Montgomery County Police will be holding a community event this Saturday, May 14, from 12-6pm at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds in celebration of the departments 100th anniversary. According to MCPD, this will be the largest community event the department has ever hosted and will feature food trucks, police displays, music, face painting, and more. The event is scheduled to take place rain or shine.
The criminal definition of stalking has been updated by the Maryland General Assembly to include electronic communications that can track individuals without their consent, such as geotagging. Previously, an individual would have to be physically followed by a stalker in person. House Bill 148 was signed by Governor Larry Hogan on April 21 and alters the definition of stalking to include “conduct that occurs in person, through electronic communication, or through the use of a device that can pinpoint or track the location of another without the person’s knowledge or consent.” The new law will go into effect on October 1.
According to the law, “stalking” means a malicious course of conduct that includes approaching or pursuing another where the person intends to place or knows or reasonably should have known the conduct would place another in reasonable fear of serious bodily injury; of an assault in any degree, rape or sexual offense, false imprisonment, death, or that a third person likely will suffer any of the acts listed, or the person intends to cause or knows or reasonably should have known that the conduct would cause serious emotional distress to another. A person who violates this could be found guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 5 years or a fine not exceeding $5,000 or both.
Airpark Towing and Auto Repair has reached an agreement to lease the former Midas shop at 204 N Frederick Ave in Gaithersburg. According to a post by the company, “This will allow for much needed space at our Body Shop! It will be our first shop outside of the Airpark! You will see our famous logo as you drive though 355! We want to thank everyone for all your support on this crazy journey. Airpark has become one of the highest rated repair shops in our area! Our towing service has grown to be be the largest in Gaithersburg, and undisputedly the best!” The company hopes to have the location up later this spring.
The company was founded in 1983 with one tow truck in Gaithersburg, Maryland. It grew through Mario’s relationship building efforts with many mechanic shops, body-shop owners, and auto dealers in the Montgomery County, Maryland area. We owe much of our success to the shops who currently have accounts with us and have recommended Airpark Towing for all these years.
Montgomery County Ride On bus riders can donate non-perishable food to the County Department of Transportation’s (MCDOT) Ride On food drive from May 15-22. Non-perishable food items can be dropped off on all Ride On, extRa, Flex and Flash buses. A food donation bag will be available next to the farebox.
“We must ensure that no one in Montgomery County goes hungry,” said Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich. “Food insecurity was prevalent before the pandemic hit—and COVID-19 made it even worse. So many people lost jobs and higher food prices continue to make it exceedingly difficult for families to make ends meet. I am grateful to MCDOT and Manna Food Center for this important effort and encourage residents to donate non-perishable food items on all of our buses between May 15 and May 22.”
In February, MDTA started a civil penalty waiver grace period for tolls paid in full and has ceased referring toll bills to the Central Collection Unit (CCU) and MDOT Motor Vehicle Administration (MDOT MVA) temporarily. The grace period will end at 11:59 p.m. on November 30, 2022, and the MDTA will resume referrals of unpaid toll bills and civil penalties to CCU and MDOT MVA on December 1.
If you have unpaid Video Tolls and/or Civil Penalties, the MDTA will waive the Civil Penalties if your toll balance is paid in full between Feb. 24 and 11:59 p.m. on Nov. 30, 2022. After the grace period ends, customers will remain responsible for all unpaid tolls and civil penalties and referrals will resume.
MCPS parents, staff and community members are invited to the 8th annual Special Education Summit, Leading the Way Today, Partnering for a Better Tomorrow. The summit will be held virtually from 9 a.m.–noon on Saturday, June 4.
The keynote speaker is Patricia Crain de Galarce, Ed.D., director of the Center for Inclusive and Special Education, and associate dean in the Graduate School of Education at Lesley University.
Mezeh Mediterranean Grill will be opening a new location in the upcoming Kensington Crossing development at 10619 Connecticut Avenue (at Plyers Mill Road). The restaurant has signed on to take over a new 2,350SF space with plenty of outdoor seating.
Mezeh is a fast-casual eatery with a buffet-style of offerings that include rice and salad bowls, wraps and a variety of sauces and toppings. Mezeh currently has MoCo locations in Gaithersburg and Germantown. Buffalo Wild Wings GO and M&T Bank are the other two tenants that have signed on for the upcoming development. Opening dates for any of these locations are not currently available. Update: College Park staple Marathon Deli has also signed on at Kensington Crossing.
Buffalo Wild Wings opened its first ‘Buffalo Wild Wings GO’ location– a scaled-down version of the restaurant that focuses on the to-go and delivery format in Georgia back in 2020. Now, the company will open its first ‘Go’ location in the upcoming Kensington Crossing– a new retail development that will be located at 10619 Connecticut Avenue (at Plyers Mill Road) in Kensington.
Kensington Crossing previously announced that M&T Bank, which currently has a Kensington location on Howard Avenue, signed on as its first tenant to take over its largest space (2,635 SF). No word yet on if this will be a second Kensington branch, but the likely scenario would involve the current branch moving to the new space.
A couple weeks back we let you know that Doki Toki, a dessert shop that will offer Japanese desserts, including ice cream, mochi donuts, milk tea, and a “lot of other desserts”, will be opening in Gaithersburg’s Downtown Crown neighborhood. Signage is now up at the dessert spot, which has been aiming for a May 15th opening according to a representative we spoke with a couple weeks ago.
Doki Toki Dessert Shop is taking over the location formerly occupied by Mango Mango at 202 Ellington Blvd next to Burger IM. Mango Mango was an Asian dessert spot that opened its first restaurant in New York’s Chinatown in 2013 and served traditional Hong Kong style sweet soup dessert, modern fusion sweets, and pastries. It was in the location from October 2019 until April 2021.
Quickway will be opening its 7th Montgomery County location right next to Trader Joe’s in the Travilah Square Shopping Center. The regional chain recently opened its 6th location in Olney and its 5th MoCo location in Stone Mill Square (Korean Korner shopping center). Quickway, which can now be found in 10 different counties across the DMV since opening its first location in 2012, will be joining Hangry Joe’s Hot Chicken– another new fast casual restaurant coming soon to the shopping center.
Per the Quickway website, “we bring the Teppanyaki (teppan, Japanese for griddle: yaki, grill, broiled) cooking technique to a quick service restaurant setting. The proteins are prepared fresh on the open grill in your full view, a true cooked to order signature dish. We offer choices of salads, sides, and sushi, all prepared from All Day Fresh ingredients and homemade sauces. Plus, we really care if you have a cool place to eat. We build our space to be clean, convenient and modern. Of course, our food is healthy, with reduced salt, no trans fat, and no MSG.
Gladys Beltre was last seen on Monday, May 9, 2022, at approximately 9:45 a.m., in the 12500 block of Hawks Nest Lane. Beltre is approximately 5-feet, 2-inches tall and approximately 120 pounds. She has brown hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a black North Face rain jacket and blue jeans.
Police and family are concerned for her welfare.