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Landowner Challenges Planning Agency in Md. Farm Road Case

SILVER SPRING, Md. (WUSA9) -- The region's biggest planning agency was challenged Wednesday by a landowner who claims her property value has been steamrolled by bureaucratic nonsense.

Laurana McCants owns property in an African American enclave in Sandy Spring where landowners allege the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission has been arbitrarily standing in the way of the families' attempts to develop or sell their historic land.

Wednesday McCants applied M-NCCP for an address on her parcel which borders an access known as "Farm Road" where other landowners have been denied addresses in the past. She was told by officials that the agency needed 30 days to consider her request.

McCants was later told by M-NCPPC acting director Rose Krasnow and Montgomery County Planning Dept. lawyer Carol Rubin that the agency has no rules or regulations to justify the decision, and there is no appeals process if McCants is denied.

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Silver Spring Transit Center's Future In Limbo

SILVER SPRING, Md. (WUSA9) -- Metro and Montgomery County are fighting over money and who's to blame like a couple headed to marriage counseling and still not quite on the same page.

The fenced-in Silver Spring Transit Center is what 6 years of construction and $120 million and counting has bought.

The new transit center is so screwed up it has been declared a safety hazard for running buses cars and people, so it just sits there behind locked gates, never opened and unused.

On Tuesday, Montgomery County officials said they're ready to plow ahead with a plan to fix it starting next month but Metro, the other partner in this deal, again warned "not so fast."

Since it's Metro that's going to run the center, the transit agency doesn't want to sign off on repairs that might leave it with huge maintenance problems for the next 50 years.

Metro Says Weekend Work To Impact Red, Orange Line

WASHINGTON (AP) - Metro says weekend work will impact the orange line and close three stations on the red line.

Metro says beginning Friday evening at 10 p.m. and continuing through closing on Sunday, free shuttle buses will replace red line trains between Rhode Island Avenue and Forest Glen. The Brookland, Takoma and Silver Spring Stations will be closed. The Fort Totten station will be open for green and yellow line service only.

On the orange line, trains will single track between Cheverly and New Carrollton. Passengers traveling to or from the Landover and New Carrollton stations only may experience travel times of up to 15 minutes longer than usual.

Metro has no scheduled work on the blue, yellow or green lines.

Power Companies Gearing Up for Thursday Storms

WASHINGTON, D.C. (WUSA9) -- Myra Oppel was sitting in her office at Pepco's Headquarters when the Derecho of 2012 hit. 

She watched as the power company's outages jumped from a few thousand to almost half a million. By the time it was all over, more than two-million people in Virginia, Maryland, and the District were in the dark, and it would take nearly two weeks before all the power was restored.

Almost a year later, Oppel met with WUSA9 to discuss what Pepco's doing to prepare for this latest round of storms. 

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$200 Billion Is Scammed From Elderly Yearly

WASHINGTON (WUSA9) -- There are ways for elderly people to avoid scams this summer.

There will be seminars in downtown Silver Spring Wednesday, June 12, World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, to teach people about neglect, financial abuse and scams. 

Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy and Chief of the Department of Aging, Jay Kenney invite you to join them to learn more about crimes against the elderly. 

They say one of the most important things that seniors can do is stay engaged in their communities. Seniors who are isolated are at the greatest risk of abuse, fraud and scams.

Jack-Knifed Tractor Trailer Causes Major Traffic Delays On Inner Loop

SILVER SPRING, Md. (WUSA) -- A tractor trailer crash is causing a major traffic headache on the Beltway in Silver Spring this morning.

Maryland State Police are on the scene where a tractor trailer jack-knifed on the Inner Loop prior to Georgia Avenue around 3:00 a.m. The wreckage blocked all lanes of the Inner Loop at Connecticut Avenue, and according to police, the incident ruptured the truck's saddle tanks, causing a diesel fuel leak in the area. 

At approximately 6:15 a.m. MDSHA officials said the fuel leak was cleaned up and the tractor trailer was removed. All lanes have reopened but delays continue.

No other vehicles were involved and no injuries have been reported.

Drivers who were stuck on the Inner Loop between Connecticut and Georgia Avenue were allowed to pass the crash scene on the left shoulder.  Maryland State Police diverted everyone else onto the Connecticut Avenue exit. 

Springbrook Coach: At The Helm Of Football And Girls' Lacrosse

Story & Reporting by Diane Roberts

SILVER SPRING, Md. (WUSA) -- At the professional level, it's one team per head coach. You don't see Mike Shanahan coaching the Redskins and the Wizards. But in high schools around the country, coaches often double up.

Adam Bahr has been head girls' lacrosse coach at Springbrook High School for three years.

His players say if you had to categorize him, he's in between strict and friendly.

"When work needs to be done, he knows work has to be done, but he's also there for support and our assistance when we need it," said lacrosse player Ria Peralta.

Bahr must be doing something right. The Blue Devil girls have been in the top five of their 23 team region two of the last three years.

Bahr, a Springbrook grad, says what he's learned from working with boys' and girls' is that both want to excel as athletes.