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From the County’s crime report page:

On 1/29/07 at about 7:30 p.m., a 15-year-old boy from Gaithersburg was found lying on the sidewalk in the area of Harmony Hall Road and Muddy Branch Road. He was suffering from stab wounds. This was as a result of an argument between the victim and a 32-year-old woman and her 14-year-old son.

On 1/27/07 at 6:31 a.m., the suspect entered the 7-11 at 8035 Snouffer School Road in Gaithersburg, picked up an item, and took it to the front counter. The suspect then displayed a tire iron and demanded money. After receiving cash, he fled the store.
Suspect: Unk/M, 5’6”, 160-180, black winter coat.

On 1/29/07 at 8:25 a.m., a 58-year-old woman from Montgomery Village reported that she was leaving her doctor’s office located at 19221 Montgomery Village Avenue. She entered her car, and an unknown suspect emerged from the back seat, held an object to her head, and made her drive to Lake Needwood, where he demanded cash. After obtaining cash, he fled on foot in an unknown direction.
Suspect: Unk/M, black shirt, black pants, black gloves.

The County Police also list 28 residential and 5 commercial burglaries at Gaithersburg addresses on dates from 12/22/06 through 1/29/07.

If you have any information regarding any of these incidents contact:
Crime Solvers of Montgomery County
(800) 673-2777

Also, the Gaithersburg Police report:

Burglary Arrest
On 01/30/07, at 11:04 p. m., police responded to the 500 block of South Frederick Avenue for a burglary in progress. A witness at the scene stated that she saw two male subjects break a side window, and enter a first floor apartment. The witness stated that the subjects then exited the apartment with a bag in their possession, and that they walked across the street and hid the bag behind some shrubs.The witness stated that they then left the scene on foot in separate directions. The witness saw one of them coming back towards the apartment, and as police arrived, she pointed him out and he was taken into custody. Investigation revealed that the subjects entered the apartment and stole a Play Station 2 with two controllers, three bottles of cologne, and a black jacket.

Arrested on the scene was 23 year old Cameelo Juan Montana, Hispanic male, 5′9, 160, no home address given.

Other suspect is an unknown Hispanic male, wearing a black jacket with blue lettering, jeans, and a white cap.

Sexual Assault
On 01/28/07, at 4:13 p.m., police responded to the Grandcorner Avenue area for a sexual assault report. The victim alleged that she was sexually assaulted by an acquaintance as they rode the bus together from the Lakeforest Mall area to the Rio Mall area. This incident is still under investigation.

If you have information regarding any of these incidents please call the Gaithersburg Police Administrative number at 301-258-6400.

The three crime stories in this week’s Gazette provide additional information on three incidents I’d reported as they were posted in the City and County crime summaries.

• Chris Robinson writes, Boy robbed at knifepoint walking home from school:
  

  The boy was about a mile from the school, located at 651 Saybrooke Oaks Blvd., on Jan. 23 when he was approached by two men, one of whom police say revealed a knife and demanded the boy’s cell phone.

  The day after the robbery, school staff met with students to encourage them to walk home in large groups and not to take shortcuts through the community, said Principal John Burley.

  Andrea Kramer, secretary of the Parent Teacher Association at Forest Oak, commended the school for its speedy parent notification the day after the armed robbery.

  However, she said a significant safety improvement would be to hire an additional police officer to patrol the Gaithersburg area middle and elementary schools.

  ‘‘Unfortunately, this is our society now,” Kramer said of the incident. ‘‘It’s not the school at all; it’s the way we live. … Sometimes I joke about how I’d like to live somewhere else, and my sister says, ‘Where, Mars?’”

This is the incident that I reported last week.


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• Chris Robinson writes, City police officer attacked by man wielding padlock:
  

  The confrontation started when Chen threw a piece of wadded up paper at a female customer while she was working out on the free-weight bench with her personal trainer, the documents state. The three got into a ‘‘verbal confrontation.”

  When an assistant manager asked Chen to ‘‘gather his belongings, turn in his membership card and leave the center,” he used profanity and refused to leave, according to the court documents. Chen refused a second time and bumped the assistant manager with his chest and shoulder, the documents state.

  This is the incident I reported on Monday.

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• Chris Robinson writes, Fight sends four to hospital:
  

  A 21-year-old man and his cousin, whose age was unknown, both of Rockville, arrived at an apartment in that area to pick up some things when they were confronted in the parking lot by three men, between 15 and 22 years old, and a woman. The three men were armed with beer bottles, and the woman in her early 20s was armed with a kitchen knife, county police spokeswoman Cpl. Sonia Pruitt said Monday.

  The names of the people involved in the fight were not released because no charges were filed, she said.

  This is the incident I reported on Sunday.

• City Notes, by Chris Robinson:
  • The mayor and City Council last week advanced on the road to a new bike path

    They unanimously approved a $26,000 study by Toole Design Group, of College Park, to conduct an inventory of current bikeways, create a graphic information system database and identify future two-wheel needs.

