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Kirwin Commission
Goals
Hundreds of MontgomeryCounty Public Schools (MCPS)employees, parents and studentsgathered at Montgomery BlairHigh School to learn about objec-tives and concerns of a commissionthat focuses on public education.
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‘Guys And Dolls’
A wonderful performance of“Guys and Dolls.”
Page 11
Historic Run Ends
Montgomery Blair HighSchool’s girls soccer team fell toPerry Hall High School 1-0 after aremarkable season.
Page 20
INSIDE The Blue Line Flag DebateThe Blue Line Flag Debate Brothers Before Othersshow support for BlueLine Flags in countyBy Elle Meyers@_ElleMeyers
GERMANTOWN — Membersof the nonprofit group Brothers Be-fore Others handed out Thin BlueLine Flags along with coffee anddonuts at the Fifth District PoliceStation in Germantown on Nov. 8 ina show of support for MontgomeryCounty Police (MCP).
The charity’s demonstrationcomes about a week after Mont-gomery County Executive Marc El-rich decided that a wooden wallhanging bearing the Thin Blue LineFlag should not be hung in the Ger-mantown Police Station.
Thin Blue Line Flags are typi-cally black and white American flagswith a single stripe of blue runningbeneath the stars; they are meant toshow support for law enforcementofficers.
On Nov. 2, James Shelton andhis son delivered a wall hanging withthe Thin Blue Line Flag printed on itto the Germantown Police Station.Later that week, the Fifth DistrictStation thanked Shelton and an-nounced on Facebook and Twitterthat the wooden flag would be dis-
played in the station.The social media posts were
met with some pushback from mem-bers of the community who felt thatthe wall hanging has a resemblanceto the Blue Lives Matter symbol.One post on social media noted thatThin Blue Line Flags were used dur-ing the Unite the Right rally in Char-lottesville in 2017.
Noting the backlash on socialmedia to the flag, Elrich released astatement saying that it should betaken down.
“Acting Police Chief MarcusJones and I understand the concernsof the community. The flag providesa symbol of support to some, but it isa symbol of dismissiveness to others.Because it is divisive, the flag willnot be posted at the 5th District nor inany public space within the PoliceDepartment. Under my administra-tion, we are committed to improvingpolice relations with the communityand will immediately address any ac-tion that stands against our mission,”he said.
Since his announcement, local
See Flags, Page 8
By Elle Meyers@_ElleMeyers
ROCKVILLE — On Nov. 12,Montgomery County Council Presi-dent Nancy Navarro and County Ex-ecutive Marc Elrich announced anew County Economic Develop-ment Platform.
The new platform will focus onbusiness development, housingtransportation and workforce devel-opment.
In addition to the developmentplatform, Navarro introduced a reso-lution to unify the council’s focus on
economic development. The resolu-tion, according to the council, ismeant to be a guiding document thatidentifies a diversified economy, in-novation, racial equity and environ-mental sustainability as goals.
“The goal of the resolution is toinstitutionalize a strategic economicframework that enables a focusedand disciplined implementation ofthe county’s economic initiatives.Adopting this platform is an impor-tant step to emphasize the fact thatMontgomery County is a great placefor business, Elrich stated. Navarrois the lead sponsor of the resolution,
and all other Councilmembers arecosponsors,” wrote the county.
In recent months, the councilhas paid special attention to econom-ic development and racial equity byfocusing on ways to increase afford-able housing, engage with business-es that would bring more jobs to thecounty and finding sustainable bestpractices. The council has also beenbriefed and voted to support recom-mendations by the MetropolitanWashington Council of Govern-ments.
“We stand united as a govern-ment that is laser-focused on reinvig-
orating Montgomery County’s eco-nomic development efforts toachieve a thriving and diversifiedeconomy in our community,” saidNavarro.
“We must elevate and leveragethe intellectual, business, and cultur-al assets that make our communityan outstanding place to establish andgrow businesses across all sectors.Advancing our economic develop-ment goals includes making strategicinvestments in business develop-ment, housing, transportation and
See Economic Plan, Page 8
PHOTO BY ELLE MEYERS
County resident Laura Weetall joined the Brothers Before Othersdemonstration on Nov. 8 in Germantown and showed support for local policeby bringing her own Blue Line Flag and sign. Story on continues on Page 8.
Vol. 165, No. 23 • 50¢ SINCE 1855 Thursday, November 14, 2019
2015, 2016, 2017 MDDC News Organization of the Year!
2015, 2016, 2017 MDDC News Organization of the Year!
Celebrating more than 160 years of service!
Elrich and Navarro announce County Economic Development Plan
REFLECTIONSOctober 7, 1965: County Aide Admits Copter Laws Needed
2 THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY SENTINEL NOVEMBER 14, 2019
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ROCKVILLE— Nobody wasagainst whirly-birds and their roost-ing places — heliports— at theBoard of Appeals hearing last week.In fact, a deputy county attorney saidthere was a need for regulations thatwould permit helicopters here.
The question was a matter oflaw: can the board grant a special ex-ception for a heliport when no specif-ic regulations about the helicopterlanding pads exist in the Mont-gomery County Zoning Ordinance?
The county attorney’s officesaid no. In fact, it has filed an appealin Circuit Court contesting theboard’s July 27 approval of a heliportatop the Gramax Building in SilverSpring.
That’s why the board met lastThursday to reconsider whether it
had the power to grant permissionfor the heliport.
At the hearing, Deputy CountyAttorney Douglass H. Moore, Jr., re-iterated his office’s position that thezoning ordinance is a permissive setof laws— meaning that anything notexpressively permitted is prohibited.
“There are no standards or con-ditions in this ordinance that relate tohelicopters,” Moore said. Therefore,he reasoned, “the only place heli-copters can land is at a regular, ap-proved airport.”
He admitted that the heliportmet the ordinance’s definition of anairport: A place where aircraft maytake off or land, discharge or receivecargoes and/or passengers.
However, he said the heliportcould not meet specific requirementssuch as the one that any building,hanger, or structure be at least 100feet from a street or lot line, claiming
that, in this case, the Gramax build-ing itself could be considered an air-port structure.
He also said the heliport couldnot comply with the requirements ofan airport approach area and doubtedif the board could grant a variance toeliminate so many requirements.
“We don’t say we don’t like he-licopters,” the deputy county attor-ney said. “We recognize the need forhelicopter regulations.”
Moore said the board should notbe reluctant to reconsider its decisionand override it. He said the lawmakes it plain the board can do sowhen it has made a mistake.
Another Moore, John B. Moore,attorney for William Robinowitz,owner of the Gramax Building, saidthe board would be “opening up aPandora’s box if it decided to recon-sider a decision made after due delib-eration.”
“Every builder and developerin the county will be coming in hereto say you made a mistake,” he said.
The county attorney’s office“should not be here,” Moore contin-ued, “but because I couldn’t be hereif the situation were reversed.”
Moore said if the board decidedit didn’t have jurisdiction, his clientwould appeal to Circuit Court, “soit’s going to end up there in anycase.”
At the July 8 hearing, attorneyMoore had based his case for a heli-port atop the Gramax Building onthe airport regulations of the ZoningOrdinance. He had asked the boardto disregard as irrelevant the regula-tions concerning such things aslength or runways and approach ar-eas, which it did.
The Board of Appeals has 30days in which to reach a decision onthe case.
By Suzanne Pollak@SuzannePollak
ROCKVILLE – County Exec-utive Marc Elrich looked over thecrowd of veterans at a Nov. 10thVeterans Day Program in Rockvilleas he spoke on the responsibilitythe county has to help “people whoput their lives on the line.”
About 50 veterans and theirfamilies participated in the fourthannual Jewish War Veterans Post692 program held on the groundsof the Bender Jewish CommunityCenter (JCC). Most of them servedduring the Vietnam War; the oldestwas a 95-year-old veteran from theU.S. Army Air Corps during WorldWar II.
“We should always raise ourvoices in support of those whoserved,” Elrich said. It is important“to make sure when they comeback, and we treat them with re-spect.”
Programs to assist veteranswith their health care, includingtreatment for PTSD, “housing andjob hunting are very important,”Elrich said.
Whether a war was popular ornot, “the veterans never asked,never judged,” he said, adding thathis father served during World WarII, training pilots.
Newly re-elected RockvilleCity Councilmember Beryl Fein-berg echoed that sentiment.
There needs to be more transi-tion, health and social services, and
hiring programs for veterans re-turning to civilian life, she noted.
She pointed to RedGate, theformer municipal golf course thathas been closed since the beginningof this year when its lease with thecompany that managed it ended.
While nothing yet has been de-cided on what to do with the prop-erty on Avery Road, there havebeen talks about using it for some-thing other than a golf course.
Feinberg said she would liketo see a home for veterans builtthere, which would make it onlythe second such home in Maryland.
Twenty-three million veteransare living in the United States, shesaid, noting, “We continue to be in-debted to our veterans in ways wecannot imagine.”
It used to be that Americansoldiers protected the country, butnow they also fight for “freedomaround the world,” Feinberg said.
During his keynote speech,Col. Harvey Kaplan, U.S. Army(retired) spoke about his 27 yearsin active duty with the U.S. ArmyCorps of Engineers, serving bothstateside and on two tours in Viet-nam.
The native New Yorker was in-volved in combat support missions.
“We did construction andcombat support,” he said, notingthat he helped build heliports,roads, airfields and roads duringhis time in Vietnam.
During his service, he also wasstationed at Fort Meade, which in
those days was considered remote,he said. It was located near Wash-ington, D.C., near Baltimore andnear Annapolis, but there wasn’tmuch of a town there, he recalled.
He married and had three chil-dren while moving many timesduring his service. He spent timeworking with cadets at City Col-lege of New York, at Fort Belvoirin Virginia, three years in Frank-fort, Germany and at Patrick AirForce Base in Florida.
Throughout his military career,he was able to practice his Judaismand even celebrated the JewishNew Year and Passover togetherwith other soldiers while in Viet-nam, he told members of the JewishWar Veterans as they sat outside bythe Jewish War Veterans Memoriallocated in the front of the JCC.
During the program, twosingers and a keyboard player fromVoices of Vets entertained thecrowd with renditions of the offi-cial songs from each of the militarybranches.
Denise Nooe, deputy directorof outreach and advocacy at theMaryland Department of VeteransAffairs’ Office of the Secretary,presented a proclamation for Veter-ans Day from Maryland Gov. LarryHogan.
She noted that many peopleserve, including those who work atthe National Oceanic and Atmos-pheric Administration and the U.S.Public Health Services, both ofwhich are located in Maryland.
Community offers thanks to those who served
NOVEMBER 14, 2019 THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY SENTINEL 3
By Kathleen Stubbs@kathleenstubbs3
SILVER SPRING – Hundreds ofMontgomery County Public Schools(MCPS) employees, parents and stu-dents gathered at Montgomery BlairHigh School to learn about objectivesand concerns of a commission that fo-cuses on public education.
People learned about what theCommission on Innovation and Ex-cellence in Education, popularlyknown as the Kirwan Commission,wants to be included in the state bud-get, and why they are essential to com-mission members. The commissionadvocates for more funding forschools and education in the state.
Residents who attended the townhall on Nov. 6 received an overview ofthe funding the commission is propos-ing and objectives that the commis-sion aims to help with funding.
Civic organization StrongSchools Maryland helped organize themeeting, as well as about 19 similarevents throughout the state so thatmembers of the public had an opportu-nity to learn about the commission andits goals for school funding.
Joseph Francaviglia, executivedirector of Strong Schools Maryland,
gave a presentation about the commis-sion’s recommendations, and he alsoprovided a couple of opportunities forpeople in the audience to chat withtheir neighbors about top issues thatthe Kirwan Commission advocatedfixing.
William E. “Brit” Kirwan, whochairs the commission bearing hisname, built up some energy in theroom when he gave a speech to en-courage the audience to support in-creased funding to education.
“I call this fighting for the soul ofMaryland,” the commission chairmansaid about how the school system andthe state will fund the increased needsof today’s enrollment.
MCPS enrollment has been grad-ually increasing during the last 10years. The preliminary total studentenrollment in MCPS as of Sept. 30,2019 is 165,439.
The September 2019 preliminaryenrollment data show that the countyenrollment increased by 2,759 stu-dents compared to the 2018-2019school year. Superintendent ofSchools Jack Smith, as well as otherofficials in MCPS have said that thestudent population gradually has seenincreasing needs in terms of supportservices.
Meanwhile, Francaviglia saidone of the tenets of the commission’sgoals is allowing for more resources tohelp students who are “at-risk,” mean-ing English language learners, stu-dents who come from low-incomefamilies or and students who have dis-abilities.
As for the legislature, this year,the General Assembly approved mon-ey from Kirwan Commission recom-mendations when it passed Senate Bill1030: The Education Blueprint forMaryland’s Future. The bill includes$24.4 million for MCPS, wrote Mont-gomery County senior legislative ana-lyst Craig Howard in a memorandumthe Council Education and CultureCommittee in May.
President of the county teacher’sunion Chris Lloyd (MontgomeryCounty Education Association), saidthe meeting’s purpose was to informpeople early so they understand theneeds in public school education andthe commission’s objectives. Thenthey would be equipped to help advo-cate the legislature.
“The purpose of the town hallsare so that community members canengage with the electeds around whatthe Kirwan Commission is, and aboutthe need for funding for our schools,”
Lloyd said. “And the idea is to do thisprior to the legislative session, so thatpeople, when they go to Annapolis inJanuary, can be educated on what’sneeded, and can cast good votes in thatway.”
The recommendation that thelegislature will consider will be a con-tinuation of what the legislature ap-proved during the 2019 legislative ses-sion, a down payment of funding thatwould last two years, according toLloyd.
Gov. Larry Hogan (R) wrote in astatement this year that he allowed thebill to become a law but refused to signit, partly due to the hefty price tag.
The Commission had made rec-ommendations to the General Assem-bly to increase education funding dur-ing the 2019 legislative session fol-lowing an external study, whichconsultants said showed public educa-tion in the state is underfunded bynearly $3 billion. The external analysiswas overseen by the state board of ed-ucation, according to the MarylandState Education Association (MSEA).
Although the legislature ap-proved plans to increase funding foreducation, it still needs a potentialfunding formula for it. Therefore, theBlueprint for Maryland’s Future
Funding Formula Workgroup met afew times in October and Novemberand discussed a funding method itplans to propose to the legislature.
