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Starting next week, African immigrants who live in the Silver Spring area will have a one-stop center to address many of their needs, including health information, job-skills training, information on English classes and all-around support for making the transition to America. Several African-focused nonprofits and the county's African advisory group have teamed up to launch the African Cultural and Resource Center, which will hold its grand opening Sunday.

The center, located at 1523 Forest Glen Road in the Universal Evangelical Church building, aims at providing programs and services that will educate the underrepresented one person at a time, according to one of its founders, the Rev. Kennedy Odzafi.

Odzafi said many resource centers in the county target Hispanic and Latino immigrants. Through his work with African immigrants, he realized many don't know where to turn for everyday services or contact information for county services. Odzafi is a member of the Volta Association, a nonprofit in the county that promotes technology and cultural heritage of people from Africa. Volta partnered with the county's African Affairs Advisory Group, which advises County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) on the African community, and the nonprofit Metropolitan Community Development Corporation to start up the center.

The groups raised about $10,000 to renovate and outfit a room in the Silver Spring church, including purchasing new computers. Volunteers will staff many of the center's services and classes, and the center's founders are looking for donations and volunteers. All are welcome to the center's grand opening from noon to 2 p.m. Sunday at the church. For more information on the center or how to donate, send an e-mail to Edwin Agbonyitor, the president of Volta Association, at edwinkobia@yahoo.com.

Board to review new

Silver Spring Library Thursday

Residents looking to resume the debate over the planned Silver Spring Library will have another chance Thursday as the Montgomery County Planning Board reviews a mandatory referral application from the Montgomery County Department of General Services, which is building the library. The library will be located at the intersection of Wayne Avenue and Fenton Street and will also be the site of a future Purple Line light rail station.

The library will cost roughly $60 million and house an art center and a coffee shop on the first two floors, 65,000-square-feet of library space on the next three floors, county offices on the sixth floor and community meeting rooms and terraces on the roof. Current plans do not include a pedestrian bridge connecting the library to the Wayne Avenue parking garage after the Montgomery County Council voted against it last July. Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) and the Silver Spring Urban District Advisory Committee have asked that a pedestrian bridge be reconsidered.

The site is currently under demolition, and construction is scheduled to begin Aug. 30.

The board will review the project Thursday but its approval and comments are advisory and the applicant is allowed to overrule the Planning Board's decision and proceed.

Any further information can be obtained by contacting John Marcolin with the Maryland-National Park and Planning Commission, at either 301-495-4547 or John.Marcolin@

mncppc-mc.org.

For information on meetings in progress, call 301-495-1333. For other information, call 301-495-4600 or the TTY (teletypewriter used by persons with hearing or speech impairments) at 301-495-1331. Meeting agendas and other planning and parks information are available at

www.mc-mncppc.org.

County looking

for youth advisors

Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett is looking for applicants to his Youth Advisory Committee, a group of 13- to 20-year-olds who will advise Leggett and the Montgomery County Council on policy matters. Participation in the committee will count for student service learning credits and provide an opportunity to conduct service projects and listen to guest speakers. Students can apply to an advisory committee in any of the county's five regional center areas. The committee for the Silver Spring region, which includes Silver Spring, Takoma Park and Long Branch, will meet monthly in the Silver Spring Regional Center.

For more information or to fill out an application — the deadline is July 9 — visit www.montgomerycounty

md.gov/rec or call 240-777-6870.

Free summer concert series kicks off Friday

Downtown Silver Spring, the property manager for the retail establishments near Ellsworth Drive and Fenton Street in Silver Spring, is kicking off its own free summer concert series from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday to highlight local and national talent. All concerts will be held at Silver Plaza on Ellsworth Drive in downtown Silver Spring.

Originally called "Friday Spotlight" and now known as "Friday Local Live," the Friday night concert series will focus on "local legends" such as Dual Rhythm, Swagfunk, Jonny Grave and Desiree Jordan, whose styles runs across several genres. The Friday series will kick-off with DanceFever Dance-a-thon, featuring dancers encouraged to dress in 80s-styled clothing and dance tirelessly until a winner is awarded. The Dance-a-thon proceeds — a $5 donation is requested — will benefit the American Music Therapy Association. The Dance-a-thon, sponsored by Yelp, will also feature a costume contest and refreshments. Friday Local Live will run through Aug. 13.

The Saturday concert series, "Saturday Spotlight," will feature a lineup of mostly nationally known bands. The Strange Loops, a group that has opened for the Dave Matthews Band, will open the series Saturday. The series will run until Aug. 14 and feature New Orleans-style music, R&B, salsa and jazz, among other genres.

