MoCo Headlines: Lululemon Sentencing, Copper Thefts

With more than a dozen websites across Montgomery County, Patch brings you news from every corner of our community. Catch up on headlines you may have missed this week, including a record-setting high school hockey player and county plans for Bus Rapid Transit.

Brittany Norwood, the woman accused of killing her co-worker Jayna Murray at Bethesda's Lululemon shop last March, was sentenced Friday to spend the rest of her life in prison without the possibility of parole. The sentence followed an afternoon of emotional testimony and marked an end to a murder case that rocked the Bethesda community. 

County police announced Wednesday that they are investigating 26 instances of theft of copper gutters and downspouts from homes in Bethesda, Potomac and Rockville. Rockville Mayor Phyllis Marcuccio, one of the 26 victims, recounted her experience this week. Read more in Rockville Patch.

An update to the Glenmont Sector Plan is in its early stages, as the county considers possibilities for private and public development and seeks community input. Montgomery County planners consider the Glenmont Shopping Center ripe for development, but forging consensus among 15 properties with 13 owners has proved difficult in the past. Read more in the Wheaton Patch.

As Montgomery County Public Schools continues the debate over where to put a new middle school for the overcrowded Bethesda-Chevy Chase cluster, it will likely need the approval of the Planning Board to build on a park, and the board has said in the past that it wants to avoid losing open space anywhere in the county. .

The Player of Her Generation: Skarupa Skates Her Way to Record Books
After a record-setting performance for Team USA at the Women's Under-18 World Hockey Championships, Wootton High School senior Haley Skarupa has her sights set on the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia. Read the full story on North Potomac-Darnestown Patch.

 
Mayors Jeffrey Slavin of the Town of Somerset and David Lublin of the Town of Chevy Chase are two of 80 mayors from across the country who have joined together in support of marriage equality. Joining Slavin and Lublin are Mayor Peter Fosselman of Kensington and Mayor Bruce Williams of Takoma Park. 

Bus Rapid Transit may be in Montgomery County's near future, extending the county's transportation services into the upcounty. The Montgomery County Council unanimously voted Tuesday to support County Executive Isiah Leggett’s recommendation to use Bus Rapid Transit instead of Light Rapid Transit as the preferred mode on the Corridor Cities Transitway. This recommendation is a switch from the county's previous decision to support light rapid transit as the preferred mode of transportation. 

 
In Montgomery Village's most momentous board of directors election in recent memory, the five candidates are grappling with how to invigorate the 40-year-old planned community without straying too far from its roots. Read more on Montgomery Village Patch.

Some residents around Sligo Creek Park heard shots Monday night, but police have found no evidence, according to Takoma Park Police. On Jan. 23 at 9:17 p.m., Takoma Park Police responded to Central Ave. between Jackson and Davis for sounds of five gunshots in the area near Sligo Creek Park, according to police. One officer heard an additional shot from Central Ave. Takoma Park Police and Park Police marked units canvassed the area, but neither department was able to locate any suspects or evidence of shooting, police said. Read more on Takoma Park Patch.

Montgomery County Hosts Lunar New Year Celebrations in February
Montgomery County Public Libraries (MCPL) will draw on the spirit of those who are celebrating the year of the dragon with various events throughout the community. Millions of people in Asia and other ethnic Chinese, Vietnamese and Koreans joined in the festivities of the Lunar New Year with fireworks and feasting with family members. Experience the year of the dragon in your community with a list of events hosted around the county. Read the full story on Silver Spring Patch.