• Meghan Tierney writes, Man, woman charged with prostituting underage girls:

    Two county residents have been arrested on federal prostitution charges for allegedly drugging three underage girls and forcing them to have sex for money, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice.

    According to the statement and indictment, Lloyd Mack Royal III, 28, coerced the girls to have sex for pay; hit the girls; threatened the girls and their families; and threatened one of the girls with a handgun between April and May 2007.

  • Elahe Izadi writes, Langley Park teen mourned:

    The Tiempo Gracia Church in Silver Spring was filled Friday night with about 250 mourners who stood in silence as Maxima Saenz, supported by two men, entered to say goodbye to her only son.

    “Oh my child! Why?” the Langley Park resident cried in Spanish, her sobbing ringing through the church.

    The group gathered for the funeral of 15-year-old Dennis Alfredo Guzman-Saenz, who was found brutally stabbed in a Gaithersburg park on Jan. 19.

  • Patricia M. Murret writes, Paving yards for cars could be forbidden:

    A proposed change to Gaithersburg city code would keep residents from paving their front yards, but one case has already angered neighbors.

    Bill Fallon of Jonker Court in West Riding said he wished the proposed change had come sooner.

    “Why? Because we live next door to a fellow … he paved over every square inch of his front yard,” Fallon said.”

  • Patricia M. Murret writes, As property assessments slide, so does Gaithersburg budget:

    A drop in real property assessments has left a major dent in Gaithersburg’s revenues that could cause unprecedented circumstances, if continued, and require a change in city strategy, according to a top city official.

  • Patricia M. Murret writes, City leaders push 2009 legislative agenda:

    City leaders headed to Annapolis on Tuesday to push the city’s 2009 agenda with state senators and delegates.

    “Our transportation priorities have not changed,” said Assistant City Manager Fred Felton on Monday, saying desired goals include completion of the Intercounty Connector on schedule and funding for the Corridor Cities Transitway. Felton, who has called development at the former Casey East and West tracts the county’s “next economic engine” said Gaithersburg also needs state money to ensure successful completion of the Watkins Mill Road interchange off Interstate 270.

  • Patricia M. Murret writes, Gaithersburg passes sign ordinance:

    City leaders changed a city ordinance about election campaign and ballot question signs Monday, after the American Civil Liberties Union pushed to change the law.

  • Patricia M. Murret writes, Village man arrested for assaulting female jogger:

    Montgomery County police have arrested a Montgomery Village man who allegedly assaulted a 28-year-old woman jogging along East Village Avenue, near the man’s home.

    Bilal Noore Shaikh, 42, of the 8300 block of Marketree Circle, was arrested and charged Friday with first-degree assault, second-degree assault and second-degree sexual offense, according to police. He is being held at the Montgomery County Detention Center in lieu of $250,000 bond.

  • Sebastian Montes writes, DANAC wants to keep CCT stop at office park:

    A Bethesda-based developer is pleading with county planners who want to eliminate a Corridor Cities Transitway stop planned for their 26-acre office park, saying that would limit the transit line’s flexibility and stymie plans to turn the office park near the Shady Grove Life Sciences Center into nearly 2-million square feet of office, retail and residential space.

  • Janel Davis writes, County economy feeling hurt of national recession:

    As if residents needed a reminder, finance officials this week said current economic indicators for the county are slowing.