The news week in Bethesda began with a community presentation organized by Bethesda Cares that revealed new data on Bethesda’s homeless population.
The data was collected by volunteers as a part of a canvassing survey to help service providers learn more about the men and women living on Bethesda’s streets and tailor resources to their needs, with the goal of assisting them into permanent housing. The effort was part of the national 100,000 Homes Campaign.
Patch also spoke this week with the volunteers who took part in the effort.
At a meeting of the BRAC Implementation Committee Tuesday, the Maryland State Highway Administration unveiled the results of a study that detailed post-BRAC traffic delays on the Rockville Pike.
In schools news, the Board of Education voted to approve superintendent Joshua P. Starr’s controversial boundary study recommendation for the Bethesda-Chevy Chase cluster that assigns East Bethesda students to Bethesda Elementary for grades K-5.The board also approved Starr's recommendation to re-open the site selection process for a new B-CC middle school.
And in county news, County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) kicked off a public outreach campaign ahead of the new carryout bag law, and community leaders debated a proposed anti-loitering law.
The Gazette reported this week that construction on the Rockville Pike pedestrian underpass aimed to ease BRAC traffic is expected to launch in July, and On Numbers reported that Bethesda tops similar-sized communities across the country in “brainpower” rankings.
The news week wrapped up with updates on the controversial Purple Line. The Montgomery County Planning Board asked the Maryland Transit Administration to consider building the Bethesda station on the Purple Line east of Wisconsin Avenue as a possible way to avoid the cost of routing both the rail line and the Capital Crescent Trail through a tunnel beneath Wisconsin.
And in sports news, two Bethesda soccer teams – the WJ boys and the B-CC girls – headed to the state championships this week. WJ lost to Bowie in overtime, but the B-CC girls took home their fourth consecutive state championship.
Stay tuned for more news next week as Bethesda prepares to celebrate Thanksgiving. Have a great rest of the weekend.
