-a-month market bolsters small-town economy.
Raptors scheduled to begin Region XX tournament Friday.
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PHOTO POOLESVILLE GREEN
Volunteers prepare the community garden. The garden officially opens May 10.
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