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Brini Maxwell

Sabrina “Brini” Maxwell is the drag persona of Ben Sander, described as the "prototypical, pre-feminist, 1960s homemaker." Maxwell has also been described as a composite of Doris Day, Mary Tyler Moore, Auntie Mame, That Girl, and Donna Reed; the character came to prominence in the late '90s as the host of her eponymous television show on public access in Manhattan, and later on the national cable television Style Network.

Cable access show
The pilot for the original Brini Maxwell Show debuted on Manhattan Neighborhood Network on January 1, 1998. The show aired for five years featuring tips, recipes, entertaining ideas, craft projects, home renovation and interior design schemes. It was produced by Sander's production company, V.R.U.S.P. Inc., and directed by Sander's mother, Mary Jane Wells. The show had a diverse, cult following: "Brini (rhymes with teeny) has received hundreds of letters and e-mail messages since the show began ... Brini has a wide following that extends beyond gay viewers. Many of those who write in are straight fans who say they tape the show for friends around the country."

Charming, Needs Work
In 2001 Sander was contacted by Amy Briamonte, east coast director of development for west coast based Termite Art Productions, a division of Lionsgate Television. Briamonte and Sander developed a pitch for the show for the Bravo network and received an order for a pilot. The pilot was produced in the summer of 2002 for a show titled Charming, Needs Work.

Premise
The premise for the show was Maxwell lived in an apartment that she redecorated every week. This concept was difficult to show in a pilot because it's based on the cumulative experience of seeing the changes each week. The pilot showed the transformation from un-remodeled apartment to finished and decorated space with segments about painting a super-graphic, having a piece of furniture reupholstered, making a stuffed dog using a new crafting technique featuring old concert T-shirts and an location segment with Kim Cattrall in her apartment.

The Brini Maxwell Show
After Bravo passed on the show Briamonte, Sander, and Termite Art pitched it to Stephen Schwartz and Heather Moran, newly named VP's of programming for the Style network, then a sister network to E! Entertainment Television. The pitch resulted in an order for a 13-episode season.

Production
The first season of The Brini Maxwell Show for the Style network was taped in the summer of 2003 with studio production taking place on the main stage at Unitel Studios on west 57th St. in New York City. Location shoots for the season were taped over a period of six months in New York City, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas. The Brini Maxwell Show debuted on the Style network on Thursday, January 1, 2004 at 10 pm.

The second season went into production in the summer of 2004 and debuted in November 2005.

Cancellation
The show was cancelled after two seasons when Comcast hired Ted Harbert to helm the E! family of networks.

Brini Maxwell's Guide to Gracious Living
In 2004, Sander was contacted by Ron Longe, then a publicist at Stewart, Tabori & Chang, a division of Abrams Books about publishing a Brini Maxwell book. The resulting book, Brini Maxwell's Guide to Gracious Living is divided into four sections - Daily Life, dealing with the basics of life, including eating well, creating a nice environment for yourself and defining your personal style; Entertaining, preparing for hosting parties and events and menus for them; Travel, making your forays into the world smoother and more organized and Life's Happy Milestones, how to mark the important moments in your life with style and panache.

Production on the book commenced in late 2004 with dedicated photo shoots done by photographer, Bradford Noble. The design was done by Tamar Cohen with original illustrations done by Karen Hsu. The book was published on October 1, 2005, with an initial printing of 15,000 copies. It was promoted with a book tour of the east and west coasts, including book launch parties at Phyllis Morris in Los Angeles and Trina Turk in Palm Springs.

Reception
The book was featured in the New York Magazine approval matrix for November 14th, 2005 with the blurb "Buy it for the irony, keep it for the truly good advice" in the position of just below the midline between highbrow and lowbrow and almost half way past the midline between brilliant and despicable. The_Advocate_(LGBT_magazine) said "You'll flip your wig over this indispensable guidebook from the Style network's fiercest hostess"

Ben Sander
Early Life

Sander was born on July 23, 1969, at Boston Lying In Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, to Peter and Mary Jane. The first seven years of his life were spent in Wellesley, MA with his father teaching theater at Brandeis University and his mother alternately keeping house and acting in professional productions in Boston and New York as well as touring with her own one-woman adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. In 1976 the family moved to the small college town of Athens, Ohio, home of Ohio University. Ben attended elementary and middle school in Athens while his father taught in the graduate theater program there. In 1980 Peter Sander received a Pell grant and moved the family to Cleveland, Ohio, where he acted as a dramaturge for The Cleveland Play House. The Playhouse offered Ben his first opportunity to act professionally. He was cast as Bodo in a production of Lillian Hellman's Watch on the Rhine. The family returned to Athens in 1981 for two years. In 1983 Peter took a job with The University of Missouri in Kansas City, where Ben attended Center Senior High School. Ben performed in high school theatrical productions, but eventually forsook the stage for the costume room, becoming the costume designer during his senior year, using his extensive collection of vintage clothing as costumes for the productions that year. After graduating high school in 1987, Sander attended the Kansas City Art Institute foundations program.

In 1988 the family again moved; this time to Hempstead, Long Island, where his father had been hired as the chair for the theater department of Hofstra University. Ben worked at various jobs in New York City and also studied fashion illustration with Veronica Galati. He then applied to, and was accepted into the fashion design program at Fashion Institute of Technology in 1989. After four years of study, Sander graduated in 1993, and obtained a job at moderate dress house, BGB as an assistant designer. His job was making patterns for the samples; the company reorganized nine months after he was hired and he was let go. After that he worked at a bridal boutique, and two furriers before moving into Manhattan and developing The Brini Maxwell Show for television.

title: Brini Maxwell


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Tsukiji fish market

Tsukiji Market (築地市場) is a major tourist attraction for both domestic and overseas visitors in Tokyo. The area contains retail markets, restaurants, and associated restaurant supply stores. Before 2018, it was the largest wholesale fish and seafood market in the world. The market opened on 11 February 1935 as a replacement for an older market that was destroyed in the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake. It was closed on 6 October 2018, with wholesale operations moving to the new Toyosu Market. The area where the old market was located was demolished and will be rebuilt into a new economic complex featuring a brand new stadium for the Yomiuri Giants of the Nippon Professional Baseball.

Located in Tsukiji in central Tokyo between the Sumida River and the upmarket Ginza shopping district, the inner wholesale market was only open to the trade and did not allow access to visitors.

The market was supervised by the Tokyo Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market (東京都中央卸売市場) of the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Industrial and Labor Affairs.

Location

The market is located near the Tsukijishijō Station on the Toei Ōedo Line and Tsukiji Station on the Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line. There were two distinct sections of the market as a whole, but after the transfer to Toyosu, only the outer market remains. The inner market (jōnai-shijō) was the licensed wholesale market, where approximately 900 licensed wholesale dealers operated small stalls and where the auctions and most of the processing of the fish took place. The outer market (jōgai-shijō) is a mixture of wholesale and retail shops that sell Japanese kitchen tools, restaurant supplies, groceries, and seafood, and many restaurants, especially sushi restaurants. Most of the shops in the outer market closed by the early afternoon. In the inner market visitors were only allowed in by 10.00 am (11.00 am by the time the market was moved), by which time the activity in the market had reduced significantly or almost ceased. A small number of visitors however were allowed into the inner market in the early morning to see the tuna auction.

Origin
The land on which the fish market sat was created during the Edo period by the Tokugawa shogunate after the Great fire of Meireki of 1657. It was created through land reclamation on the Tokyo Bay, and the area was therefore named Tsukiji (築地), meaning "constructed land" or "reclaimed land". The fish market however was not sited here until the 20th century.

The first fish market in Tokyo was originally located in the Nihonbashi district, next to the Nihonbashi bridge that gave the area its name. The area was one of the earliest places to be settled when Edo (as Tokyo was known until the 1870s) was made the capital by Tokugawa Ieyasu, and the market provided food for the Edo Castle built on a nearby hill. Tokugawa Ieyasu took a number of fishermen from Tsukuda, Osaka to Edo to provide fish for the castle in 1590. Fish not bought by the castle was then sold near the Nihonbashi bridge, at a market called uogashi (literally, "fish quay").

