Wednesday, April 30, 2008

east county in review: inbox edition

WHAT'S UP THE PIKE: Proposed condo on Thayer Avenue goes before Planning Board this Thursday; Prospective developers interviewed for bioscience park in Calverton; Police bust daytime booze bash with bevy of East County pre-teens.

The Planning Board has approved Washington Adventist Hospital's proposal to build a new facility in Calverton.

Here at Just Up The Pike, we get a lot of e-mails about events happening in East County. In a foolhardy attempt to inform You, The Reader about what's going on, here's a look at some of the news that's landed in our in-box this week:

- Last week, the Planning Board approved Washington Adventist Hospital's bid to build a new facility off of Cherry Hill Road in Calverton. Currently located in Takoma Park, the hospital has encountered both community opposition to expansion on its cramped site. The new facility will have over 700,000 square feet of space, 290 private rooms, and an interfaith meeting center. While the hospital has been well-received Up The Pike as it could create 2,000 new jobs, Downcounty residents are concerned about increased traffic at Holy Cross Hospital in Forest Glen, according to Maryland Politics Watch.

- Retirement homes and senior centers throughout East County have been hopping with Nintendo Wii, the video game system that actually makes you get up and take part in physical activity. Citing the console's offering of "stress-free exercise and a fun social atmosphere," Montgomery County's holding a Wii Tournament this May and June. The first event will take place Thursday at the Margaret Schweinhaut Senior Center in Forest Glen, with additional tournaments to follow in Wheaton, Long Branch and Damascus.

- With $4 gas on the horizon, the County's Department of Environmental Protection is betting you'll want to find ways to lower your energy costs. Together with the MoCo chapter of the Sierra Club, they'll be talking about the Maryland Home Performance program May 6 at the Eastern County Regional Services Center on Briggs Chaney Road. The Home Performance program "helps residents identify home improvements . . . that will help to improve the energy efficiency of the home and ultimately reduce energy costs," according to Susan Kirby from the DEP.

- Also on Thursday, State Delegate Heather Mizeur (D-Dist. 20) will be in College Park to tout the recently passed Family Coverage Expansion Act, which extends family health insurance plans to high school and college graduates through the age of 25. Currently, dependent children lost coverage soon after they finished school, and many go without health insurance because of the increasing cost. The press conference will be at 1 p.m. in the University of Maryland's Stamp Student Union.

IF YOU HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT, don't raise your hand and wait for me to call on you. E-mail me today at danreed at umd dot edu and you might see your announcement right here.

2 comments:

Jessica McFadden said...

Love the shout out to the seniors' Wii clinic - awesome!

Thomas Hardman said...

Dan,

It's clear that people "who matter" (ROFL) have noticed that you have readership. Do please consider yourself invited to inform We, the Reader, the literate subset of We, the People.

It's a dirty job but someone's got to do it.

I can only hope that if there's a need for spin to be imparted when people try to use you as an outlet, that the spin is always yours, and nobody else's spin.

Go forth young man, and make the Gazette as frumious as a Bandersnatch in its Jabberwockish jealousness.

Cause after all, if you're getting fed more than they are, that really means something. ;)