Greenstein, in the last four years while completing their Bachelor’s in the School of Public Affairs, became the first person to graduate with a minor in disability studies. They also created the Disabled Students Unions, one for the undergraduates and one for the graduate students. This is where Greenstein’s and many others’ fight for equal accessibility on AU’s campus began but is not nearly close to being completed.��

“We get a lot more credit than I think we deserve,” Greenstein said about American University’s accessibility. “People will come to the university thinking that we’re in, like, the top 10 most accessible universities. We still have two ADA-non-compliant buildings… East Quad Building and Hurst Hall are both non-accessible buildings. I cannot get into them. I cannot use them. I cannot have classes in them.”��

And this is just one of the many accessibility issues Greenstein mentioned on campus. They also mentioned potholes, elevators not working, steep ramps, door actuator buttons never being fixed, which are among a slew of other physically restricting roadblocks for the disabled community members on campus.��

Issues like these are a large part of the reason why many in the community believe that the administration needs to act and listen to their students.��

However, after 91���� conducted its own investigation and revealed that the university currently does not have a 504 Coordinator for its students, the administration seems much farther away from addressing accessibility issues than many initially thought.��

According to the U.S. Department of Education, “All school districts, colleges, and universities receiving federal financial assistance and employing 15 or more persons must designate at least one employee to coordinate their efforts to comply with and carry out their responsibilities under Section 504.”

Currently, American University falls under both categories, thus legally needing to require a 504 Coordinator that should have their contact information published. 91���� looked into this further, finding that the only documentation of a 504 Coordinator for students is under the that cites Seth Mancini, Office of the Deputy Provost and Dean of Faculty, as the coordinator.����

This policy, last revised in 2023, needs to be corrected. If any member of the community were to type Mancini’s email into their Outlook search, an automated message would automatically show.����

“Thank you for your message,” the automated message said. “Please note that as of Thursday, September 5, 2024, I am no longer employed at AU.”

In response to an interview request from 91����, Associate Director of Disability Support in the Academic Support and Access Center (ASAC), Nicole Nowinski would only respond via email. In one of Nowinski’s answers, she addressed Section 504.

“We recognize that the overarching laws, such as the ADA and Section 504, that regulate our work are not perfect and there is still progress to be achieved regarding equal access across many public and private sectors,” she said. “However, the ASAC is committed to ensuring the AU student body is aware of the disability-related services the ASAC provides.”

91���� has since reached out again to ASAC and the Provost Office for a reply on speculation of there currently being no 504 coordinator for students, and are now awaiting response.

As more community members realize that the University’s policy is false and not updated, student leaders have begun to act.����

Kasey Bernat, a sophomore and student senator in the Undergraduate Student Government at American University, wrote the Disabled Students Bill of Rights this October with the help of many disabled students on campus.��

The bill, according to Bernat, was meant to demand the institution to recognize not only the movement, but also create better accommodations through several channels, like ASAC, for students. The response from the administration? According to Bernat, nothing.����

“There is in the introduction, it asks that the administration send out an email, at least acknowledging it and saying that they would work with the USG, so it’s really upsetting that they didn’t reach out,” he said.��

“We get a lot more credit than I think we deserve,” Greenstein said about American University’s accessibility. “People will come to the university thinking that we’re in, like, the top 10 most accessible universities. We still have two ADA-non-compliant buildings… East Quad Building and Hurst Hall are both non-accessible buildings. I cannot get into them. I cannot use them. I cannot have classes in them.”��

Bernat and others also know that the 504 Coordinator for Students has not been appointed and said that the next steps could potentially involve legal action.����

“There’s talks about pursuing action legally with the 504 coordinator, and the fact that we may or may not have one for students, and that is a huge issue, and that’s something that needs to be addressed, and that’s one of the things I’m going to keep advocating for, talking to students who do know and talk to admin about this type of stuff,” Bernat said.��

Dr. Tanja Aho, Senior Professorial Lecturer of American Studies at American University, believes that people in the community are afraid to address these accessibility issues due to their own lack of knowledge.��

“I think a lot of people are afraid of disability because they’ve never been taught how to think about it, and because even when they themselves are oftentimes disabled or neurodivergent or chronically ill, right?” Dr. Aho said.��

Despite the reasoning, members of the disabled community on campus, like Greenstein, are asking the administration to listen.��

“So, when we’re asking for help, we need you to listen, and that’s one of the things that I think is most important,” Greenstein said. “We need to be listened to, and we need to be seen as a community who deserves the same things as all of the other communities on this campus, and I think that that’s one of the things that we’re just not being listened to on.”