In August 1918, following the so-called Rice Riots (Kome Sōdō), which broke out in over 100 cities and towns in protest against food shortages and the speculative practices of wholesalers, the Japanese government was forced to create new institutions for the distribution of foodstuffs, especially in urban areas. A Central Wholesale Market Law was established in March 1923.

The Great Kantō earthquake on 1 September 1923 devastated much of central Tokyo, including the Nihonbashi fish market. The Tokyo government, which already had plans to relocate the market due to its unsanitary conditions considered unsuitable for an area that had developed into a business center, then took the opportunity to move the market to the Tsukiji district.

Construction and opening
Following the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake architects and engineers from the Architectural Section of Tokyo Municipal Government were sent to Europe and America to do research for the new market. However, because of the sheer size of the market and the number of items traded they were forced to come up with their own unique design. The quarter circular shape allowed easier access and handling for freight trains and the steel structure above allowed a wide, continuous space free from columns and subdivisions. The relocation of the market would be one of the biggest reconstruction projects in Tokyo after the earthquake, taking over six years involving 419,500 workers.

Tsukiji was officially opened on February 11, 1935. On the same day, Tōkyō-Shijō station (東京市場駅) was opened with tracks designed around the market area. In this year, the big three markets (Tsukiji, Kanda and Koto) began operations as Tokyo Metropolitan Government's system of Central Wholesale Markets. And then, smaller branch markets (Ebara fruit and vegetables market, Toshima market, Adachi market and Meat market) were opened one by one in succession.

Relocation to Toyosu Market
After World War II, Tsukiji's transaction increased in volume, and its facilities became narrow and old fashioned. Relocation plans had been considered since the late 1950s. The candidate place was Ohi, current Ohta market. However the plan could not get consensus among stakeholders. There was another plan in the late 1980s to construct provisional market utilizing the vast site of Shiodome Freight Terminal, and rebuild advanced market facilities in Tsukiji area during that period. However the negotiation with Japanese National Railways was not unsuccessful.

in 1998, six industry groups participating to Tsukiji market submitted a request in their joint signature to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to conduct a study and hold discussion of an opportunity about relocating market functions to Tokyo Waterfront Area, four of them were for the relocation and the remaining two were against. Throughout 1999, related municipal or urban engineering studies were conducted and discussing committees were held. In 2000, six industry groups and Tokyo Metropolitan Government reached an agreement to relocate.

The Tsukiji fish market occupies valuable real estate close to the center of the city. Former Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara repeatedly called for moving the market to Toyosu, Koto. The long-anticipated move to the new Toyosu Market (豊洲市場) was scheduled to take place in November 2016, in preparation for the 2020 Summer Olympics, but on August 31, 2016, the move was postponed. There had been concerns that new location was heavily polluted and needed to be cleaned up. The groundwater at the site contained contaminants that "far exceeded environmental limits", which was mitigated by installing additional water pumps. There were plans to retain a retail market, roughly a quarter of the current operation, in Tsukiji. The remaining area of the market would be redeveloped.

In June 2017, plans to move the fish market were restarted. but delayed in July to the autumn of 2018. On 3 August 2017, a fire broke out in some of the outer buildings.

After the new site had been declared safe following a cleanup operation, the opening date of the new market was set for 11 October 2018. Tsukiji market closed on 6 October 2018, with the businesses of the inner market relocated to the new Toyosu Market between 6 and 11 October. Even though Tsukiji inner market has moved to Toyosu, the outer market remains, selling food and other goods. The former market was used temporarily as a hub for transport vehicles during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

On April 19, 2024, it was announced that the area where the market was located will be redeveloped into a new economic and entretainment area centralized with a new stadium for the Yomiuri Giants.

Economics
The market handled more than 480 different kinds of seafood as well as 270 types of other produce, ranging from cheap seaweed to the most expensive caviar, and from tiny sardines to 300 kg tuna and controversial whale species. Overall, more than 700,000 metric tons of seafood are handled every year at the three seafood markets in Tokyo, with a total value in excess of 600 billion yen (approximately 5.4 billion US dollars in August 2018). At Tsukiji, around 1,628 tons of seafood worth 1.6 billion yen ($US14 million) may have been sold on a typical day. There were around 900 licensed dealers at the market, and the number of registered employees varied from 60,000 to 65,000, including wholesalers, accountants, auctioneers, company officials, and distributors.

Operations
Until it closed in 2018, the market opened most mornings (except Sundays, holidays and some Wednesdays) at 3:00 a.m. with the arrival of the products by ship, truck and plane from all over the world. Particularly impressive was the unloading of tons of frozen tuna. The auction houses (wholesalers known in Japanese as oroshi gyōsha) then estimate the value and prepare the incoming products for the auctions. The buyers (licensed to participate in the auctions) also inspected the fish to discern which they would like to bid for and at what price.

The auctions started around 5:20 a.m. Bids can only be made by licensed participants. These bidders include intermediate wholesalers (nakaoroshi gyōsha) who operated stalls in the marketplace and other licensed buyers who were agents for restaurants, food processing companies, and large retailers.

The auctions usually ended around 10:00 a.m. Afterward, the purchased fish was either loaded onto trucks to be shipped to the next destination or on small carts and moved to the many shops inside the market. There the shop owners cut and prepare the products for retail. In case of large fish, for example tuna and swordfish, cutting and preparation was elaborate. Frozen tuna and swordfish were often cut with large band saws, and fresh tuna is carved with extremely long knives (some well over a meter in length) called oroshi-hōchō, maguro-bōchō, or hanchō-hōchō.

The market was the busiest between 6:30 and 9:00 a.m., and the activity declined significantly afterward. Many shops started to close around 11:00 a.m., and the market closed for cleaning around 1:00 p.m. Tourists visited the market daily between 5 a.m. and 6:15 a.m. and watched the proceedings from a designated area, except during periods when it was closed to the public.

Because of an increase in sightseers and the associated problems they cause, the market banned all tourists from the tuna auctions on several occasions, including from 15 December 2008 to 17 January 2009, 10 December 2009 to 23 January 2010, and 8 April 2010 to 10 May 2010. After the latest ban that ended in May 2010, the tuna auctions were re-opened to the public with a maximum limit of 120 visitors per day on a first-come, first-served basis. Visitor entry into the interior wholesale markets was prohibited until after 11:00 am. Due to the March 2011 earthquakes all tourists were banned from viewing the tuna auctions till 26 July 2011, from which date it was reopened.

Inspectors from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government supervised activities in the market to enforce the Food Hygiene Law.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Tsukiji fish market


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Fort George, Ontario

Fort George was a military fortification in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada. The fort was used by the British Army, the Canadian militia, and the United States Armed Forces for a brief period. The fort was mostly destroyed during the War of 1812. The site of the fort has been a National Historic Site of Canada since 1921, and features a reconstruction of Fort George. The British established Fort George in the 1790s to replace Fort Niagara. Many of its structures were demolished in May 1813, during the Battle of Fort George. After the battle, American forces occupied the fort for seven months before withdrawing in December 1813. Although the British regained the fort shortly afterwards, little effort was put into its reconstruction after they captured Fort Niagara the following week. The poor wartime design of Fort George led its replacement by Fort Mississauga in the 1820s, although the grounds of Fort George saw some use by the military until the end of the First World War. During the late-1930s, the Niagara Parks Commission built a reconstruction of Fort George. The site was opened in 1940, and has been managed as a historic site and living museum by Parks Canada since 1969.

The fort has irregular-shaped earthwork with six bastions, and a number of reconstructed buildings within it. The restored gunpowder magazine is the only building that dates to the original Fort George. The fort forms a part of Fort George National Historic Site, which also includes Navy Hall to the east of the fort. The historic site serves as a learning resource for the War of 1812, 19th-century military life in Canada, and the historic preservation movement during the 1930s.

Background
A fort was first considered on the site by Gother Mann of the Royal Engineers. The fort was intended to serve as a secondary fort to Fort Niagara, assisting in that fort's defence in the event it was attack. Fort George's large size was due to its original purpose as a supply depot, rather than as a true defensive fortification. The fort neither defended the mouth of the river, nor any approach to the adjacent settlement.

