Maryland

Maryland United States Attorney’s Office Resolves Disability Discrimination Lawsuit Against Maryland Developer Involving Multifamily Housing Complexes

By MCS Staff

Per the Office of the U.S. Attotney, District of Maryland: United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron and Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division announced today that Maryland-based developer Stavrou Associates, Inc. and related entities have agreed to pay $185,000 to settle claims that they violated the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by failing to build 11 multi-family housing complexes in Maryland with required accessible features for people with disabilities.  As part of the settlement, the defendants also agreed to make extensive retrofits to remove accessibility barriers at the complexes.

The government’s lawsuit, filed today, raises similar allegations against a second Maryland-based developer, Humphrey Stavrou Associates, Inc., and related entities, which were involved in building six other multi-family housing complexes in Maryland.  The lawsuit involving those properties is unaffected by today’s settlement.

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Education

Montgomery College Selected for Prestigious Delphi Award for Transforming Support for Contingent Faculty

By MCS Staff

The Pullias Center for Higher Education at the University of Southern California’s Rossier School of Education, in partnership with the American Association of Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) has selected Montgomery College as one of two winners of the Delphi Award for 2022. The other winner is Dominican University (CA). Montgomery College and Dominican will each receive $15,000 cash awards to continue their work to support adjunct, contingent, and/or non-tenure-track faculty (NTTF) in promoting student success.

“From a competitive pool of applicants, we chose this year’s winners for their significant work ensuring that contingent faculty are supported,” stated Professor Adrianna Kezar, Director of the Pullias Center and primary investigator on the Delphi Project. “The two organizations selected have instituted scalable and innovative institutional policies that remove equity barriers for non-tenure-track faculty and are prime examples of the exemplary work occurring across the country.”

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Sponsored

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By Sponsor
Image from Craving El Pollo Rico?

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Events

Young Artist Award Competition; Submission Deadline At the End of The Year

By MCS Staff

The City of Gaithersburg, in association with the Kentlands Community Foundation, presents the 20thannual Young Artist Award, a juried competition culminating in a concert for the top prize winners. The goal of the Young Artist Award is to provide musicians ages 12 – 18 with an enriching artistic experience & encourage them in their love of music.

The 2023 Young Artist Award Competition includes the 3rd annual awarding of the Carrie McMahon Dietz Award for Excellence. This award is presented to a City of Gaithersburg resident who participates in the competition & has the highest score of all City residents. The award is given in honor of Carrie McMahon Dietz, longtime Executive Director of the Kentlands Community Foundation & one of the founders of the Young Artist Award Competition. Online application here.

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Montgomery College

U.S Department of Labor Awards $1.6 Million Grant to Montgomery College to Support Students Underrepresented in IT Fields

By Patrick Herron

The Montgomery College (MC) Tech Metro Area Pathways (TechMAP) Program, which aims to serve 1,000 students over a four-year funding period, will be fully funded by the SSC2 grant to provide career pathways training in Information Technology (IT). The MC TechMAP Program will improve the retention, completion, and employment rates of individuals historically underrepresented in IT, including people of color, women, and disconnected youth/young adults. Additionally, individuals who are un- or underemployed, including as a result of COVID-19-related layoffs, will be invited to apply to upskill and/or reskill. To this end, the MC TechMAP Program will increase personalized navigation to help students understand their career options, enroll in a program of study and connect to the wrap around supports needed to stay on track for completion. The navigators will move with students as they progress from non-credit to for-credit degrees or as they lattice together various credentials.

The system of navigation is designed to be scalable to other programs or other community colleges and to interface with the workforce system and employers to help participants find on-the-job training and careers. TechMAP is expected to increase retention and completion rates for underrepresented students, leading to higher numbers of participants who earn professional credentials and who find quality work with higher wages. MC will partner with workforce development system partners, employer partners, and social resource partners to support the educational, employment, and wraparound service needs of participants.

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Beyond MoCo

Beyond MoCo: Lion Dies at Smithsonian’s National Zoo

By Patrick Herron

In March, Great Cats keepers noticed that Naba was chewing in an exaggerated manner and not consuming all of her diet. Naba was trained to voluntarily participate in awake health exams and blood draws. When keepers gave Naba the cue to open her mouth, they observed some dental issues, and blood tests showed chronic renal disease, both of which can be common in older lions. Zoo veterinarians prescribed pain medications to ease Naba’s discomfort, and keepers presented her diet in a variety of ways to encourage her to eat. Zoo veterinarians and an outside veterinary dental specialist treated Naba’s dental disease over the next few months, but despite intermittent improvements in her behavior and appetite, she continued to decline.