  • Honoring Gaithersburg’s all-stars
    

    A number of Gaithersburg officials were recognized during the Jan. 16 mayor and City Council meeting for their contributions to the city. The awards were based on performance in the second business quarter, from Sept. 1 to Nov. 30, 2006.

  • Annual retreat costs
    

    The city budgeted $6,000 to send the mayor, five council members, the city manager and two assistants as well as the city public information officer to the city’s annual retreat, hosted at the Annapolis Loews Hotel earlier this month.

    Early estimates show they spent about $2,400 on an overnight stay in the hotel, dinner and a meeting room and food for the daylong session, Assistant City Manager Tony Tomasello said.

    The annual retreat was open to the public, with the stipulation they not ask questions or comment during the eight-hour session.

    Two Gaithersburg residents and two reporters attended the meeting.

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• C. Benjamin Ford writes, Delays in fire station construction questioned:
  

  County Council members are questioning delays in building six fire stations that were planned as far back as 2000.

  Fire department and Department of Public Works and Transportation representatives told Knapp at a Public Safety Committee meeting on Jan. 18 that several factors — from a land owner unwilling to sell his land at the county’s asking price to asbestos found at one station that needs to be demolished to make room for the new station — have delayed the projects.

  The county should be able to complete these projects much faster, said Councilman Philip M. Andrews (D-Dist. 3) of Gaithersburg.

  Knapp agreed. ‘‘These are the easy ones,” he said.

  The article identifies the six stations: West Germantown, Takoma Park, Clarksburg, East Germantown, Burtonsville and Travilah and the reasons they are delayed; some are being constructed and some are being renovated. None are in Gaithersburg, but many serve (or will serve) parts of Gaithersburg, or take some load off the Gaithersburg stations.

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• Chris Robinson writes, Cell tower proposed on conservation property:
  

  A conservation group welcomes the proposed construction of a cell phone tower on its Gaithersburg land as a way to support their projects through leasing income.

  Communications giants Nextel Communications and T-Mobile have proposed erecting a100-foot monopole on the forested property owned by the Izaak Walton League of American at 707 Conservation Lane.

  ‘‘In the end it’s a good thing for conservation and helps us with our programs,” league spokesman Jason McGarvey said.

  The tower and related equipment would be located in a 1,050-square-foot area surrounded by an 8-foot fence.

  Public meeting

  Gaithersburg’s Board of Appeals is slated to consider the application to construct a 100-foot cell phone monopole on Izaak Walton League of America property at 707 Conservation Lane in Gaithersburg. The meeting is set for 7:30 p.m. Feb. 8 at City Hall, 31 South Summit Ave.

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• Sebastian Montes writes, YMCA to close Montgomery Village pool:
  

  Forty-five years after it was built in Montgomery Village, the Upper Montgomery YMCA will soon see its last Aqua Aerobics class and medley relay race.

  Built in the early 1960s by the Kettler Brothers — who conceived and built Montgomery Village — the 25-yard, six-lane pool has been under YMCA ownership since 1979. There are YMCA pools in Bethesda and Silver Spring, and the 1,650 memberships at the Village YMCA — which include singles and families — will be valid at those downcounty pools through Memorial Day. Memberships cost up to $53 for a single adult, and $79 for a family. The rates will remain until the pool closes, but after that, the YMCA is unsure.

  ‘‘We’re still trying to decide how we’re going to handle it,” said YMCA spokeswoman Carol Gregory.

  [The closing] left Kirby Weldon, swimming coach at Georgetown Prep High School and 40-year member of the Bethesda YMCA, at a loss to understand the move.

  ‘‘Until I see it, I can’t believe it’s happening. … I’m shocked that they’re even contemplating this,” he said. ‘‘You don’t see YMCA’s closing their pools; they have been very effective in running them. That community up there is really going to be left holding the bag. Simply put, it strikes me as odd.”

  Swimming pools throughout Montgomery Village have seen marked decline in use over the last several years, which many in the Village attribute to the shifting demographics of long-time families having grown up and moved out, while the high number of immigrant families moving in aren’t concerned with swimming.

Sean Lengell writes in the Washington Times, Landscape changes for illegal alien jobs:

Illegal aliens, long a vital component of the nation’s agricultural work force, are swapping hoes and spades for jackhammers and feather dusters.

Most of the article covers familiar ground — illegals these days are working more in construction and the service sector than in agriculture — but I take note of the following numbers:

Jeff Passel of the nonprofit Pew Hispanic Center in Washington … estimates that 300,000 illegal aliens live in the area — an increase of about 100,000 since 2000.

Most illegals in the area live in the suburbs, with only about 15,000 to 30,000 in the District.

About 40 percent of all foreigners living unlawfully in the U.S. initially arrived legally with a valid work, tourist, student or other visa, but stayed once the document expired, Mr. Passel said.

Doing the math, this suggests that, for the past six to seven years (I don’t know if “since 2000″ includes 2000, although I expect it means “beyond the number counted in the 2000 census”), the illegal population of the DC area has been growing at a rate of around 300 per week. And, assuming that they are not counting anchor babies in those numbers, this would be net migration into the area, rather than natural population growth.