91���� will closely monitor the students’ next steps, the administration’s response and the outcome of the 504 Coordinator for Students.

The post American University accused of disability accommodation shortcomings first appeared on 91����.

A Wash investigation, utilizing the and from 2023 and 2024, found that car theft is down by 23% in Bethesda-Chevy Chase and 12% countywide.��

Montgomery County’s rate had previously seen a steady increase going back to 2021.��

Councilmember Sidney Katz is the current chair of the Public Safety Committee of Montgomery County and believes that the Drone as First Responder initiative is to thank for the decrease in crime over the last year.��

“The drone is there within 90 seconds, and it can then come down with its camera, and it can see whether or not the call, the response is necessary, and how fast that response needs to be, whether it needs to be a red light and siren for those police officers to come in,” Katz said.

The initiative was initially started in 2023 to “provide air support to 911 or police generated calls for service in a safe, responsible and transparent manner,” according to the Montgomery County Department of Police.��

In the last year, regarding theft in the Silver Spring, Wheaton and Gaithersburg areas, all the locations of the initiative in the county. According to Katz, Bethesda is the next area to receive the initiative.

91���� looked into the car theft crime trends in those three areas before and after the drone program was implemented, finding that Silver Spring’s (3rd District) and Wheaton’s (4th District) car thefts are down in 2024.

2nd District Commander Amy Daum said she believes the drone initiative will come to Bethesda next due in part to the area’s dense population.

“Bethesda has the third highest call volume in the county,” Daum said. “And that’s in part because it’s densely populated, right? We know that. We also know that we’re right on the DC line. So, we have a lot of incidents that jump back and forth between those two places, but it’s important for us to be able to address that.”������

Both Katz and Daum also addressed the shortage of police officers in Montgomery County, and how this plays a role in crime rates and how the drone initiative can aid in combating the shortage.

“When we talk about the combat of the shortage of officers, we need to effectively use technology in some ways in order to help with what we know,” Daum said. “We know that we have a staffing shortage, so the drone helps in that respect as well.”

Katz also said that as Chair of the Public Safety Committee, the group works with the police department to aid in bringing more police onto the force.

“So, we’re trying our best to enhance the air shortage of personnel, but we’re also doing our best to increase the personnel as well,” he said. “We give signing bonuses…It’s that we’re doing more and more classes. It’s all of those sorts of things that we’re trying.”��

“I look forward to continuing to work with the community to ensure that our residents are as safe as possible, but that is an effort that goes in both directions right, we do encourage our community members to do things like lock their cars and bring their valuables inside,” she said.

Though Katz and other members of the committee and the police department are working to enhance the drone initiative as well as bring more officers onto the force, community members like Lisa Bodley-Bjorklund believe response time, specifically in Bethesda, needs to continue to improve. She also believes that the high theft rate is partly due to community members in fiscal need.��

“I guess, like, response time, it needs to be a lot faster,” Bodley-Bjorklund said. “And also having more resources for people who might need the money, and that’s why they’re stealing things. Having more shelters available, and the capacity of them is really high now, I think so, having just more resources for people so they don’t have to resort to doing those things.”

Though looking toward the future and keeping the community in mind, Daum believes that the crime rate in Bethesda will not shift exponentially from this year to the next.

