Beyond MoCo

Sweet Rolled Tacos was founded in California in May 2017 by two brothers, Donovan and Kenny. Since then the dessert shop has expanded to over a dozen locations across the country, including one at 5967 Centreville Crest Ln in Centreville, VA that opened just last week.

The concept is a melting pot of taste, texture, and aesthetic into ice cream and drinks. Per the dessert shop’s website, “Sweet Rolled Tacos is all about the experience and catering to what customers want. We want you to enjoy every bite and every sip.  Every ice cream taco is made with premium cream, handcrafted on a cold plate that is rolled into ice cream is fitted into a waffle taco cone.”


Education

Earlier today, the Montgomery County Board of Education unanimously voted to name the upcoming Gaithersburg Elementary School #8 in memory of Harriet Tubman– an American abolitionist and social activist. The additional list of names the Board of Education had previously narrowed it down to can be seen below.

In February, Dr. Cavena J. Griffith was appointed as Principal at the upcoming Gaithersburg Elementary School #8. She is currently the principal intern at Whetstone Elementary School. in Griffith’s presentation earlier today, she stated that the name name aligns with MCPS core values– learning, relationships, equity, respect and excellence.


Business

A collaborative space created to ignite and inspire innovation in Montgomery County is having its Grand Opening on Saturday, May 14th from 11am until 1pm at Montgomery College (900 Hungerford Drive in Rockville)

ignITe Hub is an exciting, unique space where students of all ages can learn coding and entrepreneurial skills to help prepare them for the future workforce.”


Silver Spring

Holy Cross Hospital (1500 Forest Glen RdSilver Spring, MD 20910) is  recipient of the Healthgrades 2022 America’s 100 Best Hospitals Award. This places Holy Cross Hospital among the top two percent of all hospitals for clinical care and patient outcomes across treatment of the most common conditions and procedures. This is the 2nd consecutive year Holy Cross Hospital (Silver Spring) is among America’s 100 Best Hospitals, one of only six hospitals in Maryland among America’s 100 Best Hospitals, and the only recipient in Montgomery County, Maryland.

Per the press release: “The past two years have been the most challenging of my 38 years in Medicine,” said Ann Burke, MD, vice president of medical affairs at Holy Cross Hospital, part of Holy Cross Health. “COVID-19 has stressed every aspect of medical care and put unusual pressure on efforts to achieve excellence. To attain the Top 100 Hospital designation over these challenging two years is a testament to the unrelenting quest for quality in our colleagues and physicians. As the only hospital in the U.S. in 2021 to achieve the Top 100 Hospital Designation plus all Three Excellence Awards for Women’s Services further solidifies our position at the most trusted provider for women. Our participation and leadership of State and Regional Collaboratives supports excellent care for sepsis, diabetes, heart failure and pneumonia.”


Germantown

Redwall Castle (built in the 1930s) is located off of Richter Farm Rd. in Germantown, Maryland (22 miles northwest of Washington, DC). It has been available for rent via rental sites AirBNB and VRBO like for a few years now. Per the listing on AirBNB, “it is excellent for families (w kids) and groups.” The castle is made up of a main house and a separate carriage house. The main house has 5 bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms, and is for rent. The carriage house is used by the owner and outdoor open wood fire pits are available. There’s even a theater room.

The building was designed by the first licensed woman architect in the US, following British author Brian Jacques’s fairy-tail Redwall stories. It is composed of a main house (which is for rent) and a separate carriage house (owner occupied), with 6 acres (29,000 Square Yards) of land for outdoor activities. Guests must rent it for a minimum of two nights and have the full access and complete use of the 5 bedroom (4.5 bath) main house. It’s currently going for just over $500 per night.


MoCo

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.”


Maryland

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.


Education

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.


Kensington

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.


Kensington

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.


Downtown Crown

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.


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