From the County Police press release:

On January 24, 2007, at approximately 6:32 p.m., a Gaithersburg City Police Officer was assaulted when he responded to a call for a disorderly subject at the Bally’s, located at 188 Kentlands Boulevard.

Preliminary investigation revealed Gavin Chen 29, of the 13600 block of Gum Spring Drive in Rockville refused to leave the business when asked by the employees. When the officer attempted to escort Chen out of the business, he assaulted the officer by striking him in the head with a metal object. The officer was able to subdue Chen with the assistance of employees and citizens that were standing nearby. The officer was transported to a local hospital where he was treated for his injuries and released.

Gavin Chen, was charged with First Degree Assault, two counts of Second Degree Assault, Reckless endangerment, Resisting Arrest, Disorderly Conduct, and Trespassing. He was released on a $25,000 bond.

From the City’s Crime Summary web page,

Aggravated Assault

Today at 520 am a large fight occurred in the parking lot of 20 N. Summit Avenue. Four subjects were transported to hospitals with a variety of injuries. One subject was flown to Baltimore Shock Trauma with serious lacerations to their face, neck, and arms. All subjects involved have been identified and charges are pending.

In other news, the day laborers were almost completely absent at 17 N Frederick this morning (yes, they do typically come on Sundays).

I missed this review by Eve Zibart when it was published a couple of weeks ago. I have eaten at this restaurant three times since they opened, and can confirm that it is always an exceedingly pleasant experience. It is located in the shopping center just north of Montgomery Avenue, with the FedEx/Kinko’s and the Hudson Trail Outfitters. It is on the right end of the smaller building on the north side of the parking lot.

Gaithersburg’s snug Addis Cafe, an Ethiopian eatery and mini-market that opened over the summer, is the first commercial venture for owners Jonas and Naomi Todd, but Naomi’s family has been in the business a long time (her father owned a coffee-roasting business in Addis Ababa, and an aunt has a restaurant in Las Vegas). And she points to containers for sale of mitmita, a dry, rust-colored mix of ground chilies, cardamom and coarse salt used to flavor kitfo, the Ethiopian steak tartare, which her family packages.

But the food is the draw, and Jonas, who has taken on head chef duties while Naomi greets and serves, has taken grandma’s recipes to heart. The vegetable dishes are distinct and flavorful: The red lentils are cooked through but not pasty, which makes a nice contrast to the pureed yellow split peas, and the collard greens are the best version a homesick Southern girl could want (second most comforting: the potato, cabbage and carrot stew).

The tibs, small strip-cut meat (sometimes lamb, but here beef) in a spicy sauce, is tender and without a trace of the grittiness that carelessly prepared sauces can carry. Tibs can be ordered as a sandwich, which is likely to become a legend among area students and workers.

Addis Cafe’s other big draw is coffee — strong, aromatic Ethiopian coffee, the beans roasted locally and made in an espresso-style machine. Famous-name coffee will never seem the same.

There is but one agenda item for tomorrow’s Mayor & Council Work Session:

• Solicit Public Input as Part of the Hiring Process for a New Chief of Police
  Background Material (pdf file)

The background material is a PDF containing a simple statement of what to expect:

This session will give interested residents, business, and
community leaders an opportunity to provide City leaders
with feedback on the qualities and characteristics they feel
are important when filling the position of Chief of Police.

A representative of the International Association of Chiefs of
Police (IACP), the consultant hired to assist with the search,
will also provide an overview of the hiring process during the
work session.

These meetings are on the next two Thursdays at Bohrer park…

Notice - Community Development Grant Hearings, 2/1/2007 and 2/8/2007

Posted 1/10/2007

The City of Gaithersburg will hold a public meeting on Thursday, February 1, 2007 and Thursday, February 8, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. at the Activity Center at Bohrer Park, Summit Hall Farm, 506 South Frederick Avenue to discuss the City’s FY08 funding through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD’s) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. At the hearing, the City will identify the expected level of funding for CDBG in the upcoming year (approximately $465,000), describe the overall goals of the CDBG programs, and discuss types of projects that may be eligible for funding. 

For further information regarding the hearing, please call Louise Kauffmann at the City Manager’s Office at 301-258-6310 during business hours.

Louise Kauffmann

Director of Community Development

• Community Development Block Grant Information

From the City’s website,

Notice to the general public is hereby given that the Mayor and City Council of Gaithersburg plan to conduct a closed Executive Session on Monday February 5, 2007, immediately following the regular meeting of the Mayor and City Council, pursuant to Section 10-508(a)(7), State Government Article, of the Annotated Code of Maryland, to consult with legal counsel to obtain legal advice. The topic to be discussed is the applicability of particular City ordinances to a development which is the subject of an annexation agreement. The meeting will be conducted pursuant to a motion properly adopted during the regular meeting of the Mayor and City Council on February 5, 2007.