Francaviglia included in his pre-sentation five priority areas of thecommission, and then asked a panel ofpeople to identify one of the fivethings about which they were the mostconcerned.
“(The accountability piece) is oneof the pillars of the Kirwan recom-mendations, is that there is account-ability structure so that when money ishanded to each of the districts, some-one’s going to be checking that they’respending it on the correct Kirwan ini-tiatives,” said Sally Murek, vice presi-dent of SEIU Local 500 Union.
Then, people in attendance re-ceived an opportunity to write downtheir questions on index cards. Stu-dents helping with the event collectedthe cards, and then members of StrongSchools Maryland selected some toask the panelists. Some members ofthe audience asked questions about theaffordability of the proposed money.
Several members of the Mary-land General Assembly who representMontgomery County were in atten-dance, as well as a few members of thecounty council.
County residents learn about Kirwan Commission goals and recommendations for school fundingNEWS
OPINIONS&VIEWS
4 THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY SENTINEL NOVEMBER 14, 2019
By Paul K. Schwartz@PKSpaul
Did you, yes, you, pay more in-come tax on your 2018 returns than onyour 2017 returns?
If so, you are probably are not inthe top 1% of income, or you had or-dinarily taken the standard deductioneven before the passage of the Trumptax plan in December of 2017.
More likely you are a middle-class taxpayer in a high-taxed statelike blue-state Maryland and shouldconsider sending the below letter orsome version of it not just to Gov. Lar-ry Hogan, but, more importantly, toyour state representative in Annapoliswho has chosen so far to ignore theimpact of the 2017 tax hike on you.Here is my open letter to Hogan:
Dear Gov. Hogan/MarylandState Senator or Delegate,
I want to bring to your attention
what I consider a grave misunder-standing regarding the impact of thefederal tax plan on Maryland taxpay-ers.
As you may recall, in 2018, you,Gov. Hogan, supported SB-875which was designed to “make us”whole by putting back at the state lev-el many of the middle class tax deduc-tions eliminated in the federal tax planand decouple the state return from thefederal return to enable the Marylandtaxpayer to itemize deductions on thestate return even if taking the newlyincreased standard deduction on thefederal return. Current Maryland lawprevents such decoupling.
As you are also quite aware, theMaryland state legislature has refusedfor the last two years to pass any legis-lation to “make us whole” choosing,instead, to take the windfall to thestate treasury resulting from the elimi-nation of middle class tax deductionsand use that windfall to fund imple-mentation of the findings of the Kir-wan Commission.
Our comptroller, Peter Franchot,has publically stated that he would nothave used it for Kirwan but, rather,would have placed it in a “rainy dayfund.” Either way, it was not going togo back to the middle-class taxpayersto “make us whole.”
This is where the confusion
comes in. The windfall to the statetreasury was a direct result of theelimination of the tax deductions.
Legislation proposed last yeardid not address this issue but only ad-dressed the need to decouple the statereturn from the federal return.
This legislation failed to pass dueto the members of the House Ways &Means Committee and the Senate’sBudget & Taxation Committee con-flating the two issues.
When the federal tax plan waspassed, one of the arguments for itwas that there would no longer be aneed to itemize with the newly in-creased federal standard deduction. It,of course, was a misguided assump-
tion, especially in heavily taxed bluestates like Maryland.
The result of not being able to de-couple the state return from the feder-al return is that a large segment ofMaryland taxpayers have been forcedto forego the increased federal stan-dard deduction since they must item-ize at the state level and, accordingly,at the federal level as well to maxi-mize their tax savings even thoughtheir itemized deductions at the feder-al level falls below the federal stan-dard deduction.
This preclusion of availing them-selves of the increased federal stan-dard deduction benefits only the na-tional coffers and has no impact on thestate treasury.
In other words, if a Marylandtaxpayer chooses to itemize to maxi-mize his or her tax savings, he or shewill do so and be processed as such bythe state as was done in every previ-ous tax year regardless of the federaltax plan.
This is a critical point misunder-stood by the state legislators.
Accordingly, decoupling thestate return from the federal returnserves to enable the taxpayer to item-ize on the state return as he would doregardless of the decoupling but alsobe able to take the standard on the fed-eral.
The only additional cost wouldbe the cost of some additional staff orthe hiring of a contractor to processthe itemizing at the state without thereliance of the IRS since the standardwould be taken at the federal.
This cost is in the tens of thou-sands of dollars and in no way tapsinto the windfall estimated to be up-wards of some $400 million per yearreceived by the state treasury resultingfrom the elimination of deductions.
A bill supported by you, Gov.Hogan, that specifically addresses thedecoupling without that issue beinglost in the more considerable debateabout the windfall should be non-con-troversial if explained adequately tothe legislature, not an easy task, I willadmit.
Certainly, we would also likeyour support for adding back the somany middle-class tax deductions forMaryland eliminated under the Feder-al tax plan and thereby, “make uswhole,” but, at the very least, wewould like to see the issue of decou-pling finally addressed this year.
I look forward to your support ofthis critical issue to Maryland’s mid-dle-class taxpayers.
Sincerely,Paul K. Schwartz
Paul’s ViewBy
Paul K. Schwartz
www.thesentinel.com
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Dear Gov. Larry Hogan
COURTESY PHOTO
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan
After the unexpected slowdownof existing home sales last fall, mostreal estate agents had optimism forthe 2019 spring market. However,many were surprised by the earlyspring reporting of mixed housingdata (when all indicators shouldhave been positive). Although na-tional stats for spring seemed to bepushing upward, some regional mar-kets did not perform as expected(Mid-Atlantic home sales declinedat the beginning of the spring).
Many experts cited a number offactors were to blame for the de-crease in sales. Industry expertsagreed that the lack of quality homesfor sale was a top concern. In hind-sight, last fall’s home sale slowdowninto spring may just have been anaberration. However, it may alsohave been an indicator that correctlypredicting the housing market is in-creasingly difficult and subject to lo-cal factors. Nonetheless, econo-mists have housing predictions for2020.
At this year’s National Associa-tion of Realtor’s (NAR) 2019 Real-tors Conference & Expo (HousingExperts Discuss 2020 Outlook,
Housing Innovation at Realtors’Expo; nar.realtor; November 9,2019), we heard opposing viewsabout the economic and housing out-look. First, it is not unusual to hearNAR’s chief economist LawrenceYun speak of the housing market op-timistically. Although he doesn’t ex-pect a recession next year, he doescaution that global economics couldimpact the U.S. such that it couldhamper growth. Yun stated a com-mon assessment by economists,which is that home sale inventory islow. He stated “The U.S. is in needof more new housing …This is anincentive for builders to start moreconstruction. If they do, I think wewill have at least 12 consecutiveyears of economic expansion.”
Contrasting Yun’s economicassessment, Kenneth T. Rosen,chairman of the Rosen ConsultingGroup, expressed a risk of a reces-sion due to economic trade and poli-tics.
However, Rosen conceded thatas long as the job market continuesto remain strong, the U.S. economywill likely remain robust.
Speaking of jobs and home saleinventory, a recent market assess-ment by Ralph McLaughlin ofCoreLogic (Homeownership RateJumps on the Tail of Low MortgageRates; corelogic.com; October 29,2019) indicated that the recent jumpin the homeownership rate is an in-dicator that there is an “upward”trend in homebuyer demand. The1.4 million new homeowners in2019 is taken as a positive sign that
buyer demand remains high, and isexpected to drive the housing mar-ket in 2020. However, just like ear-lier this year, low home sale inven-tory and “underbuilding” coulddamper next year’s home sales stats.
So, demand for housing will bestrong next year, but I hear you ask-ing about home prices…
Molly Boesel of CoreLogic re-ported on home sale price growthand expectations for 2020 (HomePrice Growth Regains Momentum;corelogic.com; November 5, 2019).September’s 3.5% CoreLogic’sHome Price Index (HPI) increasedslightly from August, which contin-ues the six-month increase of homeprice growth. The steady increasein national home prices indicate a“regained momentum.” CoreLogicforecasts national home prices to in-crease 5.6% for September 2020.
The S&P Case Shiller Homeprice Index (spindices.com) corre-sponds with current national homeprice growth with a 3.2 percent Sep-tember index, which is higher thanAugust’s 3.1% index. However, fu-ture home price growth may dependon regional shifts in home sales andjob opportunities. Seattle and LasVegas dropped out of the top fourcities, as it was noted the “hot hous-ing markets” are now in the south-east markets of Charlotte, Tampaand Atlanta.
Dan Krell is a Realtor® withRE/MAX Platinum Realty in Bethes-da, MD. You can access more infor-mation at www.DanKrell.com.
Many criminal cases are dis-posed of by guilty pleas, in which thetrial judge must be satisfied that thedefendant’s plea is knowingly andvoluntarily given. Under Marylandlaw, even after conviction a defen-dant may file what is known as a peti-tion for writ of error corum nobis(“before us”) arguing that some fun-damental error not in the originalrecord in the case requires a judgmentof guilt to be aside. What must beshown to obtain such relief was ex-plored in a recent reported opinionfrom Maryland’s intermediate appel-late court in the case of Dale Byrd v.State of Maryland.
The Court of Special Appeal’sopinion indicates that Byrd pled
guilty in two cases of possession ofheroin with intent to distribute nar-cotics. In each case, the State indicat-ed that two different police officersobserved Byrd exchanging moneyfor what appeared to be drugs, andheroin capsules were found at thescene. After serving his sentence andcompleting probation, Byrd filed thispetition to set aside his guilty pleaswhich if granted may have reducedhis sentencing in another later crimi-nal case.
At a hearing, defense counsel of-fered evidence that before the guiltypleas were entered personnel recordsof each officer showed they had beendishonest in previous unrelated cases,which was not disclosed by the prose-cution. The test for obtaining corumnobis relief requires the defendant toprove 1) the grounds to challenge theconviction must involve a lack of ju-risdiction or a constitutional or otherfundamental right, 2) evidence toovercome the presumption of regularproceedings in the criminal case, 3)petitioner faced significant collateralconsequences from the conviction, 4)
the issue was not waived, and 5) thereis no other legal remedy. Even assum-ing Byrd could meet requirements 2through 5, the trial judge denied thepetition.
The appellate court upheld thedenial of the relief. It noted that thealleged dishonest conduct that mighthave impeached the officers’ testimo-ny was unrelated to Byrd’s cases.There was no showing that the prose-cutor made any representations aboutthe honesty of the officers, nor thatthe prosecutor even knew about theirpast issues. The Court held that theprosecution had no obligation to vol-unteer such impeachment informa-tion to the defense. That the defen-dant long after his guilty plea realizedthat the State’s case against him wasnot as strong as he thought gave himno right to set aside his guilty plea inthe absence of any improper conductby the State.
Thomas Patrick Ryan is a part-ner in the Rockville law firm of Mc-Carthy Wilson, which specializes incivil litigation.
By Dan Krell
By Tom Ryan
THECOURTREPORT
NOVEMBER 14, 2019 THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY SENTINEL 5
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Housing outlook in 2020
6 THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY SENTINEL NOVEMBER 14, 2019
Your life is 24 hours a day, seven days a week. So is ours.www.thesentinel.com
Montgomery County, MarylandDepartment of Environmental Protection
PUBLIC NOTICEApplications for Temporary Noise Waivers
The Department of Environmental Protection is currently reviewingtwo applications for Temporary Noise Waivers as allowed under theMontgomery County Noise Control Ordinance, Chapter 31B, Sec-tion 11(a).
A Temporary Noise Waiver is being requested by Purple Line Tran-sit Constructors (PLTC), 6811 Kenilworth Ave., Riverdale, Mary-land, for nighttime construction related to placing concrete as partof the construction of an underground tunnel for the Bethesda MetroStation South Entrance. The work will take place underground andabove ground within Elm St. at the intersection with Wisconsin Ave.The work is scheduled for 24 hours on weekdays and weekends5:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
The second Temporary Noise Waiver is being requested by NPLConstruction, 6100 Columbia Park Road, Hyattsville, Maryland,for the purpose of replacing a natural gas pipeline at 12608 NewHampshire Avenue, Silver Spring. The work is being performed atnight to alleviate traffic congestion and impacts to businesses andpedestrians as directed by the Maryland State Highway Administra-tion. The scheduled work hours are from 9:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m.The night work will be performed intermittently over severalweeks.
The application and related documents are available for public in-spection and may be viewed on the Department's website by visitingthe Noise Waivers & Suppression Plans page at: https://www.mont-g o m e r y c o u n t y m d . g o v / D E P / c o n t a c t / n o i s e -documents.html#waivers. The Department will receive commentson the application for a minimum of ten (10) days after publicationof this notice.
Comments, questions or requests to examine documents related tothe PLTC application may be directed to Steve Martin, DEP/DEPC,255 Rockville Pike, Suite 120 Rockville, MD, 20850. Telephone240-777-7746, Fax 240-777-7715 or email [email protected].
Comments, questions, or requests to examine documents related tothe NPL application may be directed to Gretchen Ekstrom,DEP/DEPC, 255 Rockville Pike, Suite 120, Rockville, MD, 20850.Telephone 240-777-7750, Fax 240-777-7715 or email [email protected].
00039907 1t 11/14/19
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NOVEMBER 14, 2019 THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY SENTINEL 7
By Kathleen Stubbs@kathleenstubbs3
ROCKVILLE – MontgomeryCounty Public Schools (MCPS)central office staff said they want torevise their approach to secondaryeducation for middle and highschool students who have limitedEnglish proficiency (LEP).
Staff presented its findings onMCPS data about LEP secondarystudents during a MontgomeryCounty Public Schools Board of Ed-ucation meeting Nov. 12.
Niki Hazel, associate superin-tendent of the Office of Curriculumand Instructional Programs (OCIP)at MCPS, reported to the board de-tails about the difference in academ-ic achievement between high-per-forming and low-performing stu-dents in terms of college and careerreadiness, as measured by MarylandComprehensive Assessment Pro-gram (MCAP) test scores.
Staff found in its research thatmany secondary students in theEnglish Speakers of Other Lan-guages program (ESOL) are lesslikely to earn high scores on two-state tests required for graduation:
the Maryland MCAP for Algebra 1and the English 10 MCAP.
Hazel also told the board thatcentral office staff has started work-ing on a plan to improve the acade-mic performance of secondaryschool – middle school and highschool students who are in theESOL program and that the planspans three school years.
