MCS Staff, Author at The MoCo Show

Wootton High School Student is Part of Trio Who Helped Save A Life at the School on Monday Night

Published May 5, 2023 at 11:09AM

A Wootton High School senior, Vivek Majumdar, is one of three people credited for helping save a life at a lacrosse game at the school Monday night. According to David Kaplan of Fox 5, “A teacher at Wootton High School, an emergency room doctor and the 18-year-old student government president who just so happens to be a trained EMT” are being credited for working together to save a man who suffered a medical emergency that caused his heart to stop beating at the school on Monday night.

Per the report, someone came from the bathroom screaming for help when Majumdar and a parent who happened to be an emergency room doctor jumped into action and started performing chest compressions. A Wootton teacher retrieved a defibrillator and the trio was able to eventually get a pulse on the person suffering the medical emergency. The person was transported to Shady Grove hospital where we are told his condition is improving.

Gaithersburg

Gaithersburg Planning Commission Approves Application to Demolish Buildings in Anticipation of Redevelopment at Park and Brookes Ave

By MCS Staff

Published May 5, 2023 at 7:43AM

The Planning Commission approved the revised application to demolish the buildings located at 9, 11, and 15 Park Avenue and 201 Brookes Avenue in anticipation of redevelopment into a pair of four-story multifamily buildings totaling 151 units with 182 parking spaces at its May 3 meeting. At its May 17 meeting, the Planning Commission is scheduled to vote on a draft resolution of approval based on its discussion at its May 3 meeting.

Per the City of Gaithersburg: The Historic District Commission initially reviewed SP-9149-2021 at its June 22, 2022 meeting for potential historic or architectural significance. The application was deferred to its next meeting so the HDC could receive more historical information on the properties. At its July 27 meeting, the HDC determined there was reasonable probability 9, 11, 13, and 15 Park Avenue and 201 Brookes Avenue could be locally designated as an historic district, or, in the alternative, 9 and 15 Park Avenue and 201 Brookes Avenue could be locally designated as individual sites. The HDC directed Staff to prepare a petition resolution to the Mayor and City Council, and the HDC approved the resolution at its August 24 meeting. At its October 3 meeting, the City Council voted not to accept the HDC’s petition to designate the properties as historic. The HDC provided a nonbinding courtesy review of the Concept Site Plan (SP-9149-2021) at its October 26 meeting.

Gaithersburg

Run For Gaithersburg City Council! Candidate Packets Available Starting May 11

By MCS Staff

Published May 5, 2023 at 7:37AM

Candidate Packets will be released on May 11. The packets will be available online or can be picked up at City Hall. Per the City of Gaithersburg: City residents will cast their ballots for three City Council Members in November of 2023. All Council Members serve at-large. The terms of office for Council Members Neil Harris, Ryan Spiegel, and Robert Wu expire in November. The Council Members elected in 2023 will each serve a four-year term.

Candidate Packets for this election cycle will be released on May 11. The packets will be available online here or can be picked up at City Hall, 31 South Summit Avenue. Candidates must file a petition for candidacy with the Gaithersburg Board of Supervisors of Electionsvia the Office of the City Attorney. The petition must be signed by at least 100 City residents who are registered voters, with both electronic and paper versions of the petition signatures available.

Events

“Sideline Swap”, an Event That Allows You to Trade-in Your Gently Used Sports Gear For Gift Cards, Runs at Dick’s in Rio Until This Sunday

By MCS Staff

Published May 5, 2023 at 7:33AM

Following last week’s Sideline Swap at Dick’s in Wheaton, the swap will be hosting another local trade-in event at the Dick’s Sporting Good at Gaithersburg’s Rio Lakefront (2 Grand Corner Ave) from Friday, May 5th until Sunday, Sunday, May 7th. You can bring your gently-used sports gear to receive a gift card for the trade-in value. Sideline Swap is accepting hockey, baseball, lacrosse, golf, ski gear & more. Sideline Swap runs from 2pm-7pm on Friday, 10am-6pm on Saturday, and 10am-6pm on Sunday. Items accepted include:

Items not accepted include:

Education

Six MCPS Graduating Seniors Named Semifinalists in the U.S. Presidential Scholars Competition

By MCS Staff

Published May 5, 2023 at 7:19AM

Per Montgomery County Public Schools: Six MCPS graduating seniors have been named semifinalists in the U.S. Presidential Scholars competition: Sara Cui and Raymond L. Ma, Winston Churchill High School; Ishaan Jain and Paris Z. Ye, Richard Montgomery High School; Brianna J. Lin, Montgomery Blair High School, and Andrew Z. Yuan, Poolesville High School. There were 14 semifinalists from the state of Maryland.

The U.S. Presidential Scholars Program was established in 1964 to recognize and honor some of the country’s most distinguished graduating high school seniors. They were chosen based on academic success, artistic excellence, essays, school evaluations and transcripts, as well as community service, leadership and commitment to high ideals. Featured photo shows a previous class of Presidential Scholars.

Bethesda

OPA! One-Day Greek Festival Comes to Bethesda on May 20

By MCS Staff

Published May 5, 2023 at 7:16AM

The Greek Orthodox Church at St. George in Bethesda, Md., will hold its annual Greek Festival on Saturday, May 20, 2023, starting at 11 a.m. The festival will be held on the church grounds at 7701 Bradley Boulevard in Bethesda, and is free and open to the public.

