by Lynn Hughes •

Park City has Sundance. Austin has SXSW. And Cannes is, well, Cannes. But to documentary filmmakers across the globe, the red carpet to be on is in Silver Spring.

Last fall at a meeting of Prezco, the President's Council of Silver Spring Civic Associations, what was on the mind of the members was crime. Several representatives from various Silver Spring Civic Association groups felt their communities were in the midst of a crime wave.

by Tiffany March •

The uncertain future of Sligo Creek Golf Course is a hot topic for some Montgomery County residents right now, as the Department of Parks hosted a kick-off community meeting at the end of May to listen to proposals for future reuse.

 

Nancy Navarro (D) received full support from her Democratic colleagues as she was sworn in on June 2, making her the first Latina Montgomery County Council member.

Navarro, a native of Caracas, Venezuela, assumed the District 4 seat after winning the special election held on Tuesday, May 19 in which she received 6,637 votes, defeating her Republican adversary Robin Ficker by nearly a two to one margin as he was only able to obtain 3,423 votes. George Gluck, the Green Party candidate, received 372 votes and there were also 43 write-in votes. 

"It's good to see that the county is not only made up by a diverse population, but is also made up of diverse representation" said Montgomery County Council President Phil Andrews, who made no endorsements in the primary, but did endorse Navarro in the general election. 

The landslide general election proved to be far easier than the hard fought primary in which Navarro defeated Ben Kramer by only 62 votes.

National Park Service Ranger Ron Howard is a Civil War buff. On May 24, Memorial Day 2009, his job was to tell the story of Battlefield Cemetery to those gathered to honor the soldiers buried there. The 41 graves hold the remains of Union soldiers who died defending Ft. Stevens (and by extension, the Federal Capital) from the invading confederates under the command of General Jubal Early on that hot July 1864.

Ron Howard has spent 10 years researching the men buried there. He knows them all by name. He speaks emotionally of the 19-year-old soldier who was lying wounded in a hospital bed before being recalled to the front lines and sacrificing his life for the Union cause. By amazing coincidence Ranger Howard was able to locate a medallion belonging to the soldier as it was up for sale on the Internet. That medallion, a precusor of the modern dog-tags soldiers wear for identification, is now one of his prized possessions.

On Saturday July 11, the National Park Service will celebrate Ft. Stevens Day, in remembrance of the battle. Ranger Howard will be on hand from 11 AM-4 PM to be a witness to history.

Ft. Stevens is located at 13th Street and Quakenbos NW. Battlefield Cemetery is on Georgia Ave, north of Van Buren St NW.