However, after the Jay Treaty was signed, British forces were required to withdraw from U.S. territory, including Fort Niagara. In 1791, land was formally set aside to build new fortifications on the high ground adjacent to the Navy Hall at Niagara-on-the-Lake. The site was selected by members of the Royal Engineers, as its elevation was 14 ft higher than the elevation of Fort Niagara.

History
Although the British set aside land near Navy Hall to build a new fort, the British Army did not begin construction of Fort George, or its withdrawal from Fort Niagara until 1796, after the Jay Treaty was signed. Fort George was completed in the same year with a blockhouse/barracks, a stone gunpowder magazine, and two small warehouses. In an attempt to negate this advantage, American forces built a battery on an elevated river bank opposite of Fort George. In an effort to counter the American battery, the British built a half moon battery southeast of Fort George. Fort George was largely manned by members of Royal Canadian Volunteers after British forces withdrew a number of soldiers from Upper Canada.

Tensions with First Nations, and the U.S. government in the late 1790s prompted British forces to refortify the colony, including the fort. Six earthen and log bastions, connected by a wooden 12 ft palisade, and surrounded by a ditch were built around the fort; with the fort containing five log blockhouses/barracks, a hospital, kitchens, workshops, and officers' quarters by the start of the 19th century. Timber was obtained from trees felled in the area; and transported via the Niagara River. Most of the fort was built by members of the Royal Canadian Volunteers, a unit that was later disbanded in 1802.

By 1812, the fort was used as the headquarters for the central division of the British Army and a depot for the Indian Department. Believing Fort George was too large to defend given the number of soldiers he had available, Major-General Isaac Brock drafted plans to reduce the size of the fort by a third. Specifically, he proposed to abandon the southern bastions, the octagonal blockhouse, and the stone gunpowder magazine; erecting palisades to cut off the abandoned sections from the rest of the fort.

War of 1812
Shortly after the American declaration of war, work on the northeast bastion was undertaken by members of the York Militia. When the fort was manned by British during the war, the fort was occupied by British Army regulars; members of the Canadian militia, including the Captain Runchey's Company of Coloured Men; and First Nation allies.

Given the fort's location near the Canada–United States border, the fort became the centre of several military actions during the War of 1812. In October 1812, the fort was subject to bombardment with heated shots from American forces in Fort Niagara, as a diversion for the American assault on Queenston Heights. The diversionary bombardment, in addition to another bombardment in November 1812 led to the destruction of several buildings in the fort. After Brock's death at Queenston Heights, he was buried in a military funeral at Fort George's northeast bastion.

Battle of Fort George
The Battle of Fort George began on 25 May 1813, when Fort George was subjected to an artillery barrage and heated shots from Fort Niagara, and newly built and fortified shore batteries; resulting in the destruction of the log buildings within the fort. Two days later, an American landing force of 2,300 troops disembarked in four waves approximately 3 km from Fort George, on the shoreline of Lake Ontario under the cover of cannonade fire. By the third landing wave Brigadier General John Vincent realized that his force of 560 men were at risk of being outflanked, and trapped at Fort George; resulting in him giving the order to destroy the fort's ammunition, to spike its guns, and to retreat and evacuate the fort. First Nations warriors under John Norton covered the British retreat, although the Americans made no real effort to pursue them.

The Americans advanced cautiously towards the fort, wanting to avoid any potential casualties against a potentially sabotaged gunpowder magazine; which occurred at the conclusion of the Battle of York. American forces were able to prevent the destruction of a substantial portion of what remained of the fort, having arrived quickly enough for a U.S. artillery captain to extinguish one of the magazine fuses.

American occupation
Although the British evacuated the fort on 7 June, American forces did not formally occupy the fort until 9 June. Once the Americans occupied the fort, they immediately began work on new fieldworks, refortifying the bastions of the fort, and extending the northwest bastion; with the fort serving as the U.S. Army of the center's headquarters. Although American forces used some parts of the fort's old fieldwork, the fort was made substantially smaller, into a more defensible pentagonal-shape fort. In addition to rebuilding the earthwork ramparts, they also repaired the palisades, and added entrenchments near the northeast bastion and towards the river. However, they did not erect any other permanent structures in the fort, with its forces instead garrisoning in small outlying outposts around the fort.

The fort was largely modified to defend the American encampment adjacent to the fort from an attack from inland. The Americans intended to use the encampment as a staging ground for an invasion further into the Niagara peninsula. During its seven-month occupation of the fort, the American military initially brought more soldiers to the fort in preparation for their advance, and raised a local volunteer corps, making it the only military unit to be raised within the fort during the war. Although the fort was intended to act as a bridgehead for an American invasion of the peninsula, the American military was forced to reconsider its invasion plans after facing several setbacks; including disease, increased desertion rates, continued risk of ambush outside the confines of the encampment, and a British advance towards the area after the battles at Stoney Creek, and Beaver Dams. Plans to advance further inland were eventually scrapped, and American forces commenced a slow withdrawal from the fort; with only 60 soldiers remaining in Fort George by December 1813. Upon receiving intelligence that 1,500 British and 700 First Nations warriors were advancing onto the fort, the American garrison was ordered to withdraw, and to raze the fort and the adjacent settlement. The American garrison left the fort on 11 December after spiking the fort's guns and razing the settlement; although they did not destroy what remained of the fort.

British reoccupation
British forces arrived at the fort shortly after the Americans departure from the town, finding the only remaining buildings in the fort being the gunpowder magazine, and some temporary magazines erected by the Americans. Shortly after reoccupying the fort, the British began working on building a temporary barracks, officers' quarters, guardhouse, and another magazine. Nine days after reoccupying the fort, British forces conducted an assault that led to the capture of Fort Niagara, and the razing of communities on the American side of the river in retaliation for the burning of Niagara. As Fort Niagara remained occupied by the British for the remainder of the war, British military focus shifted towards the more strategically placed Fort Niagara; with no further investments made in maintaining Fort George.

In July 1814, American forces under Winfield Scott attempted to seize forts George and Niagara. However, Scott was forced to withdraw after realizing the naval support he was promised would not materialize.

Post-War of 1812
In 1817, American president James Monroe visited the Canadian side of the Niagara River during a goodwill trip, and was entertained by British officers at the fort. However, Fort George's inability to guard the mouth of the Niagara River was criticized by military analysts after the war, leading to the construction of Fort Mississauga near the mouth of the river in the 1820s. During the same period, work on Butler's Barracks was undertaken southwest of the fort, and out of range of the batteries on the American side of the river.

The equipment within the fort was later auctioned away in 1821, and its palisades relocated to other sites in the next year. By 1825, the body of Isaac Brock was disinterred from the northeast bastion, and placed at Brock's Monument in Queenston. In 1828, the headquarters of British Army centre division was formally moved to York, with the fort reportedly only made up of a few "wooden decaying barracks". In 1839, Navy Hall was converted into a barracks for the British garrison, with the fort's former barracks being converted to a stables.

During the 1860s, the Canadian government took control of the British military complex in the area, which included Fort George, Fort Mississauga, Butler's Barracks, and the training commons; although the ruins of Fort George saw little use from the Canadian militia. The ruins of the fort was intermittently leased to a private citizen, who acted as a custodian-tenant of the property. During this period, several buildings were converted for other uses; with the officers' quarters incorporated into a farmhouse, the stone gunpowder magazine used for storing hay, and the property itself used as a grazing field for cattle. By the 1880s the bastions and the gunpowder magazine were in poor condition, portions of the fort were being used as farmland, with only the officers' quarters occupied by a custodian. In 1882, the Wright family was granted a lease from the Department of Militia and Defence; which led to the opening of a golf club in the area, with the golf course occupying portions of the ruins. The golf course was transformed into an eighteen-hole course in 1895, further expanding into the ruins in 1895. The fort's ruins were the subject of controversy when the golf club proposed clearing the ruins of the fort. As the golf club's membership was predominantly made up of American residents summering in the area, the proposal was subject to criticism from local and Toronto-based newspapers that published nationalistic editorials critical of the proposal; describing it as a "desecration of sacred heroic sites as [selling out] to Sabbath-breaking Americans". Facing stiff criticism, the golf club eventually abandoned their plans for the fort ruins. The golf club ceased operations shortly before the First World War.