This one-day family-friendly event will feature live music, ethnic Greek food and pastries, beverages, including Greek beer and wine, vendors and traditional Greek folk dance performances from St. George’s kindergarten through high school aged students. These talented group of dancers will perform at 3 p.m. and at 6:30 p.m., followed by a Taverna Night with live music for all to enjoy.

Gaithersburg

Mysterious Object Flying Over MoCo Thursday Night Revealed to Be Elon Musk’s Starlink

By MCS Staff

Published May 5, 2023 at 7:02AM

On Thursday night we were sent multiple videos from readers across Montgomery County informing us of an unidentified flying object in the sky. The lights appear in a long line that Forbes described as “up to 60 in a long line” and they belong to Starlink, one of many satellites operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

Starlink provides satellite Internet access coverage to over dozens of countries and eventually aims to provide global mobile phone service following this year. SpaceX started launching Starlink satellites in 2019 and as of earlier this year, consists of over 3,580 mass-produced small satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO), which communicate with designated ground transceivers. In total, nearly 12,000 satellites are planned to be deployed, with a possible later extension to 42,000. SpaceX announced reaching more than one million subscribers in December of last year. Below you’ll see a video, as seen in Germantown last night:

Education

MCPS: Special Education Parents Asked to Complete State Survey

By MCS Staff

Published May 4, 2023 at 8:58PM

Per MCPS: Parents or guardians of children aged 3 to 21 who are receiving special education and related services through their local school are encouraged to participate in the Maryland Special Education Parent Involvement Survey by Friday, May 19.

The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) has mailed the survey to all parents/guardians of students with an IEP in Montgomery County. The information provided will help guide the state’s efforts in improving special education and related services in public schools. There are two options to complete the survey:

Business

Owner of Yard House, Olive Garden, And Other Restaurant Chains Purchases Operator of Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse For $715 Million

By MCS Staff

Published May 4, 2023 at 8:33PM

Darden Restaurants, Inc. and Ruth’s Hospitality Group, Inc. jointly announced today that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement pursuant to which Darden will commence a tender offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Ruth’s for $21.50 per share, in an all-cash transaction with an equity value of approximately $715 million. Ruth’s, owner and operator of Ruth’s Chris Steak House (MoCo location in Gaithersburg’s downtown Crown and formerly in Bethesda), will complement Darden’s portfolio of differentiated brands which currently includes Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse (MoCo location in Germantown), Yard House (MoCo location in Gaithersburg), Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, The Capital Grille (MoCo location in Chevy Chase), Seasons 52 (MoCo location in North Bethesda), Bahama Breeze and Eddie V’s.

Per the press release: Ruth’s Chris was founded in 1965 in New Orleans, Louisiana, by Ruth Fertel and features signature USDA Prime steaks served sizzling on 500-degree plates, New Orleans-inspired sides and an award-winning wine list. Ruth’s Chris has 154 locations around the globe, including 80 company-owned or -operated restaurants and 74 franchised restaurants, generating systemwide sales of over $860 million, total revenues over $500 million, and average annual restaurant volumes for company-owned or -operated locations of $6.2 million in Ruth’s fiscal year 2022.

Entertainment

Contestant From Silver Spring, Kevin Belle (AKA Whiskey Ginger), Wins $42,798 in Three Day Jeopardy Run

By MCS Staff

Published May 4, 2023 at 7:33PM

Originally from Silver Spring, Kevin Belle is a trail planner whose total earnings on Jeopardy! were $42,798, after winning three games and participating in a fourth. The run started last week and ran until Wednesday night, when Kevin failed to defend his title. He was the winning contestant on Ken Jenning’s last show as host before a long hiatus.

Kevin stole the show during his Q&A with Jennings, revealing he also goes by “Whiskey Ginger.” Whiskey Ginger is Belle’s drag persona that he refers to as a “spicy redhead.” Belle explained during the contestant chat segment, “And I also host trivia online as Whiskey Ginger on Zoom, I picked it up during the pandemic.” He then urged Jennings to give drag a shot, saying “And you’ve got a very talented makeup crew here Ken and I was hoping maybe one day we could convince you to do it here as well.” Ken laughed out loud and upon collecting himself, said, “I was trying to think of a good Jeopardy!-themed drag name. Maybe Della Double?” “Miss Information might be nice too,” Kevin replied. Featured photo courtesy of Kevin Belle/WhiseyGingDrag

Crime

Detectives From Major Crimes Division Investigating Kidnapping and Armed Robbery near Shady Grove Road; Victim Forced to Drive Suspect to ATM

By MCS Staff

Published May 4, 2023 at 4:57PM

The initial investigation has revealed that the victim was exiting the I-270 ramp onto Shady Grove Road when he came across a silver Mitsubishi vehicle partially blocking the exit ramp. A suspect, who the victim believed to be a police officer, flagged him over, onto the side of the road. The victim then got out of his vehicle and began to walk towards the suspect, at which point the suspect demanded that he return to his vehicle. The suspect then approached the victim’s vehicle and demanded money. At that time, the suspect entered the victim’s vehicle and demanded that the victim drive to a Bank of America in the 15000 block of Shady Grove Road to withdraw money from the ATM. As the victim drove to the bank, the silver Mitsubishi began to follow, driven by a second suspect. The victim advised that he observed a handgun in the suit jacket of the suspect on multiple occasions.