gaithersblog.net

Goings on in Gaithersburg, Maryland

November 8th, 2006

Kentlands Election Results

The Kentlands Citizens Assembly has announced the final results for the their recent election. The vote tallies were (winners in bold):

Name Vote Office
Neil Harris 658 President
Frank Anderson 504 District 1 Trustee
Sigrid McCutcheon 193 District 1 Trustee
Robyn Renas 551 District 2 Trustee
Richard Arkin (*) District 2 Trustee

(*) Richard Arkin withdrew from the election on November 2, the day before the election itself. According to Kentlands Dot Us, in his letter withdrawing from the election Mr. Arkin stated “…I hereby demand and direct that ballots cast in my name not be counted.” Thus there was no tally listed for him.

November 8th, 2006

The Gazette This Week, Part 1

  • Teen stabbed in gang fight near Gaithersburg High School, by Jaime Ciavarra

    Cpl. Sonia Pruitt, a spokeswoman for county police, said officers are trying to determine if the fight was between members of MS-13, a traditionally Hispanic street gang, and the Bloods, a typically black gang.

    A suspect in the stabbing has been named, but police believe it is a Hispanic teen, Wagner said.

    Last week’s stabbing is the second violent incident in the city in the past few months related to gangs. It has drawn concern from some residents and city officials.

    Two Gaithersburg men — allegedly members of MS-13 — were charged in October with attempted murder for stabbing a man near North Frederick Avenue, police say.

    And other gang-related crime in Gaithersburg, such as property thefts and burglaries, are on the rise, said Det. Patrick Word of Gaithersburg police, the city’s gang expert.

    He partly attributes the spike to gang members who have returned to city streets after being incarcerated.

    Does this mean that they recently emptied out the prison?

  • Soldier was killed by his roommate, police say, by Jaime Ciavarra

    District Court Judge Barry Hamilton ruled that Smith was not a flight risk and set bond at $250,000 provided he stayed with his parents in Rockville. Smith posted bond and was released Saturday.

    McQueen’s father called the bond decision ‘‘unfair.”

    ‘‘I can’t recall, in 30 years of covering trials, a person being released on bond in first-degree murder,” Michael McQueen, bureau chief of the Associated Press in New Orleans, said by phone Monday.

    McQueen and his wife learned of Smith’s arrest shortly after it happened Thursday. They did not have time to fly to Maryland to be at Friday’s hearing, and he said his absence was likely noticeable.

    Several supporters of Smith came to the hearing, and a friend of the family spoke.

    ‘‘We had no opportunity to respond to this in any way, shape or form,” McQueen said.

    See my previous post for more on this story.

  • Suspect confesses to stabbing at Lakeforest, police report, by Chris Robinson

    A Germantown man confessed to police that he planned and executed the murder last week of a woman he worked with at J.C. Penney’s in Lakeforest Mall, according to police charging documents.

    His motive is not clear.

    Police on Friday charged Josue Ray Dupree, 20, of Stevenson Drive, with the first-degree murder for the death of Ana Elisa Mejia Avila, 35, also of Germantown. He currently is being held without bond at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in Clarksburg.

    See my previous post for more on this story.

November 8th, 2006

Avi Rubin’s Day at the Polls

Avi Rubin, John’s Hopkins professor, expert on computer security and critic of electronic voiting, has written up a report on his day as an election judge in Maryland.

[…]
I was impressed with the performance of the e-poll books that failed so miserably in our primary. In our precinct, they worked flawlessly. I observed them very carefully. One test I did was when a couple split up and the husband checked in on my e-poll book, while his wife checked in on the one at another table. The instant that the wife was checked in, she appeared as having voted on my e-poll book. I repeated this test several times. We ran three e-poll books, and I watched them in many different situations throughout the day, and I did not find a single problem. In fact, as a poll worker, I can say that they were quite handy, especially when people came in who were in the wrong precinct, and we were able to tell them where to go because we had the whole state’s database on each e-poll book. I still feel that I would prefer a paper card check in system because of fear of how stuck we would be if the power went out, or if the machines failed in an unexpected way.
[…]

November 8th, 2006

Arrest in Stabbing Near Gaithersburg High

The New MoCo Progressive is reporting this morning that police have arrested Oscar Lemus-Alvarez in connection with the stabbing incident near Gaithersburg High School on November 3, 2006. Mr. Lemus-Alverez is charged, as an adult, with first and second degree assault, as well as conspiracy to commit murder, first degree and second degree assault. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for December 1, 2006, at District Court in Rockville.