“I can tell you that in Bethesda, we have seen a drop in crime,” she said. “I think that we are looking at this year to next year, I think we’re looking at maybe a one to 2% higher rate of crime. I don’t think that it’s going to be anything extraordinary.”��

Also, according to Daum, the 2nd District is down 67% in non-fatal shootings 9% in carjackings, with them being down 44% county-wide and 25% down in car theft all from 2023 to 2024. However, the area is seeing an increase in shoplifting and robberies.��

Daum also encourages residents of the area to stay up to date on what is happening in Bethesda and the 2nd District through trustworthy sites, like the police’s webpage, instead of word-of-mouth sources and to remain vigilant.

“I look forward to continuing to work with the community to ensure that our residents are as safe as possible, but that is an effort that goes in both directions right, we do encourage our community members to do things like lock their cars and bring their valuables inside,” she said.

With her hope looking into the new year and crime rates down due to initiatives like the drones and incentives from leaders to recruit more officers, Daum believes that both residents and officers can work together in the Bethesda-Chevy Chase communities.��

“I think that the Bethesda community is extraordinarily supportive of its police officers, and I look forward to continuing to build on the relationships that we’ve built in the last couple of years between the cops that work here in the community that we serve, and I think that that will be important throughout the county moving forward,” Daum said.��

The post Car theft down in Bethesda-Chevy Chase due to drone Initiative first appeared on 91����.

Just a 30-minute drive from D.C., the Alexandria suburb is dotted with coffee shops, pet stores and local restaurants. It also counts vice presidential candidate JD Vance as one of its 20-thousand residents.��

Vance’s home sits on a quiet street sandwiched between a small family park, now outlined with fences and cement barricades, and homes that display political signs endorsing his opponents.��

However, this is not the only way that residents of the area have shown their uneven emotions amid this election. 91���� had a chance to talk with several neighbors, many of whom are uneasy about the election outcome and what it could mean for their small community.��

Nora and Casey, who did not want to give their last names, work in movie production in the Del Ray area. They voted earlier and shared concerns about the election results and the general feeling of the community.

“I’m just terrified with how the outcome might be, so trying to stay distracted, but there’s a lot of anxiety because very real issues are on the line,” Nora said.��

Even those just visiting the area feel the atmosphere as polls rolled in. Chelsea Pace and Lee Green are both from Northern California and are in Virginia for Pace’s work.

“I’m working with a lot of other theater artists,” Pace said. “The mood is kind of like, ‘Do we all want to be in our own apartments scrolling on our feeds? Or do we all sort of just want to, like, be in the same place and be in community with each other?’ I am excited and terrified, kind of an equal measure.”��

Young Del Ray residents also feel anxious about the election in their backyard despite being unable to vote in this race.��

Bailey Gordon, 15 and Aiden Hoganson, 14, discussed what being a young neighbor of a large political figure is like, including the clashing of political views from other residents being “tense.”

“It’s just, like, really polarized right now, and it’s very evident for support, too,” Hoganson said regarding the views of neighbors in the area. “Yeah. I think generally it isn’t too different from normal, unless you actually, like, go out of your way to talk to different people and, like, look at the houses because it is usually very clear who supports who.”

“I’m just terrified with how the outcome might be, so trying to stay distracted, but there’s a lot of anxiety because very real issues are on the line,” Nora said.��

And though there were no protesters for either party in the early afternoon of Election Day, security details have been posted outside Vance’s home for the past few weeks.

Three National Homeland Security officers who declined to provide their names also talked with 91���� regarding the neighborhood climate. According to one of the three officers from Arizona, he does not think there will be people protesting outside Vance’s home unless the GOP leads in the polls.

“Think we should get some crazy people here,” he said.��

According to another one of the officers, the Homeland Security detail does not happen often. “They asked during election time because they need so much help, they ask us, so, like, we’ll just come out and do, like, three-week rotations to help them out,” he said. “But we don’t really do this that often.”

When Vance is in town, road closures lead to several upset neighbors and inconvenience the town’s residents. Stephanie, a citizen of Del Ray for 10 years, discussed the difference between Vance being away from his home.��

“Honestly, he’s been on the campaign trail so much lately that we haven’t noticed much difference,” Stephanie said. “Before, there were just a lot of Secret Service people around.”