During the First World War, the Canadian military built a military hospital on the site of the fort's esplanade, with a mess, kitchen, and guardhouse and lands adjacent to the fort; collectively known as Camp Niagara. The buildings remained in use by the military until the end of the war.

Conversion into a historic site
On 21 May 1921, the site was named as a National Historic Site of Canada, with a stone cairn placed on the site. During the mid-1930s, the Department of National Defence accepted an offer from the Niagara Parks Commission, where the commission would reconstruct and restore Fort George, Fort Mississauga, and the Navy Hall, in return for a 99-year lease on all three properties for C$1 per year; although the department reserved the right to reclaim the properties after providing six-months notice.

The commission began to restore the Navy Hall in August 1937, which was followed by restoration efforts to the fort's gunpowder magazine. However, the fort's officers' quarters were torn down and relocated to another part of the fort; while the buildings erected during the First World War were relocated outside the fort. During this period, bulldozers were also used to push the fort's earthen ramparts into place. The surrounding area was also cleared of overgrowth, resulting from the site's intermittent abandonment. In 1939, reconstruction of the fort's former buildings, in addition to a visitor centre outside of the fort took place. White pine was imported from northern Ontario in order to facilitate the building's construction. The fort reconstruction was completed in 1939 with the installation of its wooden gates, although its visitor centre remained under construction for several months after. Reconstruction and restoration efforts were largely guided by the fort's original 1799 designs; and were largely completed through make-work programs, with the head of the Niagara Parks Commission, Thomas McQuesten, also serving as the provincial Minister of Public Works. Wood used during the reconstruction effort were pressurized with creosote for longevity, with the material lasting until 2010.

Fort George was included in the 1939 royal tour of Canada, although the royal cavalcade only passed by the fort, having never stepped inside it. The Niagara Capital Commission had initially planned a "grand opening" of the site; although the outbreak of the Second World War resulted in these proposals being shelved, deemed "inappropriate" in the midst of a war. Fort George was opened to the public on 1 July 1940; although its "official opening and dedication" did not occur until June 1950, with a flypast provided by the Royal Canadian Air Force, and the United States Air Force. The Niagara Parks Commission operated the fort as a museum, exhibiting military artifacts in the reconstructed blockhouses.

In 1969, the lease with the commission was prematurely ended when the property was transferred from the Department of National Defence to Parks Canada. In 1987, a citizen cooperating association, the Friends of Fort George, was formed. From 2009 to 2010, several archaeological digs were conducted to ascertain the landscape of the fort, as well as excavate artifacts left behind by soldiers during the war.

Grounds
The fort, and its surrounding grounds are operated by Parks Canada as the Fort George National Historic Site of Canada. The national historic site includes the fort, and a visitor reception centre situated outside the fort. West of the fort is the Commons, 80 ha of green space that separates the Fort George National Historic Site from Butler's Barracks, another National Historic Site of Canada.

The only structure on the historic site that dates back to the original fort is the stone gunpowder magazine, with the majority of the buildings on the site dating back to the fort's reconstruction in the 1930s. All the historic reconstructed structures are considered "level 2 cultural resources," as they provide the fort's "historical character," a learning resource for the development of historical sites through make-work programs during the Great Depression, and illustrate the methods used by historic preservation movement in the 1930s.

Fort
Although the fort was modified several times in the early 19th century, the 1937–39 reconstruction configured the layout of the fort to resemble its 1799 configurations. However, as a serious archaeological survey was not conducted prior to its reconstruction, several differences exist between the reconstruction and the original 1799 fort; most notably differences with the rampart's placement and a difference in the blockhouses' appearances. Additionally, as the bulldozers were used to reshape the fort's earthworks, the fort's interior terrain was significantly flattened, resulting in a flatter topography when compared the original fort.

The gunpowder magazine is the only original building in the fort. Reconstructed buildings in the fort include the four blockhouses, a single storey officers' kitchen, a single-storey rectangular officers' quarters built in a Colonial Revival-style, and a rectangular guardhouse with a gabled roof clad in cedar shakes. All the reconstructed buildings are loose interpretation of the original structures, with the designs based on the architect's interpretation of a frontier fort. As a result, the historical designation is confined to the footprint of the buildings. The fort's artificer's and blacksmith shop, was also constructed during the 1930s reconstruction of the fort, although the building itself is not based on any historical antecedent. The building is used as a modern workshop, although it was designed in the same aesthetic as the other reconstructed buildings.

Blockhouses
The fort features three blockhouses inside the fort's palisades, all of which were completed in 1939. All three blockhouses are two-storey log structures, whose second storey overhangs from the first. They all also feature a low pitched roof, clad in cedar shakes. However, the present blockhouses found inside the palisades were not designed after the original blockhouses of Fort George, but instead were designed based on existing blockhouses at Fort York.

The blockhouses were designed with an exposed log exterior, based on the architect's interpretation of a rugged "frontier" aesthetic, although clapboards were added onto the blockhouses to give them a more refined appearance. Blockhouse 1 and 3 are square-shaped whereas Blockhouse 2 is a large, rectangular-shaped blockhouse. As opposed to the other blockhouses, Blockhouse 3 is accessed through an exterior staircase that leads to its second storey access point. Blockhouse 3 also houses storage rooms, change rooms, lunch rooms, and washrooms for Parks Canada staff. In addition to the three blockhouses inside the palisades, there is also another blockhouse located on the palisades of the fort, near the south redan; also completed during the fort's reconstruction. As with the other blockhouses it is two storeys tall and features an overhanging second storey; although unlike the other blockhouses, it takes the shape of an octagon. The only access point to the octagonal blockhouse is through a tunnel from inside the fort. As with the other blockhouses, the aesthetic of the reconstructed octagonal blockhouse was based on the ones from Fort York.

Gunpowder magazine
The fort's gunpowder magazine is the only structure in the fort that dates back to the fort's original construction in 1796. In addition to being the fort's oldest building, the magazine is also one of Niagara-on-the-Lake's oldest buildings. Although the fort was built on elevated ground above Navy Hall, the gunpowder magazine was built over a depression of a ravine; making the roof the only part of the building visible from Fort Niagara. A drainage system was required to drain the moisture collected from the ravine shortly after the magazine's completion, in order to preventing the floor boards from rotting. Until the fort's gunpowder magazine was completed, the original Navy Hall was briefly used as an ammunition store after the British transferred their garrison from Fort Niagara to Fort George. Shortly after the gunpowder magazine's was completed, defensive earthworks were created to the northeast of the magazine in an effort to further fortify it. The walls are made of 8 ft limestone likely quarried from nearby Queenston. The interior was built with bricks, with a 3 ft brick arch to reinforce its roof. The small windows and doors are sheathed in copper, preventing any accidental ignition of the gunpowder from sparks. The double-layered wooden floors were also pegged to the ground as opposed to nailed. In spite of these features however, the building itself was not shell-proof, and may be liable to fires as a result of accidents or enemy action.

Although the gunpowder magazine was situated in the portion of the fort that was abandoned by Isaac Brock, it remained in use. During the Battle of Queenston Heights, the metal covering on the magazine's roof was set ablaze, although the Garrison quickly removed the metal coverings and extinguished the fire. Although the fort was largely abandoned by the British in the 1820s in favour of Fort Mississauga, the magazine remained in use by Fort Mississauga's garrison until the 1830s. During the mid-19th century, the building was occasionally occupied by squatters.

The building could store 300 barrels of gunpowder, a second stone and brick gunpowder magazine was built, though that magazine was abandoned and reported "in ruins" by 1814.

Ramparts
The ramparts of the fort were made up of irregular earthworks consisting of six bastions, each framed with timber and connected by a line of picketing. The earthworks were bulldozed into place during the 1930s. As opposed to the present earthworks, which were largely bulldozed in place, the original fort's earthworks were built using wooden cribs over the ravine gully, and using inundated clay to stabilize the soil. Because bulldozers were used for the earthworks reconstruction, only the area around the two northern bastions have a resemblance with the original fort's configuration.

