By John Webster

The City of Takoma Park has a lot to be thankful for. With the help of City TV, IT and Recreation Department staff, the City of Takoma Park now has a fully functional Multi Media Lab. The lab opened its doors on Monday, Oct. 3 with eight computers that can be utilized by the Takoma Park community with all of the newest software. The Multi Media Lab is open Monday – Wednesday & Friday from 3 – 8 p.m. and Saturday from 12 – 5 p.m.

The staff for the Multi Media Lab are William Rice and Rob Radcliffe. Their goal is to ensure that the Takoma Park community residents are as knowledgeable about internet and communication technology as their peers in other communities.

“The new Multi Media Lab is amazing. It is exactly what we need in the current technological world,” Radcliffe said.

“We have an incredible range of professional software, including the entire Adobe Creative Cloud Suite; Photoshop; Dreamweaver; Premier Pro; Audition; Illustrator; Photoshop; Lightroom; InDesign; Animate and After Effects, as well as Apple’s powerful production tools such as FCPX, Motion, Compressor Garageband and others,” Rice said.

This lab has the potential to be an oasis for everyone to use the newest software. “I would like the community to be able to learn and use these programs since these skills can provide them with a lot of opportunities in the future, and the cost of Adobe products can be a barrier to people being able to learn and use these programs”, Radcliffe said.

“The Multi Media Lab creates a number of positive opportunities. If you want to be creative, we have the tools,” Rice said. “Music, art, video, photography, web design, and animation, etc. Wherever your imagination wants to take you, we will help you get there. All ages are welcome. Bring your curiosity and imagination, come learn and have fun.”

Both Rice and Radcliffe believe that the goal for the Multi Media Lab is to help people in the community see that they are capable of learning and creating the same content that they see on YouTube or on posters they see and providing them a space where they can learn these skills at their own pace. They also believe that the Multi Media Lab provides opportunities for everyone. There are great computer resources available for the Takoma Park community in this state-of-the-art facility, including the most powerful iMac computers that are fully loaded with a wide range of professional creative software. Come on out and enjoy the fun of the Takoma Park Multi Media Lab.

New!

Multi Media Lab Open Hours Located on the second floor of the Community Center, participants will have access to the latest Mac computers, word processing and editing software including but not limited to Final Cut Pro and a variety of other programs. Utilizing this equipment will allow you to produce professional work of the highest quality at your own pace. No instruction provided, work independently. The Multi Media Lab will be closed on Thursdays and Sundays. Instructors: William Rice and Rob Radcliffe. TP Community Center Multi Media Lab Monday – Wednesday & Friday, 3 – 8 p.m. Saturday, 12 – 5 p.m. Closed on Thursdays and Sundays

This article appeared in the November 2016 edition of the Takoma Park Newsletter. The Takoma Park Newsletter is available for download here.

This year give the gift of art – local art – for the holidays. Shop at the Holiday Art Sale on Saturday, Dec. 10, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Takoma Park Community Center. Browse handmade works by local jewelers, potters, painters, knitters, photographers, woodworkers and other artists. Bring your friends and family and make it a social shopping experience. Hope to see you there!

This article appeared in the November 2016 edition of the Takoma Park Newsletter. The Takoma Park Newsletter is available for download here.

Considering a third party candidate for any office in this month’s election? Would you vote for a candidate with a reduced vocabulary, one name and more hair than what you’d find on your Uncle Louie’s back?

Hank, the feline star of Wild about Hank; We’re talking about a cat (What were you thinking?) that ran for the U.S. Senate seat against Tim Kaine and George Allen during the 2012 election in Virginia. Wild about Hank, directed by Emma Kouguell, debuts at the free Community Stories Festival at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 10, at the Takoma Park Community Center, and is one of many films presented by Docs in Progress.

We Are Takoma asked Docs in Progress Executive Director Erica Ginsberg to tell us more about Community Stories Festival and this year’s films. Questions were submitted to her by email, and her answers have been lightly edited for space and grammar.

We Are Takoma: Describe the Community Stories Festival.

Ginsberg: The Community Stories Festival grew out of Docs in Progress wanting to give filmmakers a showcase for their documentaries about local topics. The festival celebrates how documentary film can be used both to reveal untold stories of our local community and also bring that community together.

The festival has been a program of Docs in Progress since 2010. That year, we held a one-night showcase screening in a small auditorium of films produced by adult and youth students in our documentary filmmaking classes. All the topics were local. While we expected their friends and family would show up, what we had not counted on was that we would have a standing room only crowd. What started as a one night festival for 75 people has grown into a multi-day event which, last year, attracted more than 500 people. Since 2013 one of the most popular nights of the festival has taken place at the Takoma Park Community Center, and we expect this year to be no different.

