Saturday, August 5th from 12-2 pm at Top Golf Germantown
Free Food, Beverages, and Networking
|
Author: MCS Staff
The Montgomery County Planning Department will hold a community kickoff meeting for the Clarksburg Gateway Sector Plan at Clarksburg Neighborhood Park (22501 Wims Road, Clarksburg, MD 20871) on Wednesday, July 26th, starting at 6:30 p.m. The meeting will be held in the indoor building near the entrance to the park.
The Clarksburg Gateway Sector Plan will examine undeveloped areas—specifically, the eastern side of I-270 within the I-270 corridor—that have largely remained unchanged in the last 30 years. Alongside extensive local input and in-depth conversations with residents, business owners, and the tech and life sciences communities, Montgomery Planning staff will evaluate the plan area’s trends and conditions before developing recommendations for realizing a thriving Clarksburg that works for the future of both its residents and the surrounding county.
With Americans having increased their collective credit card debt by a record $179.4 billion last year, and the grand total at over $1.1 trillion, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on the States with the Highest & Lowest Credit Card Debts, with Maryland coming in ranked 18th highest among all states.
WalletHub drew upon data from TransUnion, the Federal Reserve, the U.S. Census Bureau and WalletHub’s proprietary credit card payoff calculator to determine the cost and time required to repay the median credit card balance in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Below, you can find a handful of highlights from the report. Credit Card Debt in Maryland (1st Rank = Least Sustainable):
|
The Montgomery County Planning Department presented the 2023 Travel Monitoring Report to the Montgomery County Planning Board at their meeting on July 20. The biennial report provides insight into how well the county is meeting its transportation goals, objectives, and metrics defined in Thrive Montgomery 2050, Montgomery County’s General Plan, and Functional Plans. The report serves as a compendium of the Planning Department’s Transportation monitoring efforts and is produced by the Countywide Planning and Policy Division’s Travel Forecasting and Travel Monitoring Group (TFTMG). View 2023 Travel Monitoring Report.
This year’s report focuses on recent travel trends, performance measures suggested in Thrive Montgomery 2050 , and metrics defined in the current draft Pedestrian Master Plan and adopted Bicycle Master Plan. Also included are aspects of the Complete Streets Design Guidelines and a series of Thrive Montgomery 2050 Growth Corridor Profiles. Although previous editions of the TMR focused on data and less on recommendations, this edition of the TMR includes recommendations to address areas that may need attention based on findings in the report.
Tom Sietsema, The Washington Post’s food critic since 2000, has just released the latest version of his “6 Favorite Places to Eat Right Now” and the list features one of Montgomery County’s newest restaurants– Charley Prime. “The menu casts a wide net without going all Cheesecake Factory on its audience.” Sietsema wrote.
Charley Prime opened in Gaithersburg’s Rio Lakefront in May and has been generally well-received by the community. The new restaurant from Jackie Greenbaum & Gordon Banks (Little Coco’s, El Chucho, Bar Charley, Quarry House Tavern) replaced Tara Thai on the Rio Lakefront boardwalk at 9811 Washington Blvd. It features an extensive steak menu that includes filet mignon, New York strip, and a 36oz Tomahawk ribeye, as well as house made pastas and sandwiches like the Roasted Lamb French Dip.
Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich signed the newly-passed rent stabilization bill into law on Monday. Last week the Montgomery County Council voted (7-4) today to enact Bill 15-23, Rent Stabilization, which establishes maximum allowable rent increases to the lesser of the local annual Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) plus three percent or six percent of the base rent.
Per Montgomery County: The legislation, sponsored by Councilmembers Natali Fani-González and Sidney Katz, takes a balanced approach by stabilizing rents in Montgomery County while also ensuring landlords can earn a fair return on their investment. Keeping in mind the County’s need to build 31,000 housing units by 2030, the legislation exempts newly built units for 23 years.
When the sale of the Commanders was finalized last week to a group led by Montgomery County native Josh Harris, we let you know that the group will have some decisions to make regarding the future of the franchise, including a possible “complete rebranding of the team.” According to a tweet by Bleacher Report, ESPN senior writer Don Van Natta Jr. stated on the Rich Eisen Show that “There’s a ‘pretty good chance’ the new ownership of the Washington Commanders will change the franchise name and have a ‘complete re-branding’ of the team.”
Betting website BetOnline.AG has released odds on if the Commanders will change its name again and the odds on several choices for the team’s new name. They can be seen below:
Maryland’s Community Parks & Playgrounds Program invests in the future of Maryland’s established communities by developing and revitalizing parks and playgrounds statewide. Another $2.5 million in Community Parks & Playgrounds grant funds is also available for 20 projects statewide to rehabilitate, expand, or improve existing parks; create new parks; or purchase and install playground equipment. To date, more than $87 million in grant funding has been approved for more than 852 park and playground projects.
The following Community Parks and Playgrounds projects received funding in the FY24 budget:
|
Olney Winery has been operating since 2012, initially as The Winery at Olney. The winemaker was located at 18127 Town Center Drive in the Fair Hill shopping center in Olney until September of last year. In 2016, expanded and opened a tasting room in the stone house at 12810 Shank Farm Way in Hagerstown. Last week, Olney Winery opened its new space at 52 Olney Sandy Spring Road in Ashton Market. In addition to wine, they’re also offering pizza at the location.
Per Olney Winery: “Olney Winery employs the unique business model of sourcing our grape product from suppliers and vineyards all over the world to ferment over 34 different varietals of award-winning wines locally. We bring the world of wine to Maryland.
|
Pickleball is one of the fastest growing sports in the country and Dill Dinkers is opening a second Montgomery County location in Rockville, just six miles away from its recently opened North Bethesda location. The Rockville location will be at 40-C Southlawn Court, next to ZavaZone and near the Sportsplex and Ice Arena.
Dill Dinkers offer a wide array of options for getting out on the courts to play, including court reservations for members and non-members, clinics, leagues, and lessons for new and experienced players looking to improve their game. Dill Dinkers will also offer advertising opportunities within the facility for businesses and organizations looking to reach a large, active audience focused on healthy living. Memberships vary in price from $40 monthly to $115 monthly for families. Members and non-members can also reserve courts and play at a rate of $6.25-$12.50 with minimums of $25 and $50 per day.
Takoma Park’s National Night Out (NNO) event will take place on Tuesday, August 1st from 6pm-9pm at Piney Branch Elementary School (7510 Maple Ave). National Night Out is an annual event hosted by the police department to bring the community together as a whole to increase awareness in safety and crime prevention; to support locally-based businesses, groups, and organizations; and to strengthen relationships among the community members and between the community and local police department. The event will include:
Featured photo courtesy of Google Maps