MoCo Headlines: Man Charged In Son’s Death, Belward Farm Controversy Continues

Catch up on news you might have missed this week, including the latest in North Potomac’s Belward Farm controversy, the charging of a Gaithersburg man in the death of his son and a challenge to Pepco tree cutting in Bethesda. 

GAITHERSBURG – Wayne Price, 55, was denied bond by a Montgomery County District Court Judge Monday, May 7 after being charged with the murder of his 23-year-old son in their Gaithersburg apartment Saturday, May 5. .

Pepco Under Fire For Tree Cutting

BETHESDA – A group of Bethesda residents say they're ready to fight Pepco on its plan to cut nearly 80 trees in a utility easement near Pooks Hill Road. Read more on Bethesda Patch.

POTOMAC – Winston Churchill High School in Potomac tops Maryland high schools, according to the latest U.S. News and World Report rankings. The school placed first out of 232 public, charter and magnet schools in the state of Maryland, also coming in at No. 57 in the national rankings. 

SILVER SPRING – The Chevy Chase man charged with starting a fire that damaged 34 apartments in a Terrace Drive building could face up to 34 counts of arson, prosecutors said.

WHEATON – Three Montgomery County councilmembers joined representatives from the Kensington Heights Civic Association outside the council building in Rockville Thursday morning to speak about the impact of mega gas stations and the reasons why a proposed Costco gas station should not be sited next to the Kensington Heights neighborhood bordering Westfield Wheaton.

Solomatin Sentenced in Gas Station Shooting

GERMANTOWN – A Virginia man received a 10-year first-degree assault sentence Thursday for shooting another man's car, an escalation of a fistfight over a gas pump in Germantown. Dmytro Solomatin, 27, of Reston, Va., was sentenced Thursday in Montgomery County Circuit Court. Judge Ronald B. Rubin suspended half the sentence. Read more at Germantown Patch.

NORTH POTOMAC – The dispute over Belward Farm and what Johns Hopkins University can do with it will begin July 6 with a scheduling hearing before Judge Ronald B. Rubin in Montgomery County Circuit Court. Plaintiff Tim Newell has called the planned "Science City" a form of profiteering and in violation of the ownership agreement between Newell's aunt and JHU. Read

ROCKVILLE – Rockville has retained the law firm of Saul Ewing LLP to conduct an "internal investigation of various workplace matters," Mayor Phyllis Marcuccio announced during Monday's City Council meeting. The probe follows reports of former city employees claiming discrimination and harassment by supervisors.

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CHEVY CHASE – Politics and Prose—the famed independent bookstore in Chevy Chase, DC—has , the "Prince of Petworth" reported. Unfortunately, the license won't be ready in time for Chevy Chase native Jennifer Miller's appearance at the bookstore on Monday, May 14, when she'll read from her new book, The Year of the Gadfly.

GAITHERSBURG – Aaron William Murray Lemere, of the 25400 block of Jarl Drive, was arrested Monday for several sex-related offenses. Lamere was previously a faculty member at Silver Spring's Northwood High School and police say several incidents occurred with students on school grounds. .