We Are Takoma: How has the festival been received in the community/surrounding area?

Ginsberg: We do year-round screening programs in partnership with We Are Takoma and get a respectable number of engaged Takoma Park residents for those events. However, Community Stories is on a whole other level. It’s no surprise that Takoma Park residents are engaged with the community around them, and this is clear at Community Stories, where many locals attend and engage with the filmmakers, the people in the films and their neighbors.

We Are Takoma: What impact has it had?

Ginsberg: The biggest impact I see is for the filmmakers and those in the films. The films we show at Community Stories may not get distribution because it is really difficult for short films to make their way in the world of film distribution. They may also be pegged as “local interest” films, even when they have universal themes. Therefore, you are unlikely to see these films at the Sundance Film Festival or on Netflix. It is really rewarding to see the filmmakers get a chance to see their films on a big screen with a super-engaged audience.

We Are Takoma: What has been the most memorable moment from the Community Stories Festival for you?

Ginsberg: The Q&A’s are always memorable because they are a chance for the audience to interact with the filmmakers and also some of the people who are in the films. It is exciting to see that “fourth wall” broken, where the people on the screen are there in the flesh. I also love when people learn new things about their own community—interesting people, untold history or a small business that perhaps they did not know about before.

We Are Takoma: What can you tell us about this year’s event?

Ginsberg: While the early years of Community Stories featured only work by our students, since last year, we have opened up submissions to other filmmakers, as long as the topic is local (and, by local, we mean the whole DC Metro area). This year’s festival takes place from November 9-12.

Wednesday, Nov. 9 is the opening night. This will take place at the AFI Silver Theatre in Downtown Silver Spring. The early show (6:30 p.m.) features short documentaries about local topics produced by students in our classes. The late show (8:45 p.m.) is the Maryland premiere of Indivisible, a film about young “Dreamers” fighting to reunite with theirparents, who have been deported for being undocumented immigrants. Both of those screenings are ticketed events (tickets through Docs in Progress.)

Thursday, Nov. 10 takes place at the Takoma Park Community Center with a program of short documentaries. The films take us on a journey from the sorriest bus stop in America to the bike trails of DC. We will meet senior citizens energized by a love of the blues, local artists who find inspiration in unusual places, and a feline politico who decides to run for office. The filmmakers are both emerging filmmakers and seasoned pros. Thanks to a partnership with We Are Takoma, the screening in Takoma Park, will be completely free.

Friday, Nov. 11 features a partner program with the Wheaton Film Festival at Chuck Levin’s Music Center in Wheaton. This will include film screenings and professional development panels for filmmakers or aspiring filmmakers.

Saturday, Nov. 12 is a day to try your own hand at documentary filmmaking. Docs in Progress will be offering two modestly-priced workshops at our space in Downtown Silver Spring – one on how to shoot documentary video using a mobile phone or tablet and the other on the art of the interview. To find out more: www.docsinprogress.org/communitystories.

This article appeared in the November 2016 edition of the Takoma Park Newsletter. The Takoma Park Newsletter is available for download here.

Various new Maryland laws went into effect on Oct. 1, 2016. The most wellknown may be the Drunk Driving Reduction Act of 2016, also known as Noah’s Law, named after slain Montgomery County Police Officer Noah Leotta. Leotta, 24, was hit Dec. 3, 2015, by a car on Rockville Pike; he died a week later. The driver charged with fatally striking Leotta – while he was working as part of a holiday task force fighting drunk driving – pleaded guilty to a manslaughter charge

On May 19, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan signed SB 945, also known as Noah’s Law. The law requires the use of ignition interlocks for convicted drunk drivers; the devices prevent vehicles from starting when they detect a certain level of alcohol on the driver’s breath and require the driver to retest at random points while they are driving.

During the past five years, impaired drivers have accounted for roughly one-third of all roadway deaths in Maryland. Under Noah’s Law, drivers are required to participate in Maryland’s Ignition Interlock Program for the following convictions:

• Driving under the influence
• Driving while impaired while transporting a minor under the age of 16
• Driving while intoxicated with an initial breathalyzer test refusal
• Homicide or life-threatening injury by motor vehicle while DUI or DWI

Below are some of the other new laws, but this list is not all inclusive.