Central office’s “strategicgoals” for the plan are to increasehigh school graduation rates ofESOL students, to improve teacherquality through training, and to in-crease the number of secondaryESOL students enrolled in at leastone on-grade-level class while con-tinuing their ESOL courses. Theplan would involve providing sup-ports to ESOL students enrolled inthe on-level English classes.
Staff research found that manysecondary students with limitedEnglish proficiency who take thestate tests in math and English havenever taken an on-grade-level classin either math or English.
Hazel said that staff is consid-ering an approach that is differentfrom the norm.
MCPS wants to put ESOL stu-
dents in an on-grade-level coursebut with added supports. The planwould also involve making sureteachers who are teaching ESOL arecertified to teach ESOL as well ascertified in the subject matter theyteach. This will require givingteachers training at some point dur-ing the next three years.
She did not say whether thatidea has been set in stone or whichteachers would require training.Hazel said viewing ESOL studentsbased on their level of English pro-ficiency is not helpful.
“We want to be careful not to la-bel our students,” Hazel said. “Wehave level two (ESOL) students whoare earning fours and fives (on tests),but we also know we have a lot ofwork to do. Now, we’re in a placewhere Algebra I is a high school(graduation) requirement.” Sheadded that Maryland State Depart-ment of Education (MSDE) will ex-pect that students earn top scores onthe two tests required for graduation,which would be a four or a five.
Michelle Hunsberger, an ESOLteacher at Gaithersburg MiddleSchool, accompanied Hazel at theboard table. She said she has ob-
served that labels for being in ESOLnegatively impact students who arein the ESOL program at her school.
Hunsberger said she believesthat one could argue that placingESOL students only in ESOL cours-es sends a message to the studentsthat the school system has low ex-pectations for them. On the otherhand, if MCPS staff gives ESOLstudents the needed supports, plac-ing secondary students in an on-lev-el English course could prove bene-ficial for them; it also may changethe way teachers see their students.
“If we are asked to teach thesame standards (to ESOL studentsas we teach to non-ESOL students)… it takes away a lot of our implicitbiases,” Hunsberger said.
Sonja Bloetner, supervisor ofESOL Pre-Kindergarten through12th grade, who was also at theboard table, said the plan would takea lot of work and requires supportfrom many departments and fromeveryone involved to be a success.The plan is ongoing and will lastthrough the end of the 2021-2022school year.
The OCIP three-year plan toimprove ESOL academic perfor-
mance was not solely a central of-fice decision. Between June and Oc-tober, OCIP met with a “multi-stakeholder workgroup” to receiveinput on student needs, such aswhich type of English developmentcourses would be most suitable forstudents with lower-level Englishproficiency level 1 or level 2.
OCIP also sought their advice,worked to help members of theworkgroup understand its goals andasked them to communicate thosegoals to people in their jurisdictions.The teachers union, MontgomeryCounty Education Association’sESOL Advisory Committee, helpedrecommend some of the members ofthe workgroup.
Superintendent Jack Smithwrote in a memorandum to the boardfor the Nov. 12 meeting that OCIPstaff and the Secondary SchoolsESOL Multistakeholder WorkGroup will work together to orga-nize the steps in the three-year plan.
An outline of the plan is avail-able in the memo, which can beviewed through the MCPS SchoolBoard portion of the web serviceBoardDocs, accessible through theBoard page of the MCPS website.
MCPS staff aims to boost graduation rates and state test scores of limited English proficiency studentsNEWS
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workforce development because allof these areas are critical for thelong-term success of our county andour community members.”
Elrich noted in his remarks thatit is impossible to achieve the kind ofsocial justice goals the county has setfor itself without funding.
“For all our commitment to so-cial justice in the county, social jus-tice requires dollars,” he said. “If theeconomy doesn’t grow, it’s not goingto generate the dollars. We need tofurther some of the other goals thatwe have.”
He explained that the county haslong been the economic powerhouseof the state, one that needs to be con-nected through affordable housingand practical transit options to reachits true potential.
“We want to make sure that bythe beginning of next year people aregetting a very clear image that we arechanging the way we do business inthe county, and local businesses aregoing to find, should we pass the leg-islation that they’re going to get pref-erences on both points and cost, so
we want to make sure that our busi-nesses stay here,” Elrich said.
The new Economic Develop-ment Platform can be found on thecounty’s website and illustrates howeach factor transportation, workforcedevelopment, business developmentand housing are interconnected tocreate a more efficient and thrivingeconomy in the area.
“The platform highlights de-creasing the cost of doing business,promoting local businesses and apositive business climate, attractingand retaining strategic industries,and expanding entrepreneurial pro-grams as key areas. Expandingworkforce development structures tomeet the needs of businesses and res-idents across the entire workforcedevelopment continuum is also anessential component of the plat-form,” wrote the county.
So far, the resolution has gar-nered support from all the councilmembers.
“The entire council has united todevelop these goals, and each of usare committed to addressing obsta-cles that can prohibit business estab-lishment, growth and retention,”
Navarro said. “I hope that the Eco-nomic Development Platform Reso-lution sends a clear message to busi-nesses of all sizes and entrepreneursat home and abroad that Mont-gomery County truly is open forbusiness.”
The council is scheduled to voteon the resolution covering the neweconomic development platform onNov 19.
According to the council, oncethe resolution is in place each of thecouncil’s committees will developaction items for the pillars of theEconomic Development Platformand report their recommendations tothe full council on issues like poten-tial budget, policy changes or leg-islative measures among others toenhance the county’s economicgrowth.
“Working towards the estab-lished goals of the Economic Devel-opment Platform will enhance ourability to attract the innovators andbusiness investment necessary tosustain the programs, services, andamenities that make our County anextraordinary community,” Navarrosaid.
Brothers Before Othersshow support for BlueLine Flags in county
civic groups and elected officials,including Gov. Larry Hogan, havemade it clear they do not agree withElrich’s decision.
Hogan posted photos of him-self on Twitter posing in front ofsimilar flags, saying, “We areproud to hang these Thin Blue Lineflags in Government House to hon-or our brave law enforcement offi-cers. A local elected official pro-hibiting police from displaying aflag given to them by a gratefulchild is disgraceful.”
Brothers Before Others alsotook offense to Elrich’s decisionand announced in a statement thatthey would show their support out-side the Fifth District Police Sta-tion by handing out Blue LineFlags. They also invited Hogan tojoin them during their middaydemonstration.
Although Hogan did not makean appearance, a small group ofpeople gathered in the parking lotoutside the station carrying theirown Blue Line Flags and chattingwith officers from the precinct.
“Unfortunately, in America,we can’t control who displays whatand where that’s the freedom weprotect and the freedom that wehave,” said Rob O’Donnell to thegroup of supporters. O’Donnellserved as a police officer for 14years and currently serves as theorganization’s director of businessand media relations.
“So, because this flag washighjacked in maybe a half a dozencases over its more than 60-yearhistory doesn’t make it a racist or awhite supremacist (symbol). Whatit stands for is those police officerswho put their badges on every day,leave their homes not knowing ifthey’re going to come home, servetheir community regardless of thedemographics of that communityand do that job day in and day out,they deserve this support.”
O’Donnell went on to say thatthere is a bond between the com-munity and the police force thatserves it and Elrich’s decisionthrew a wedge through that bond.
“He could have simply said,put it in a nonpublic facing room,put it in the locker room, put it inthe gym, instead he came out with astatement saying ‘this is what wewant,’ he wanted to put out therehis anti-police rhetoric, that anti-Blue Line rhetoric so that he wouldget kudos from his supporters,”
O’Donnell said. Other participants in the
demonstration cited similar issueswith Elrich’s decision.
Susie Brown Butler explainedthat she supports MontgomeryCounty Police 100% and has seenfirsthand the stress officers are un-der because her own father was anofficer.
“They don’t get enough sup-port from the public or the govern-ment, I think no one appreciateswhat they do,” she said. “I think(this demonstration) is very impor-tant because police officers need tosee that there are people behindthem; their morale is so low rightnow, and a lot of that has to do withMarc Elrich.”
She went on to explain thatBlue Line Flags are not about theBlack Lives Matter movement orthe Blue Lives Matter movement,but about supporting the police.
Brown Butler noted that thereare good and bad people in everyarea of life.
“There’s bad apples in everywalk of life, there’s bad apples inclergy I mean there have beenthings that happened in theCatholic church, so are you goingto go there and take down the stat-ues of Mary and Joseph? No,” shesaid.
“There have been some terri-ble rapes by some illegal aliens,and they happen to be Hispanic, sois he going to go into all the Mexi-can restaurants in the area and takedown everything having to dowith their country? No, and heshouldn’t.”
She explained that she feelslike Elrich is just “picking on thepolice department.”
Michael Gugulis, who also at-tended the demonstration, saidthat the county executive’s criti-cism and the anti-police sentimentis completely uncalled for.
“Why would you criticize theflag? Why would you criticize thekid (who made it and) why wouldyou criticize the police? The po-lice are here for everybody, imag-ine if there were no police, whattype of community we wouldhave,” he said.
Gugulis went on to explainthat Montgomery County is a fab-ulous community, one that is verydiverse. Still, it comes with a gov-ernment that “is trying to deni-grate and tear our communityapart, pit one against another,” hesaid.
Flags, from Page 1
Economic Plan, from Page 1
Elrich and Navarro announce CountyEconomic Development Plan in full detail
8 THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY SENTINEL NOVEMBER 14, 2019
By Suzanne Pollak@SuzannePollak
ROCKVILLE – Human traf-ficking does exist in MontgomeryCounty, according to panelists at theNov. 12 Leadership Montgomerymeeting.
“We see sex and labor traffick-ing here in Montgomery County. It’sall ages, female, male, American-born or not,” said Susan Esserman,founder and director of the Universi-ty of Maryland’s SAFE (Support,Advocacy, Freedom and Empower-ment) Center for Human TraffickingSurvivors.
It starts online and in hotels andmassage parlors, she said at Leader-ship Montgomery’s second annualCommunity Needs Conversation,which was held at the ExecutiveBuilding in Rockville.
With three airports, and a busyInterstate 95 nearby and plenty ofhotels along Rockville Pike, thecounty is home to these abuses inwhich people are being made tohave repeated sex daily or work insomeone’s home for 18 hours a daywhile making very little money –sometimes less than minimum wage– while being threatened with physi-cal harm if they do not cooperate.
Esserman defined human traf-ficking as “a criminal exploitationfor profit.”
Traffickers “use force or fraudor coercion” to make a person do
what they want and be too scared torun away or contact authorities, shesaid.
“They prey on the vulnerable,”Esserman said, and then proceededto list a huge range of examples, in-cluding people with disabilities, thehomeless, young runaways, peoplewho have already been sexually as-saulted, undocumented immigrants,members of the LGBT community,substance abuse users and people re-cently released from prison.
Esserman, who expects to openanother SAFE Center in theRockville area soon, estimated that2.5 million people around the worldare victims of human trafficking.
“That is a staggering number,”she said, adding, “This is such aprofitable crime. It is the second-largest and fastest-growing crime.”
While many people think of hu-man trafficking as someone from an-other country being lured here on afalse promise of a well-paying job orsomeone grabbed off the street andforced into domestic slavery or con-stant sex, that is not the typical sce-nario.
In this county, 90% of thosewho are exploited are female, Esser-man said.
While many come from Hon-duras and the Philippines, “The ma-jority of trafficking cases, the personis trafficking in their own country,”she said. “Almost a half of ourclients are American-born. That
stuns me,” she said of those whoseek help at the Safe Center.
Most of those who are foreign-born came to this country legallywith a visa, she said, adding thatthey are not tied up nor thrown intothe back of a car.
She urged audience members,many of whom were professionalswhose jobs involved human traffick-ing, including social and hospitalworkers and members of task forces,to look for red flags. If they believesomeone is being trafficked, theyshould report it at once, the panelistssaid.
Red flags include people whodo not seem to have any control overtheir time and paperwork. They ap-pear to work hard but have littlemoney.
They may have visible bruisesand are hungry, even malnourished,Esserman said.
Some have boyfriends or girl-friends who are much older thanthem. Others live where they workand may not even know their ad-dress, she noted.
“The most important thing youcan do is report,” your suspicions,she said.
“If you see something, saysomething. I can’t stress thisenough. If you have a concern, reachout,” agreed Deborah Feinstein,chair of the special victims divisionat the state’s attorney’s office in thecounty.
Human trafficking is growing in Montgomery County
NOVEMBER 14, 2019 THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY SENTINEL 9
10 THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY SENTINEL NOVEMBER 14, 2019
By Brady Holt@BradyHoltAutos
The Toyota Corolla enjoys asterling reputation in the compactsedan class. Yet in recent years, thatreputation was available at some ofthe segment’s lowest prices. That isa tempting combination.
But the Corolla was backing upits budget-friendly price with abudget-grade interior, a budget-grade driving experience and a low-tech engine with merely acceptablefuel economy. There were clear rea-sons it cost many thousands of dol-lars less than its historical archrival,the comparatively high-tech, fun-to-drive Honda Civic.
The newly redesigned 2020Toyota Corolla is a big improve-ment over its predecessor in severalkey ways. Its interior goes fromdour and low-tech to modern, invit-ing and up-to-date. It is quieter onthe highway, and less prone to wan-dering back and forth. Its steeringfeels more natural. Its exterior de-sign is crisper and more modern.
And, impressively, it remainsone of the least expensive cars in itsclass.
The 2020 Toyota Corolla has abase price of $20,555. In itself, thatdoes not make it a budget leader.Several competitors have cheaperstarting prices.
But Toyota brings extra stan-dard features that can cost quite abit extra on other models. These in-clude an automatic transmission, asuite of advanced safety and driver-assistance features, and a touch-screen infotainment system withApple CarPlay smartphone integra-tion for iPhones. Toyota also pro-vides two years or 25,000 of freescheduled maintenance.
Furthering the car’s value play,data on real-world Corolla salessuggest that Toyota dealers offer abigger discount off the sticker pricethan most of its competitors whichis about $2,500 after you have hag-gled. Notably, not only do the Civicand some other key models have ahigher sticker price than a compara-bly equipped Corolla, but theirdealers have not been as flexiblewith the sticker price.
This means you can buy awell-equipped compact sedanloaded with advanced safety equip-ment for less than $20,000 out thedoor. While that was also true of
last year’s Corolla, this one is a bet-ter vehicle in important ways.
That said, there are also somelingering downsides to the Corolla,along with some fresh ones. Whileits interior ambiance, driving dy-namics and overall experience haveimproved dramatically, they stilldon’t reach best-in-class status.And its interior is less spacious thanbefore.