For the Supreme Court Justices living in other Virginian neighborhoods like Del Ray, the U.S. State Marshalls have been assigned to the outside of their homes.��

Though they would not give us their name, one resident of the same neighborhood as Justice Samuel Alito said that politics were not discussed as neighbors, something that was unlike Del Ray.��

“We don’t talk about politics on the street,” the neighbor said. “It keeps the equilibrium.”

The consensus seems to be that everyone, regardless of political affiliation, type of security detail or the neighborhood they share, waits as the results roll in to see the fate of their high-profile neighbors holding or hoping to hold seats on Capitol Hill.��

Stay tuned for more election reports from 91����.��

The post Neighbors of VP Candidate, Supreme Court Justices sense tense atmosphere amid election first appeared on 91����.

They had joined together as a part of a larger UUA Mosaic Conference to discuss how to work for human rights and social justice. And on the bottom floor of the building, the youth members learned why and how to promote democracy.��

Neha Majumdar began attending the South Kensington congregation in. when she was around eight years old. Majumdar and her parents moved to the area about a year earlier and were introduced to the organization by a family friend.��

Now 17, she was one of the roughly fifteen young adults who had attended that Friday’s Service-Learning Project. According to Majumdar, this was her first type of youth democracy event at Cedar Lane, and the turnout was impressive.

“It was really interesting because all these kids from across the country and also kids that are local, kids that I’ve known since elementary school, were there and it was like a really cool blend of people, and I think that we all kind of brought a lot to the table in the conversation,” she said.��

The learning project included a morning discussion on why each attendee thought democracy was important and personal to them. This then trickled into an afternoon of letter writing to swing states where the teens utilized their own experience with democracy to urge members of swing communities to vote.

“This is the first time we’re doing this particular type of thing and inviting youth who may not attend Cedar Lane every week to engage in this type of work,” the Rev. Dayna Edwards said in an interview before the event. “But, you know, Unitarian Universalists love a letter-writing campaign. So, it is something that is part of the social justice work that we’ve done, you know, for various different issues.”

And though Cedar Lane has touched youth like Majumdar, the UUA congregation is still working to engage the outside community of Bethesda-Chevy Chase to get involved in not only the election but protecting democracy through what they call social justice ministries.

“One of the things that we try to do here at Cedar Lane, one of our mission statements, is to be a multi-generational community,” Edwards said. “And so, it’s important for us to learn how, for all of us to learn how to interact with, you know, each other, regardless of our age. So often in our society, we are segregated by age. And so, part of the beauty of church is bringing different groups and ages together.”

Members of Cedar Lane, and the broader congregation know the organization’s mission to be a welcoming environment for all, UUA conference planner Sana Saeed said.

“We are also rooted in our own values, around believing in the inherent worth and dignity of all people and the interconnectedness of the world that we live in,” Saeed said. “And how do we work together to be the beloved community that we see for ourselves.”

And though Cedar Lane is a congregation, its members do believe that its mission is more than election outreach.��

“I think that like going to this conference kind of opened my eyes a little bit more because I think that it’s really easy to think about religion and to think about a place that is technically like a congregation, technically like a church of some kind, as like a very stereotypical kind of format of conversation, right?” Majumdar said. “But realistically, Cedar Lane brings so much of a different feel to the table.”

Non-partisan engagement inside and outside the community seems to be how members work together to protect the democracy they believe could crumble. Whether that be through large events like the Mosaic Conference, or smaller ones like the youth service day, to Cedar Lane, it is just about getting involved in democracy.

Edwards is the Minister of Faith Formation at Cedar Lane and oversaw the service day, learning that the youth really did want to aid in the UUA’s mission of protecting democracy.����

“You know, sometimes I’m blown away by their insight into the process,” she said. “I mean, some of them go to private school, some of them are homeschooled, but overall, Montgomery County is doing a good job of teaching about the democratic process, and that shines through in their willingness and eagerness to engage in activities outside of the school that are going to protect democracy.”

