Years Before Canal Repair

Attention Postmaster: Time sensitive material. Requested in home 9-18-08 PRSRT STD A Connection U.S. Postage Newspaper PAID Martinsburg, WV Potomac PERMIT #86 Cars vs. Students News, page 3 Classified, Page 17 Classified, Herbert Hoover Middle ❖ School crossing guard Mary Thomas escorts a student across the intersection of Tuckerman Lane and Postoak Road on Monday, Sept. 15. Long-standing concerns for Real Estate, Page 13 Real Estate, student pedestrian safety at ❖ the school were re-ignited when a Hoover student was hit by a car at the intersection of Postoak Road and Bunnell Drive on Friday, Sept. Schools, Page 12 Schools, 6. The student was not ❖ seriously injured. Calendar, Page 10 Page 10 Calendar, Years Before anac Canal Repair News, page 2 Goodbye Blackboards Driving Dominance News, Page 4 Sports, Page 15 Photo by Aaron Stern/Alm by Aaron Photo www.ConnectionNewspapers.comSeptember 17-23, 2008 ❖ Volume LII, Number 38 Potomac Almanac ❖www.potomacalmanac.com September 17-23, 2008 ❖ 1 News Two to Three Years for ‘Big Breach’ Repairs Repair of C&O Canal towpath expected to be timely and costly. he massive breach in the C&O Canal towpath and the hillside Ton top of which it runs near Old Angler’s Inn could take two to three years to repair, according to park officials. “The big breach, as we’re calling it. And not so affectionately, I might add,” said Kevin Brandt, the superintendent of the C&O Canal National Historical Park. The breach — an estimated 100 feet wide or more and at least 20 feet deep — was the result of water seepage and subsequent erosion over time, but the massive fallout and landslide into the Potomac River were made more severe by Tropical Storm Hannah, which hit the Potomac area on Saturday, Sept. 6. Cracks in the towpath and water running from the canal, under the towpath, and down the hillside toward the river, were noticed the day before by C&O Photo by Mary Kimm/The Almanac Canal Bike Patrol volunteer Barbara Brown, some of whose numerous photos of the The Charles F. Mercer packet boat may be out of water for some time. Tropical Storm Hannah turned a small breach before and after the storm ran in breach in the towpath near Old Angler’s into a gaping crater that drained the Canal of water and could take two to three years to repair, according to C&O Canal National Historical Park officials. last week’s Almanac. It still will be at least two weeks before the canal still has some water in it that for engineers to explore it, Brandt said. could take a couple, three years,” he said. engineers will be able to fully examine the comes from little tributaries and storm run- Exactly how long it will take to assess the Funding will be an issue as the cash- breach and determine how to repair it be- off from the land above the canal. A tem- damage, determine the best course of ac- strapped park relies on volunteers for rou- cause the land around the breach remains porary dyke system will have to be built on tion, find the funding, and make the actual tine maintenance and support and outside unstable and more is likely to give way, said the slope above the canal near Old Angler’s repairs, is unclear, but Brandt said it will funding for major projects, and this will be Brandt. The canal has been drained from to prevent such runoff so that the canal and take some time. no different. Widewater to Lock 5 near Chain Bridge, but the breach can dry out before it will be safe “I don’t think it’s unreasonable to think it See Years to Repair, Page 14 Fatality in Home Invasion Shakes Homeowners Havenstein’s case is the first fatality. A pre- five, but because of the similarities they Police investigating liminary examination of Havenstein’s body believe a connection is possible. incident in connection by the Medical Examiner’s Office in Balti- Around 11:40 p.m. on Sept. 17, 2007, a more determined Havenstein to have died 92-year-old woman was at her home in the with a year-long string from multiple injuries and the manner of 7600 block of Maryknoll Avenue in her death as homicide, according to police. Bethesda when an unknown man forced of like incidents. Five similar incidents have occurred in entry into her home by breaking a window Potomac, Bethesda, Chevy Chase and North- in her basement. He disabled her circuit west Washington, D.C. since last Septem- See Police Investigate, Page 14 By Aaron Stern ber, and police have are investigating The Almanac Havenstein’s death with the possibility that it is linked to those incidents, though that he apparent latest in a string of has not been conclusively determined yet, A neighborhood watch home invasions targeting elderly said police