• Chris Robinson writes, Aquatic center is off the blocks in Gaithersburg:

    Gaithersburg residents glimpsed the first designs of the evolving Aquatic and Recreation Center off Route 28 during a community meeting last week, as the city gears up for nearly a year’s worth of deliberation on the project.

  • Sebastian Montes writes, Policing addressed for day-labor center:

    County police and day-laborer advocates have met to work out a range of issues they see as integral to the success of a new county employment center in Derwood.

    There is worry, however, that if workers stray from the site, the nearby community will consider the center a failure.

    ‘‘We don’t want to give them a reason to say the center isn’t working,” said Diane Tillery, community services officer for the county police’s Sixth District.

    Tillery, who has played a central role in the situation since late 2004, wants to prevent impromptu hiring sites in Derwood like the ones that have tended to pop up near the county’s formal centers in Silver Spring and Wheaton.

  • C. Benjamin Ford writes, Three major transit projects delayed by revision of bad ridership numbers:

    Three major transit projects will be delayed for up to a year so state officials can come up with better studies on projected riders.

    Delayed are the Purple Line between Bethesda and New Carrollton, the Corridor Cities Transitway linking Clarksburg and the Shady Grove Metro station and the Red Line connecting Woodlawn to the Inner Harbor in Baltimore.

  • Sebastian Montes writes, Sixth District officer marks 25 years of service:

    Numerous colorful merit badges donned the brown vests of 17 Brownie Girl Scouts snacking on vanilla wafers and juice bags with county police Officer Diane Tillery at DuFief Elementary School in Gaithersburg on Friday afternoon.

    Tillery’s badge is the one she started pinning to her chest 25 years ago.