“I think that like going to this conference kind of opened my eyes a little bit more because I think that it’s really easy to think about religion and to think about a place that is technically like a congregation, technically like a church of some kind, as like a very stereotypical kind of format of conversation, right?” Majumdar said. “But realistically, Cedar Lane brings so much of a different feel to the table.”

Majumdar agreed with Edwards, and the overall congregation’s belief in protecting democracy through the youth, in and out of school. Majumdar has been involved in student government since she was in middle school and has had the opportunity to work on different organizations in D.C, like interning for Congressman Jamie Raskin.��

“My personal opinion is that the most like, non-partisan way to kind of get engaged in your community is to vote, have a say, even if you’re not sure kind of how you feel about politics, necessarily, or you don’t have a platform to kind of share your voice, voting is the best way to do that,” Majumdar said. “So, I think things like that are kind of what fueled me to get engaged in that more.”��

Edwards said she believes Cedar Lane is a place for the youth to be themselves, like during the service event.

“As the national political climate is shifting, I think it’s important for especially youth to have safe places to be fully themselves and to explore their identity and all the ways that that makes sense for them,” Edwards said. “Whether it’s their racial identity or their sexuality identity or their gender identity, just having a place where everybody in the community knows that Cedar Lane is going to be a place where they can be fully themselves.”

Andrew Batcher is the Social Justice Coordinator at Cedar Lane, and within his purview, he helps encourage the broader community to vote and accept all, creating ministries for LGBTQ+ and racial justice to educate the broader community as well as doing like the youth postcard campaign through UUA’s UU The Vote movement.��

“I mean, a lot of people are very concerned about the threat to democracy right now and so that’s a major spiritual issue,” Batcher said. “I mean, that’s something that creates a lot of anxiety, a lot of fear, and also a lot of desire to do something, right?”��

And with the congregation near D.C., the worries and want to do something for many members in pertinent, including the youth. Majumdar believes the organization’s closeness to the nation’s capital is “empowering” and is one of the reasons why Cedar Lane is intent on protecting democracy.

“D.C. is a powerhouse for change for our country, because everything about legislation, anything that is now, has to do with the changing and the kind of shaping of our country happens literally at our doorsteps,” Majumdar said. “I think that, like at Cedar Lane, they do really try to put a focus on how we can help to think about that a little bit more and have a conversation about what we want to do to further that change in our local spaces. Because change is not just national, it’s state-based, locally based.”

Locally, Cedar Lane will continue to have events revolving around democracy, even after the election. According to Edwards, the day after the election, Wednesday, Nov. 6, the congregation will host a post-election check-in and soup supper, and Sunday, Nov. 10, an election breather, with both open to anyone in the Cedar Lane, and broader communities.

The post Bethesda-Chevy Chase Congregation reaches out to youth during election season first appeared on 91����.

In the wake of this influx of construction, the Montgomery County government took action to bridge concerns from Bethesda residents. It has hired a home inspection specialist charged with overseeing construction standards.��

The announcing Matthew Kauffman joined the team of home inspectors with his 27 years of experience.����

“His extensive experience will be crucial in thoroughly examining new homes and addressing concerns raised by consumers regarding home builders’ work,” the press release said. “With the increasing number of new home construction projects in Montgomery County, the role of the new home inspector is essential in upholding high standards resolving disputes.”

In an interview with 91����, Kauffman said he is determined to help residents who have complaints about their newly built homes in the area, as well as juggling the different types of new-home construction corporations.��

“I’m dealing with not just new home builds, but also contractors of all types dealing with home improvements and home repairs,” Kauffman said. However, he did not comment on the influx of complaints of the new home construction in residential areas and stuck to discussing the needs of new consumers.��

“We still want to hear what people have to say. We talk to them and try, and bring people together, because our primary goal is to see the consumer made whole,” Kauffman said.

Despite seemingly numerous pushbacks on new homes from longtime residents of the D.C. suburb,�� Montgomery County’s Office of Consumer Protection hired Kauffman only to investigate consumer complaints of new home construction companies in the Montgomery County area.

Companies also have built larger homes on smaller plots. The construction companies call them “premium homes.” Long-time residents of the region took to calling them “McMansions,” something they are not keen on having.

