gaithersblog.net

FYI, I received the following email from Robin Ferrier at JHU:

I noticed that you mentioned Sebastian Montes’ GAZETTE piece on Hopkins plans for the Belward Research Campus (”Moves being made to accommodate Belward Campus”).

In case you’re interested in future developments with this piece of property, I wanted to send you information about our upcoming Design Principles Presentation for the Belward Research Campus* and the Shady Grove Life Sciences Center. After the presentation, participants will have an opportunity to provide feedback on our plans.

We’d love for you to post about the event so more community members will hear about it. We want as much community feedback and involvement as possible. In addition, you should feel welcome to attend yourself. I’m including the details below.

WHEN: Thursday, February 21, from 7:30 - 9 p.m.
WHERE: Johns Hopkins University Montgomery County Campus, 9605 Medical Center Drive, Room 121, Rockville, MD, 20850

Questions? Contact me at 301-315-2896 or rferrier@jhu.edu…

… or go to: http://www.jhu.edu/mcc/vision2030/community_outreach.html

We hope to see you there.

* The Belward Research Campus, formerly the Banks Farm, is located on Route 28 between Key West Avenue and Muddy Branch Road.

Best,
Robin

*******************
Robin Ferrier
Communications Manager
Johns Hopkins University — Montgomery County Campus
9601 Medical Center Drive
Rockville, MD 20850
work: 301-315-2896
cell: 301-356-8063
fax: 301-294-7010
email: rferrier@jhu.edu
web: http://www.mcc.jhu.edu

Update: A Channel 7 story gives the name of the driver and the victim:

[…] the Hyundai slammed into a car being driven by a 32-year-old Gaithersburg woman as it passed through an intersection. Beatrice Omoro was taken to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Starks says police arrested the driver after he fled the scene on foot. Nineteen-year-old Anthony Kutten, of no fixed address, is being charged with vehicular manslaughter, felony hit and run and other charges.

By my (possibly flawed) reading of the court records, last June Mr. Kutten was arrested in Anne Arundel County for stealing a motor vehicle. Last December 13, he was released following a plea bargain with a sentence of time served (171 days). He also appeared to be on probation for a weapons charge dating to 2005. A bench warrant for his arrest in that case was issued on December 20. A violation of probation hearing was scheduled for January 28, but postponed.

Update 2: The County Police have issued a press release:

2/14/2008

Suspect Charged for Fatal Collision in Gaithersburg

Detectives from the Montgomery County Police Collision Reconstruction Unit are investigating a fatal collision that occurred in Gaithersburg late last night.

On Wednesday, February 13 at approximately 11:46 p.m., a Gaithersburg Police Officer observed a 2003 silver Hyundai traveling southbound on N. Frederick Avenue. The Hyundai did not have its headlights on. The officer followed the Hyundai as it turned onto eastbound Odendhal Avenue. The officer initiated a traffic stop in the 100 block of Odendhal Avenue. As the officer prepared to exit her police car and approach the Hyundai, the driver left the scene of the stop still with the headlights off.

The driver of the Hyundai continued traveling eastbound on Odendhal Avenue, crossing Lost Knife Road on a solid red signal. The Hyundai continued down the hill to the intersection of Goshen Road. There the driver of the Hyundai entered the intersection on a solid red signal, striking a 2005 black Toyota Corolla which was traveling northbound on Goshen Road. After the collision, the driver of the Hyundai fled on foot but was apprehended a short time later by responding Gaithersburg and Montgomery County Police Officers.

The driver of the Toyota was transported to Shady Grove Hospital where she died due to her injuries. She has been identified as Beatrice A. Omoro, age 32, of the 18300 block of Lost Knife Circle in Gaithersburg.

The driver of the Hyundai has been identified as Anthony James Kutten, age 19, of no fixed address. He is being charged with vehicular manslaughter, felony hit and run, and lesser and included charges.

Anyone who may have witnessed this crash is asked to call the Collision Reconstruction Unit at 301-840-2435. The investigation is continuing.

###
Contact: Media Services Division Phone: 240.773.5030

Channel 4 reports, Police: Reckless Driver Causes Fatal Crash:

Police said that at about 11:45 p.m., an officer witnessed a vehicle with no headlights driving near the intersection of Odenhal Avenue and Goshen Road. The officer stopped the vehicle, police said, but the driver then sped away.

The officer continued pursuing the vehicle and witnessed the driver speed through a red light, where it crashed into another vehicle.

Howard Schneider writes in the Washington Post, Collision Leaves 1 Dead, Driver Attempts to Flee on Foot

A Gaithersburg woman was killed late last night in an automobile accident caused by a man fleeing a routine traffic stop.

Lt. Paul Starks, a spokesman for the Montgomery County police, said that around midnight a Gaithersburg police officer noticed a silver Hyundai being driven on North Frederick Road without its lights on.

• Sebastian Montes writes, City is going ‘back in time’ on day laborers:
  

  Nearly a year after it was passed, Gaithersburg leaders are looking to tweak the city’s controversial anti-solicitation ordinance — or find new alternatives for controlling curbside job hires — while they wait for the state attorney general to issue his opinion on whether the law is unconstitutional.

• Patricia M. Murret writes, Election investigation heads to an end:
  

  Gaithersburg’s elections board is expected to issue its findings from an investigation into campaign spending complaints filed in the wake of the city’s November elections by the end of the week.

• Robert Rand writes, Region’s foreclosure rate leaps:
  

  The home mortgage foreclosure rate in the Bethesda-Gaithersburg-Frederick area skyrocketed last year.

• Patricia M. Murret writes, City to offer mortgage delinquency counseling:
  

  To meet an increasing demand in the city, Gaithersburg officials are considering adding mortgage delinquency counseling for residents.

• Patricia M. Murret writes, Third death on Olde Towne train tracks in five months:
  

  For the third time since September, a Gaithersburg resident was struck and killed by a train while walking on the CSX tracks in Olde Towne.

• Sebastian Montes writes, Vision for Belward is part of 500-acre plan:
  

  Johns Hopkins University foresees its future world-class research facility planned on Route 28 near Muddy Branch Road as being part of a larger campus that rivals the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda.

• Patricia M. Murret writes, Public hearing scheduled on enterprise zone for Olde Towne:
  

  The Gaithersburg mayor and council will hold a public hearing to consider pursuing ‘‘enterprise zone” designation for Gaithersburg’s Olde Towne Central Business District at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the council chambers at City Hall, 31 S. Summit Ave.

  This item also includes other short notes:

  • Council heads to Annapolis
  • Consultant hired
  • Federal funding for police
  • Strategic plan updated
  • Sesma gets appointment