Because the fort was designed as a supply depot and not a true defensive fortification, the earthwork's bastions were poorly positioned, with a lack of interlocking lines of fire creating areas of vulnerability at certain parts of the ramparts. Attempts to rectify these deficiencies were made prior to the War of 1812, when Isaac Brock instructed that the fort's size be reduced, by abandoning the southern ramparts and erecting palisades at the new defensive line. Further modifications made to the fort's original ramparts during the Americans occupation of the fort, transforming it into a smaller, more defensible pentagonal fort. These modifications are not reflected in the reconstructed Fort George, with the restoration process restoring the fort to its 1799 configuration; although the archaeological remains of the American dug entrenchments next to the fort are still visible.

Navy Hall
In addition to the fort, Fort George National Historic Site also contains Navy Hall, a reconstructed historical building below the eastern ramparts of the fort at the shoreline of the Niagara River. The original Navy Hall predates the construction of the original Fort George, with the building having served as the barracks for the Provincial Marine, and the larger area being used as a shipyard and supply depot for Fort Niagara. During the late 1780s and early 1790s, the building was intermittently used by the lieutenant governor of Upper Canada, John Graves Simcoe as a private residence. Simcoe's offices were made into an officers' mess for soldiers in Fort George; while the rest of the building was used as storage for the Provincial Marines. An American artillery barrage in November 1812 led to the destruction of the original Navy Hall. The British rebuilt Navy Hall, and a new wharf shortly after the end of the war; albeit one that was slightly smaller. By 1840, Navy Hall was modified to fit a barracks; and the area surrounded with a guardhouse, customs house, ferry house, and taverns. However, these buildings were relegated to storage use by the 1850s. In an effort accommodate the construction of the Erie and Niagara Railway Navy Hall was moved closer to the fort ruins, and was later converted for use as a stable During the First World War, the building was partially renovated after it was converted into a laboratory for the Canadian Medical Corps. However, it was abandoned again after the war, resulting in its deterioration. After the Erie and Niagara Railway line closed, process of reconstruct the building at its original location was undertaken. A new stone foundation was used, with the building's facade largely encased in stone; while the lumber was salvaged from an old barn.

In 1969, Navy Hall was also designated a National Historic Site of Canada, although it remains associated with the Fort George National Historic Site. As with the other reconstructed buildings in Fort George, Navy Hall's historical designation is restricted to the building's footprint. Like the other reconstructed buildings at the historic site, Navy Hall has not been evaluated by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada for possible national significance, and is considered a "level 2 cultural resource" for the historic site.

Museum operations
Parks Canada operates the fort as a living museum providing visitors a glimpse of military life in 19th century Upper Canada, as well as exhibits on the War of 1812. A number of its exhibits focus on lieutenant governor Simcoe, as well as the Provincial Marine, the maritime equivalent of the Canadian militia.

The museum contains several artifacts that originate from the fort during the War of 1812 period, including a portrait of an officer from the 100th Regiment of Foot that was stationed; a sword believed to be carried by an officer of the Royal Engineers, and a sword belt plate from the Lincoln and Welland Militia.

title: Fort George, Ontario


text:
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 * Old IDs: 2726558, 2629876, 2743968, 2602826, 2540264, 2529800, 2560914, 2550715, 2565259, 2721068, 2508790, 2501846, 2510690, 2510474, 2654746, 2503370, 2501706
 * Cur entries:
 * Chirality 20040307023726
 * Talk:Michael_Faraday 20040227190846
 * Apnea 20040226192925
 * Magnetic_circular_dichroism 20040225213113
 * Linear_polarization 20040225135540

 * 67.68.254.2 → P.T. Aufrette
 * Old IDs: 2718268, 2711754, 2718279, 2705286, 2705220, 2705200, 2705185, 2705166, 2705133, 2705088, 2705065, 2705020
 * 128.175.239.52 → MinutiaeMan
 * Old IDs: 1746956
 * 81.226.186.119 → Sverdrup
 * Old IDs: 1984295, 1672066
 * 24.114.184.149 → Qz
 * Old IDs: 2661019

 * 66.159.212.41 → Darrien
 * Old IDs: 2705089, 2900930, 2822437, 2151560, 2426586, 2059685, 2373444, 2048737, 2183566, 1224322, 1352337, 1294114, 1318371