Debbie Holder, a “local home-grown” of the Potomac-Bethesda area for 54 years, was once in the real estate business. She is still not in favor of the large houses being put up.

“They’re ripping up all of these homes and putting up all these ‘McMansions’,” said Holder. “They’re building these huge houses on these little lots.”

Younger and current residents of the area feel the same about newer, more expensive homes, with cheaper construction. Mimi Roa, twenty-eight, works in Bethesda and lives in nearby Rockville, Md., and knows of the concerns of long-time residents as construction increases.��

“I would not want to buy a new house,” Roa said. Holder, backing this claim, commented on how these new homes are built.��

“If you watch the construction being built, they’re not made well at all,” Holder observed. “They are built so quick.”

“We still want to hear what people have to say. We talk to them and try, and bring people together, because our primary goal is to see the consumer made whole,” Kauffman said.

From 2020 to 2024, Bethesda’s population increased by, resulting in a rough total of 67,000 residents in the census-designated area of Montgomery County.��

According to the, Bethesda is home to some of the top public schools in Maryland, including Walt Whitman High School, making the area a destination for young families seeking high quality education.

With such a population increase for an already densely populated area of 13.2 square miles, there comes a need to build more housing. Many construction companies in the area, like Paramount Construction Incorporated, have begun to tear down older homes, building modern homes in their place to create more housing.����

“There is more demand than supply,” Paramount’s says. “Since there are very few large parcels of land remaining in Bethesda, builders and developers are buying old homes and tearing down the house to get to the land. Yes, in many cases, the land that old functionally obsolete house sits on is more valuable than the house.”��

Bethesda, being only 20 minutes from D.C., is a perfect place for new residents to migrate to, allowing for the phenomenon of what Holder calls the “mowing down the old and putting up the new.”��

These newer, more expensive houses cause an uptick in real estate cost. If residents of Bethesda were curious to know the cost-of-living compared to a national level, they could be surprised by the results.��

According to data from The Council for Community and Economic Research, nationally, the average sale price for housing is around $500,000. For Bethesda, it is $1.32 million, which is 203.9% of the U.S. average.��

But these so-called luxury homes or “McMansions” are nothing new to the Bethesda residential areas. In an online anonymous forum called for parents of D.C., the discussion of these larger and newer homes has been a topic since 2018.��

“I drive through Bethesda a lot and any smaller cute original home that gives neighborhood charm is being torn down,” said one user. “The traffic gets worse and worse with each new McMansion and the construction is a nightmare for neighbors.”

The consumer complaints come from new residents moving to and building homes in the area, including these “McMansions”. Despite the county’s mission, Bethesda residents believe that home inspectors within the county are there for profit and will not stop the building of cheaply made homes.��

“They don’t care,” Holder said. “It’s money in their pocket.”��

Other long-time residents of the area, like Roa, are hopeful that hiring Kauffman “could help them solve issues,” regarding how construction of new homes brings about complaints from Bethesda citizens. Roa also acknowledges that new residents building luxury homes in the area that go to inspectors may differ in opinions of older residents.

��“I feel like the new homeowners are not as concerned with the problems in the area as older homeowners,” she said. “So, I feel like it is hard to say if they will care about the same issues.”

��How new home building will be affected by Kauffman’s hiring is still yet to be seen. 91���� will be watching closely as new homes continue to go up and citizens make their concerns known.

The post Bethesda new home construction, upset residents and the county’s response first appeared on 91����.

For 32 years, the music and food festival Taste of Bethesda, taken over by Bethesda Urban Partnership, has welcomed local restaurants to showcase their cuisine to residents and visitors of Bethesda, and this Saturday, Oct. 5, was no exception.��

From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., patrons could purchase food tickets to use at any of the 43 restaurant tents open. At the same time, festival-goers enjoyed live music from local artists in the area.

Christina and Luke Gilday live around the corner from the annual event and brought their dog early into the day’s festivities to check it out.��

“It’s so, so, so packed,” Christina said. “I wasn’t expecting all these people so quickly after it opened.”