The base 1.8-liter four-cylin-der engine — as equipped on ourtested car — makes 139 horsepow-er, which is low by today’s stan-dards, and you feel it when you ac-celerate. The engine makes a racketwithout tremendous forwardprogress, and even its fuel economyis unremarkable at an EPA-estimat-ed 32 to 33 miles per gallon inmixed driving. The engine largelycarries over from the 2014-2019Corolla model, and it is why theCorolla gets worse mileage than thequieter, more powerful Civic.
A more powerful 2.0-liter en-gine is also available in selectCorolla models, even bringing aslight fuel economy advantage atabout a $2,000 premium over com-parably equipped 1.8-liter models.(The Corolla is also sold as a five-door hatchback that’s availableonly with the larger engine.)
And you can buy a gas-electrichybrid model of the entry-levelCorolla LE, which brings a stellarfuel economy that exceeds 50 milesper gallon, but you cannot get itwith all the extra goodies availableon other Corolla trims. It costs apremium of $3,000 over the gas-only Corolla LE, starting at$24,055.
Moving behind the engine, theCorolla has some areas that feel un-appealingly cheap. The center con-sole bin slams shut with great force,and the exterior door handles feelflimsy.
It does not offer features likeheated rear seats, rain-sensingwindshield wipers or even an auto-matic-dimming rearview mirror. Itsinfotainment system, while sup-porting Apple CarPlay, lacks theequivalent Android Auto forGoogle-based smartphones. Noth-ing disastrous, to be sure, but re-minders of why the Corolla costless than the competition.
Another downside is that thenew Corolla is less roomy than itspredecessor. The rear seat loses itsgenerous legroom, becoming ser-viceable for two adults rather thantruly comfortable. The center-rearposition is a true squeeze. We knowwe’re talking about a small car, butthe Civic and Nissan Sentra havesignificantly more room.
On the budget side of the com-pact sedan class, the Corolla’s clos-est rivals are the Sentra, the
Hyundai Elantra, Kia Forte and theVolkswagen Jetta.
The Sentra is much like the oldCorolla — underpowered, insub-stantial-feeling on the highway butaffordable and spacious — thoughrecent updates bring it a superior in-fotainment system to the old Corol-la. The Elantra and Forte are closerto the current Corolla, feeling moresubstantial than the Sentra but lessroomy. The Jetta delivers the bestdriving experience of the budgetlot, though its interior can feel even
humbler than the Koreans. Lastly, if $20,000 seems too
dear for a budget car, we are sched-uled to test the promising re-designed 2020 Nissan Versa laterthis month. This subcompact sedanis priced from $15,625 and has his-torically offered more interiorspace than even many larger vehi-cles.
That means if you are interest-ed in a small, decently affordablesedan, you have many compellingoptions today. The Corolla may no
longer be a leader for Uber driverswho want maximum rear legroomfor their patrons.
It still doesn’t have the sportyperformance or cushy luxury foundin some of its peers. But the 2020Toyota Corolla promises a blend ofaffordability and dependability, allwith improved user-friendliness,aesthetics and ride and handling.
Brady Holt is a member of theWashington Automotive Press As-sociation.
Auto DriveBy
Brady Holt
COURTESY PHOTOS
The 2020 Toyota Corolla is newly redesigned with a more sophisticated look and feel than last year’s model, all whilekeeping prices reasonable. It drives better than its predecessor but has less rear legroom.
AUTOUpgraded Toyota Corolla remains a value leader in its class
NOVEMBER 14, 2019 THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY SENTINEL 11
ENTERTAINMENT
‘Guys and Dolls’ at Kensington Arts Theatre is a sure betBy Mark DreisonstokSpecial to The Sentinel
“Of all the high players thiscountry ever sees, there is no doubtbut that the guy they call The Sky isthe highest. In fact, the reason he iscalled The Sky is because he goes sohigh when it comes to betting on anyproposition whatever.”
So begins “The Idyll of MissSarah Brown,” a short story that waswritten almost entirely in presenttense by the American writer DamonRunyon. The proposition on whichThe Sky takes a $1,000 wager is thathe can convince the devout, conser-vative and comely Salvation Mis-sion worker Sarah Brown of the titleto join him on a trip to Havana forone night. It then becomes a battle ofwills: will “The Sky” (with the lastname of Masterson) reform from hisgambling ways, or will Sarah leavethe Mission for the wicked ways ofthe world?
This story, amalgamated withanother Runyon story “Blood Pres-sure,” is well-known to lovers of theAmerican musical as “Guys andDolls,” and visitors to the Kensing-ton Arts Theatre have a welcome op-portunity to experience this workwith music and lyrics by FrankLoesser, some for the first time andothers for the umpteenth time in awonderful production directed byCraig Pettinati and running throughNov. 24.
The music conducted live by
Matthew Dohm is good and thesinging is very good, but whatmakes this production stand out isthe characterizations. Sky Master-son, Sarah Brown, dice-game orga-nizer Nathan Detroit and Nathan’sfiancée (of twelve years!) Miss Ade-laide seem to have walked straightout of the 1930s (if you know thiswork from the story) or the 1950s (ifyou know it from the Broadway mu-sical or the Marlon Brando-FrankSinatra film).
“Luck Be a Lady” is sung withverve by Jordan Clifford as SkyMasterson. “If I Were a Bell” is sungoperatically by the vocally giftedJustine Summers who plays SarahBrown (the program notes inform usthat she is experienced in perform-ing Gilbert and Sullivan comicopera). Stephen P. Yednock deftlyvoices and acts out gangster Big Julewith true feeling, as if he were a na-tive of Runyonland.
Jeff Breslow, who stars asNathan Detroit, and Elizabeth Hes-ter, who plays Miss Adelaide, evokethe period in accent, dress and man-nerisms, showing fabulous chem-istry, for instance, during their per-formance of “Sue Me.” The chore-ography of Kendall Sigman isexcellent, most notably in “A Busheland a Peck” featuring Adelaide andthe Hotbox Performers and the in-strumental portion of “Luck Be aLady” with dancing gamblers.
Not only does the show exudemid-twentieth century verisimili-
tude and bring Loesser’s great mu-sic to the stage but accentuates thehumorous portions of the musical aswell and there are many comedic,witty and even ironic lines through-out the play.
As Sky Masterson attempts towoo Sarah Brown, the supposed sin-ner conveys an impressive knowl-edge of Scripture, even correctingthe upright mission worker that aBiblical passage she has posted isfrom Isaiah, not Proverbs. SarahBrown expresses that her ideal manmust have a “moral fiber to the wis-dom in his head, to the homey aromaaround his pipe” (according to thesong lyrics of “I’ll Know”).
Yet it is ironic that she is look-ing for these moral characteristicsbut ends up falling for a gambler – a“sinner” who has hidden moral qual-ities disguised beneath an unwhole-some exterior.
Unlike Sarah Brown, Miss Ade-laide is portrayed as a faithful butmorally ambiguous “doll,” in theparlance of the play and the day;however, Adelaide’s ultimate idealof domestic home life and children ismore traditional compared to SarahBrown’s quests for perfection infaith and love. The Kensington ArtsTheatre production is particularlyeffective in moments bringing outsuch features of “Guys and Dolls.”
Two other aspects of this pro-duction deserve to be singled out ashighly imaginative. One is that thefirst scenes of the performance fea-
ture slides and video projectionsevoking mid-twentieth century NewYork City; these then giving way toincreasingly elaborate sets and on-stage props.
Another highly praiseworthycharacteristic of the production isthat in certain scenes actors(mostly those playing gamblersand gangsters) sit among and evenchat with the audience; thus, asthe supposedly disreputable char-
acters in one scene sit in SarahBrown’s Mission, it is if we aredirectly in the Mission ourselves.
The current production of“Guys and Dolls” is a sure bet forentertainment! It can be enjoyed atthe Kensington Arts Theatre atKensington Town Center at 3710Mitchell Street in Kensington,Maryland, through Nov. 24. For fur-ther information, please visit:www.katonline.org.
COURTESY PHOTO
The current production of “Guys and Dolls” can be enjoyed at the KensingtonArts Theatre at Kensington Town Center at 3710 Mitchell Street in Kensington,Maryland, through Nov. 24.
‘A Chorus Line’ thrills Broadway audiences in Signature TheatreBy Edith BillupsSpecial to The Sentinel
Signature Theatre has revivedMichael Bennett’s groundbreakingmusical, “A Chorus Line,” with a re-choreographed version, and the re-sult is a show that still thrills 44years after its Broadway run.
The show, which is about theaspirations of Broadway dancers asthey audition for dancing andsinging spots in a new musical, gar-nered Bennett nine Tony awards andthe 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.To revise the legendary director’schoreography is almost unthinkable.However, Signature’s AssociateArtistic Director Matthew Gardinerand Tony-nominated choreographerDenis Jones’ revision still capturesthe musical’s emotions, tension andstruggles.
“A Chorus Line” was dedicatedto “anyone who has ever danced in achorus or marched in step…any-where,” and the success of the origi-nal show was due to its stories res-onating with everyone—not justthose who dance.
When developing the concept,
Bennett gathered a group of dancersto share their stories and experi-ences. The interviews grew fromwhy they began dancing to child-hood memories, adolescent awk-wardness, insecurities, sexuality and
more.It was a peek into the soul of a
fellow human being, and with somuch disconnect today, the show isa welcome return to intimacy andwill resonate with today’s baby
boomers.“A Chorus Line” features spec-
tacular singing and dancing, andSignature has done a superb job incasting actors who are blessedequally with the ability to dynami-cally pull off both. In the openingminutes, we see 23 individuals tryout for the coveted eight positionsas they belt out “I Hope I Get It.”Their nervousness about whetherthey will make the final cut is bothtouching, moving and believable.On the night that I attended, the au-dience seemed to collectively pullfor each actor on stage.
The show’s closing number,“One,” remains one of the most rec-ognizable dance routines of all time,with its top-hats tipped in unisonwhile the dancers extend their legshigh, but many exhilarating mo-ments are leading up to that scene.
Trevor Michael Schmidtdances up a storm in the number “ICan Do That” that calls for amazingendurance and athletic skills. EmilyTyra is lovely as the former star,Cassie, who is competing to getback on top after a fall from grace.Tyra’s rendering of “The Music and
the Mirror” is performed with a ten-derness that is stirring, while thenumber “At the Ballet” is given afresh delivery by Jillian Wessel asBebe, Kayla Pecchioni as Maggie-and Maria Rizzo as Sheila.
Putting the dancers throughtheir paces is Zach, the casting di-rector, and Matthew Risch is relent-less, demanding and stern. He inter-views each dancer with an unnerv-ing fierceness as he draws out onepersonal confession after the other.When he has to dismiss a dancerwho has poured out their heart,however, he seems to be genuinelysorry.
Other members of this talentedensemble include Adena Ershow, asVal, whose rendition of “Dance:Ten: Looks: Three” is wonderfullyfunny, and Samantha Marisol Ger-shman as Dina pulls out all thestops on “What I Did for Love.”
Backing the company is a ter-rific group of musicians conductedby keyboardist Jon Kalbfleisch. Theproduction runs through Jan. 5 atSignature Theatre located at 4200Campbell Ave., Arlington, Virginia.For tickets, visit SigTheatre.org.
COURTESY PHOTO
Phil Young as Richie joins the cast during a performance in “A Chorus Line,”which runs through Jan. 5 at Signature Theater in Arlington, Virginia.Signature’s version of the groundbreaking Broadway play is re-choreographed production of the show that still thrills audiences.
BLACK ROCK CENTER FOR THE ARTS
• TALI RUBINSTEIN SATURDAY, NOVEM-BER 16, 2019 8:00 PM - 10:30 PM
• METROPOLITAN KLEZMER NOVEMBER24, 2019, 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
STRATHMORE
• MOLLY JOYCE THURSDAY, NOVEMBER14, 2019, 7:30PM | THE MANSION
• WPA: TAIPEI SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAFRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2019, 8:00 PM | THEMUSIC CENTER
• PETTY COAT JUNCTION FRIDAY, NO-VEMBER 15, 2019, 8:30PM | AMP
• BSO: MOZART PIANO CONCERTO NO. 23SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2019, 8:00 PM |THE MUSIC CENTER
• THE SMALL GLORIES SUNDAY, NOVEM-BER 17, 2019, 8:00 PM | AMP
THE FILLMORE
• CONAN GRAY: THE COMFORT CROWDTOUR W. UMI SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16,2019, 8:00 PM
• ELECTRIC WIZARD W. MIDNIGHT MON-DAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2019, 8:00 PM
• KIM PETRAS - THE CLARITY TOURWEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 230198, 8:30 PM
WOLF TRAP
• THE SILKROAD ENSEMBLE FRIDAY, NO-VEMBER 15, 2019, 8:00 P.M. | THE BARNS
• BRIAN NEWMAN WEDNESDAY, NO-VEMBER 20, 2019, 8:00 PM | THE BARNS
• AMY HELM THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21,2019 | 8:00 PM | THE BARNS
NOV 14OVEREATERS ANONYMOUS MEETING
Nov. 14. 7:15 -- 8:30 P.M. Overeaters Anony-mous meeting at the Rockville Church of Christ,1450 Montgomery Ave., Rockville (in ParishHouse) every Thursday. For further information -and a list of other meetings, http://www.oa-dcmetro.org/ or Linda S at 301-641-9508
TRIVIA NIGHTS & TRUE RESPITEBREWING CO.
Nov. 14. 700 P.M. Thursday night trivia contin-ues at True Respite Brewing! Trivia starts at 7 pmevery Thursday night and is hosted by District Triv-ia. District Trivia game play consists of 5 rounds ofquestions with 4 bonus rounds in between. Ques-tions are progressive and increase in difficulty andvalue during each round from 1 to 10 points. At theend of each round is a bonus question that uses awager system. After hearing the question, circle thenumber of points you want to wager. Where: TrueRespite Brewing Company 7301 Calhoun Pl, Suite600 Rockville, Maryland 20855.
NOV 15FAB FRIDAY HAPPY HOURS
Nov. 15. 6:00 P.M. – 12:00 A.M. Excitement,energy, laughs.... they all await at the area's BEST
entertainment center in the heart of MontgomeryCounty. And now on Fridays from 6pm to 12mid alladventures are just $6. So, strap on a high-tech suit,enter the HUGE multi-level arena and prepare forthe adventure of a lifetime! PLUS - on Fab Fridayenjoy pizza for just $1 a slice. And during Fab Fri-day, the winner of every game plays "Shoot toThrill" - Take one shot... and if you hit the targetWIN two free adventures. Where: ShadowLand -Gaithersburg 624 Quince Orchard Road. ThroughFebruary 2020.
