The Board of Education will hold its business meeting on Thursday, October 26, 2023. Closed session will begin at 1:00 p.m. Public agenda items will begin at 3:30 p.m. The meeting will be cablecast live on Comcast Channel 34 (HD 1071), Verizon Channel 36, RCN Channel 89 and the MCPS website. The agenda, with related materials attached, can be found on the Board of Education’s BoardDocs site (please visit this link for the most up-to-date agenda)
12. Adjournment – 8:10 p.m.
12:45pm UPDATE: Paint Branch High School has been cleared. Students, teachers, and staff are returning to school.
Update: MCPD has provided two updates, at 12:01pm and 12:24pm, stating that the bomb threat is still under investigation.
Fox 5 has released its 2023-2024 Winter Weather Outlook forecast and they’re expecting “more snow than an average winter, but big winter events may not arrive until the new year.” The backloaded winter could come with a warm December that brings more rain storms than snow storms, but the chance for 1-3 storms at the 5″+ level later in the winter. The outlook states that we have an “above average chance for a blizzard-level storm.”
The outlook discusses a strong El Niño weather pattern (typically wetter and warmer) that Thomas described as “feast or famine” for our area. Out of eight previous strong El Niño winters, four of them have brought us well-above average snowfall (average snowfall for DC is 13.8″), one has been at about average (13.1″), and three have been well-below average (one at 6.6″ and two with almost no snow at all- .1″ in 72-73 and 97-98). Since 1950, El Niños have brought almost twice as much snow in average than La Niñas have (18.5 inches to 9.5 inches).
Congratulations to students at six high schools for winning the following county and district championships (Courtesy of MCPS and MCPS Athletics):
Winston Churchill for winning the 3A/4A Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association’s (MPSSAA’s) District Championship in Golf
Statement by Rockville Mayor and City Council: “We unequivocally condemn Hamas’s targeted violence against innocent civilians in Israel, which has resulted in unconscionable barbaric murder and rape, attacking entire families from babies to elders, and the kidnapping of civilians, including children, who remain hostage. The attacks by the terrorist Hamas were long planned and practiced. The brutality was intended; not acts by individual soldiers. We recognize that Israeli Arabs were targeted alongside Israeli Jews.
This unprovoked attack aligns with the Hamas mission to eradicate the State of Israel and murder all Jews. Israel, a nation state endorsed and voted into the United Nations 75 years ago, has the right to protect its citizens, tourists, and visitors against insurgents. Its borders were breached, the country invaded in the most horrific manner, from land, air and sea was a deliberate provocation coming as it did during a religious holiday, on the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur war. For what evil purpose, we cannot fathom. Innocent Israelis and Palestinians, as always in war, will bear the consequences of Hamas’s terrorist attacks for years to come.
As Metro prepares for critical safety repairs on the Red Line during the last two weeks of the year, plans are underway to ensure customers are well-informed about travel alternatives to get them to and from Red Line stations where service will be interrupted. Metro scheduled the work at the end of December, while ridership is at its lowest, to have the least impact on customers.
Per WMATA: To complete the work safely and efficiently, there will be no Red Line service between Dupont Circle and Gallery Place between Monday, Dec. 18 and Saturday, Dec. 30. Farragut North and Metro Center (upper level) will be closed. Blue, Orange, and Silver line service will continue to be available for customers at Metro Center; however, both entrances on G Street NW at 11th and 13th streets will be closed to accommodate equipment and work crews. Customers can access the station at both entrances on 12th Street NW instead.
Springbrook High School head football coach Akiel Russell was selected the Washington Commanders Coach of the Week on Sept. 29.
Russell, 37, is a Springbrook graduate himself. After high school he went on to attend Delaware State, where he starred at defensive end and continued playing football im the American Indoor Football Association and Semi-Pro leagues before returning to Springbrook as an assistant coach in 2009. He became the school‘s head football coach this season after spending time with other programs in recent years.
The Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) responded to a call for a shooting in White Oak was received at approximately 9:16 pm. According to MCPD, “3rd District officers responded to the area of the 11400 block of Lockwood Dr. An adult male was transported to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.”
We’ll have additional information when it becomes available. Featured photo courtesy of Google Maps.
MCPS Athletics is piloting pickleball as a new corollary sport at 11 high schools this fall. USA Pickleball instructor Rob Campbell from MoCo Pickleball held a training session for coaches to prepare them for the season.
The schools that will field teams are: Bethesda-Chevy Chase, Montgomery Blair, James Hubert Blake, Clarksburg, Richard Montgomery, John F. Kennedy, Quince Orchard, Sherwood, Springbrook, Watkins Mill and Wheaton. Watch the video below from the first week of competition as the Sports Insight crew visited Wheaton and Kennedy (courtesy of MCPS).
A man who escaped custody August 12 from the Virginia Department of Corrections while at a medical facility in Henrico County, Virginia and stole a car in Gaithersburg is back in custody today, according to the U.S. Marshals.
Per the U.S. Marshals: “Naseem Roulack, 21, was arrested at approximately 9 a.m. at a hotel in the 6700 block of Commerce Street in Springfield, Virginia, by the U.S. Marshals Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force and Fairfax County Police Department.
Montgomery Parks invites the public to celebrate the renovation of Hillandale Local Park on November 4, from 1–3 p.m., with a ribbon-cutting ceremony followed by games and refreshments. Guests are encouraged to bring non-perishable food items to help support the St. Camillus Food Pantry. The Hillandale Local Park renovation includes a new restroom and picnic shelter, multi-age playground, log challenge course, lighted basketball courts, a high-performance athletic field, and walking trail, as well as tree preservation and storm water management facilities.
WHAT: Hillandale Local Park Reopening Ribbon-Cutting Celebration