 * 216.161.122.212 → Matt Keleher
 * Old IDs: 5608227, 5608219, 5608161, 5609218, 5607446, 5607148, 5607144, 5613185, 5607099, 5607096, 5607087, 5607032, 5606931, 5606282, 5606255, 5607142, 5606060, 5605572, 5605523, 5605119, 5605115, 5616734, 5604943, 5604920, 5606034, 5603839
 * Cur entries:
 * StyleWriter 20040902150824
 * Talk:IMac 20040902145558
 * Apple_Display_Connector 20040902141028
 * Digital_visual_interface 20040902140543
 * FireWire 20040902124035
 * PowerBook 20040902115842
 * IBook 20040902114806
 * VisiCalc 20040902112150
 * Star_Trek_project 20040902110537
 * Palm_OS 20040902083702
 * Iowa_State_University 20040829095522
 * 24.7.126.117 → VeryVerily
 * Old IDs: 5596539, 5596367, 5596435, 5596291, 5596226, 5596168, 5596632, 5596620, 5596035
 * 171.65.85.86 → L&m3d
 * Old IDs: 5580656, 5580347, 5578447, 5578397, 5578342
 * 213.48.182.7 → Rich Farmbrough
 * Old IDs: 5374332, 5404224, 5402322, 5440206, 5380693, 5521830, 5403914, 5371598, 4712463, 4485671, 4728784, 4402154, 4407160, 4400538, 4412643, 4404092, 4486837, 3780087, 4226115, 3717461, 4812850, 4232518, 5282969, 3423713, 3829267
 * Cur entries:
 * The_Jungle_Book 20040822181522
 * List_of_H_Doujinshi_(Games) 20040706213328
 * Talk:List_of_multiracial_people 20040702095914
 * 198.232.250.51 → Henryhartley
 * Old IDs: 5550215, 3202848
 * Cur entries:
 * Juneau_City_and_Borough,_Alaska 20040830213438
 * List_of_glaciers 20040830211929
 * Richard_Harris_(prospector) 20040830211531
 * Joe_Juneau_(prospector) 20040830211433
 * 82.6.10.139 → Chriscf
 * Old IDs: 5381324, 5379976, 5380040, 5379951, 5379346, 5375272, 5416642, 5372323, 5455873, 5360460, 5360790, 5360059, 5296108, 5419086, 5357316, 5253911, 5252968, 5252903, 5252756, 5234965, 5235000, 5124671, 5072110, 5071231, 5225746, 5151863, 5633579, 5069856, 5039157, 5425890, 5028580, 5028113, 5169863, 5036545, 5008104, 5008006, 5007952, 5015911, 5135204, 5007823, 5007801, 5023193, 5054349, 5054390, 4983560, 5498689, 4982612, 4983057, 4979653, 5379939, 5342295, 4958980, 4959317, 4973163, 5010900, 5360173, 4948520, 4930668, 4927631, 4927591, 4927397, 4927256, 4930678, 4927239, 4927004, 4927107, 4926936, 4930687, 4926905, 4910407, 5159887, 4851152, 4782857, 4749411, 4610050, 4363646, 4358505, 4358547, 4361143, 4359131, 4355355, 4354999, 5364292, 4748374, 4474756, 4562809, 4323039, 4043773, 4299438, 4025709, 4009319, 3947329, 4437592
 * Cur entries:
 * User_talk:82.6.10.139 20040823215843
 * Talk:Snafu 20040822212933
 * Last_Call_Return 20040822024955
 * Ram_Jam 20040822024407
 * Drachma 20040821225104
 * Talk:British_Board_of_Film_Classification 20040819035423
 * Land_Of_My_Fathers 20040819022156
 * Irish_pound 20040817010729
 * Rand_(currency) 20040817010456
 * Markka 20040817010153
 * Talk:9-1-1 20040808001039
 * Social_Security_number 20040806130447
 * Talk:Carthage 20040806034606
 * Talk:1984 20040806020701
 * PAYE 20040806014932
 * Talk:List_of_songs_whose_title_constitutes_the_entire_lyrics 20040802035544
 * Talk:Demoscene 20040802032321
 * Barry, Wales 20040629023517
 * Father_Jack_Hackett 20040605051857
 * 24.107.164.142 → Whirl
 * Old IDs: 5600606, 5371934
 * 147.231.88.135 → EJ
 * Old IDs: 5341654, 4822379, 3811768
 * Cur entries:
 * Eisenstein's_criterion 20040812114140
 * 63.206.157.104 → Sccosel
 * Old IDs: 5409205, 5459764, 5176221, 5377567, 5176487, 5259803, 5282767, 5233356, 5146560, 5146518, 5217792, 5559014, 5132722
 * Cur entries:
 * Osborne_1 20040813043320
 * Osborne 20040813034540
 * Perris,_California 20040811182446
 * Buena_Park,_California 20040810230221
 * 209.145.83.6 → Jouster
 * Old IDs: 4989580
 * 68.99.182.143 → Sccosel
 * Old IDs: 5155572, 5117151, 5117114, 5117073, 5116983, 5191219, 5116844, 5116833, 5116909, 5116712, 5116670, 5115650
 * Cur entries:
 * Dorothy_Buffum_Chandler 20040810095220
 * Pacific_Electric_Railway 20040810092612
 * General_Motors_streetcar_conspiracy 20040810091433
 * 131.247.115.82 → Tregoweth
 * Old IDs: 5155459, 4968720, 5390400, 4936100
 * Cur entries:
 * Duck_Dodgers_in_the_24& 20040731173949
 * PS/1 20040731171548
 * 216.39.144.168 → S.R. Heller
 * Old IDs: 5428464
 * 65.33.39.84 → Mindspillage
 * Old IDs: 5203903
 * 68.62.224.141 → Cbane
 * Old IDs: 2360880
 * 81.103.216.91 → Caroline Thompson
 * Old IDs: 5013284, 5064452
 * 65.93.144.170 → Kraigus
 * Old IDs: 4864334, 4863954, 4863945
 * Cur entries:
 * Defenceman 20040727032456
 * 65.195.62.10 → Egalitus
 * Old IDs: 5397076, 5536474, 5270339, 5631939, 5270741, 5270284, 5324688, 5286016, 5267589, 5479438, 5080753, 4891142, 5194095, 4890265, 4890529, 5005475, 4739775, 5160176, 4642113, 4915212, 4617404, 4617353, 5081773, 4949648, 4948314, 4916352, 4530267, 4547685, 4515378, 4726779, 4471026, 5284860, 4362812, 4642102, 4357480, 4340494, 4830966, 4222069, 4132018, 4125758, 2940798, 2933832, 2933431, 2933124, 2907934
 * Cur entries:
 * Thirteenth_Amendment_to_the_Constitution_of_Pakistan 20040825221551
 * Dictablanda 20040823205003
 * Illiberal_democracy 20040817214640
 * Supreme_Court_of_Pakistan 20040817211338
 * Eighth_Amendment_to_the_Constitution_of_Pakistan 20040817195411
 * Nawaz_Sharif 20040817192736
 * Compressed_Natural_Gas 20040728190607
 * Moody's 20040728185029
 * Pakistan_Muslim_League_(Q) 20040628234136
 * Sajjad_Ali_Shah 20040628231623
 * 69.138.197.185 → Stbalbach
 * Old IDs: 4773830
 * 66.58.166.118 → Merovingian
 * Old IDs: 3170067, 1862652, 2028682, 1824817, 1712739, 1712090, 1781600, 1712050, 1880857, 1767424, 1711981, 2424060, 1712940, 1796327, 2259027, 1698336
 * Cur entries:
 * Mental 20040609150155
 * 128.104.220.225 → Lethe
 * Old IDs: 4122358, 3779254, 3615829, 1806534, 2047422
 * 218.103.142.7 → The MoUsY spell-checker
 * Old IDs: 4663015, 4928769
 * 66.58.1.42 → Autiger
 * Old IDs: 4569930, 4678602, 4622770, 5025014, 4565701, 4565547, 4565741, 4731702, 4575953, 4561225, 4560918, 4560874, 4560855, 4875282, 4584937
 * 65.38.130.26 → Node ue
 * Old IDs: 4730459, 5467518, 4485341, 4484747, 4484797
 * Cur entries:
 * Saint_Adomnan 20040707054420
 * Saint_Aelfheah 20040707050001
 * Adrian,_Saint 20040707045833
 * Saint_Adrian_III 20040707045742
 * Adrian_III,_Saint 20040707045625
 * Adamnan,_Saint 20040707045458
 * Saint_Adamnan 20040707045419
 * Adomnan 20040707045356
 * Adomnan 20040707045341
 * 65.248.62.231 → Acedian
 * Old IDs: 4286570, 4286480, 4286470, 4286437, 4286400, 4286389, 4285634, 4285257, 4285162
 * 192.16.204.80 → Andris
 * Old IDs: 3833997, 3723816, 4126417, 3817769, 3514378, 3490769, 3365058, 3449815, 2765935, 2765127, 2727367, 2726777, 3095788, 2661138, 2770577, 3751244
 * Cur entries:
 * User_talk:192.16.204.80 20040522050711
 * Metropolis_algorithm 20040307041026
 * 65.213.215.153 → Jondumitru
 * Old IDs: 4241615, 4225555
 * 209.86.3.34 → Tom Radulovich
 * Old IDs: 4320907, 4320713, 4342946, 4321004, 4320683, 4320502
 * 80.4.5.165 → Solipsist
 * Old IDs: 5391795, 5331802, 5384776, 5115125, 4462033, 4505579, 5218521, 4236893, 4160651, 4190182, 4002662, 3701946, 2851114, 2726517, 2791435, 2704575, 2695577, 2694551, 2731832, 2684721, 2684229, 2684222, 2683910, 2683769, 2683703, 2680940
 * Cur entries:
 * User:Solipsist 20040823161030
 * Shar-kali-sharri 20040703214235
 * Eye_chart 20040625102857
 * 66.203.195.93 → Simonides
 * Old IDs: 4271476, 4158309, 4137028, 4137010
 * 24.12.70.240 → Grimey
 * Old IDs: 5405948, 4775037, 4607703, 4147603, 4055934, 4055820
 * Cur entries:
 * [[Image:LocationRussia.png]] 20040829193458
 * 203.127.72.10 → Alex.tan
 * Old IDs: 4363959, 4015764, 3997550, 4069384, 3469021, 3145572, 2996206, 2622893, 2638461, 2399037, 2293741
 * 211.30.43.60 → Frikle
 * Old IDs: 4232174, 3969036, 3966265, 3948553, 3982778, 3973994, 3979385, 4515473, 3973926, 3890830, 3921827, 3974362, 3974355, 3974350, 3880076, 3965942, 3889652
 * 211.30.43.184 → Frikle
 * 211.30.51.79 → Frikle
 * Old IDs: 3991074, 3820100, 3792791, 3792845, 3797891, 3777787, 3792718, 3777776, 3777738, 3776242
 * Cur entries:
 * Tenakh 20040531003548
 * Choy_Li_Fut 20040530120338
 * Choy_Lee_Fut 20040530120247
 * 211.30.46.184 → Frikle
 * Old IDs: 3879872, 3841445, 3879927, 3822306, 3829147, 3821967
 * 80.86.36.97 → Pigsonthewing
 * Old IDs: 3458728, 3680157, 3458085, 3457983, 3460509, 3482066, 3457846, 3457868, 3471433, 3457745, 3457667, 3511400, 3457623, 3457563, 3457932, 4153016, 3592730, 3582721, 3582746, 3738373, 3457300, 3488018, 3457543, 3457214, 3457178, 3457171, 4167316, 3657396, 5371621, 3457536, 3444933, 3444894, 3444853, 3024483, 2585451, 2585402, 2587277, 2585349, 2585321, 2585259
 * Cur entries:
 * Birmingham_Museums_&_Art_Gallery 20040505104759


text:
Thomas S. Wootton High School

Thomas S. Wootton High School or Wootton High School (WHS) is a public high school in Rockville, Maryland. Its namesake is Thomas S. Wootton, the founder of Montgomery County. The school was founded in 1970 and is part of the Montgomery County Public Schools system.