Sherri Watkins, a Bethesda resident, also attended the festival with her dog, a nine-week-old chihuahua puppy. Watkins said she and her dog were experiencing the festival for the first time together.

“When I walked by, I thought, ‘This will be a great place to stop by and let her really experience and develop her brain,’” Watkins said. “I’m here for her, too, to make sure she can interact with a lot of people and smell all the different smells and hear all the different sounds. And I’m just really impressed with what the community’s been able to bring in here, and that there’s so many people here having a great time.”

Not only was the event dog-friendly, but it was also family-friendly. With face paint for children and an entire area dedicated to “Kid’s Corner,” families like Rachel Rodriguez’s come for the event every year.

“I have three kids, and we have gone to a lot of these restaurants, so we thought it would be fun to come down here and try different things,” she said.����

Several businesses in the area were able to showcase their brands as well during the festival. M&T Bank employees from different areas of the DMV area worked ticket tents and promoted their business while doing so.��

Theresa Ramsaroop and Michael Reid with M&T Bank took in the festival while on a break from selling tickets.����

“It’s definitely family-oriented,” said Reid, the Northwest D.C. bank locations manager. “This is my first time volunteering and thanks to Theresa, she has explained how great it is every year and she’s definitely correct with that.”

Ramsaroop manages the M&T Bank in Bethesda and agreed with Reid’s sentiments. “I like the diversity here,” she said. “There’s such a wide array of different foods/restaurants here. I think it caters to all different taste buds.”��������

From Indian food to pub food, the over 40 restaurant participants offer event goers a wide array of cuisines. Silver, an “upscale” version of the DMV Silver Diner chain, was one of the many popular choices of the day.����

“I know people are enjoying our food,” Marketing Manager of Silver Gabby Howenstein said. “We have already ran out of one of our items so far.”��

Julie Brown, General Manager of Rock Bottom Brewery saw a similar high turnout for her restaurant’s tent, stating, “I think we are going to see some top-tier sales this year.”��

According to Stephanie Coppula, Director of Marketing and Communications of Bethesda Urban Partnership, each ticket purchased and utilized at the restaurant tents makes a profit for the vendors. At the end of the event, the restaurants turn the tickets into Bethesda Urban Partnership and, in turn, get 60% of their ticket sales, while the Bethesda organization keeps 40%.

“I’ve certainly heard from restaurants over the years that this is one of the best marketing activities that they do,” Coppula said. “And I think that’s just some of the best marketing a restaurant can do is actually, you know, getting to try their food.”

The Taste of Bethesda event originated in 1992 through a collaboration of downtown restaurants. It was taken over by Bethesda Urban Partnership when the organization was founded two years later.����

Jason Liu is the Urban Partnership Marketing and Events Manager, and according to him, one of his main roles is planning Taste of Bethesda. Liu said that planning for the event begins in May by reaching out to Bethesda restaurants to turn in applications to participate. He also said that this was the first year since before COVID-19 that the festival had nice weather to enjoy.��

“This year, it’s beautiful weather,” Liu said. “I think you can tell that there’s large crowds, people are happy, and we couldn’t have asked for more.”��

Coppula believes that the mission of the Urban Partnership in Bethesda and the festival event help showcase the town’s close community.

“Our goal is to market and maintain downtown Bethesda, and we’ve kind of always been this small community, as you know, just outside of Washington, DC, but with a high concentration of restaurants,” she said. “So, I think restaurants have always been near and dear to the community here. The restaurants really support each other, and I think it’s just kind of grown and become this really fun community day.”

For more on vendors, please visit .��

The post Taste of Bethesda brings in a culture of cuisine and community yet again first appeared on 91����.

The high school, located in Montgomery County, will be one of many in the county to receive vape detectors in its bathrooms this school year, though the timeline of installation is unknown at this time.

