Temporary Road Closure: I-495 Capital Beltway

December 16, 2:00 AM

On December 16 at 2:00 AM all lanes of the inner and outer loop of the I-495 Beltway between Georgia Avenue and Linden Avenue will be closed for approximately thirty minutes while a cable is installed beneath the Seminary Road Bridge. Maryland State Police will be on hand to assist with traffic. In case of inclement weather the work will be rescheduled for January 6, 2019 at 2:00 AM. If you have questions regarding this work you may contact: Project Manager Derek Thomas (dthomas@ltsolutionsinc.com) at 410-517-2012 or on the night of work (cell): 443-277-2589

3 Construction Vehicles and a Resident’s Car Entered

Two work vehicles suffered broken windows; no one saw any suspects or suspicious vehicles

Shortly before 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 11, 2018, Village officers responded to a call for a theft from a work truck involving a smashed window in the 4000 block of Oliver Street.  Upon arrival, the pest control worker advised officers that he had been away from his vehicle for about 30 minutes.  Upon returning to his truck, he found the passenger window smashed and his Samsung tablet was missing from the front seat.  
 
Moments later, officers received two more similar calls:  one in the 5600 block of Montgomery Street, another on W. Irving Street between Magnolia and Cedar, and another on Laurel Parkway. 
 
On Montgomery Street, officers learned that the landscape worker had left his truck unlocked, and upon returning to the truck, he found that a backpack had been taken which contained his cell phone. 
 
On W. Irving Street, another landscaper discovered that someone had broken the driver’s side window of his truck, and the thieves stole a backpack and a soft briefcase.
 
On Laurel Parkway, a woman was visiting a friend and was unloading her vehicle at the Laurel Parkway address.  She reported that, as she went back and forth carrying items into the house, someone must have grabbed her purse from the open car while she wasn’t looking.  She never saw anyone near her car.
 
Village officers were aware that daytime thefts targeting workers’ vehicles have been trending in DC and Maryland recently, so they immediately alerted DC and Montgomery County Police.
 
The investigation is continuing.

County Executive Marc Elrich Announces Additional Listening Sessions

County Executive Marc Elrich has scheduled additional listening sessions to provide Montgomery County residents and stakeholders opportunity to have their voices heard.

Four listening sessions have been held, thus far.Those occurred in Germantown, Silver Spring, Olney and Takoma Park. A session in Potomac was postponed due to weather and a session in Poolesville already was on the schedule. Three additional listening sessions are now scheduled for Bethesda, Potomac, and Kensington.

The upcoming listening sessions are scheduled as follows:

• Saturday, December 15 from 3 to 4:30 p.m. at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, 4301 East-West Highway, Bethesda
• Monday, December 17 from 7:30 to 9 p.m., Churchill High School, 11300 Gainsborough Rd, Potomac
• Thursday, December 20 from 7 to 8:30 p.m., Einstein High School, 11135 Newport Mill Rd, Kensington

Sign language and interpreter services will be provided upon request with notice as far in advance as possible. If these or other services or aids are needed to participate at the listening sessions, please call 240-777-0311 or email a request to marcelrichtransition@montgomerycountymd.gov

Worried and Wondering What You Can Do to Fight Climate Change?

News about climate change has taken center stage recently, following a catastrophic series of extreme weather events across the country. The findings from three major independent reports indicate that carbon emissions are on the rise globally after a two year hiatus. We are currently on track to exceed a 2⁰ C increase in mean global temperature over pre-industrial levels by 2040, with devastating consequences for human communities and ecosystems. Countries have gathered in Poland to try to reach agreement on how to implement commitments under the Paris Accords to keep emissions well below that calamitous threshold while it is still possible. But time is running out. Action at the state, city and local levels, involving government, business and civil society will be essential to this process. While there are a number of things we can do as engaged citizens to try to influence policy, here are three things we can do now as communities and individuals to lower our carbon footprint in significant ways:

1. Switch to renewable energy or offset fossil fuel-powered heating and electricity use with green power. In Maryland, electricity sold by Pepco in 2017 was generated mostly by coal (32.2%), natural gas (26.7%), and nuclear (35.9%) – with only 2.8% from wind and solar. We are fortunate that in Maryland, we can choose our electricity supplier and the source of the electricity we consume. There are a number of service providers working with PEPCO to provide residents with clean energy or energy offsets in the form of wind, solar and other renewables. Examples include Clean Choice Energy (www.cleansourceenergy.com/), and WGL (https://www.wglenergy.com/residential/renewable-energy). Many communities in Montgomery County also have the option of buying into community solar projects which power their homes directly or indirectly with energy from the sun. Even if you can’t install solar panels on your roof, initiatives like Solar United Neighbors allow you to reap the benefits of clean solar as a coop member.

1. Walk more and make your next car an Electric Car or Hybrid. CO2 emissions from the cars we drive (which are only getting bigger and less fuel efficient as the price of oil drops and CAFE standards are relaxed) are a major source of greenhouse gases and air pollution, reducing air quality and compromising human health. But oil prices are highly volatile and a carbon tax on fossil fuels is looking increasingly likely. Electric cars are the wave of the future—clean, high performing and energy efficient. Lower costs, improvements in battery storage and plug-in availability have greatly increased the appeal of electric cars and driven demand. Investing in companies like Tesla (up by 24% in the last 15 months), can also be a win-win (see below).