CONCERT: THE THIRTEENNov. 15. 7:30 P.M. Alexandria, Virginia. The
Thirteen, under the direction of Artistic DirectorMatthew Robertson, brings music that belovedBaroque composer Claudio Monteverdi penned andcompiled late in his career to life in November con-certs of The Lost Vespers (1641) with performancesthroughout the DC Metropolitan area. Music fromThe Lost Vespers is virtuosic touching, and compa-rable to Monteverdi’s famous Vespers of 1610. Itprovides an opportunity for audiences to experiencethis master composer’s work in his mature years.Additional dates: Saturday, November 16 at 7:30pm in Washington, DC and Sunday, November 17at 5:00 pm in Bethesda.
NOV 16
DERWOOD FARMERS MARKETNov. 16. 9:00 A.M. – 1:00 P.M. Open rain or
shine every Saturday through October 26. A com-munity market featuring fresh, local fruits, veggies,meats, baked goodies, arts, kids’ activities, live mu-sic... Meet sustainable local farmers and from-scratch makers of edibles & art! Where: DerwoodFarmers Market 16501 Redland Road, Rockville,MD 20855.
FOOD ADDICTS ANONYMOUSNov. 16. 9:30 – 10:30 A.M. Food Addicts
Anonymous meets every Saturday at the UnitarianUniversalist Church, 100 Welsh Park Drive, Build-ing #4, Rockville, MD 20850. We welcome newmembers. For questions, please visitwww.foodad-dictsanonymous.org or call Valerie @ 240-543-3090
ROCKVILLE FARMERS MARKETNov. 16. 9:00 A.M. – 1:00 P.M. Every Saturday
the Farmers Market transforms itself as differentfruits and vegetables become available throughoutthe season. Your pick of farm-fresh fruits and veg-etables, bedding plants, cut flowers, preserves, hon-ey, herbs, baked goods, and more. All items offeredare picked fresh daily and available as supplies last.Where: Jury parking Lot, corner of Rt. 28 and Mon-roe St.
NOV 17WALTZ DANCE
Nov. 17. 2:45 - 3:30 pm: Waltz Workshop and3:30 to 6 pm: Dance. Join us for a Waltz Dance inthe Spanish Ballroom at Glen Echo Park on Sunday,November 17, 2019 featuring the ensemble GreenLight Karma. This versatile band will provide alively mix of folk waltzes with a few other coupledances, including Hambo, Schottische, Swing, Tan-go, and Polka. The 45-minute dance lesson begins at2:45 p.m. with a half-hour introductory Waltz work-shop and a more advanced move presented the last15 minutes. Social dancing follows until 6 pm. Ad-mission is $13, $5 full-time students with ID. Nopartner required. The Glen Echo National Park is lo-cated at 7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo, MD20812.
NOV 18
THE SILVER SPRING GARDEN CLUB NO-VEMBER MEETING
Nov. 18. 8:00 P.M. The Silver Spring GardenClub invites you to our November 2019 meeting fora talk on: What Can We Learn from British Gar-dens? Our speaker, Marianne Willburn, is the gar-den columnist for The Frederick News Post, authorand Master Gardener with over two decades of ex-perience gardening in places as diverse as SouthernCalifornia, England, and the Mid-Atlantic. She is aCalifornia native, but has lived in a rural area of theDC Metro area for many years. Where: BrooksideGardens, Visitors Center/Education Building, 1800Glenallan Avenue, Wheaton. REFRESHMENTSwill be provided after the talk by Silver Spring Gar-den Club members. This event is Free and Open toall.
YOGA FOR ALLNov. 18. 10:30 A.M. – 11:30 A.M. Join Becca
Thomas, certified yoga instructor, for an all-levelsyoga class focused on alignment to build strength,explore flexibility and connect breath and move-ment. Seasoned yogis will have options for moreadvanced poses or transitions. Expect a short medi-tation at the end of each class. No registration isneeded but space is limited. Other: Please bring amat and water and dress in comfortable clothes youcan move in. Some blocks and straps will be avail-able for those who choose to use props. The classwill be held on the third Monday of every month(excluding holidays). Where: Twinbrook Library.
NOV 19LOW VISION RESOURCE AND SUPPORTGROUP
Nov. 19. 2:00 – 3:00 P.M. All are invited to anew group that provides resources, support, and ed-ucation needed to cope and adjust to vision loss. To
register, call Terry at (301) 951-4444. Where: LowVision Center- 5th Floor, 4905 Del Ray Avenue,Bethesda, MD.
MEDICAL MUSEUM SCIENCE CAFÉ:MODERN BODY ARMOR – HOW SCI-ENCE, MEDICINE, AND COLLABORA-TION SAVE LIVES
Nov. 19. 6:00 – 7:00 P.M. Join Marlene DeMaio,M.D., CAPT, Medical Corps, U.S. Navy (ret.) for adiscussion of her research and development of im-proved protective military equipment, includingbody armor and helmet technologies. Currently, Dr.DeMaio is a Clinical Professor in the Department ofOrthopaedics at the Perelman School of Medicine,University of Pennsylvania and Co-Director of theArthritis Clinic at the Corporal Michael J. CrescenzVA Medical Center in Philadelphia. Where: Nation-al Museum of Health and Medicine, 2500 LindenLane, Silver Spring, MD 20910.
NOV 20SQUARE DANCE LESSONS AND DANC-ING
Nov. 20. Square dance lessons and dancing atNorth Chevy Chase Christian Church, 8814 Kens-ington Parkway (in Parish House). Wednesdays:7:30 p.m. to 9:45 p.m. $7 per person, also Nov. 20.
Contact phone number: 301-598-2574.http://www.gerrymanders.info/
PLAY: THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THEDOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME
Nov. 20 – Dec. 22. Round House Theatre pre-sents The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Murder. Mystery. Mayhem. Math. What be-gins as an investigation into the grisly death of aneighbor’s dog results in a remarkable coming-of-age journey for 15-year-old Christopher Boone. Aself-described “mathematician with some behav-ioral problems,” our narrator sees things differentlythan those around him and, like fractals in a kaleido-scope, each revelation exposes another puzzle forhim to solve. As the audience follows Christopher’sbrilliant yet dizzying mind, the full story unravels ina visually dazzling sequence of events onstage. APlay by Simon Stephens. Based on the novel byMark Haddon. Directed by Ryan Rilette & JaredMezzocchi. Round House Theatre, 4545 East-WestHighway, Bethesda, MD 20814.
AN EVENING WITH SOPHIA LORENNov. 20 & 21. 7:30 P.M. Robert E. Parilla Per-
forming Arts Center. 51 Mannakee Street,Rockville, MD.
UPCOMINGFIGHTING HUNGER WITH EMPTYBOWLS
Nov. 21. 6:00 – 8:00 P.M. Early Bird Selection –5:30 – 6:00 P.M. Empty Bowls is an internationalgrassroots effort to fight hunger. The premise is sim-ple: potters, craftspeople, educators, and others workwith the community to create handcrafted bowls.VisArts is donating the clay, kiln time, and glazes,and our ceramics instructors and students are donat-ing their time to creating bowls. Attendees are invit-ed to a simple meal of soup, bread, and dessert. Inexchange for the ticket cost, guests keep a bowl as areminder of all the empty bowls in the world. Allevent proceeds will support Nourish Now and Inter-faith Works, two area non-profit organizationsworking to eliminate hunger and meet the needs ofthe poor in Montgomery County. Address: 155Gibbs Street, Rockville, MD.
IN THE GALLERY: METRO WASHING-TON CHAPTER OF THE COLORED PEN-
CIL SOCIETY OF AMERICANov. 22. – Jan. 27. Juried exhibit. The Colored
Pencil Society of America (CPSA) is a national,non-profit organization founded in 1990 exclusivelydedicated to artists working with colored pencil.Representing several countries around the world,and with about 1600 members in 2011, CPSA pro-vides two annual exhibitions (one online and one inconjunction with the annual convention), product re-search information, workshops and seminars, anewsletter, a networking directory, and district chap-ters across the United States. Artist Reception:Thurs., Dec 5 – 7 to 8:30 p.m. FREE. Where: ArtsBarn, Gaithersburg.
44TH ANNUAL SUGARLOAF CRAFTSFESTIVAL
Nov. 22-24. Sugarloaf Crafts Festival arrives inGaithersburg MD, November 22-24! Meet 400+ cu-rated artisans and shop their NEW work for 3 DaysOnly. Don’t miss this fun and interactive shoppingexperience! With art, gifts, fashion, jewelry, homedecor, furniture and much more, there's somethingfor everyone at Sugarloaf Crafts. Get a head start onyour holiday shopping, sample small batch specialtyfoods, watch live art demonstrations and enjoy inter-active theater for the kids. It’s simply the best placeto shop for those special things that you can't findonline! Where: Montgomery County AgriculturalFairgrounds, 501 Perry Parkway, Gaithersburg, MD20877.
AUTHOR TALK: ROB SCHEERNov. 23. 2:00 – 3:30 P.M. The Friends of the Li-
brary Rockville Memorial Chapter will be hostingRob Scheer, founder of Comfort Cases and authorof A Forever Family: Fostering Change One Childat a Time. His personal story with the foster caresystem is poignant and inspiring. You will learn howone person can make a difference and how you canhelp. The presentation wi be followed by a booksale and signing. All are welcome to this free eventto be held in the Rockville Memorial Library's firstfloor meeting room, 21 Maryland Ave.
TEEN WRITERS' CLUBNov. 26. 6:30 P.M. Teens ages 13-18 with a pas-
sion for writing are invited to join our Teen Writers'Club. You'll learn new writing techniques, get prac-tice in different writing exercises, share your work,and learn how to critique the work of others. AuthorNeal Gillen leads the club, which meets on the 2ndand 4th Tuesday of each month from 6:30-8:00.This program is made possible through the collabo-ration and support of the Maryland Writers' Associa-tion. Where: Potomac Library. Next meeting will beon Dec. 09.
SQUARE DANCE PLUS-LEVEL LESSONSAND DANCING
Nov. 27. At the plus level, square dance lessonsand dancing at North Chevy Chase ChristianChurch, 8814 Kensington Parkway (in ParishHouse). Alternate Wednesdays: 7:30 p.m. to 9:45p.m. $7 per person, also Dec 11. Contact phonenumber: 301-598-2574.http://www.gerrymanders.info/.
ON STAGE: THE BEST CHRISTMASPAGEANT EVER
Nov. 29. – Dec. 15. The Best Christmas PageantEver by Barbara Robinson is presented in partner-ship with Kensington Arts Theatre. In this hilariousChristmas classic, a couple struggling to put on achurch Christmas pageant is faced with casting theHerdman kids--probably the most inventively awfulkids in history. You won't believe the mayhem - and
CALENDAR
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What’s happening this week in Montgomery County November 14, 2019 – November 20, 2019
COURTESY PHOTO
Composer and performer MollyJoyce, whose work has beenprimarily concerned with dis-ability as a creative source,performs at the The Mansion atStrathmore on Thursday, No-vember 14. Opening the per-formance is No Lands, therecording project of Brooklyn-based electronic musician andcomposer Michael Hammond.
12 THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY SENTINEL NOVEMBER 14, 2019
CALENDAR
the fun - when the Herdmans collide with theChristmas story head on! This delightful comedy isadapted from the best-selling Young Adult book andhas become a holiday staple. Recommended ages8+. Arts Barn (no evening performance Dec. 14)Performance times: Fri. & Sat. at 7:30 p.m.; Sat. &Sun. at 2 p.m. Tickets: $20/$18 Student (ages 15-21)/$12 Youth (14 and under)
WALTZ DANCEDec. 01. 2:45 - 3:30 pm: Waltz Workshop and
3:30 to 6 pm: Dance. Join us for a Waltz Dance inthe Spanish Ballroom at Glen Echo Park on Sunday,December 1, 2019 featuring the ensembleJacquelopes. This versatile band will provide a live-ly mix of folk waltzes with a few other coupledances, including Hambo, Schottische, Swing, Tan-go, and Polka. The 45-minute dance lesson begins at2:45 p.m. with a half-hour introductory Waltz work-shop and a more advanced move presented the last15 minutes. Social dancing follows until 6 pm. Ad-mission is $13. No partner required. Where: Span-ish Ballroom at Glen Echo Park, MD.
DEL RAY ARTISANS’ 24TH ANNUAL FINEART & FINE CRAFT HOLIDAY MARKET
Dec. 6 – 22. Del Ray Artisans annual HolidayMarket offers unique handmade fine arts and craftsfrom local artists. Different artists each weekend!Choose from wall art, pottery, photography, jewelry,
glass, and much more! Plus FUNdraising 2020 wallcalendars, cookbooks, and upcycled tote bags tosupport Del Ray Artisans. Free admission. Market isDec. 6-8, Dec. 13-15, Dec. 20-22. Fridays 6-9pmand Saturdays & Sundays 11am-6pm. 2704 MountVernon Avenue, Alexandria, VA. Details: DelRa-yArtisans.org/event/holiday-market-2019
TAKOMA PARK ALTERNATIVE GIFTFAIR
Dec. 07. 12:00 – 4:00 P.M. Give gifts that touchpeople's hearts, honor them and make a real
difference to those in need. Visit the 21st AnnualTakoma Park Alternative Gift Fair at Takoma Park
Presbyterian Church 310 Tulip Avenue TakomaPark, MD 20912 (corner of Tulip & Maple), threeblocks from the Takoma Metro Station. 16 locallybased charitable organizations doing amazing workin our
city, region and the world. Also purchase any fairgift at the Takoma Park Farmer’s Market on
Sunday December 15, 10am – 2pm.
CHARITY BASKETBALL GAMEDec. 08. 1:00 – 4:00 P.M. Join Up to Us Founda-
tion for its 1st Annual Charity Basketball Game.Watch elected officials, local athletes, artists, and ac-tivists play to raise awareness of the issue of hungerand raise funds for Up 2 Us Foundation’s weeklyfood bag program. This year's event will be held atBethesda-Chevy Chase High School on Sunday,December 8th, 2019 from 1:00 PM until 4:00 PM.The actual game will be from 2:00 PM-3:30 PM.This event will consist of a 3-point shootout, specialhalftime show, raffle, lunch, and the big game! Up 2Us Foundation is a Maryland 501(c)(3) that is dedi-cated to eliminating hunger by providing depend-able access to nutritious food to low income familiesin Montgomery County.