Academics
In 2019, Newsweek ranked Wootton's STEM program #160 in a nationwide survey of US high schools. In 2022, U.S. News & World Report ranked Wootton #167 nationally amongst high school. As of 2024, Wooton ranks 195th nationally and 4th in Maryland.

Wootton students average a score of 1288 on the SAT, with 634 on verbal and 654 on math.

History
In November 2001, President George W. Bush visited Wootton and signed the congressional bill officially recognizing "Veterans Awareness Week", which takes place the week before Veteran's Day.

In 2015, school principal Michael Doran was found dead in his Bethesda, Maryland, apartment. A memorial service was held at Wootton two days later. In 2017, a bridge near the high school and its auditorium was named in Doran's honor.

On April 18, 2024, an 18-year-old trans student by the name of Andrea Ye was arrested by the Montgomery County Police Department for shooting threats made against the school. The FBI contacted the MCPD, after which they proceeded to obtain a search warrant to investigate her home, where they discovered violent drawings and documents relating to mass violence, including a 129-page long manifesto, containing numerous threats of violence against the student population and staff of Wootton High School. Authorities say that Ye, a local resident at the time, had a struggling past when he was sent to the hospital in December 2022 for similar threats as well as homicidal and suicidal thoughts, but was still preoccupied after being released the following month.

Controversies
On October 9, 2020, former football coach Christopher Papadopolous was sentenced to 18 months in jail with 5 years of probation with his addition to the Maryland sex offender registry. Christopher Papadopolous pleaded guilty to one count of sexual abuse of a minor and one count of fourth-degree sex offense. These charges stemmed from his sexual assault of several 17 year old minors in his home in Gaithersburg.

On November 2, 2021, a report of a sexual assault occurring in the school's locker room was received by Montgomery County Police. Members of the school's varsity team were allegedly involved in this in incident. Several students and staff members were interviewed in an investigation with officers from the police department's Special Victims Investigation Division. However, the investigation yielded no evidence of an occurrence of a sexual assault.

Its infrastructure is aging, a cause of concern for many students and teachers alike. It was found to have lead in its water, but those issues have not been fixed as of 2018. However, Montgomery County Public School Student Member of the Board candidates of 2023 are promising to fix this.

Areas Served
Most students attending Wootton live in Rockville, with others residing in Gaithersburg, Potomac, Travilah, and North Potomac.

Wootton feeds from two middle schools and six elementary schools:

 * Cabin John Middle School
 * Cold Spring ES
 * Stone Mill ES
 * Robert Frost Middle School
 * DuFief ES
 * Fallsmead ES
 * Lakewood ES
 * Travilah ES

Future Boundary Changes
Wootton is one of the schools in the scope for the new Crown High School, which has an expected completion date of August 2027.

Demographics
During the 2022–2023 school year, the school's racial composition was 37.3% white, 38.3% Asian, 11.8% Black, and 8.2% Hispanic. Multiracial students made up less than 5% of the student body, as did Native and Pacific Islander American students. The overall size of the student body was 1,911.

Notable alumni
• Utkarsh Ambudkar, actor

• Steve Coll, journalist

• Daryl Davis, musician and activist

• Trevon Diggs, National Football League (NFL) defensive back

• Myles Frost, Tony Award-winning actor

• Mack Hollins, National Football League (NFL) wide receiver

• Timothy Hwang, CEO and co-founder of FiscalNote

• Thomas Jane, actor

• Chris Lu, politician

• Eric Luedtke, member of the Maryland House of Delegates

• Richie Moriarty, actor

• Mathias Nkwenti, National Football League (NFL) offensive tackle

• Krystian Ochman, Polish-American singer

• Marc Roberge, Chris Culos, Richard On and Benj Gershman, members of the rock band O.A.R.

• Dick Scanlan (1977), actor

• Aaron Silverman, chef

• Haley Skarupa, Olympic ice hockey player

• Scott Weinrich, musician

• Frederick Yeh, biologist and animal welfare activist

title: Thomas S. Wootton High School


text: File:Ned Flanders.png

title: File:Ned Flanders.png


text:
Europol

Europol, officially the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, is the law enforcement agency of the European Union (EU). Established in 1998, it is based in The Hague, Netherlands, and serves as the central hub for coordinating criminal intelligence and supporting the EU's member states in their efforts to combat various forms of serious and organized crime, as well as terrorism.

Europol's main objective is to improve the effectiveness and cooperation between the law enforcement agencies of the EU member states. To achieve this, Europol facilitates the exchange of information and intelligence, provides analytical support, and offers specialized training and expertise. Some of the key areas of focus for Europol include drug trafficking, human trafficking, cybercrime, money laundering, and counter-terrorism.

The Agency has no executive powers, and its officials are not entitled to arrest suspects, conduct independent investigations, or act without prior approval from competent authorities in the member states as Europol's role is to support and facilitate the efforts of national law enforcement agencies within the EU.

Origins and establishment

Europol has its origins in TREVI, a forum for security cooperation created amongst European Community interior and justice ministers in 1976. At first, TREVI focused on international terrorism, but soon started to cover other areas of cross-border crime within the Community. At the European Summit in Luxembourg on 28–29 June 1991, German Chancellor Helmut Kohl called for the creation of a European police agency similar to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)—thus sowing the seeds of police co-operation across Europe. At the Summit, the European Council agreed to establish "a Central European Criminal Investigations Office (Europol) by 31 December 1993 the latest."

The idea of the Luxembourg Summit was further elaborated at the European Council in Maastricht on 9–10 December 1991, a meeting to draft the Maastricht Treaty. The European Council agreed to create "a European police office (Europol) the initial function of which would be to organize exchange of information on narcotic drugs". The Council likewise instructed TREVI ministers to take measures in setting up the office. On 7 February 1992, Europol was enshrined with more substance in Article K.1, section 9, as the Maastricht Treaty was signed: "[...] Member States shall regard the following areas as matters of common interest: [...] police cooperation for the purposes of preventing and combatting terrorism, unlawful drug trafficking and other serious forms of international crime, including if necessary certain aspects of customs cooperation, in connection with the organization of a Union-wide system for exchanging information within a European Police Office (Europol)."Europol was first de facto organised provisionally in 1993 as the Europol Drugs Unit (EDU) in Strasbourg at the same site as the Schengen Information System was hosted. The small initial group started operations there in January 1994 under the leadership of Jürgen Storbeck and with a mandate to assist national police forces in criminal investigations. The competition for the permanent site of Europol during the period was between The Hague, Rome and Strasbourg—the European Council decided on 29 October 1993 that Europol should be established in The Hague. A former Roman Catholic boys school built in 1910 at Raamweg 47 was chosen as the precise location. The house was used in World War II by police and intelligence agencies and after the War manned by the Dutch State Intelligence Service until Europol relocated there later in 1994.

The Europol Convention was signed on 26 July 1995 in Brussels and came into force on 1 October 1998 after being ratified by all the Member States. The European Police Office (Europol) commenced its full activities on 1 July 1999.

Reformation as a European Union agency
Europol was fully integrated into the European Union with Council Decision 2009/371/JHA of 6 April 2009. It replaced the Europol Convention and reformed Europol as an EU agency (i.e. subject to the general rules and procedures applicable to all EU agencies) on 1 January 2010 due to different aspirations, such as enhanced support to Member States on countering serious and organised crime, budgetary control by the European Parliament, and administrative simplification.

The Agency's new 32 000 m2 headquarters building, designed by Frank Wintermans, was opened by, then Queen, now Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands on 1 July 2011 in the international zone of The Hague next to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) at Eisenhowerlaan 73.