• Providing Alcohol to Underage Drinkers/Alex and Calvin’s Law (HB409): Following the death of Alex Murk and Calvin Li in a 2015 drunken-driving accident after a party in Montgomery County, this law prohibits people from allowing underage individuals to consume alcohol if they should have known those individuals would drive under the influence.
• Child Abuse and Neglect (SB310, HB245): Anyone involved in an investigation of child abuse or neglect must report suspicions of another individual knowingly failing to report child abuse to the appropriate board, agency, institution or facility.
• Criminal Law-Stalking (SB278/ HB155): This law expands the definition of stalker from inciting physical fears or threats to include causing emotional distress.
• Death or Injury by Vehicle (SB0160, HB157): The law increases penalties for offenders who commit vehicular manslaughter who have been convicted of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol previously. Offenders can now face up to 15 years in prison and $15,000 in fines.

For more information about new laws that have recently gone into effect in Maryland, visit mgaleg.maryland.gov.

This article appeared in the November 2016 edition of the Takoma Park Newsletter. The Takoma Park Newsletter is available for download here.

Designed to provide financial support for specific programs, projects and events which improve residents’ quality of life by providing greater access and opportunities for participation in the arts and sciences, the City’s Community Quality of Life Grants program has completed its selection process for FY17. The Grants Review Committee recommended that eight organizations receive funding for their projects (listed here from highest amount awarded to lowest):

1. Adventist Community Services of Greater Washington ($10,000) This grant will enable ACSGW to offer a basic computer repair program at a reduced cost. Fifteen young people will be trained in ACSGW’s Basic Computer Repair Program. Participants will learn to disassemble, repair and reassemble computers.
2. Collaboration Council – African Arts Culture and Education Academy (ACE) Essex House Friday Program ($9,412) ACE is a 21st century community learning center project operating four days each week from Mondays to Thursdays at Essex House in Takoma Park, focusing on reading, language arts and African culture for students in first through fifth grades.
3. Artivate – Takoma Wings Academy ($9,000) Takoma Wings Academy is a three-week summer camp in which middle school boys and girls from low-income, immigrant families investigate the science and engineering of flight in nature, aviation, and space exploration as well as flight as a means of self-expression in the arts. 4. Docs In Progress ($8,238) Documentary Dialogues Takoma will harness the power of video technology to engage Takoma Park residents through screenings, discussions, and hands-on activities to explore how stories define us, express our values, relate our experiences in human dimensions and connect us with each other and the world around us.
4. Montgomery Housing Partnership – 7610 Maple Outdoor Mural ($6,500) MHP will facilitate the creation of an outdoor mural at its 7610 Maple apartment property. This 36-unit affordable housing property houses a total of 80 residents, including 27 children. Residents, in particular children ages 9-12 who participate in our site-based homework club, will play an active part in creating the mural.
5. Dance Exchange ($5,740) Dance Exchange sought support for a reboot of its youth programs for the 2016- 17 season, which include weekly classes for youth ages 8-18; a series of off-site youth classes held at the Takoma Park Recreation Center and the New Hampshire Avenue Recreation Center; an end of season performance called Youth Arts Night, and a week-long Teen Leadership Institute.
6. Takoma Ensemble – Takoma Ensemble Community Outreach Initiative ($5,740) The project is to directly provide tickets to low-income/underserved residents of Takoma Park for four concerts.
7. Community Bridges ($5,370) Community Bridges and Catylator propose a year-long program to bring middleschool-aged young women to Catylator Makerspace to help them develop more positive attitudes and confidence about STEM and stay engaged with STEM, so they may be better prepared to choose any career.

The City’s FY17 budget includes $60,000 for the Community Quality of Life Grants program. Requests for funding totaled $166,521. Look profiles of some of the grant recipients in future issues of the Takoma Park Newsletter.

This article appeared in the November 2016 edition of the Takoma Park Newsletter. The Takoma Park Newsletter is available for download here.

A brief ceremony was held last month to celebrate the dedication of “Dorothy’s Woods.” The woods on the City-owned parcel of the Washington-McLaughlin property were named for longtime Takoma Park resident and local historian, Dorothy Thomsen Barnes, by City Council Resolution 2016-37. At the dedication, Mayor Kate Stewart presented a copy of the resolution to Ms. Barnes.

The City purchased the land at a tax auction on Jan. 22, 2015. The Takoma Park community supported this action and made more than $53,000 in contributions towards its purchase. The property is home to a diversity of mature trees, birds and other wildlife as well as a natural spring. The preservation of this natural area is important to the community.