spokesperson Lucille Baur. T sign in the neighborhood residents in and around Potomac Havenstein is believed to have last been where Mary Frances took a deadly turn on Thursday, Sept. 4 seen in Rockville on Tuesday, Sept. 2. A Havenstein was killed when Mary Frances Havenstein of the 8900 niece tried calling her on Sept. 3 but got no Sept. 4 by a home in- block of Seven Locks Road was found dead answer, and then found Havenstein’s Thurs- truder. Her death is being in her home. Montgomery County Police are day morning when she went to check on investigated in possible investigating her death in conjunction with her. relation to a string of five similar incidents that have taken place Because Havenstein lived alone police home invasions targeting in the last year. have not clearly determined what, if any- elderly residents in and Like previous victims, Havenstein was thing, was stolen from her home. around Potomac that has found bound inside of her home, but un- Havenstein’s car was missing from her home occurred over the last like the previous five attacks — all of which when police initially responded, though it year. targeted elderly residents between roughly was later recovered in Takoma Park. 70 and 90 years of age and some of which Police have not conclusively determined Photo by Aaron Stern/ included physical assault of the victims — this incident to be linked to the previous The Almanac 2 ❖ Potomac Almanac ❖ September 17-23, 2008 www.ConnectionNewspapers.com News Crosswalk accident at Herbert Hoover Middle School raises Crossing old concerns about student-pedestrian safety. Matters By Aaron Stern The Almanac study to determine the feasibil- ity of installing a crosswalk near by Photo AHerbert Hoover Middle School at the intersection of Postoak Road and Bunnell Drive is ongoing after a stu- Stern Aaron dent was struck by a car there on the after- noon of Friday, Sept. 6. The child was not seriously injured in the accident and the student returned to school the following /The Almanac Monday, but the issue touched on long- standing concerns by many Hoover parents about the intersection and also drew attention to other crosswalk-related concerns at other nearby schools. The incident occurred as the student Students cross Bunnell Drive at the intersection of Bunnell and Postoak Road, where a student was hit by a crossed Postoak at the intersection with car on Friday, Sept. 6. Bunnell drive is used as a cut-through for neighborhood commuters on their way to Bunnell, yet parents say the intersection is and from work, making a crosswalk all the more imperative, say residents and parents. even more dangerous in the morning when Bunnell is used as a cut-through for com- “It’s just a conglomeration of different Patrice Thomas, whose youngest son is a Hoover parents have lobbied Montgom- muters — including some parents — head- points that come together at that intersec- Hoover eighth-grader and her older son is ery County Public Schools and, since the ing to I-270 or Seven Locks Road to go to tion and children are crossing that inter- a Churchill sophomore and former Hoover intersection is not on school property, the work. section at that time,” said Bunnell resident student. “We’ve been saying this for years.” See Concerns, Page 12 Muslim Leaders Share Their Faith with Community Tufail Ahmad opens his home during Ramadan to promote by Photos understanding among different cultures. Stern Aaron By Aaron Stern The Almanac /The Almanac n one corner of the carpeted basement, Inearly 50 Muslim men conducted the Maghrib sundown prayer. On the other side of the room sat several people of other religions and ethnicities, watching and whispering quietly with one another. When Visitors to Tufail Ahmad’s home on Friday, Sept. 5 serve themselves to the prayers were finished the two groups break the daily fast on the fifth night of Ramadan. converged, and over plates of bakori, samosas and chick peas they celebrated the County Councilman George Leventhal (D The goal is to introduce Islam and Mus- breaking of the fast on the fifth night of At-large), and Delegates Brian Feldman (D- lims to the other communities, said Ahmad. Musa Salam and Asim Khan (at far Ramadan on Friday, Sept. 5. 15) and Craig Rice (D-15). Children like Ahmad’s granddaughter, a stu- right) of Potomac participate in the The idea of the night was to bring to- dent at Winston Churchill High School, traditional Maghrib sundown gether members and leaders of the local “Obviously the learn to bridge cultural gaps by going to prayer. Muslim community with other community school together but for adults those differ- leaders.

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