During a complete veterinary exam last Friday to identify the cause of her ongoing decline, a new dental concern was addressed, and Naba’s team of keepers and veterinarians were cautiously optimistic she could recover. However, she did not eat well, was not defecating throughout the weekend and her discomfort was noticeable to the team. Concluding that further attempts to investigate Naba’s illness would be invasive and difficult on her, the team made the hard decision to euthanize Naba. Initial necropsy findings showed a large mass in her small intestine and a cystic lesion in her brain. A final pathology report will provide more information in the coming weeks.

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Calverton

Update on Tuesday Afternoon Fire at Kohl’s Department Store

By Patrick Herron

Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services responded to a fire at the Kohl’s department store at 12024 Cherry Hill Rd in Calverton on Tuesday afternoon. According to Chief Spokesperson for MCFRS Pete Piringer, the fire began as a brush fire that then extended to the façade of the building.  The cause of the fire was likely improperly discarded smoking materials (cigarette butt) and damages are estimated to be around $50,000.   The building was evacuated and there were no injuries reported.

Per @mcfrsPIO on twitter: “Update – Cherry Hill Rd, Orchard Center, Kohl’s Store, exterior façade fire, fire extinguished, checking for extension, no injuries. Kohl’s Store, 12,000 Cherry Hill Road, near Plum Orchard Dr, bldg fire, brush fire extending to building, @mcfrs PE715, T715 on scene & PE841, E724, PE716, T715, AT724, RS715, M715, BC701, BC704, E831 responding”

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Bethesda

5 of Top 7 Private High Schools in Maryland are in MoCo, According to Niche

By MCS Staff

Niche, a rankings and review resource that provides information on K-12 schools, colleges, cities, neighborhoods, and companies across the United States, has just published its new 2023 Best Schools and Districts rankings. Now in its ninth year, the rankings include updated data for 92,743 public schools, 30,112 private schools, and 11,820 school districts nationwide. 5 of the top 7 private high schools in Maryland are located in Montgomery County, with Bethesda’s Holton-Arms School earning the top spot.

Per Niche: “The 2023 Best Private K-12 Schools ranking is based on rigorous analysis of key statistics and millions of reviews from students and parents. Ranking factors include SAT/ACT scores, the quality of colleges that students consider, student-teacher ratio, private school ratings, and more. Data sourced from the U.S. Department of Education, Niche users, and the schools directly. Read more on how this ranking was calculated.”

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Health

Montgomery County to Host Virtual Town Hall Meeting on the Impact of Monkeypox on the Black Community on Monday, Oct. 10

By Patrick Herron

Panelists in the town hall will include James Bridgers, the acting County health officer;  Ikenna Myers, program manager for clinical services for the African American Health Program’s; and Kimberly Townsend, senior administrator for Communicable Disease and Epidemiology with the County’s Department of Health and Human Services.

The panelists will update the current monkeypox situation in Montgomery County and Maryland, provide information on the County’s monkeypox vaccine program and answer questions about prevention and treatment.

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Education

7 of Top 10 Public High Schools in Maryland Are in MoCo; All MCPS High Schools In Top Half of Rankings, According to Niche

By MCS Staff

Niche, a rankings and review resource that provides information on K-12 schools, colleges, cities, neighborhoods, and companies across the United States, has just published its new 2023 Best Schools and Districts rankings. Now in its ninth year, the rankings include updated data for 92,743 public schools, 30,112 private schools, and 11,820 school districts nationwide. 7 of the top 10 public high schools in Maryland are located in Montgomery County, with Poolesville High School earning the top spot (All MCPS schools listed can be seen below and there are 282 public high schools in the state).

Per Niche: “While traditional rankings rely almost exclusively on metrics like test scores and academic performance, Niche’s rankings combine user input — ratings from current students, alumni, and parents — with quantitative data from sources like the U.S. Department of Education to evaluate teachers, resources and facilities, extracurricular activity opportunities and more. The 2023 Best Schools rankings include 2,906 newly ranked public schools, 1,018 newly ranked private schools, and 547 newly ranked school districts across the country.”

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MCDOT

Child and Adult Used Bicycles Can Be Donated at the Annual Department of Transportation Event on Friday, Oct. 14, in Rockville

By Patrick Herron

“This is a great way to help out your community,” said Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich. “Donate your unused or outgrown bicycles, and possibly change the quality of life for someone in need. Bicycles are great for recreation and can serve as a lifeline for residents and connect them to transit stops or destinations that would otherwise be just out of reach.”

Bicycles should be in good working condition or in need of only minor repairs. Rockville Bike Hub volunteers will refurbish the bikes and MCDOT will place them with low-income children and adults in the County through the MCDOT Bike Match Program or through the Rockville Terrific Kids program. MCDOT’s Bike Match program started in June 2020.

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