Residents requested that the parcel be named “Dorothy’s Woods” in recognition of the relationship between Dorothy Barnes, lifelong resident, local historian, and avid lover of nature, and the property that was behind the house she has lived in nearly all her life.

As per the City Council’s resolution, “naming the area as Dorothy’s Woods serves as recognition of the contributions that Dorothy has made to Takoma Park by telling our story and preserving our history, and moreover, the name will continue the lifelong association between Dorothy and the woods.” The resolution is available for review online at documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/ resolutions/2016/resolution-2016-37.pdf.

This article appeared in the November 2016 edition of the Takoma Park Newsletter. The Takoma Park Newsletter is available for download here.

In a joint letter to Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett dated Oct. 25, Takoma Park Mayor Kate Stewart (on behalf of the City Council) and Erik Wangsness, president, Adventist Healthcare/Washington Adventist Hospital, conveyed their support for the construction of a Montgomery County Department of Recreation aquatics center on the Takoma Park campus of Washington Adventist Hospital. Their letter noted that “an aquatics center would be an asset to both the hospital and the community.”

It went on to make the case for locating the aquatics center in Takoma Park by highlighting several key fiscal and social issues. Here are some of the main points that were outlined:

• Small, standalone swimming pools are expensive to operate and do not meet the needs of a large, diverse population. In contrast, aquatics facilities have pools for several uses, including meeting therapeutic needs, recreational needs, exercise needs and providing space for competitive swimming.
• As Washington Adventist Hospital prepares to move its main hospital to White Oak, the City of Takoma Park and hospital leaders are looking at the current site for uses that complement the health services that will remain and, also importantly, improve the overall health and wellbeing of the community.
• An aquatics center in Takoma Park, on the edge of East Silver Spring, would provide an enormous community service. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), African-American children between the ages 5 and 14 are three times more likely to drown than white children. One of the factors the CDC points to for this disparity is the lack of access to swimming pools. For the young people who live in the Takoma Park/East Silver Spring community, especially young children of color and low-income residents, having a place close to where they live to learn water safety helps our community address these disparities and provides important life skills to our young people.

The letter concluded by stating that “The City and the Hospital wish to work with the Department of Recreation on evaluating the space needs for the aquatics facility, as well as determining the likely costs of development.” It also indicated that the two organizations want to request a General Assembly bond bill for the project and asked for the support of Leggett and the County Council. Both Dr. Weymouth Spence, president of Washington Adventist University, and Dr. Brad Stewart, vice-president and provost of Montgomery College, support this effort. To read the entire letter, visit takomaparkmd.gov/ news-alert/letter-from-city-council-and-wah-presidentregarding-aquatics-center.

This article appeared in the November 2016 edition of the Takoma Park Newsletter. The Takoma Park Newsletter is available for download here.

By Helen Lyons

Takoma Park is doing a comprehensive review of all of its parking practices in response to new development and changes in some of the parking pressures, as well as management in the City, says Erkin Ozberk, the City’s senior planner for Housing and Community Development.

“We’re taking a look at everything we do, and we’re trying to bring it up to speed and be more proactive,” Ozberk explained.

The study covers parking issues, including meters, handicap parking, residential parking permit (RPP) zones, commercial vehicle parking, parking “hot spots,” enforcement and City Code and regulations.

Many of the pressures are particularly felt in Ward 1, where recent development in the Old Town area of Takoma Park is one factor that has contributed to increased traffic and demand for parking. “There are parking challenges in Montgomery College, Takoma Park Elementary School and at times around the Presbyterian church on Tulip Avenue,” said Councilmember Peter Kovar (Ward 1). “In Ward 1, just about every street and every block has a different parking issue of some concern, and it’s quite local in that sense, so we’re going to have to find a policy that works for the city but is also sensitive to the specific concerns that arise in these areas.”

Kovar is already seeking solutions across the DC boundary and hopes that the parking study will help in his efforts. “I’ve reached out to the city council member from Ward 4 of the District of Columbia,” Kovar said, “to talk about whether there are ways, through more collaboration between Takoma Park and the district, that we could get a better common approach to parking in Old Town.”

Laura Barclay, the executive director of the Old Takoma Business Association, said that people were concerned that maximum capacity was being reached in the commercial district, but that “based on studies during peak and nonpeak times, it’s been shown that there are definitely still spaces available.”

“That doesn’t minimize the fact that there are indeed pressure spots or areas that still have parking challenges, where parking isn’t readily available or easily noticeable,” Barclay added.

Her ideas for solutions include additional cross-jurisdictional signage and efforts online on behalf of businesses and the City to include more information about available parking on their websites. “We’ve been thinking about this for a long time,” Barclay said, “so it was good to see the study and get it all official.”