IN CONCERT: COOL YULE WITHROCHELLE RICE
Dec. 14. 8:00 P.M. Join award-winning singer &songwriter Rochelle Rice for an evening of familiarholiday classics performed through a new musical
lens. Inspired by the spirit of the great songwriters ofthe 70s and guided by her study of jazz and BlackAmerican Music, Rice's sound is a woven tapestryof jazz-inspired pop and soul. Where: Arts Barn,Gaithersburg. Tickets $25/$18 Youth (18 and un-der).
13TH ANNUAL ALL SAINTS CHRISTMASMARKET
Dec. 14. 10:00 A.M.- 4:00 P.M. Expert crafts-men with sensational gifts for your holiday giving,homemade gourmet cocoa and Glühwein, musicand home-baked goods make the 13th AnnualChristmas Market the place to be Sat, 14 Dec, from
10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at All Saints' Episcopal ChurchParish Hall, corner of Rts 2 & 4, Sunderland, MD.Bring your red or green boot mug from previousyears to buy beverage refills. Rain, snow or shine!Free admission & parking. Proceeds benefit parish& community projects.
ART NIGHT OUT: ORNAMENT MAKINGWORKSHOP
Dec. 14. 7:00 – 9:30 P.M. Get together withfriends and join us for an evening of ornament mak-ing, just in time for the holidays. All experience lev-els are welcome and everything is provided. Sign upwith a friend to each receive a $5 discount. Wine,beer, sodas and snacks are available for purchaseand welcome in the studio. Where: Arts Barn,Gaithersburg.
MARYLAND YOUTH BALLET PRESENTSTHE NUTCRACKER
Dec. 20. 7:00 P.M. Maryland Youth Balletproudly presents the holiday classic The Nutcracker.This year’s production will be new staging andchoreography by Artistic Director Olivier Muñoz,newly appointed in 2019. The full-length versionruns December 20-26 at the Robert E. Parilla Per-forming Arts Center, Montgomery College. Thenew version, set to Tchaikovsky’s timeless score,will take place in France in the 1800’s and openswith the Plassard Family Christmas Eve gathering.It follows the classic tale in which daughter, Mariereceives the coveted Nutcracker doll from her UncleDrosselmeyer and includes the great battle of theMice and Soldiers as well as Marie’s imaginativetrip to the Land of the Sweets. Additional dates: De-cember 21 at 1:00 pm* and 5:00 pm December 22at 1:00 pm* and 5:00 pm December 23 at 1:00 pmand 5:00 pm December 24 at 11:00 am December26 at 3:00 pm* and 7:00 pm
*Q and A following the performance
SHOW: NEIL SIMON’S 45 SECONDSFROM BROADWAY
Dec. 21. 8:00 P.M. The Jewish Community The-ater of Montgomery County, in cooperation with theTBA Players, presents NEIL SIMON’s 45 SEC-ONDS FROM BROADWAY. at Temple Beth Ami,Rockville. This funny, warm-hearted comedy takesplace at an NYC café nicknamed the “Polish TeaRoom,” where a famous comedian, an aspiringplaywright, a jaded actress, and others swap life sto-ries and cope with life’s trials. Tickets at the door orat Eventbrite.com. Presented by special arrangementwith Samuel French, Inc., a Concord TheatricalsProduction. Additional date: Dec. 22 at 1:00 pm.
COMMUNITY ARTS: HOLIDAYS INBLACK AND WHITE
Dec. 21. 12:00 – 2:00 P.M. Traditional holidaymusic is combined with new works as the AmericanPops Orchestra provides accompaniment to silentholiday film classics produced by Thomas EdisonStudios such as “The Night Before Christmas”, “AChristmas Carol”, and others. All ages. In Partner-ship with the American Pops Orchestra. Tickets:$12 (Ages 10 & under)/ $15 (Gen Admission Ad-vance)/ $18 (Gen Admission At the door). Where:Arts Barn, Gaithersburg.
WALTZ DANCEDec. 29. 2:45 - 3:30 pm: Waltz Workshop and
3:30 to 6 pm: Dance. Join us for a Waltz Dance inthe Spanish Ballroom at Glen Echo Park on Sunday,December 29, 2019 featuring the ensemble Dancedu Jour playing a lively mix of folk waltzes with afew other couple dances, including Hambo, Schot-tische, Swing, Tango, and Polka. The 45-minutedance lesson begins at 2:45 p.m. with a half-hour in-troductory Waltz workshop and a more advancedmove presented the last 15 minutes. Social dancingfollows until 6 pm. Admission is $13, $5 full-time
students with ID. No partner required. Where:Spanish Ballroom at Glen Echo Park, MD.
TANGERINE ART EXHIBIT AT DEL RAYARTISANS GALLERY
Jan. 10 – Feb. 02. “Tangerine” is a juried exhibitfeaturing art from local area artists and is guaranteedto bring warmth and brightness to January’s wintryblahs. Join us in this imaginative interpretation oftangerine. The opening reception is on Friday, Janu-ary 10 from 7-9pm. Exhibit runs January 10 throughFebruary 2, 2020. Stay tuned for creative work-shops too! View the exhibit at Del Ray ArtisansGallery, 2704 Mount Vernon Avenue, Alexandria.Details: www.DelRayArtisans.org/exhibits.
ONGOING"CREATURE COMFORTS" ART EXHIBITAT VCA ALEXANDRIA ANIMAL HOSPI-TAL
Through Jan. 26. The “Creature Comforts” artexhibit (September 30, 2019 – January 26, 2020) atVCA Alexandria through the Gallery Without Wallsprogram features artwork of the animals in our livesby Del Ray Artisans members. Showcasing animalsthat lift and fill our hearts is a popular theme at VCAAlexandria and coincides with the winter holidayseason in which creature comforts of all types areappreciated. 2660 Duke Street, Alexandria, VA22314. Details: DelRayArtisans.org/exhibits/gww
HAPPY HOUR FLOW YOGAFirst Friday every month. 6:00 – 7:00 P.M.
Happy Hour Flow Yoga with Thrive Yoga instructorAllie Newsom is back at True Respite in 2019!Classes are the first Friday of each month from 6-7pm. Join us for a one-hour yoga class then follow upyour shavasana with one of True Respite's refresh-ing brews! Your $15 ticket includes both the classand one full pour of beer. Beer can be drank before,after, or during class. Props to anyone who can bal-ance their beer during the practice! Space is limitedso be sure to grab your ticket before the event sellsout! True Respite Brewing Company 7301 CalhounPlace, Suite #600, Rockville, Maryland, 20855.Through February 2020.
OPEN LIFE DRAWING SESSIONS – 2019Looking for a chance to hone your figure draw-
ing skills? Del Ray Artisans offers a range of openlife drawing sessions for just this purpose. Just dropin for the session and bring your supplies to draw or
paint our live models. Fee ranges from $8-$12. Allskill levels are welcome. Del Ray Artisans is locatedat 2704 Mount Vernon Avenue, Alexandria VA. Seeour calendar for dates and times:DelRayArtisans.org/life-drawing
TRIVIA NIGHTS & TRUE RESPITEBREWING CO.
Thursday night trivia continues at True RespiteBrewing! Trivia starts at 7 pm every Thursday nightand is hosted by District Trivia. It is free to compete.Come by yourself or with your friends and play foryour chance to win! At the end of each season fourteams from each District Trivia location play in theplayoffs for large cash prizes! Where: True RespiteBrewing Company 7301 Calhoun Pl, Suite 600Rockville, Maryland 20855.
STITCH AND PLAYTuesdays 1:00 – 3:00 P.M. We are adults who
enjoy mah-jongg, board & card games, and needle-work. Come join us. We will provide mah-jonggsets and board & card games or bring your own.Also, if you stitch, bring your needlework. Space islimited. Please register online. Go to www.mont-gomerycountymd.gov/library. Click Branches, se-lect Quince Orchard Library, then Upcomingevents. For more information, call 240-777-0200.This event reoccurs every 1st and 3rd Tuesday.
ENGLISH CONVERSATION CLUBTuesdays, 10:00 A.M. and 7:00 – 8:45 P.M. An
informal conversation club for anyone looking topractice and improve his/her English conversationalskills. Volunteer facilitators are patient, friendly andtalkative. All levels are welcome. Come join us.Registration is not required. Please call 240-777-0200 for more information. Free. Where: QuinceOrchard Library / 15831 Quince Orchard Road /Gaithersburg.
OVEREATERS ANONYMOUS MEETINGThursdays. 7:15 – 8:30 P.M. Overeaters Anony-
mous meeting Thursdays at the Rockville Church ofChrist, 1450 Montgomery Ave., Rockville (in ParishHouse). For further information, http://www.oa-dcmetro.org/ or Linda S at 301-641-9508.
ROCKVILLE FARMERS MARKETSaturdays. 9:00 A.M. – 1:00 P.M. Every week
the Farmers Market transforms itself as different
ΩContinued from page 12
What’s happening this week in Montgomery County November 14, 2019 – November 20, 2019
84Continued on page 14
PHOTO BY SAM KITTNER
Join award-winning singer & songwriter Rochelle Rice at the ArtsBarn in Gaithersburg on December 14 for an evening of familiarholiday classics performed through a new musical lens.
PHOTO BY EDWARD DANIEL
Jazz musician, trumpeter, and vocalist Brian Newman headlinesconcert at The Barns at Wolf Trap on Wednesday, November 20.Newman's trumpeteering and dynamic stage presence is reminis-cent of the big band scene of New York City.
NOVEMBER 14, 2019 THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY SENTINEL 13
fruits and vegetables become available throughoutthe season. Your pick of farm-fresh fruits and veg-etables, bedding plants, cut flowers, preserves, hon-ey, herbs, baked goods, and more. All items offeredare picked fresh daily and available as supplies last.Where: Jury Parking Lot on the corner of Rt. 28and Monroe St. Rockville, MD 20850.
FOX HILL WEEKLY OPEN HOUSEWednesdays, 2:00 – 4:00 P.M. To share the ex-
ceptional lifestyle, amenities and services at FoxHill Retirement Community in Bethesda, a free tothe public open house will be held on a weekly ba-sis. Every Wednesday from 2 - 4 p.m. staff andowner/residents invite people to enjoy refreshmentsand tours of Fox Hill. Visitors are welcome to seethe one, two and three-bedroom model condomini-ums with a wide range of floorplans offered in amaintenance-free, cosmopolitan environment. FoxHill is located at 8300 Burdette Road, Bethesda,MD; 20817. For more information, call Julie Sabagat 301-968-1850 or visitwww.foxhillresidences.com.
NEW COUNTY PROGRAM SEEKSSKILLED VOLUNTEERS 50+
The Montgomery County Volunteer Center'snew 50+ Volunteer Network connects skilled volun-teers with nonprofit and government agencies thatneed assistance. This unique program is perfect forthose who are age 50+ and want to make a signifi-cant contribution of time and talent to the communi-ty, while still retaining flexibility. Through personalconsultations, trained advisors help find volunteeropportunities that match particular areas of interests,skills, and availability. Options may include ongoingprogram management and support, short-term con-sulting projects using professional skills, and directservices to clients. For more information, [email protected] or visitwww.montgomeryserves.org.
CANCER SUPPORT GROUPSHope Connections offers weekly groups for peo-
ple with all types of cancer, caregivers, people withadvanced cancer and a bereavement group. Supportgroups are held at both of Hope Connections for
Cancer Support’s two locations: BeaumontHouse at FASEB, 9650 Rockville Pike, Bethesda,MD and 8401 Corporate Drive, Suite 100, Lan-dover, MD. Orientation sessions are held everyMonday at 11 a.m. at the Beaumont House inRockville, and every Wednesday at 11 a.m. in Lan-dover. Additional orientation sessions are held onthe 2nd & 4th Thursday of the month at 6 p.m. inBethesda. Orientations are Free - RSVP required at301-634-7500
WOODLAWN MUSEUMFridays & Saturdays 10:00 A.M. – 4:00 P.M and
Sundays 12:00 – 4:00 P.M. The Woodlawn Muse-um featuring multimedia exhibits throughout the19th century stone barn. Interactive exhibits high-light the area’s agricultural landscape, the Under-ground Railroad, local free black communities andthe Quaker experience in Montgomery County, re-vealed through the lives of the Woodlawn’s resi-dents and enslaved laborers. www.woodlawn-manor.org. Adults $5 Children (6-17) $4.
BETHESDA FARMERS MARKETWednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. 7:00 A.M.
– 4:00 P.M. The Farm Women’s Market is a unique,intimate, quirky and festive shopping experience inDowntown Bethesda. The Market features greatfood, drink and music with artisans, crafts and bou-tique businesses from around the Mid-Atlantic re-gion. Local vineyards and breweries provide tast-ings and food trucks offer a quick meal. We are aten-minute walk south on Wisconsin Ave from theBethesda Metro Station at the intersection ofBethesda Ave. and Wisconsin Ave. Open Wednes-days, Fridays, and Saturdays 7:00am-4:00pm. Ourhistoric Market Building (circa 1932) is open year-round (Jan – Dec).
THE WIDOWED PERSONS SERVICE OFMONTGOMERY COUNTY
Weekly support groups for newly widowed per-sons at three locations: at Margaret SchweinhautCenter 1000 Forest Glen Rd. Silver Spring on Mon-days, at Holiday park Senior Center, 3950 FerraraDrive, Wheaton, on Thursdays and at Jane Lawton(Leland) Center, 4301 Willow Lane, Chevy Chaseon Thursdays. These support groups are open, freeof charge, to all widowed persons who have suf-fered a loss within the past two years. Those prefer-ring an evening group are encouraged to call theWPS office. The groups are facilitated by trainedvolunteers. For more information or to register,please call: 301-949-7398 to register. The WidowedPersons Service is a non-profit volunteer organiza-tion sponsored by AARP, the Montgomery CountyMental Health Association, and other communityorganizations.
ONE-ON-ONE FRIDAY FUNFridays. 9:00 – 10:00 A.M. Christ Episcopal
School welcomes you and your 1-year-old to ourOne-on-One Friday Fun. Our monthly playgroupsare the perfect way for your child to have a firstschool experience in a warm, toddler friendly settingwhile you meet other parents. Children will explore,learn and socialize in a calm, nurturing classroomcommunity with our Preschool faculty. Activitiesinclude playtime, snack time and an art project. Allsessions take place on Fridays in the PreschoolHouse. There is NO COST, but space is limited.Contact Janet Gerber (301-424-8702 [email protected]) for more information.
