Editor's Blog

Why does the ice rink need a cover?

Look at Rockefeller Center in New York, Millennium Park in Chicago, and the ice rink on the Smithsonian Mall. They are not covered and serve as beautiful gathering places. With an emphasis on green instead of pavement, Silver Spring's ice skating rink could be really lovely.

And, if need be, the rink could be used as a pool or fountain in the summer time or creatively re-adapted as a dance-floor or bandstand or artifically-turfed slightly elevated hangout. On the other hand, if covering the ice rink means it could be used year-round, it may attract quite a crowd when the temperature rises and provide a refreshing respite from the heat.

I don't see the purpose of the civic auditorium. Perhaps I think the Takoma Park Community was so burned by our own "anti-community" center (as I refer to that inaccessible, architecturally confused and totally inadequate monstrosity at the corner of Philadelphia and Maple) that I have no trust of such buildings.

Couldn't other unused space in surrounding buildings (like the theaters that used to be in City Place) be used for civic functions. Granted they would not be at ground level, but ground level is precious and wasted on single-level structures.

— Diana B. Vidutis
Takoma Park, MD

Posted by blogpop at 10:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Silver Spring Town Center Inc. Board of Directors strongly supports the timely construction of a new Silver Spring Civic Building and Veterans Plaza. We view this important public project as our community’s principal amenity of the downtown Silver Spring development, and we have worked diligently with the community, and private and public stakeholders to move this project forward. We believe that the Civic Building, along with a Pavilion and multi-purpose skating rink element, will be the exciting and dynamic centerpiece of our Silver Spring community.

We therefore view with deep concern reports that the Montgomery County Planning Board staff has recommended that the Silver Spring Civic Building and Veterans Plaza should not include a Pavilion and multi-purpose skating rink. We believe that the Pavilion and the skating rink are integral parts of the Veterans Plaza design concept that has resulted from an open process of community dialogue, participation and decision that has spanned more than 10 years. We do not believe that this long effort of community involvement and pro-active community process should be ignored.

Our non-profit organization, itself one of the results of this extended process of community engagement and dialogue, was formed to assist Montgomery County officials and Silver Spring residents provide community-based programming of the new Civic Building and Veterans Plaza. We believe that, because of its innovative design and choice of materials, the proposed Pavilion and convertible skating rink will provide substantially more—and a broader array of year-round—opportunities for community programs and events than other alternatives. With the planned trees and landscaping, the space will remain a versatile venue for Silver Spring’s residents and visitors to meet and socialize throughout the year.

We all share the goal of a wonderful, dynamic city center for Silver Spring and want the proposed project to be timely completed. The Silver Spring Town Center, Inc. is committed to helping Silver Spring residents develop exciting community-based programs for the benefit of all our neighbors.

— Alan S. Bowser, Theresa Cameron, Sheryl Brissett Chapman, Bryant Foulger, Graciela Jaschek, Mark Kozaki, Jon Lourie, Aurelia Martin, Helen Freeman Riggs, Laura Steinberg, Mary Ann Zimmerman

Posted by blogpop at 10:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Kevin Zeese is a Takoma Park resident and ran for the Senate as a Green Party candidate last fall. I have disagreed with some of his tactics, but I am absolutely behind his consistent drive to end the U.S. occupation of Iraq, and I respect him for it.

Today he was arrested at the Hart Senate building for protesting--calling for George W. Bush's impeachment. I applaud him.

Here's a video clip of the protest (Zeese is the guy in the blue suit): www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JXiOQvrkeU

Eric Bond/editor

Posted by EB at 09:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

A University of MD journalism student who files stories for the Voice submitted this one today:

Gentrification in Takoma Park widens the gap

Curious what people in the region think of the characterization.

Posted by blogpop at 11:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

And so it goes. The old fart with his memories and his Pall Malls is gone.

An honest voice in an absurd world.

In his final years, Kurt Vonnegut's prognosis for humanity became even bleaker than the dark observations in his novels.