The study builds on survey results, community input and grant-funded research and mapping.

Residents completing the survey can check off which items being considered for review in the study they consider a priority, such as “supporting opportunities for car-share and ride-hailing” or “improvements to bike and pedestrian facilities.”

“There’s some tension between providing ample parking and providing alternatives to driving,” said Joe Edgell, the chair of the City’s Safe Roadways Committee. “One of the City Council’s directives when they set up the Safe Roadways Committee was to provide people alternatives to driving. If there are plenty of places to park, people will be encouraged to drive.”

Edgell pointed to the benefits of cutting back on car use. “It reduces pollution locally,” he said. “It’s far healthier to walk and bike than use your car, and it’s cheaper. It’s better for the environment; it’s better for the people. Communities are more livable if they have fewer cars. Study after study proves this.”

If is parking is readily available, Edgell said, people would have less incentive to not drive.

“If you want to get people out of their cars, you need to make it easier for them to not use their cars or harder for them to use the cars – one of the two. The City wants to be responsive to its voters. People want ample parking, but that has secondary effects. It’s good that we’re looking at this issue comprehensively, but the difficult decision is the one the City Council has to make: Okay, now what do we do with this data?”

Senior Planner Erkin Ozberk hopes to present the recommendations that come as a result of the parking study to the City Council in January. “Now is the time for folks to look at the information that’s been posted,” Ozberk said, “and let us know how they feel about it.”

To learn more about the parking study and submit their comments, residents can go to takomaparkmd.gov/parking-study.

This article appeared in the November 2016 edition of the Takoma Park Newsletter. The Takoma Park Newsletter is available for download here.

By Rick Henry

Upon visiting the Takoma Park Recreation Center on New Hampshire Avenue a couple of years ago, Priscilla Labovitz decided to exercise more than her body; she decided to exercise her organizing abilities.

“I saw it (the Center) for the first time when I went to take a Pilates class there, and I couldn’t believe how poor the facilities were, especially compared to the Community Center (on Maple Avenue),” she said. “I thought this inequity needed fixing, so I decided to do something.”

She joined the City’s Recreation Committee and researched information about the center and its administration. But the main result of Labovitz’s effort was the formulation of the Friends of the Takoma Park Recreation Center, a group dedicated to improving, advocating and developing programming for the center. The group held its initial meeting on Oct. 5, and Labovitz said approximately 25 people attended, including numerous youths from the community around the Rec Center, who came with enthusiasm and ideas for the facility.

“I was thrilled at the turnout and enthusiasm and the many ideas that members of the community had,” Labovitz said. “They have clearly been thinking about this and are ready to move.”

Those who attended the meeting are not the only ones who have been thinking about the Rec Center. Gregory Clark, director of recreation for the City, said that the New Hampshire Avenue facility is an important issue.

He said the City has completed two recreation studies in the past year, one to determine what type of programming and amenities residents would like to see for the facility and the other to determine the feasibility of acquiring the property, which is owned by the Maryland National Capital Parks and Planning Commission (MNCPPC), or building a new facility on other existing property owned by the city.

According to Clark, MNCPPC owns the facility and leases it to Montgomery County, which then tasks the City with providing programming. “The first thing the City needs to do is to figure out whether to acquire the property,” he said. “If we don’t do that, there are limitations to what we can do because we don’t own the building,” Clark said.

Clark said that the results of the survey findings and a discussion about future steps for recreation in the City are on the agenda for the next City Council meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 16, which will be held at the Recreation Center. No matter what the council decides, Clark says he welcomes the opportunity to work with the Friends.

“We (the City) have a lot of desire to improve that facility and better serve the residents, especially in that ward, and working with the Friends and the Recreation Committee will only improve whatever situation we have,” he said.

Takoma Park Recreation Supervisor Vince Cain, who is in charge of the facility, agrees. Cain attended the initial Friends meeting on Oct. 5 and came away impressed and energized. Given that the facility serves a lot of youth from the immediate area, he was especially pleased so many attended the event and provided input. “There were a lot of good ideas, especially from the kids in the community, focusing on new programming,” he said.

He said believes the work of the Friends and other recreation advocates will allow the New Hampshire Center to build on the programs that are already in place and “enhance the fitness and wellness of the residents of Takoma Park.”

“It’s always good to have extra resources and advocates,” he said, especially those like Labovitz.

This article appeared in the November 2016 edition of the Takoma Park Newsletter. The Takoma Park Newsletter is available for download here.