Photo of the Day: Gaithersburg Area Elementary Schools Learn Science of Bread Baking

Students from seven Gaithersburg area elementary schools visited Johns Hopkins University's Rockville Campus for a scientific take on bread baking.

Hundreds of Gaithersburg area elementary school students took to the Johns Hopkins University Montgomery County Campus in Rockville on Friday, April 5, and Monday, April 8, for a lesson in science and baking. Led by Paula Gray of Norwich, Vermont's King Arthur Flour, fourth graders from Garrett Park Elementary, Brown Station Elementary, Darnestown Elementary, Fields Road Elementary, Travilah Elementary, Washington Grove Elementary and Jones Lane Elementary learned the art and science of bread baking. The students would make two loaves of bread — one to take home and one to donate to Interfaith Works Food Pantry. In addition to loaves of bread, Gray also taught students how to make homemade pretzels, cinnamon rolls and pizza. Potomac's …

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Court Rules in Favor of Johns Hopkins on Belward Farm Development

Family of former farm owner considering appeal, blogger writes.

  A Montgomery County Circuit judge ruled Friday that a lawsuit against Johns Hopkins University seeking to block the university's plans to develop a science park on the former Belward Farm should not proceed. Judge Ronald B. Rubin ruled in favor of Johns Hopkins' motion for summary judgment in the lawsuit filed against the university by Timothy Newell and others regarding plans to build a 4.7 million-square-foot commercial science park on the property. Heirs of the farm's former owner say the size and the scope of the science park go far beyond the small campus that was envisioned when majority owner Elizabeth Banks agreed to sell the farm to Hopkins in 1989.  The decision effectively ends the case, barring an appeal. Johns Hopkins …

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Local Belward Supporter Blasts Hopkins Ahead of Hearing

"Over five years of ducking, weaving and empty marketing rhetoric. Johns Hopkins seems determined to play the role of a selfish 900 pound bully," Donna Baron said.

Judge to Weigh Resolution of Long Dispute Over Belward Farm

A Montgomery County Judge will preside over a summary judgment hearing in a dispute regarding how land can be used that was sold to Johns Hopkins at a fraction of its value.

The longstanding dispute over the future development of Belward Farm could come to a close as early as Friday. Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Ronald B. Rubin will preside over the summary judgment hearing in a lawsuit brought by the successors of Belward Farm against Johns Hopkins University. The family's lawsuit — led by Tim Newell, the nephew of former Belward owner Elizabeth Beall Banks — seeks to prevent the university from building a 4.7 million-square-foot commercial science park on the property. Newell and others contend that when his aunt sold 108-acre Belward Farm to Hopkins in 1989 for $5 million, which was far less than the estimated $50 million market value of the property, the university agreed to build a low-rise, …

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Donna Baron (Scale-it-back.com)

8:51 am on Thursday, October 25, 2012

For additional information on the Belward Farm / Johns Hopkins debacle, please see my blog, Johns Hopkins, Seriously, Are You Freaking Kidding Me? at http://northpotomac.patch.com/blog_posts/johns-hopkins-seriously-are-you-freaking-kidding-me. All the news and legal documents can be found at www.scale-it-back.com   more ›

Hopkins, Former Heirs, File Cross-Motions for Judgment on Belward Farm

Both Hopkins and Tim Newell, the lead plaintiff and spokesperson for the donor family, file motions for summary judgment in lawsuit against the university.

Both sides in a dispute over control of Belward Farm have cross-filed motions asking the court to rule in their favor and immediately end litigation over whether Johns Hopkins University may build a mega commercial research center on the property. Attorneys for Johns Hopkins maintain the school's plan is well within the scope of an agreement signed in 1989 that transferred the property from then-owner Elizabeth Banks to the school. In his cross-motion, however, Tim Newell, representing the family, contends the farm was specifically donated for the school to use it for academic purposes -- not a commercial enterprise. The family's lawsuit seeks to prevent the university from building a 4.7 million-square-foot commercial science park on the …

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Donna Baron (Scale-it-back.com)

9:02 am on Thursday, September 27, 2012

According to the master plan, only 40% of the development on Belward Farm is required to be "science-related". If the farm is covered with buildings up to 14-stories high, and 60% of the companies are non-science related, it will not be a park of any sort and certainly not a science park. It will be exactly what Johns Hopkins proposes it will be…a huge money-making commercial real estate venture…   more ›

UPDATE: Trial Date Set for Belward Farm, JHU Case

Judge Ronald Rubin announces date Friday at a scheduling hearing.