VISARTS COCKTAILS AND CANVASCLASS
Canvas Class in the VisArts Painting and Draw-ing Studio. 155 Gibbs Street, Rockville. Price $40.Visit www.visartsatrockville.org/cocktails-and-can-vas for more information.
SENIOR FITMondays & Wednesdays, 9:15 A.M. & 2:15
P.M. This 45-minute, multi-component exerciseprogram is for people age 55+. Ongoing classes areoffered at 23 locations in partnership with KaiserPermanente. Call 301-754-8800 to request a physi-cian's consent form to register and for a class sched-ule. Where: Holy Cross Hospital Senior Source,8580 Second Avenue, Silver Spring. For more infor-mation call 301-754-8800. Cost: Free.
LOSS OF A CHILD SUPPORT GROUPWednesdays, 6:30 – 8:00 P.M. For parents griev-
ing the death of a child of any age. Registration re-quired at (301) 921-4400. Montgomery Hospice,1355 Piccard Dr., Suite 100, Rockville, MD 20850.
Some Fun
Compiled by Tazeen Ahmad
Continued from page 13
14 THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY SENTINEL NOVEMBER 14, 2019
The MontgomeryCounty Sentinel
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Judge NANCY B. SHUGER served for 18 years as an Associate Judgeon the District Court of Maryland for Baltimore City, handling variouscivil and criminal matters. Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) offers acreative, positive alternative tot the cost and uncertainty of litigation forindividuals, businesses, organizations and families. As a former judge,she can assist disputing parties to achieve reasonable results. ADR offersa way for her to help people discover common interests which can allowthem to shape their own resolution to their disputes.As a mediator, she acts as a private neutral. She emphasizes that media-
tion can be effective wether the parties desire to address differences in anongoing relationship, or to reach a mutually agreeable solution to a singledispute, without trial. She uses mediation, arbitration and settlement con-ferences successfully for conflict involving personal injury (including autotorts and premises liability), employment, workplace conflict, child access,elder law, ethics, collections, contracts and other civil matters.
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TECHNOLOGYViavi Solutions, Inc. is accepting resumes forthe position of Engineer, Software Development inGermantown, MD (Ref. #BUSK). Design anddevelop telecommunication network test instru-ment software, working together with otherSW/HW engineers, marketing, and test engi-neering. Develop software in an agile develop-ment team for an embedded C++ and Linuxenvironment. Mail resume to JS22-051H, ViaviSolutions Inc., 20250 Century Boulevard,Germantown, MD 20874. Resume mustinclude Ref. #BUSK, full name, email address& mailing address. No phone calls. Must belegally authorized to work in U.S. without spon-sorship. EOE.
Lndscpe Laborer for Beautiful CountryLndscpes 7687 Laytonia Dr Gaithrsbrg MD20877 dig rake weed mow clean load. 12Temporary fulltime positions 2/1/20 thru10/31/20. No exper/education. M-F 8a-4p $15.81w OT at $23.72. Job based from Gaithrsbrg wtrans provided to sites in Montg Cty. Guarantwork for hours >¾ of workdays in job period.Transp to area incl meals/lodging $12.46 day tomax $55 day or reimbursed if worker cmpletes ½work pd. Return transp if worker cmpletesperiod or dismissed early. Can help find housing.Apply or resume @ Career Center 12900Middlebrook Rd Germantown MD 20874 [email protected] #1072567
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Corixa Corporation d/b/a GlaxoSmithKlineVaccines seeks Scientist, Protein Purification &Analytics in Rockville, MD to conduct research &assist on various projects focused on developing,performing, & evaluating viral antigen purifica-tion to support vaccine development. Req:Bachelor’s (or for. equiv.) in Biochemistry,Chemistry, Chem. Eng. or rel. + 4 yrs of exp. inperforming AKTA FPLC purification & 3 yrs ofexp. in protein biochemical & biophysical charac-terization techniques, incl. Tangential FlowFiltration, HPLC characterization, SurfacePlasmon Resonance assay & Dynamic LightScattering measurement. Employer will accept aMaster’s degree (or for. equiv.) in Biochemistry,Chemistry, Chem. Eng. or rel. + 2 yrs of exp. inperforming AKTA FPLC purification & 1 yearexp. in protein biochemical & biophysical charac-terization techniques, including Tangential FlowFiltration, HPLC characterization, SurfacePlasmon Resonance assay & Dynamic LightScattering measurement. Resumes c/o Precision,30A Ridgedale Ave, Suite 201, Ad Code SPPA-1,East Hanover, NJ 07936. Indicating Ad CodeSPPA-1 is essential. Principals only, no agenciesplease.
16 The Montgomery County Sentinel November 14, 2019
COURTESY PHOTO
Players for the Georgetown Prep football team pose for a team photo after defeating the Bullis School 22-16 to win their third consecutive Interstate Athletic Conference Championship on Nov. 9in Bethesda. Running back Jalen Hampton ran for more than 140 yards and scored the game-winning touchdown for the Little Hoyas.
Georgetown Prep claims third-straight IAC ChampionshipBy Devon Ashby Special to The Sentinel
ROCKVILLE – When the finalwhistle sounded on Nov. 9 and theGeorgetown Prep football teamraised its third consecutive InterstateAthletic Conference (IAC) Champi-onship after a 22-16 win over theBullis School, the team immediatelyshifted its focus to one of their team-mates.
Junior Connor Barry could notplay the whole season after undergo-ing multiple surgeries to remove abenign brain tumor. Since learningabout the procedure, members of theLittle Hoyas team kept Barry’s caseknown throughout the school withsigns and updates on his condition.
“We pray for Connor everyday,” guard Patrick Donovan-Jenk-ins said, “Our coach always helps usremember to keep Connor in ourthoughts when we play.”
With the attention on all onthem, the players let it be known thattheir biggest win of the season, wasin dedication to Barry.
“He was a teammate everyoneshould want on their team,” runningback Jalen Hampton said. “He al-ways brought energy when heplayed; he played with a big heartand was never selfish.”
Hampton rushed for more than140 yards and scored the game-win-ning touchdown in the Little Hoyas’championship victory. The win wasa reflection of their expectationscoming into the season.
After only returning ninestarters from the 2018 IAC champi-onship squad, Head Coach Dan Parosaid that his offense would revolvearound the effectiveness of the of-fensive line and Hampton. The Vir-ginia Tech commit returned for hissenior season after being named lastyear’s IAC Player of the Year.
“I do believe on the offensiveside of the ball your offensive linedictates the mentality of the offense,”Paro said in the preseason, “We are arun-oriented team, and pretty muchwe go as the O-line goes.”
However, repeating as champi-ons would not easy against a re-
vamped Bullis offense led by quar-terback Christian Veilleux, who con-nected with David Okoli for a 33-yard touchdown at the end of thefirst half. The junior then connectedwith senior wide receiver AshtonAllen, who ran down the sidelinesfor a 65-yard touchdown to go up by13 points.
Even though defeating BullisSchool was no easy task to accom-plish, they were not strangers to ad-versity, particularly Hampton.
In a pivotal contest against Lan-don on Oct. 19, while trailing late inthe game, it was the senior tailbackthat scored twice in the final sevenminutes to cap off a crucial come-back victory to keep their champi-onship hopes alive.
Even though they faced offagainst the Bulldogs who were on asix-game winning streak in front of ahome crowd, the Little Hoyas wereready to fight back. QuarterbackWill Angrick connected with seniorDominic Welsh with an 11-yardscore to reduce their deficit to sixpoints heading to the halftime break.
Embodying the spirit of un-selfishness that Barry played with,Hampton came out of the break asGeorgetown’s workhorse while be-ing hampered by a sprained ankle,suffered two weeks earlier.
“I had my ankle taped up andwore a leg brace so it caused me toplay cautiously in the first half,”Hampton said of his bad foot, “butwhen the game was on the line, Ilearned to forget about it and justplay… It wasn’t an easy process; ittook a lot of determination and com-mitment.”
That determination rubbed offon Hampton’s teammates. Taking a16-7 deficit late in the third quarter,Georgetown Prep scored on a drawplay by quarterback Will Angrick fora 4-yard touchdown run to cut theBullis lead to two points.
Then, late in the fourth quarter,the Georgetown Prep defenseforced a three-and-out to give theiroffense the ball. The Little Hoyasdrove down the field on their fol-lowing possession to the 1-yard linewith 1:50 remaining, Hampton
scored from one yard out, reachingthe ball across the goal line for thetouchdown to give GeorgetownPrep their first lead of the game.
The following possession byBullis saw them get past midfield,but their efforts came up short whendefensive back Isaiah West securedthe second interception in the dyingmoments of the game, sealing thedeal for Georgetown Prep.
“Nothing really went throughmy head (at that moment) but ex-citement,” Hampton said of the finaldefensive stand. “I was shocked wereally came back.”
For Hampton, the legacy heleaves behind is winning threestraight IAC titles for the LittleHoyas. However, the senior hopesthat he can be remembered as a“hardworking, unselfish player”that won the championship for hisfriend.
“We all wanted to win a cham-pionship,” Paro said, It’s amazinghow if you do things the right way,some good things start coming toyou.”
SPORTSNOVEMBER 14, 2019 THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY SENTINEL 17
Walter Johnson’s state title dreams continue after 42-10 win over UrbanaBy Eva Paspalis Case@EvaPaspalisCase
BETHESDA – At most highschool football games, the home teambursts through a paper banner as theyrace onto the field before kickoff. Thebanner is usually emblazoned with aclever phrase meant to intimidate thevisiting team or inspire the hometeam.
When the high school state play-offs kicked off on Nov. 8, WalterJohnson’s banner read a simple,meaningful message. It spoke to thedecades that the Wildcats programhad fallen short of the postseasongoal. It honored former varsity foot-ball players, some of whom were inattendance for the 4A West matchupagainst 6-4 Urbana High School.
The banner read “Wildcats makehistory.”
After a 42-10 victory over theHawks on a frigid night, anotherchapter is going to be written aboutWalter Johnson’s memorable 2019season.
The win that earned the 8-2Wildcats a spot in the second round ofthe playoffs came as a result of the en-
tire team heating up at the right time.Urbana scored first on a 22-yard fieldgoal, but the Walter Johnson defenseblanked the Hawks for two consecu-tive quarters until senior AustinMcMahon registered a late touch-down.
Meanwhile, the Walter Johnsonoffense displayed its multiple scoringthreats as four different Wildcatsfound the end zone at least once.
“They’re a good football team,they’re here for a reason. We’re agood football team, they just playedbetter than we did,” said Urbana HeadCoach Brad Wilson. “They got aheadand we couldn’t catch up.”
The first Wildcats touchdown ar-rived in the second quarter as seniorquarterback Josh Forburger connect-ed with wide receiver Kai Hollowayin stride for the 20-yard go-aheadscore. The Wildcats would not trailagain for the rest of the game.
Forburger tossed a floating 9-yard pass to receiver Jose Cabrera onthe next possession and Cabreracaught the ball in the corner of the endzone to extend Walter Johnson’s leadbefore halftime. Holloway and Cabr-era had finished the regular season
with over 1150 combined receivingyards and had accounted for 13 ofForburger’s 17 passing touchdowns.
Walter Johnson running backsIan Griffin and Aaron Jones tradedhandoffs out of the backfield as theHawks struggled to contain both play-ers. Griffin changed directions mid-run, stiff-armed defenders and refusedto be brought to the ground without abattle, while Jones broke throughholes up the middle and dragged thepile along with him as he churneddown the field.
“I feel like I had a great game andI had something kind of bordering onsuccess tonight, but I feel like my suc-cess came from the offensive line andhow well our offensive coordinatorconducted the offense,” said Griffin.“Everyone worked together to play abig part in this 42-10 win.”
The Wildcats scored points on al-most every second-half possession.The Hawks opened the second half,but the offense wasn’t on the field forvery long. Walter Johnson defensiveend Anthony Villacis sacked Urbanaquarterback Kyle Howes and strippedthe ball away. The Wildcats recoveredthe fumble but did not earn any points
on the ensuing possession. However, Villacis’s quarterback
sack seemed to reenergize the de-fense. Defenders mercilessly chasedHowes down, forcing him to runbackward and even generating an in-tentional grounding penalty.
Jones and Griffin continued tomove the ball down the field as theWildcats defense made short work ofthe Urbana offense and kept them offthe field. Griffin strung together twolong runs back to back to get the Wild-cats to the red zone before burstingthrough the lane for his only touch-down of the night.
Then, Jones scored twice back toback in less than three minutes. Thejunior shoved his way through themiddle of the Hawks defenders untilhe reached open-air and pay dirt.
Jones’s two touchdowns put thegame on ice for Urbana, but Cabreraended up getting the last word. For-burger hit Cabrera with a 20-yard passat the corner of the end zone againwith just under three minutes left toplay. Cabrera gained just enough sep-aration from his defender to catchForburger’s pass and extend WalterJohnson’s lead.
After the game, the Wildcats onthe sidelines stormed the field todance and celebrate with the rest oftheir teammates.
“I’m the most proud of this teamand how much work we put in thiswhole year. We deserved this, we’veworked so hard,” said Forburger. “It’spretty awesome to win a playoff gamefor the first time in the history of WJ.It’s great for the team, it’s great for theschool and the community and it’sawesome to really be a part of.”
“It’s a new feeling. I don’t thinkany of my teammates on this teamhave been able to do this,” said Grif-fin. “It’s a great feeling to finally win aMaryland state playoff game, but wehave a lot more to go. That’s whatwe’re focused on. We’re going to en-joy tonight, but we’ll be back in thelab on Monday.”
Next up for Walter Johnson is afoe the Wildcats are very familiarwith. After all, Quince Orchard HighSchool came to Bethesda to finish offthe regular season just a week beforeon Nov. 1. The defending state cham-pions moved on to the second roundafter handily defeating GaithersburgHigh School by a final score of 70-12.
By Eva Paspalis Case@EvaPaspalisCase
COLLEGE PARK – The roadthat took Winston Churchill HighSchool to the 4A state volleyballsemifinals on Nov. 12 could nothave been more different than thepath that brought the Bulldogs’ op-ponent, Arundel High School, to thebig dance.
