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Update: Patricia M. Murret writes in the Gazette, Sale of fairground contemplated:

The grounds and buildings at 16 Chestnut Street, assessed at nearly $17 million in July, ‘‘is not for sale,” said Marty Svercek, the agricultural center’s president. ‘‘Our top choice is to stay where we are.”

However, the cost of maintaining the facility is growing as the need to upgrade the aging center is becoming more pressing, he said.

As you read the following, you should note that the fairgrounds property is divided up into two lots, both around 30 acres. The southernmost half is zoned I-1, “Light Industrial”. The northern half is zoned R-A, “Low Density Residential”. By the Gaithersburg City Code, “The R-A Zone is intended to provide primarily for low density residential areas and nonresidential, institutional uses and public use areas.” Permitted uses include farms. Zone I-1 permits a wide variety of uses, including offices, medical clinics, car repair shops, trucking terminals, bakeries, factories, churches and strip clubs. Given the course of recent development in Gaithersburg, I’m going to guess here that none of the currently-permitted uses — which do not include for example high-density residential or high-intensity retail — are what the Ag Center might have in mind for this site. More than likely they will pursue a rezoning to MXD; this would be consistent with their mention of the Master Plan process in the below.

From the Montgomery County Agricultural Center’s website:

PRESS RELEASE

MONTGOMERY COUNTY AGRICULTURAL CENTER, INC.

The Montgomery County Agricultural Center Inc., a non-profit organization as owner of the Montgomery County Fairgrounds, will be working with the City of Gaithersburg Planning Department to adopt a new Master Plan for the area where the fairgrounds are located. This procedure will follow the normal process of all Master Plans conducted by the City of Gaithersburg, including Charettes and public hearings so that the community and property owner can play an instrumental part, along with the City Planners, in devising a land use plan for the 62 acre tract on the edge of Olde Towne Gaithersburg. The Montgomery County Agricultural Center Board of Directors anticipates the planning process will take several years and depending upon the results of the Master Plan process, they will evaluate any economic opportunities presented to them to potentially relocate the fairgrounds to another property in Montgomery County.

The Montgomery County Agricultural Center Inc, is not a part of the Montgomery County Government. The Montgomery County Agricultural Center Inc. has been the private owner of the fair grounds property since 1949. The property has been the site of the annual Montgomery County Fair since that year.

It is the mission of the Montgomery County Agricultural Center, Inc., to promote improved agriculture and farming, agricultural education and to support 4-H and FFA Clubs throughout the county. That mission will continue to be the main focus of the Montgomery County Agricultural Center now and in the future.

Any inquiries regarding the plans of the Montgomery County Agricultural Center Inc, should be addressed to Martin E. Svrcek, Executive Director, 16 Chestnut Street, Gaithersburg, MD 20877, or go to their website, www.mcagfair.com.

• Melissa J. Brachfeld and Sebastian Montes write, Webb Tract owners to meet with county:
  

  County officials told a handful of Greater Shady Grove Civic Alliance members last week that they are still considering the Webb Tract property near Montgomery Village as an alternative in case the county elects to move all industrial facilities out of the County Service Park, as had been discussed for several years.

• Sebastian Montes writes, Special visa cases so far this year nearing 2007 total:
  

  A domestic violence case due to be closed with a sentencing tomorrow is one of a growing number of cases in the county that makes use of a little known provision allowing illegal immigrants to gain legal status if they cooperate in a prosecution.

• Patricia M. Murret writes, City reviews vision for Kentlands business district:
  

  Gaithersburg leaders are considering a new vision plan for the Kentlands Commercial Business District that would relocate a planned Corridor Cities Transitway Stop and alter the city’s skyline.

• Patricia M. Murret writes, Junior at Gaithersburg High draws on his past to mentor youth:
  

  All it took was a ball of string, a sponge, paint, a staple gun, a venetian blind, foam, a garbage bag, wood chips, dirt and shrubbery for Travis Melendez to create a three-dimensional mural of the Olde Towne Youth Center in Gaithersburg.

• Sebastian Montes writes, Judge issues 33-year sentence in mall murder:
  

  The mentally troubled Germantown man who killed a coworker at Lakeforest mall in 2006 was sentenced to 33 years in prison last week, disappointing the victim’s family members who wanted him to spend the rest of his life in jail.

• Meghan Tierney writes, Trial begins in death of Army Ranger:
  

  Defense and prosecuting attorneys presented very different scenarios during their opening arguments Tuesday in the trial of a U.S. Army Ranger charged with the 2006 shooting death of his roommate in Gaithersburg.