(UPDATED, 3:30 p.m., 7/6) -- The development dispute between the successors of Belward Farm and Johns Hopkins University is one small but significant step closer to a resolution. At a hearing Friday, Judge Ronald Rubin scheduled a trial date for Tuesday, Nov. 13, at the Circuit Court of Montgomery County in Rockville, according to a statement from the plaintiff. The decision comes after Judge John W. Debelius, III approved a request by JHU to fast-track the lawsuit in May. The university originally moved to delay proceedings after the Montgomery County Circuit Court refused to dismiss the legal action brought by Tim Newell on Nov. 10, 2011, on behalf of his aunt, Elizabeth Beall Banks, and her two siblings, who sold the property to JHU. …

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Students Get Hands-On Science Expo

Fourth-graders from seven schools descend on Johns Hopkins's Rockville campus over two days of first-hand learning.

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Judge Fast-Tracks Belward Farm, JHU Lawsuit

A scheduling hearing is set for July 6.

(UPDATE, 4:21 p.m.) -- The dispute over Belward Farm and what Johns Hopkins University can do with it will begin July 6 with a scheduling hearing before Judge Ronald B. Rubin, according to a release from plaintiff Tim Newell. Judge John W. Debelius, III issued a decision this week in response to a request in April from the university to fast-track the case, according to the release, assigning the case to the Court’s Business and Technology Case Management Program, Expedited Track 5. The case could be settled within six months, according to expedition guidelines. (See the PDF on the right for a diagram of the process.) However, the judge will decide whether the official expedition begins today, the day of the hearing, or at some future …

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Heir To Former Belward Farm Owner Excited For Progress In Hopkins Case

Tim Newell is excited for the opportunity to proceed with the case on his aunt's farm after a Montgomery County Circuit Court judge denied Johns Hopkins University's motion to dismiss.

When Tim Newell first received word of a Montgomery County Circuit Court judge’s decision to deny Johns Hopkins University’s motion to dismiss he couldn’t wait to share the news.  “[The community] is pretty thrilled,” Newell told Patch. “Everybody’s been more or less ‘it’s about time that someone listened.’ If you talk to the county and everybody else it’s always been sided towards having this project done no matter what the issues are and here we finally feel some indication that somebody listened.” On Friday, March 11, Judge Katherine D. Savage issued a 24-page decision denying JHU’s motion to dismiss a breach of donor intent lawsuit filed by Newell, the lead plaintiff for the heirs to former Belward Farm owner Elizabeth Banks, with the …

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Donna Baron (Scale-it-back.com)

1:46 pm on Friday, March 16, 2012

Mike, the initial comparisons said "The proposed “Science City” will have 20 million square feet of commercial space and 9 million square feet of residential space on 922 acres. At 29 million square feet, it would be the size of 4.4 Pentagons." The final plan was a so-called "compromise" by lowering the full build-out of commercial space to 17.5 million sq ft. or about 4 Pentagons when you add in…   more ›

Update: No Ruling in Belward-Hopkins Hearing

A Montgomery County circuit court judge did not issue a ruling on Johns Hopkins University's motion to dismiss a breach of donor intent lawsuit filed by the heirs to the former owners of Belward Farm.

Update, 5:00 p.m.: A Montgomery County circuit court judge did not rule on John Hopkins University's motion to dismiss a breach of donor intent lawsuit filed by the heirs to the former owners of Belward Farm. Judge Katherine D. Savage told representatives from Hopkins and Belward that she would take the matter "under advisement" and would issue a ruling as soon as possible. The judge insisted both sides focus on the specific language of the deed and contract between Belward and JHU, focusing on proving whether or not there are any ambiguities in either document. Check back with North Potomac-Darnestown Patch tomorrow for the full story. Original Post, 7 a.m.:The 1:30 p.m. hearing of Johns Hopkins University's motion to dismiss a lawsuit …

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Sharon

10:58 am on Thursday, February 2, 2012

And, yes, the health profession has become 'political' if one wonders why I threw Hopkins into the frey of 'political games'. Let's get back to the basics, what health care & those medical diplomas were once all about instead of BIG BUSINESS!   more ›