To learn more about Downtown Silver Spring events, please visit www.downtownsilverspring.com or become a fan of Downtown Silver Spring on Facebook.

Restaurant reopens after fire

After a fire destroyed the interior of the building in May, Nicaro restaurant in Silver Spring has reopened, its owner Luis Martinez said. On May 15, as Martinez prepared to open the restaurant for the evening, he noticed smoke coming from the ceiling. Martinez, who has owned the restaurant since last August, called fire and rescue, walked outside of the restaurant and noticed large flames coming from the roof. The cause of the fire is unknown but the restaurant, located at 8229 Georgia Ave., was closed indefinitely until recently.

Send Silver Spring news to Staff Writer Jason Tomassini and Takoma Park news to Staff Writer Jeremy Arias at The Gazette, 13501 Virginia Manor Road, Laurel, MD 20707. The fax line is 240-473-7501. Tomassini can be reached at 240-473-7559 or jtomassini@gazette.net; Arias can be reached at 240-473-7564 or jarias@gazette.net.

Class for new

homeowners in Takoma

Ah, the joys of owning a home: The independence, the sense of place, a new set of bills, the mortgage, property taxes, payments ... Oh, the horror! If you're a new homeowner in Takoma Park feeling bogged down by the ocean of responsibilities that come with it, register today to attend the city's next First Time Home Buyer's Class from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday in the Takoma Park Community Center, 7500 Maple Ave.

The class will be hosted by experts from the city's department of housing and community development, along with independent speakers from lending institutions, title companies and inspection specialists, among others.

Completion of the class comes with a special certificate, and, more importantly, the knowledge and confidence you need to embark on the new adventure that comes with owning a home or condo in the city of Takoma Park.

The class is free and open to the public — including continental breakfast and lunch — but participants are asked to register in advance with the housing department so sufficient space can be arranged. For more information or to register today, please contact Linda Walker at 301-891-7222.

Silver Spring gets in on county's Heritage Day action

As part of Montgomery County's annual Heritage Days, the Historic B&O Railroad Station at 8100 Georgia Ave. in Silver Spring will hold a rail history bus tour, noon to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. In addition to the bus tour, the station will feature a model railroad, music by Rick Franklin and Rick Kanton and a photograph exhibit from Bob Davis. The event is free and on-site parking is available.

For information visit the Montgomery Preservation, Inc., at www.montgomerypreservation.org.

Free lupus support group at Holy Cross Hospital

The Lupus Foundation of America's regional chapter offers a free support group for lupus patients 6:30 p.m. the fourth Wednesday of every month at Holy Cross Hospital, 1500 Forest Glen Road in Silver Spring. The next meeting is tonight. The monthly sessions are led by a trained professional who understands the challenges of lupus, which is a chronic, autoimmune disease with no known cure that can damage any part of the body, including skin, joints, heart, blood, kidneys and the brain. About 75,000 people in the greater Washington, D.C., area have lupus, according to the Lupus Foundation of America. Ninety percent of those are women. The meeting will be held in the hospital's Private Dining Room 2. For more information, call 202-349-1167 or e-mail info@lupusmd.org. Participants may also check http://tinyurl.com/lupusgrps.

Help design the city's new website

If you've ever been frustrated with the Takoma Park city website, now's your chance to add your two cents to the pot on how to make it better; the Takoma Park Communications Department is soliciting feedback from residents with the design of a new website in mind.

A series of ranking and open-ended questions evaluating the current site and providing space for new innovations is available in the form of a survey at www.surveymonkey.com/s/R8FWS6H or in a link from the city's website, www.takomaparkmd.gov.

Celebrate your independence, Takoma Park-style

The Takoma Park Independence Day Committee is proud to announce the upcoming fun and festivities planned for this year's Fourth of July parade and fireworks show.

The parade will begin promptly at 10 a.m. July 4 at Carroll and Ethan Allen avenues and will proceed south on Carroll, turning right onto Maple Avenue before concluding at Maple and Ritchie avenues just past the parade reviewing stand in front of the Piney Branch Elementary School, 7510 Maple Ave.

The fireworks display will begin promptly at 9:30 p.m. at the nearby Takoma Park Middle School, 7611 Piney Branch Road. Residents are asked not to bring their pets to the fireworks presentation for health and safety reasons due to the noise and excitement caused by the display. Rest rooms will be available in the middle school.

For additional information about the event, including preferred parking locations, mass transit access to the parade and other details, please visit the committee website at www.takomapark4th.org.