 
3. Green your portfolio. Investing in sustainability generates positive returns. Individual stocks with positive ratings on social and environmental sustainability criteria have outperformed traditional equities in a variety of sectors--water, energy, forestry--directly affected by climate change. Apart from individual stocks, ETFs like Invesco Water Resources (PHO on NYSE), and the IShares 400 Social Index Fund (DSI on NYSE), have out-performed or done as well as the S&P 500 over the last 3 years. Others, like, the iShares S&P Global Clean Energy Index Fund (Nasdaq:ICLN) and PowerShares Global Clean Energy Portfolio (ARCA:PBD) have also performed well. Green investing is investing in the future.
 
Finally, spread the word. Scaling up is important. Talk to friends, family and others in your network about how we as responsible consumers can lower our carbon footprint and collectively make a difference in fighting climate change.
 
These topics will be presented in greater detail in future articles and in a series of talks in the Sustainable Living Lecture Series, sponsored by the Village E&E Committee. 
 
Marea Hatziolos, PhD
Co-Chair,
Environment and Energy Committee

FREE to Residents: Prescription Drug Neutralizing Packets

First come, first served

The Village Police Department has received 400 convenient, environmentally friendly medication deactivation zip lock-style pouches (see image below).  Just drop in up to 45 pills, 6 ounces of liquid, or 6 medication patches into a pouch, add water, and zip the pouch closed.  The entire package may then be discarded in your normal trash.
 
The pouches are free of charge to Village residents.  Simply stop in at the window in the Village Hall lobby, and our communications clerks will be happy to supply you with up to 5 pouches per household while supplies last.

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Tips to Prevent Thieves from Stealing Delivered Packages

Useful prevention measures will protect your purchases

 
It’s the season when delivered packages rain down on doorsteps throughout the Village.  Thieves know this, too, and they target neighborhoods like ours to steal packages soon after they’ve been delivered.
 
To reduce the chances that a package that you are expecting will be stolen, the Village Police Department advises you to consider the following:

• Have your shipper hold packages at their facility or store to be picked up later.  Even after a package has been shipped and is on the way to your house, you can redirect it to be held at the shipper’s distribution center using their online features. 
• Have shipments sent to your office or another address (family member; neighbor) if you won't be home when the package will be delivered. 
• Install a video doorbell.  They alert you and send live video to your smart phone or tablet whenever someone comes to your door.  Each video is saved to the cloud so that you can retrieve it later.  You can also talk to the visitor from anywhere using the intercom feature in the device. 
• At a minimum, sign up for text message updates; you will receive a message very soon after the item is dropped at your house.  With that information, you can promptly bring the package inside to reduce the likelihood of theft. 
• Call the Village Police Department (301-654-7300) immediately if you believe that a delivered package has been stolen.

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Are You Prepared?

As we have experienced during various seasonal events, it is important to be prepared for local weather emergencies. In order the assist residents in their preparedness, the Village in partnership with the Montgomery County Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (OEMHS) offer a number of helpful tools, plans and free alerts to assist and keep you informed.

Village Website and Blast Email System – Have you signed up for the Village’s blast email system? This is the Village's primary method of communication with residents. The Village has 2 email lists you can sign-up for:

Urgent News Alert – include messages such as criminal activity, neighborhood disruptions such as water main breaks, power outages and road closures and major weather events.

General News Alerts – include messages about Board and committee meetings, community events, changes in public services such as refuse/recycling collection schedules and upcoming road closures.

To sign-up for the blast email system visit the Village website at www.chevychasevillagemd.gov and click on the tablet icon at the top of the Village’s homepage.
 

Alert Montgomery – Alert Montgomery is the official emergency communications service for Montgomery County, MD. During major crisis, emergency or severe weather events, Montgomery County will send event updates, warnings and instructions directly to you on any of your devices. To sign-up for Alert Montgomery please visit the OEMHS website www.montgomerycountymd.gov/oemhs and click on the “Alert Montgomery” link at the top of the page.

Family and Community Preparedness Information – Emergencies can take many forms and occur with or without warning. By taking a few simple steps now, you can ensure that you, your family and your community are better prepared to handle emergencies. To assist in your family planning, please visit the Village’s emergency preparedness page, www.chevychasevillagemd.gov/emergencyprep for helpful tools and links. Another important tool the Village has created to assist you in your preparedness efforts is our House Check Program. Always request a House Check when you are leaving town and ensure that your emergency contacts are up to date with the Village office.

For additional information please visit the Village’s website at www.chevychasevillagemd.gov and click on the “Are you prepared? – Emergency Preparedness Tips” link listed in the Quick Links on the homepage.

Emergency Contact Sheet

EMERGENCY - 911
 
Chevy Chase Village Police 
Non Emergency/24hrs - 301-654-7300

Montgomery County Police 
Non Emergency/24hrs - 301-279-8000

Bethesda - Chevy Chase Rescue Squad - 301-652-0077

Chevy Chase Fire Dept
(Opposite Columbia Country Club) - 240-773-4707

Bethesda Fire Dept
(Wisconsin Ave and Bradley Blvd) - 240-773-4706

National Capital Poison Center
(George Washington University Hospital) - 800-222-1222

Utilities
 

Potomac Electric Power Company (PEPCO)

Emergency-Live wires down, power failure - 877-737-2662

Customer Service - 202-833-7500

Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission

Emergency - 301-206-4002

Complaints, Leaks, Information - 301-206-4001

Washington Gas

Emergency - 703-750-1400

Information & Customer Service - 703-750-1000

Comcast - 800-934-6489

Verizon - 800-837-4966

**A cut out sheet is also located on page two of the January 2017 Crier.

You are receiving this email because you are subscribed to receive general news updates from Chevy Chase Village. Did you know the Village sends out urgent news updates as well, click here to sign-up.