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With longtime incumbents undecided and the number of potential new candidates — including former city manager Sanford W. Daily — already double the number that ran in the last election, it looks as if Gaithersburg could see one of its hottest political races ever this fall.

Besides Daily and the three incumbents — Stanley J. Alster, Geri Edens and John B. Schlichting — potential challengers Jud Ashman, Cathy Drzyzgula, Wilson Faris and Brett Cosor have picked up candidate paperwork.

Thursday’s event was set up by Casa of Maryland at the county’s employment center on Crabbs Branch Way in Rockville.

The Leadership Maryland session with the workers occurred shortly after County Executive Isiah Leggett stressed at a press conference that a crackdown on gang activities does not mean the county intends to enforce federal immigration laws.

The heat surrounding the debate over government support of illegal immigrants was turned up a bit Saturday as the first-ever protest of one of the county’s three employment centers for day laborers took place in Shady Grove.

Negotiations between the county and the owners of the Alexandria, Va.-based Birchmere music hall to open a second location in Silver Spring are over, a county spokesman said, but the Birchmere’s owner said he was under the impression talks were still open.

• Vistas project gets OK after easement plan compromise
  

  After numerous talks aimed at a compromise between neighbors of the proposed Vistas community and the developer, Churchill Development Corp., Gaithersburg City Council on Monday unanimously approved a schematic development plan for the project.

• Broadstone plan advances
  

  The Gaithersburg City Council unanimously approved an environmental waiver for the Broadstone Apartments redevelopment project on Monday.

• Public mute on compensation
  

  No Gaithersburg residents spoke during the public hearing Monday evening about a proposed salary hike for the mayor and City Council and Planning Commission members.

After nearly two decades of waiting, the wheels are beginning to turn on plans to build a biotech and science research hub at Johns Hopkins University’s Belward Research Campus, 100 acres of open farmland near Shady Grove.

A move by county planners to quietly break the Gaithersburg Vicinity Master Plan into two new zones is pitting the need for progress against resident concerns over sound planning principles.

Leggett, in his letter, acknowledged the agreement between the county and the developers allowed the developers to create rules and regulations for the property to keep it safe, secure and economically viable. But, Leggett wrote, “these rights do not change the character of Ellsworth as a public forum, nor countenance violation of the First Amendment rights of residents and visitors to Montgomery County who use Ellsworth.”

In an effort to bolster relationships with residents and improve emergency response times, Gaithersburg police plan to institute its first beat system in the fall.

The city’s 48 officers will be divided into two beats, divided by Interstate-270, said Police Chief John King.

While this is a good first step, I’m not entirely certain what to make of it. For years, former Chief Mary Ann Viverette had been trying to implement a system with a greater number of beats, requiring a the number of sworn officers to reach a higher level — the most recent number, according to Chris Robinson’s article, was 60. Every year the police would request a number of new officer positions to bring them closer to that goal, and every year the City Manager would cut that number back, effectively pushing the beat system out ever further into the future. Now, the new Chief, John King, has decided that they can implement a two-beat system with the officers they have, opening up the possibility of incremental divisions in coming years. Certainly I applaud this move for the benefit that it will have for the City, but at the same time I hope that it does not mean a reduction in the pressure on the City to continue to fund additional sworn officers.

A former Shady Grove Adventist Hospital part-time employee was convicted Thursday in Montgomery County District Court on two counts of fourth-degree sex offense and two counts of second-degree assault in connection with an incident at the Rockville medical facility.

Police said Gravesande, dressed in dark blue hospital scrubs, awoke a 44-year-old female patient at approximately 1:15 a.m. May 6 and told her he was there to examine her. He then began rubbing and pushing the woman’s breasts and placing his hand between her legs.

A Liberian immigrant accused of raping a 7-year-old girl may not be off the hook, despite a Montgomery County judge’s decision last week to drop the charges because of delays in the case.

County police last week defended their role in a July 12 raid at a Wheaton restaurant that involved immigration issues, saying their involvement was part of a broader investigation into money laundering and tax evasion.

However, immigration advocates remain critical of arrests they say extended to illegal immigrant workers who were beyond the scope of the federal investigation.