Author: MCS Staff

Education

Maryland Has the 8th Best School System (As a State) in America, According to Study

By MCS Staff

With student scores in math and reading having dropped significantly across the country last year in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2023’s States with the Best & Worst School Systems, with Maryland coming in 8th as a state (this report does not reflect individual county rank, but rather the state as a whole). Neighboring Virginia was ranked 5th (where Maryland was ranked in 2022).

In order to determine the best school systems in America, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 32 key measures of quality and safety. The data set ranges from pupil-teacher ratio and dropout rate to median standardized-test scores. Quality & Safety of Schools in Maryland (1=Best; 25=Avg.):

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MCFRS

Olney’s 28th National Night Out (The Largest in Montgomery County) Returns on August 1

By MCS Staff

Headline updated to reflect that Olney’s NNO event is the biggest in Montgomery County

An Olney summer tradition returns on August 1 when local first responders and the community come together to celebrate Olney’s 28th National Night Out (NNO), from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Fair Hill shopping center, located at Olney-Sandy Spring Road and Spartan Road.

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Crime

Charges Announced Against Gal Luft, Co-Director of Gaithersburg Think Tank, For Acting As An Unregistered Foreign Agent, Trafficking In Arms, Violating U.S. Sanctions Against Iran, And Making False Statements To Federal Agents

By MCS Staff

Gal Luft, a Dual U.S.-Israeli Citizen and the Co-Director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security (IAGS) in Gaithersburg, has been charged for violating U.S. sanctions, arms trafficking, making false statements to U.S. federal agents and acting as an unregistered foreign agent to China, according to a federal indictment that was unsealed earlier this month on July 10th.

He is now a fugitive. If you have any information about LUFT’s whereabouts, please contact your local FBI office or the nearest American Embassy or Consulate.  Tips can be reported anonymously and can also be reported online at tips.fbi.gov.

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Dickerson

Don’t Miss The Sunflowers at Mckee-Beshers This Month

By MCS Staff

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources – Wildlife and Heritage Service plants sunflowers each spring on the McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area (WMA). The primary purpose for planting sunflowers on wildlife management areas is to provide a food source for mourning doves, as well as other wildlife species, after the plants mature and dry. Mourning doves are hunted at these fields during hunting seasons that traditionally begin on September 1 and continue through early January.

A number of fields are planted each year, although two fields are designated as Dove Management Fields. The Dove Management Area fields have restricted times and days when hunting can occur during the month of September. In addition to mourning doves, sunflowers and sunflower seeds are a favorite food source for a host of other songbirds, mammals and pollinators. Sunflowers require pollination by insects, usually bees, to produce a seed crop. In turn, honey bees and many species of native bees, benefit from the abundant nectar and pollen that sunflowers produce.

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Entertainment

Madden Ratings For NFL Players With MoCo Ties

By MCS Staff

Madden NFL (known as John Madden Football until 1993) is a popular football video game named after  the late Pro Football Hall of Fame coach and commentator, John Madden. Every August, the game releases its newest installment and the weeks leading up to the release feature the introduction of the players’ “Madden rating” to start the season. Below, we’ll take a look at the Madden ratings for some of the NFL players with ties to Montgomery County:

Cam Brown: The Silver Spring native and Bullis graduate is an outside linebacker with the New York Giants. He has an Overall Rating of 63 with scores in the 80s for speed, acceleration, jumping, and toughness.

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Beyond MoCo

Raising Cane’s Opens Third Maryland Restaurant; Plans For 15+ More to Open in the State

By MCS Staff

Raising Cane’s started its expansion into the D.C. metropolitan region when its first area restaurant opened last December in Sterling, VA (45545 Dulles Eastern Plaza). The first Maryland location opened in Towson in January 2023 and both stores featured lines out the door for months on several days of the week. A Waldorf Location opened in May and a Westminster location opened last week to make three for the state.

We previously reported that Raising Cane’s aims to open 14 stores in the next year, stretching from suburban Baltimore to the Richmond area, and now the chain has announced 15+ locations for Maryland alone. Currently, only three of the 15+ have been announced with a Gambrills location, at 1070 Maryland Route 3 North, opening in September. A Columbia restaurant, at 9071 Snowden River Parkway (Howard County) is coming this fall, and a Forestville restaurant, at 3270 Donnell Drive (Prince George’s County) is also set to open this fall. None of the other Maryland locations have been announced yet, and we are awaiting word on if Montgomery County will be included in the openings.

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Gaithersburg

Real Progress at Montgomery County’s First Wawa

By MCS Staff

Coming soon signage for Wawa went up at 405 S Frederick Ave. in Gaithersburg earlier this summer and some much anticipated progress has been made as the frame of the convenience store and gas pumps are now up. if progress continues at the current pace, we would not be surprised to see Wawa open by the end of 2023.

The convenience store/gas station will be located at the site of the old Becraft Antiques on 355, across from Gaithersburg High School. Wawa began in 1803 as an iron foundry in New Jersey. Toward the end of the 19th Century, owner George Wood took an interest in dairy farming and the family began a small processing plant in Wawa, Pa, in 1902. The milk business was a huge success, due to its quality, cleanliness and “certified” process. As home delivery of milk declined in the early 1960s, Grahame Wood, George’s grandson, opened the first Wawa Food Market in 1964 as an outlet for dairy products.

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Arts

10-Year Old DMV Actor Earns Emmy Nomination For His Role in HBO’s ‘The Last Of Us’

By MCS Staff

Keivonn Woodard, a 10-year-old actor from nearby Bowie, MD, has become the first Black deaf actor to be nominated for an Emmy Award. Woodard received a nomination in the category of Outstanding Guest Actor in a drama series for his role as Sam in HBO’s “The Last of Us.” The show is based on the popular video game and quickly became one of HBO Max’s most watched series. This was the first acting job for Keivonn, who is a Bowie native– a city located in neighboring Prince George’s County.

Woodard is part of a six-generation deaf family, many of whom are actors. He also plays hockey locally for the Bowie Hockey Club 10U Team. The photo seen below, courtesy of the Bowie Hockey Club, shows the team after becoming the 2022 Ice Works St. Patrick’s Day Tournament Champions.

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