Here's a quotation from an article in Rolling Stone this past summer:

"Vonnegut's Apocalypse" by Douglas Brinkley

"I'm Jeremiah, and I'm not talking about God being mad at us," novelist Kurt Vonnegut says with a straight face, gazing out the parlor windows of his Manhattan brownstone. "I'm talking about us killing the planet as a life-support system with gasoline. What's going to happen is, very soon, we're going to run out of petroleum, and everything depends on petroleum. And there go the school buses. There go the fire engines. The food trucks will come to a halt. This is the end of the world. We've become far too dependent on hydrocarbons, and it's going to suddenly dry up. You talk about the gluttonous Roaring Twenties. That was nothing. We're crazy, going crazy, about petroleum. It's a drug like crack cocaine. Of course, the lunatic fringe of Christianity is welcoming the end of the world as the rapture. So I'm Jeremiah. It's going to have to stop. I'm sorry."
...
Later, remembering his hyperagitation about global warming, I telephoned him at his Long Island summer cottage, curious about whether he saw Al Gore's documentary An Inconvenient Truth. "I know what it's all about," he scoffed. "I don't need any more persuasion." Not satisfied with his answer, I pressed him to expand, wondering if he had any advice for young people who want to join the increasingly vocal environmental movement. "There is nothing they can do," he bleakly answered. "It's over, my friend. The game is lost."

Rest in Peace? Not quite appropriate for Vonnegut, a clear-headed atheist. Perhaps just Ciao, Aloha, Adios, Goodbye! Congratulations on getting out of here.

Posted by EB at 08:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Think you've read it all? If you're looking for viewpoints online, it's unlikely. As of March, Technorati has indexed 70 million blogs.

Of course, many of those are dead blogs. Many an insightful commentator has discoved that while the means of production are well within reach, maintaining enthusiasm and relevance is another matter.

Still, some of the best information, analysis, and prose can be found online these days. I'm a big fan of the explosion of citizen journalism, made possible by new technology. Every morning, before I get to work, I run through a series of blogs, with the consistency of eating a proper meal—in reverse. I start with dessert.

I turn first to the funny pages: The Comic's Curmugeon, followed by some domestic humor by Heather Armstrong at Dooce (for whom I have a particular affinity because we are both fallen Mormons).

Then on to the main course: Juan Cole, David Corn, and Josh and the gang at Talking Points Memo—all making a mark for themselves as independent and informed voices in this still fresh medium. I'll also check in on Riverbend at Baghdad Burning to see if she has anything new to report from inside occupied Iraq. Distressingly, her reports have become more and more sporadic over the past year.

I need to see what's happening in mainstream media (pasta course?), so I turn to CNN (usually I've already read through the Washington Post—the old-fashioned paper version—by the time I get to my desk in the morning). As publisher of a paper product myself, I'm rooting for the MSM to pull themselves together, but I'm suspending hope at this point. Still, they provide a certain baseline.

If I have time, I scarf up a few antipasti, little, amusing treats, sometimes of nutritive value: Slate, Salon, and Wonkette.

At this point, I generally feeling guilty for spending so much time reading when I should be editing or yelling at staff or something. I sigh and look at my lengthy "to-do" list.

On the top of the list is the task of writing something for this blog (our web editor does a great job of reminding me of the importance of keeping a blog current). A quick review of the blog history here will reveal how often I skip over that and move to the next item, which is usually some variation on "find money to pay the bills!"

I know that my colleagues at those other blog- and websites also face that challenge every day, but I do envy their separation from the realities of print publishing, with the large sum of time and money that gets sucked up by layout, printing, delivery—thus, the constant chase for ad revenue.

Yet, we are trying to build a complete local news vehicle with the Voice, which more and more means providing great content online—content that may not be available in print. We want local readers to make the Voice part of their daily ritual. We are working to provide more frequent news updates, provocative commentary, community discussion, and solid links to local resources. We provide all of that in some form now, but it will take a while to get all of the apparatus online.

While we work toward our goal, please bookmark our site and check back frequently, or even shoot me an e-mail with suggestions. I'm looking for video, commentary, and reports from people in Takoma Park and Silver Spring.

In the meantime, if you are looking for commentary on Takoma Park politics, check out Granola Park. If you have ideas or are looking for ideas on environmental actions, turn to Sustainability . And if you have kids, check out the humor and insight of local parents at our Apparently blog.

And, keep checking this blog, since I will personally try a little harder to bring regular, relevant information to our readers. One of the frustrations of running a community newspaper is that I usually have far more news in my head about the local scene than I can process and fit into a monthly publication. With my roots in print media, I tend to think that everything I write must be a painstakingly crafted article or essay. That view can be an impediment to blogging. I will fight those impulses in the interest of passing along more information that you may find useful.

Thanks.

— ed. (Eric Bond)

Posted by EB at 10:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)