County officials are currently looking into utilizing 2 million dollars from a settlement between several Maryland County Schools and the vape company Juul. The schools involved reported that the company marketed vaping to children, in part due to the flavors of e-cigarettes advertised.��

This year, The study states that 14% of high school students in the state use e-cigarettes. “Nearly 50% of high school students who use tobacco reported using menthol tobacco products,” the report said. “Ninety-seven percent of those who use electronic smoking devices usually vape flavors other than tobacco flavors.”

Shelton L. Mooney, Principal of Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, said in an interview that he is “hopeful” that the school will have the vape detectors this year.��

“I am also hopeful that it’s a technology that works,” Mooney said. “Yes, I’ve heard kind of the horror stories about the technology not working well, and I would hope that whatever we’re doing is something that is going to actually give us more positive results than false positive results.”������

Montgomery County issued a vape detector pilot program in five high schools last year to test the devices. This initiative allowed the county to “know what works, what doesn’t work,” as President of the Montgomery County Board of Education Karla Silvestre said. ��

Mooney added that the discussion of these detectors has been ongoing for several years to ensure the community’s safety.

“From a broader picture kind of point of view, high schools, particularly the vape detectors, have been an ongoing conversation over the past two or three years amongst high school principals, even with MCPSs safety and security, as we continue to look for ways to kind of address those concerns that are arising in students and make sure that we’re providing a safe environment for everyone,”�� he said.��

Silvestre, who is also the mother of a Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School student, said the county is now “ready to utilize that money and the lessons learned from those pilots to begin to install the vape detectors.”��

The president heard feedback from students regarding the influx of vaping occurring in bathrooms before the pilot program was implemented. ��

“It’s so hard to control because, you know, it’s just so easy to put in your backpack and your pocket,” Silvestre said. “You know, kids were complaining to us that it was out of control, that they would walk into a bathroom, and it was just vape smoke everywhere.”

The initial pilot program allowed not only students to see that measures were being taken, but also showcased to Montgomery County how the detectors worked. According to HALO, a vape detector manufacturing company, the tool senses “the unique chemical compositions of various aerosols, including vape smoke and THC.”

When the sensors go off, school officials will then be notified and respond, says Silvestre, who also says some of the settlement money will allow a few schools in the county to hire personnel that will be directly responsible to respond to alerts.

On Aug. 20, Silvestre and the rest of the Board of Education to Superintendent Thomas M. Taylor to appropriate the 2 million dollars towards vape detections, pending the County Council’s approval.��

“As a result of ongoing serious incidents within MCPS and throughout the nation, it is imperative to enhance safety and security in all schools and seek opportunities to address areas for improvement that can increase efficiency, reinforce policies, mitigate hazards, and reduce risks,” the letter read.��

Though this may not be foolproof to always detect and stop vaping, as well as the sensors picking up other chemicals in the air, the installation of the tools does provide hope to decrease vaping of minors at not only Bethesda-Chevy Chase, but all Montgomery County schools participating.��

“So, we just want to have a tool that we can use to kind of signal, even if it doesn’t do away with it 100%, but it really signals to students that this is not acceptable, and we’re going to be monitoring it more carefully,” Silvestre said.��

narrowing in on the exploration of ideas to keep school communities safe throughout the year. According to an email sent from Montgomery County in a press release, reporters had the opportunity to listen to Montgomery County officials, including Chief Administrative Officer Rich Madaleno.����

Though implementation cannot start until County Council’s approval and there are no specifications for this in upcoming agendas, officials are still hopeful the detectors’ installations will begin soon.

“I’m confident that the county council will pass the supplemental budget amendment that’s before them,” Madaleno said in the briefing.������

As principal of the high school, Mooney strives for good education and safety measures to be in their best shape during the academic year.��

“My hope is really the same this year as it is for every year that you know, every student, every staff member who walks in the building leaves at the end of the day safe and having been able to experience a good education, a good educational environment,” Mooney said.����

As a parent, Silvestre believes safety starts with the power of the students in the school community.��

“I think the students themselves are so powerful in terms of the say, you see something, say something strategy, right,” she said. “I just think that we really need to use the power of the students that acknowledge that they have with the See Something, Say Something to be able to prevent bad things from happening in schools.”

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