• Patricia M. Murret writes, Teen charged in purse-snatchings:
  

  A 17-year-old from Gaithersburg was arrested Thursday for a purse-snatching and police have linked him to two others in the city.

• Sebastian Montes writes, Elementary teacher indicted on child sex abuse charges:
  

  A physical education teacher at Gaithersburg Elementary School was indicted Friday on several charges stemming from the alleged sexual abuse of a juvenile.

  Tina Walker, of Montgomery Village, is facing three criminal counts, including sexual abuse of a minor and being an accessory after the fact. The charges carry a combined possible penalty of 23 years in jail. Her trial is scheduled for May.

• C. Benjamin Ford writes, Neighborhood watches end in budget plan:
  

  Montgomery County public safety officials say they will have to make do with less because of the County Executive Isiah Leggett’s budget cuts, which include the elimination of a police academy class and transferring 22 crime prevention officers to other positions.

I expect that most Gaithersblog readers have heard about the death of Mike McQueen and Gary Smith’s subsequent arrest for his roommate’s murder. If you have not, you might want to read through my previous post on this tragic story, and the long and sometimes painful record of comments. This morning, a prospective juror who was not selected has left an interesting comment about the jury selection process in that trial.

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Update 4: AP writer Ben Nuckols has filed another story, posted here in the Army Times: Expert: Suspect in Ranger death was near gun

A forensic scientist testified Thursday that an analysis of blood spatter patterns indicates an Army Ranger charged with killing a fellow soldier was next to the man when he was fatally shot.

William T. Vosburgh, forensic lab director for District of Columbia police, said he identified the outline of a shoe and a handprint in the blood on the carpet.

Vosburgh’s testimony is crucial to the prosecution’s case because the state must prove that Smith was close enough to McQueen to have pressed the gun against McQueen’s temple before firing.

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Update 3 (update 2 revised): Dan Morse’s story in the Washington Post has been updated to reflect Wednesday’s testimony:

Gary Smith, a former U.S. Army Ranger, sobbed heavily as he told a 911 operator that he had found his roommate, also a former Ranger, dead of a gunshot wound inside their Gaithersburg apartment.

“Oh my God help me,” Smith said in September 2006, according to a recording of the call played yesterday in Montgomery County Circuit Court, where Smith, 25, is being tried on a first-degree murder charge.

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Update: I’ve fixed the links to the stories below. Also, now that the Gazette has posted this week’s content, I see that Meghan Tierney also has a story, Trial begins in death of Army Ranger:

McQueen, who had just finished his third tour in Afghanistan, was found dead in his apartment about 1 a.m. Sept. 26, 2006, with a gunshot wound to his right temple, police said. Police say Smith, also an Army Ranger, pulled the trigger, while his defense attorney contends McQueen’s wound was self-inflicted.

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Today, the first news stories regarding this trial have started to show up in the press. The Washington Post appears to have its own reporter there; the Baltimore Sun and all other outlets I’ve checked appear to be using the AP story:

• Dan Morse writes in the Washington Post, Trial Opens For Ex-Army Ranger in Md. Death:
  

  Using the simplest of hand gestures — ones that mimic the firing of a gun — trial attorneys laid out markedly different accounts yesterday of what happened 18 months ago inside a Gaithersburg apartment shared by two veterans of the war in Afghanistan.

  As he pointed an index finger at the jury and cocked a thumb upward, prosecutor John Maloney said that, after a night on the town, defendant Gary Smith, a 25-year-old former Army Ranger, placed a revolver to his roommate’s head and pulled the trigger.

  “Those are the sad facts of this case,” he told jurors in his opening argument.

  Defense attorney Andrew Jezic, pointing his index finger to his own right temple and cocking his thumb, said it was the roommate who had the gun. Jezic said the roommate shot himself, leaving Smith horrified — and fearful that the shooting would be pinned on him.

  “On the base and the battlefields, they protected each other,” Jezic said. ” . . . Gary would never hurt Mike.”

• AP writer Ben Nuckols reports, Ranger’s Trial in Comrade’s Death Begins:
  

  A soldier accused of murdering his roommate — a fellow Ranger who served with him in Afghanistan — went to trial Tuesday in a case that will touch on how combat affected both men psychologically.

  Spc. Michael A. McQueen II died of a single gunshot to the right temple in September 2006, in the apartment he began sharing with Sgt. Gary Smith just 20 days earlier.