Upcoming public hearings for Takoma Park residents

The Takoma Park City Council will hold a public hearing at its council meeting beginning at 7:30 p.m. July 6 for residents' input on whether or not the city should use a $1.5 million general obligation bond to finance half of the upcoming $3 million renovation of the city's public works facility.

The council will hold a second public hearing at 7:30 p.m. the following week, July 12, to solicit residents' feedback on whether or not offsale beer and wine stores should be allowed to open in the city.

Historically a dry city, Takoma Park restaurants can apply for permits to sell alcohol from their menus, but currently no stores where residents can pick up beer and wine for consumption in their homes are allowed in the city.

All city council meetings and public hearings take place in the city's auditorium at the Community Center, 7500 Maple Ave., unless otherwise noted.

Residents wishing to make their voices heard on either matter are encouraged to attend the meeting on its scheduled date where a signup sheet will be on hand for those interested in participating in the discussion.

For additional scheduling information for upcoming city council events, please visit the city's website, www.takomaparkmd.gov.

Glenmont church to hold disability ministry workshop

The Georgia Avenue Baptist Church, which recently launched a ministry dedicated to people with disabilities and their family, is holding a day-long workshop, 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday at the church. The workshop will focus on the challenges facing individuals with disabilities and their families, including reading techniques for the visually impaired, sign language techniques for the hearing impaired, teaching tidbits for those with Autism or Down syndrome and much more. Georgia Avenue officials and area experts will be speaking. The workshop is free and open to the public. The church is located at 12525 Georgia Ave., directly across from the Glenmont Metro. For more information on how to attend, call the church at 301-946-1331 or visit www.gabcglenmont.org.

On campus

Silver Spring resident Arten Esa has been named to the dean's list at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Mass., for the spring semester. Esa is a freshman majoring in electrical and computer engineering.

Silver Spring resident Kelsey Whitman is one of 56 students at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Va., named to the university's President's List for the spring semester. The President's List recognizes full-time students who attain a perfect 4.0 grade point average.

Silver Spring resident Danielle Douglas was named to the dean's list for the spring semester at Bryant University in Smithfield, R.I. Douglas is a sophomore.

Silver Spring man among eight ordained as priest

More than 2,000 priests, family and friends filled the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., Saturday for the ordainment of eight new priests into the Archdiocese of Washington. The men are among 68 who are preparing to become priests for the Archdiocese of Washington; seminary studies typically take five or more years.

Charles Gallagher, 26, from Silver Spring, was one of the eight men ordained. Gallagher, the son of a permanent deacon, attended Fordham University in New York City while in college seminary and completed his theology studies at the Pontifical North American College seminary in Rome. He celebrated his first mass Sunday at his home parish of St. Mark the Evangelist in Hyattsville.

Renew your city parking permits now ... or else!

If you're among the 99.9 percent of Americans who hate having their cars towed — the remaining .01 percent can kindly disregard — then make sure you fill out your application for a Takoma Park neighborhood parking permit by Tuesday.

Takoma Park Police are asking all residents to fill out the permit before the June 30 deadline to avoid the awkwardness of having to see you in your pajamas as you run out the door to protest a ticket being written for your expired permit.

To ease the process and to encourage early registration, the TPPD offers permits by mail, as well as in-person purchasing. Residents can also pick up the form from the police department at 7500 Maple Ave. or download and print it out from the department's website, www.takomaparkmd.gov/police/documents/permitap.pdf.

Take an ‘enchanted tour' of Forest Glen

Join the Save Our Seminary group beginning at 1 p.m. Saturday for a guided walking tour of the historic Silver Spring Seminary district in Forest Glen. The tour will meet at 2755 Cassedy St., and parking signs will be posted along Linden Lane.

The tour will highlight the seminary's historic buildings, including the ballroom and other interesting landmarks in the district. Registration is not required, but there is a suggested donation of $5 per person.

For more information, call the Save Our Seminary nonprofit group at 301-589-1715, or visit the group's website, www.saveourseminary.org.

Get your yard certified as a community wildlife habitat

If you're one of the many Takoma Park residents whose backyard serves as a cut-through path for deer, foxes, raccoons and other wildlife, you might want to consider applying for certification as a Community Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation.

The Friends of Sligo Creek and the Takoma Horticultural Club are teaming up to get as many houses in the city certified as possible in order to make Takoma Park the state's first designated community-wildlife habitat. Certification typically entails providing places of shelter in your yard for birds and other wildlife, among other things, with full details available at the wildlife foundation's website, www.nwf.org/gardenforwildlife.

Takoma Park still needs about 40 yards before it can apply for certification, so contact the FOSC at 301-681-9686 or visit the group's website, www.fosc.org.