European Cybercrime Centre
On 11 January 2013, Director Rob Wainwright and European Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmström launched the European Cybercrime Centre (EC3 or EC3), a unit of Europol tasked with assisting Member States to dismantle and disrupt cybercrime committed by organised groups to generate large criminal profits (e.g. online fraud), causing serious harm to victims (e.g. online child sexual exploitation) or affecting critical infrastructure and systems in the EU. The purpose of the centre is to coordinate cross-border law enforcement activities against cybercrime and act as a centre of technological expertise, such as tool development and training. Commissioner Malmström stated that the need for a cybercrime centre in Europe was "to protect the open and free internet". On 25 January 2016, the European Counter Terrorism Centre (ECTC) was launched as a new strategic platform within Europol to share information among EU states in tracking movements of Europeans into and from Syria as well as to monitor terrorists' finances and militants' Internet usage.

Exceptions to opt-out
When the UK exercised its opt-out from the area of freedom, security and justice in 2014, its request to continue participating in Europol was approved.

Denmark was not permitted to participate in the 2016 recast Europol Regulation due to its opt-out from the area of freedom, security and justice. In a December 2015 referendum it rejected converting its opt-out to a case-by-case opt-in, which would have allowed it to participate in the new regulation and remain a member of Europol. However, Denmark and the European Union agreed on a co-operation deal in December 2016. The agreement was accepted by both the European Parliament and the Danish Parliament on 27 April 2017 and subsequently signed on 29 April 2017—two days before Denmark would have been cut off from the Agency.

The UK also did not originally participate in the recast 2016 Europol Regulation, but subsequently notified the EU of its desire to participate in December 2016. Its participation was confirmed by a Commission Decision in March 2017. In September 2017, it was reported that the United Kingdom was planning to hold onto Europol access, such as intelligence sharing and co-operation in fighting crime and terrorism, after Brexit though a new treaty. However, the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier said in November 2017 that the UK "will no longer be a member of the European Defence Agency or Europol" after Brexit takes effect.

Activities regarding counter-terrorism
The European Parliament approved Europol's new legal framework, Regulation (EU) 2016/794, on 11 May 2016 after three years of negotiations and thus repealed the former Decisions of 2009. The new framework granted additional powers on counter-terrorism to Europol, but also includes adding training and exchange programmes for staff, creating a solid data protection system, and strengthening the Parliament's control over the Agency. The Regulation took effect on 1 May 2017. Additionally, the full name was amended to European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol).

Activities against child sexual abuse
Europol started the Stop Child Abuse – Trace an Object campaign and website on 31 May 2017. The site's objective is to display objects in child sexual abuse images to try to find the perpetrators and victims — in the hope that distinct details, such as a logo on a bag or a shampoo bottle, can be identified by the public who can then forward the information by an anonymous tip-off or social media. The approach was called crowdsourcing by the investigators. Bellingcat, the investigative search network, reported that several objects had been positively identified following its attempt to support Europol's call.

Tasks and activities
Europol is mandated by the European Union (EU) to assist EU Member States in the fight against international crime, such as illicit drugs, trafficking in human beings, intellectual property crime, cybercrime, euro counterfeiting and terrorism, by serving as a centre for law enforcement co-operation, expertise and criminal intelligence. Europol or its officials do not have executive powers — and therefore they do not have powers of arrest and cannot carry out investigations without the approval of national authorities.

Europol reported it would focus on countering cybercrime, organised crime, and terrorism as well as on building its information technology capacities during the 2016–2020 strategy cycle,. Europol likewise stated that the previous strategy cycle of 2010–2014 laid the foundation for the Agency as the European criminal information hub. The EU Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessment (SOCTA) of 2017 identified eight priority crime areas: cybercrime; drug production, trafficking and distribution; migrant smuggling; organised property crime; trafficking in human beings; criminal finances and money laundering; document fraud; and online trade in illicit goods and services.

Additionally, the Agency's tasked activities in detail include analysis and exchange information, such as criminal intelligence; co-ordination of investigative and operational action as well as joint investigation teams; preparation of threat assessments, strategic and operational analyses and general situation reports; and developing specialist knowledge of crime prevention and forensic methods. Europol is to coordinate and support other EU bodies established within the area of freedom, security and justice, such as the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training (CEPOL), the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), and EU crisis management missions. The Agency is also directed to assist the European Council and the European Commission in developing strategic and operational priorities.

Publications
Europol has published the annual Terrorism Situation and Trend Report (TE-SAT), since 2007. This report provides an overview of terrorism within the EU over the previous year. It includes statistics on foiled, failed and completed terrorist attacks, arrests, and the number of deaths and injuries caused by terrorism within the 13 member states.

European Financial and Economic Crime Centre
On 4 May 2020, Europol launched the new European Financial and Economic Crime Centre (EFECC). The Centre aims to enhance the operational support provided to the EU Member States and EU bodies in the fields of financial and economic crime and promote the systematic use of financial investigations.

On 2 December 2020, Europol initiated the European Money Mule Action (EMMA) and collaborated with 26 countries in coordinating the EMMA 7 operation. This effort led to the identification of more than 18,000 money mules and resulted in 1,803 arrests. Successfully carrying out anti-money laundering operations like this may serve as a deterrent and convey a strong message about AML compliance to cryptocurrency businesses throughout various states.

The new EFECC has been set up within the current organisational structure of Europol that is already playing an important part in the European response to financial and economic crime and will be staffed with 65 international experts and analysts.

Organisation
In the financial year 2017, the Agency's budget was approximately 116.4 million euros. As of December 2016, Europol has 1065 staff, of which 32.3% are female and 67.7% male, including employment contracts with Europol, liaison officers from Member States and third states and organisations, Seconded National Experts, trainees and contractors. Of the staff, 201 are liaison officers and around 100 analysts. In addition to the Management Board and Liaison Bureaux, Europol is organised into three different departments under the Executive Director:

 * O1 Front Office
 * O2 European Serious and Organised Crime Centre (ESOCC)
 * O3 European Cybercrime Centre (EC3)
 * O4 European Counter Terrorism Centre (ECTC)
 * O5 Horizontal Operational Services (HOS)
 * G1 Corporate Affairs Bureau (CAB)
 * G2 Corporate Services
 * G3 Procurement
 * G5 Security
 * C1 ICT
 * C5 Administration
 * C1 ICT
 * C5 Administration
 * C5 Administration

Governance, accountability and relations
The Europol Directorate, day-to-day leadership of the Agency, is appointed by the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council (JHA) for four-year terms. As of 2018, the agency is headed by executive director Catherine De Bolle. The Agency is accountable to and controlled by the Justice and Home Affairs Council. Together with the European Parliament, the Council approves Europol's budget and regulations related to its work. The Council forwards an annual special report to the European Parliament on the work of the Agency — and the Parliament also discharges Europol from its responsibility for managing a set budget. Before 2009, the Agency was an international body and thus the European Parliament lacked effective scrutiny powers over it. From 2009 to 2017, the European Parliament had been the sole organ in parliamentary control of Europol. The Joint Parliamentary Scrutiny Group (JPSG) was created at the EU Speakers Conference in Bratislava on 23–25 April 2017 to allow both the European Parliament and national EU parliaments to exert control over Europol.

The Europol Management Board comprises representatives from all of the Member States and from the European Commission, each having one vote. Decisions of the Board require a supermajority and it meets at least twice per year on Europol's current and future activities as well as on adopting the budget, programming material and general annual reports. The board forwards its decisions to the Justice and Home Affairs Council for perusal. The Management Board functions include data protection, internal audit and accountancy.

External financial oversight of the Agency is conducted by the European Court of Auditors (ECA); for example, ECA evaluated Europol in 2017 on anti-radicalisation programmes. Internal control is carried out by the Internal Audit Service of the European Commission as well as by the Europol Management Board-appointed Internal Audit Function. The European Ombudsman is tasked with investigating complaints against EU institutions and bodies, including Europol, as well as assisting to create a more transparent, effective, accountable and ethical administration. , the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) has been responsible for supervising the agency's data protection measures.

The Director of Europol is able to enter into agreements for Europol with other countries and international organizations. As of September 2017, Europol co-operates on an operational basis with Albania, Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Denmark, Colombia, Georgia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland, Ukraine, United States, and Interpol. Similarly, the Agency has strategic agreements with Armenia, Brazil, China, Russia, Turkey, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and World Customs Organization (WCO).

title: Europol