The 12-3 Bulldogs enteredRichie Coliseum at the University ofMaryland – College Park as the No.5 seed that had rebounded from alosing season in 2018 and had onlyappeared in one previous tourna-ment. The Wildcats, on the otherhand, were the undefeated No. 1seed making their sixth appearancein the tournament. Arundel had reg-istered a winning record in 11 of thelast 12 seasons and had earned statefinalist honors in 2012.
That familiarity with the state’sstage helped the Wildcats win thefirst two sets. It appeared as thoughArundel was going to head to statesto face familiar foe Broadneck HighSchool after three straight sets, butChurchill rallied and seized the thirdset. However, Arundel would even-tually win the match in four: 25-17,25-12, 28-30, 25-14.
“I’ve been the coach for nineyears, and we’ve worked for nineyears to get here,” said ChurchillHead Coach Cindy Hillard. “I can’tbe more proud of my girls getting tostates. It’s a very emotional thing forme; I don’t ever cry, but it was huge-
ly emotional that we worked reallyhard to get here.”
The Bulldogs leaned heavily onoutside hitter Anna Lydia Siegen-thaler, and the sophomore deliveredthe points when her team neededthem the most. Siegenthaler hoveredby the net, waiting for her opportuni-ty to strike, before landing the killthat pulled the Bulldogs within onepoint in the third set.
The first two sets may havegone to Arundel, but mistakes likepassing errors, service errors and netviolations kept the Bulldogs in thegame. The Wildcats would score afew points in a row, then commitmistakes that would pull Churchillcloser. Arundel outside hitter BrookeWatts was instrumental in keepingthe Bulldogs at bay; the junior regis-tered 18 kills and three back-to-backaces.
It was the third set, though, thatthe Bulldogs were especially proudof. Arundel junior middle blockerAaliyah Griffin admitted that theWildcats eased off a little after win-ning the first two sets, and Churchillcapitalized.
“I think we just made a lot ofcareless mistakes, like things wewouldn’t usually do. We were justkind of laid back because we wonthe first two, and then we were like,‘this will be easy, we’ve got thisone,’” said Griffin. “So we kind ofstepped back from what we usuallydo, and it just fell apart.”
The momentum kept mountingfor the Bulldogs, particularly at the
end of the set. Churchill had justovercome a deficit to tie and thentake the lead away from the Wild-cats. Then, the seesaw between thetwo teams upped in intensity. A killby Watts followed a Churchill net vi-olation, an Arundel service error pre-ceded another kill from Watts. Ser-vice error, net violation, then a killby Arundel’s Zaria Ragler.
The Wildcats missed 11 servesin the third set, and the Bulldogs re-joiced after every Arundel mistake.Warring chants of “let’s go Bull-dogs!” and “let’s go Wildcats!” be-gan to fill Richie Coliseum. A re-sounding roar rose up from theChurchill fans in attendance whenSiegenthaler set up the set-winningkill for senior Madison Steffes.
“We fought hard, and we took aset from them and we’re all reallyproud of what we did,” said Siegen-thaler. “We had to take that innermotivation, we just had to talk anduse our strategies and we really putour strategies to life in the third set.We all came together as one and wereally worked the most as a team inthat set.”
The Bulldogs, encouraged bytheir success, tied with Arundelagain in the fourth set. However, anet violation and a four hits violationagainst Churchill kick-started aWildcats scoring run that left theBulldogs reeling. An Arundel hittingerror and another kill from Siegen-thaler delayed the Wildcats win forjust a few moments before aChurchill net violation ended the set
and the match. “I’m hoping that that was us
working out some of our nerves sowe can settle in and get ready forSaturday,” said Arundel Head CoachAshley Yuscavage of her team’smistakes. “We talked about not
missing 11 serves; that was a bigproblem. It’s hard to get momentumif you’re missing serves.”
The Wildcats will play Broad-neck for the third time this season onNov. 16 for the 4A state champi-onship.
Cinderella run ends as Churchill volleyball loses in 4A semifinals
PHOTO BY GEORGE SMITH
Churchill High School’s Julie Alves and Julia Taylor jump at the net to blockthe kill attempt by Arundel High School’s Brooke Watts during the 4A statevolleyball semifinals on Nov. 12 in College Park.
SPORTS
Last Week’s ResultsMPSSAA playoffs
Quince Orchard 70, Gaithersburg 12Northwest 56, Clarksburg 16
R. Montgomery 35, Whitman 14W. Johnson 42, Urbana 10Parkville 49, Wheaton 0
Paint Branch 49, Dulaney 6Sherwood 51, Catonsville 14
Einstein 25, Blair 21Damascus 49, Magruder 7
S. Hagerstown 49, Blake 18Rockville 28, Watkins Mill 9
Middletown 24, Seneca Valley 6
Private schoolsLandon 28, St. Albans 0
Georgetown Prep 22, Bullis 16
Upcoming ScheduleFriday, Nov. 15MPSSAA Playoffs
W. Johnson at Quince Orchard, 7R. Montgomery at Northwest, 7
Einstein vs. Parkville, 7 (at Perry Hall HS)Sherwood at Paint Branch, 7
Rockville at Linganore, 7S. Hagerstown at Damascus, 7
WCAC Semifinals Gonzaga at Good Counsel, 7
Other Private School games Avalon at Concordia Prep, 7
Saturday, Nov. 16WCAC Semifinals
DeMatha at St. John’s, 1
Montgomery County High School FootballMontgomery County High School FootballBy Devon Ashby Special to The Sentinel
In their 51 years of existence,Rockville High School’s footballteam had never won a playoff gamein its history.
For Head Coach Jason Lomax,an alumnus who played football forthe Rams many years ago, his team’s28-9 thumping of Watkins Mill in thefirst round of the Maryland PublicSecondary Schools Athletic Associa-tion 3A playoffs on Nov. 8 meanteverything.
“There are a few moments inyour life that define you as a man,”Lomax said to his team following thewin. “The birth of your children, theday you get married to the womanyou love, and a night like tonight.”
The game started out as a defen-sive battle between the two teams,but things took a turn late in the firstquarter, when the Wolverines specialteams unit muffed a punt andRockville (8-2) recovered, settingtheir offense up at Watkins Mill’s 36-yard line. Six plays later, quarterbackDylan Monday connected with widereceiver Marquez Piatt on fourthdown for a 9-yard touchdown pass,giving the Rams a 6-0 lead followingan unsuccessful two-point conver-sion.
The following Watkins Mill (6-4) drive saw the Rams defense forcea three-and-out, but a 15-yard penal-ty on the punt return for roughing thekicker gave the Wolverines the ballback as the second quarter began.The Wolverines took advantage byconverting a field goal to cutRockville’s lead in half. On their en-suing drive, Watkins Mill would takethe lead, 9-6, when quarterback Ne-hemiah Cross connected on a 57-yard catch-and-run touchdown withwide receiver Peter Kikwata.
That would be the most troubleWatkins Mill gave Rockville allnight. Monday found his tailback,Wesley Nchinda, through the air fora 39-yard catch and touchdown to re-claim the lead on the following drive,and a two-point conversion made it14-9. Rockville would successfullyattempt and recover an onside kick,and Nchinda would score again,from 24 yards out on the ground, totake the Rams into the halftime witha 20-9 lead.
“I think, overall, we all playedgood,” said Monday, who finishedwith 139 passing yards and threepassing touchdowns. “I thought Icould’ve did better; there’s definitelysome things I missed, but we allplayed good and played with heartand that’s what got us the win.”
While Rockville could only
score one more touchdown in thesecond half, on a 13-yard pass andtwo-point conversion by OkeyoAyungo, their defense picked up theslack. The top-ranked Rams unitplayed lights out the whole gamewith defensive back Erik Howardleading the way. With 6:15 to go inthe first half, Howard intercepted hisfirst pass of the night.
Then, right as the half was near-ing a close, Watkins Mill found somesuccess and appeared to be drivingdown the field, but Howard came upbig again with an interception in theend zone. Both of his turnovers al-lowed Rockville to close out the firsthalf still up two scores. He got histhird interception late in the fourthquarter, with 5:03 remaining, whicheffectively sealed the deal for theRams.
“I’m just so proud of the wholeteam,” Howard said after the game,“We came a long way and I’m justproud to get our first win; it’s been agreat experience.”
“He’s been balling out all year,”Lomax said of his cornerback. “Weput him in that position the secondweek of the season when someoneelse went down and he’s steppedright up to the plate. He’s going to besomething special in the future, so
keep an eye on him.” Howard’s performance was
only part of the story, however.Rockville forced a total of seventurnovers, including two on specialteams plays. Arguably the biggestone came on the opening drive of thesecond half for Watkins Mill.
When it looked like they woulddrive down the field and score fol-lowing an onside kick to open thehalf, Wolverines wide receiver Dar-nell Louis fumbled at the Rockville10-yard line, and safety Andre John-son recovered, shutting down theWolverine momentum.
“They ball out each and everyweek; no matter who the competitionis, they’re not scared of anyone,”Monday said of his defense.“They’re the best in MontgomeryCounty in my opinion.”
With one playoff win in thebooks, the Rams will hit the road totake on Linganore High School inFrederick County, an opponent thatLomax expressed profound respectfor.
“Linganore’s used to this atmos-phere; this is new for our school,” hesaid. “We’re going to have to playperfect; we had a lot of mistakestonight, and they’re nothing to playaround with.”
PHOTO BY MIKE CLARK
Rockville High School wide receiver Marquez Piatt hauls in a touchdown passfrom quarterback Dylan Monday during a Maryland Public Secondary SchoolsAthletic Association 3A playoff game against Watkins Mill on Nov. 8.
THE SENTINEL GAME OF THE WEEK
Gonzaga (8-2) at Good Counsel (7-3)
18 THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY SENTINEL NOVEMBER 14, 2019
*Times are subject to change
Rockville earns first-ever playoff victory
SPORTS
Montgomery County High School FootballMontgomery County High School Football
Montgomery County High School Football StandingsMontgomery County High School Football Standings4A4A
Quince Orchard 10-0Northwest 9-1Paint Branch 9-1Walter Johnson 8-2Sherwood 8-2R. Montgomery 8-2Einstein 7-3Blair 5-4Walt Whitman 4-6Gaithersburg 3-7Wheaton 3-7Clarksburg 3-7Kennedy 2-7B-CC 2-7Churchill 1-8Springbrook 1-8
Northwood 0-9Wootton 0-9
3A/2A/1A3A/2A/1ARockville 8-2Damascus 8-2Watkins Mill 6-4Blake 5-5Magruder 5-5Seneca Valley 4-6Poolesville 2-7
WCACWCACGonzaga 8-2Carroll 7-3
Good Counsel 7-3DeMatha 7-3St. Mary’s Ryken 7-3St. John’s 6-4McNamara 5-5Paul VI 5-5Bishop Ireton 3-6Bishop O’Connell 2-8
Freelance StandingsFreelance StandingsGeorgetown Prep 8-2Bullis 6-3Landon 5-4Avalon 3-6
Quince Orchard
Northwest
Parkville
Paint Branch
Linganore
Damascus
Good Counsel
Avalon
DeMatha
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Walter Johnson
at Quince Orchard
Richard Montgomery
at Northwest
Einstein vs. Parkville
Sherwood at Paint Branch
Rockville at Linganore
S. Hagerstown at Damascus
Gonzaga at Good Counsel
Avalon at Concordia Prep
DeMatha at St. John’s
Quince Orchard
Northwest
Parkville
Paint Branch
Rockville
Damascus
Good Counsel
Avalon
DeMatha
Quince Orchard
Northwest
Parkville
Paint Branch
Linganore
S. Hagerstown
Gonzaga
Concordia Prep
DeMatha
Quince Orchard
Northwest
Parkville
Paint Branch
Linganore
Damascus
Good Council
Concordia Prep
DeMatha
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ONLINE EXCLUSIVE PHOTO BY MICHAEL SMITH
Walt Whitman High School striker Chris Vogel scores the game-winningpenalty kick in the 4A boys soccer state semifinal match against Wootton onNov. 9 in Gaithersburg. Read more on www.thesentinel.com.
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NOVEMBER 14, 2019 THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY SENTINEL 19
Vikings head to the state finals
SPORTS20 THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY SENTINEL NOVEMBER 14, 2019
PHOTOS BY MICHAEL SMITH
Blair’s historical run stops in girls soccer state semifinals
By Harry Lichtman@hslichtman
GAITHERSBURG – With Win-ston Churchill High School eliminat-ed earlier in the day by Severna Park,the Blair High School girls soccerteam remained the only team fromMontgomery County as they facedPerry Hall in the 4A State Semifinalson Nov. 9.
However, a lone goal from theGators and tough defense proved tobe the factors in their 1-0 win over theBlazers at Gaithersburg High School,as Perry Hall looks to become back-to-back state champions.
“It hurts,” said Blair Head CoachBobby Gibb. “But they played great.I’m really proud of the team, and par-ticularly when we went down a manwith almost 20 minutes left. They did-n’t give up.”
Both teams kept it competitivethroughout the whole 80 minutes withsolid ball movement around the pitch.
Perry Hall scored with 20 min-utes remaining in the first half asfreshman Kamryn Williams attempt-ed a long-range shot. The ballbounced off the post and Blazers se-nior goalkeeper Zoe Abramson (bot-tom left) before rolling into the net.
The goal was part of an offensiveburst by Perry Hall as the Gators fin-
ished 11 shots in the first half. Theyfinished with 16 shots at the Blazers’-goal for the whole match.
Blair, on the other hand, hardlyhad any luck with their attack as theywere unable to break through the Per-ry Hall defense. Nevertheless,Abramson made nine saves through-out the game to keep the MontgomeryCounty side in the game.
“I got a lot of shots,” said Abram-son. “But our defense kept them pret-ty far out, or crosses that I could comeout and get, so it’s not too bad.”
Abramson is one of 10 seniorswhose tenures on Blair’s varsity soc-cer team ended following the match.Despite the loss, the goalkeeper re-mained positive after helping leadBlair to their first regional title andstate semifinal appearance.
“I mean it’s a hard loss,” saidAbramson. “But I’m proud of how wedid. It’s our first trip to the semis, stilla lot to be proud of.”
Janie Pitner (top left), who at-tempted one of Blair’s three shots dur-ing the game, is another senior onBlair who played varsity all four sea-sons.
“It’s meant a lot to me,” said Pit-ner. “I’ve made a lot of really goodfriends on this team, we all worked foreach other, and we truly care a lotabout each other like sisters.”
