WMATA

 

Metro will add automated cameras to buses to keep unauthorized vehicles out of bus-only lanes and bus stop zones under an agreement with the District of Columbia and recommended for approval by the Metro Board of Directors Finance Committee today. The new initiative, called Clear Lanes, is modeled after similar programs, including San Francisco and New York City, and will be the first to use automated camera technology to enforce bus stop zones in addition to bus-only lanes.


Restaurants

In October, we let you know that a new Korean barbecue restaurant signed on to take over the space previously occupied by Saffron Indian Cuisine at Woodmont Station in Rockville (1319 Rockville Pike). In February we let you know that the restaurant is Damso Korean BBQ, and the restaurant “soft opened” on Friday, April 14th. Current hours are 5pm-9pm daily. A sneak preview, courtesy of Damso Korean BBQ’s press shoot from last night can be seen in the video below:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CrL-889gd0R/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=


Montgomery Planning

Developers, architects, and property owners invited to submit top quality, completed designs in Montgomery County; Submission deadline is July 17, 2023

WHEATON, MD – The Montgomery County Planning Department, part of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC), will hold the sixth Design Excellence Awards on October 19, 2023, honoring the most outstanding works in architecture and urban design that make a difference in people’s lives and represent Montgomery County’s highest quality of design to the region, state, and nation. Entries will be accepted starting Monday, May 22, 2023. The deadline for submission is Thursday, July 17, 2023. The selection of the two winners, one for buildings, sites, and/or urbanism and one for exceptional housing, will be made by an outside independent jury with expertise in the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, planning and urban design selected by Montgomery Planning.


Germantown

A body was recovered at Lake Churchill in Germantown on Tuesday morning, according to Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services (MCFRS) Chief Spokesperson Pete Piringer. Piringer noted that today’s activity may be related to an exhaustive search that took place at the lake on Easter Sunday (April 9th), where nothing was found.

On Sunday, April 9, MCFRS responded to a call at Lake Churchill in Germantown for a report of “someone in the water” from what has been described as a reliable source by MCFRS Chief Spokesperson Pete Piringer. The call came at approximately 1pm. Crews searched on land and and with boats in the water and nothing was found at the time. Below is a video from the April 9 search.


Bethesda

The Montgomery County Planning Board will hold a work session about the Little Falls Parkway pilot project on Thursday, April 27, 2023, during its morning session. See the Planning Board agenda for the time of day. During the March 30 public hearing on the project, parks staff presented details about traffic counts on the parkway and a recommendation to make the pilot project permanent, which was followed by public testimony. At the work session, the Planning Board will hear the Parks Department’s response to the public testimony and determine whether to retain the current two-lane configuration between Arlington Road and Dorset Avenue and make additional improvements to the roadway.

The Little Falls Parkway pilot project was initiated in June 2022 to address concerns with cut-through traffic in adjacent neighborhoods associated with the weekend closures of Little Falls Parkway for the Open Parkways Program, while retaining space for recreation on the parkway. Traffic counts were conducted on Little Falls Parkway between Arlington Road and Dorset Avenue during May, July, September, and December of 2022 and showed the parkway functions well with two lanes of traffic and the road diet improves safety for all road users, including pedestrians and cyclists.


Silver Spring

The personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2023’s Most Diverse Cities in America, and MoCo claimed the top three spots with Gaithersburg, Germantown, and Silver Spring coming in as the three most diverse cities/areas the United States (Rockville was also ranked 13th). Silver Spring was ranked first in socioeconomic diversity. Categorized rankings available below.

To determine the places in the U.S. with the most mixed demographics, WalletHub compared the profiles of more than 500 of the largest cities (areas) across five major diversity categories: socioeconomic, cultural, economic, household and religious.


Gaithersburg

Tonight we approved the Lakeforest Sketch Plan application & MXD rezoning by a 5-0 vote. During policy discussion, I implored the applicant to wow us at the schematic development stage and create a destination with a true sense of place. A true Transformational opportunity for the City of Gaithersburg!” – Gaithersburg City Councilmember, Jim McNulty

The next step is for WRS, Inc. to present a Schematic Development Plan (SDP) that will include very specific designs for the soon-to-be redeveloped Lakeforest Mall land. In a January meeting, WRS Inc. stated plans to demolish “as soon as they can.” Previously, WRS mentioned 2024 as a target date for demolition to occur and new construction to begin. This is all dependent on approval of the SDP in the coming months. Our very own Alex Tsironis discusses it on FOX 5 below:


Germantown

The personal-finance website WalletHub released its report on 2023’s Most Diverse Cities in America this week and MoCo claimed the top three spots with Gaithersburg, Germantown, and Silver Spring coming in as the three most diverse cities/areas the United States (Rockville was also ranked 13th). Germantown ranked first in cultural diversity. Categorized rankings available below.

To determine the places in the U.S. with the most mixed demographics, WalletHub compared the profiles of more than 500 of the largest cities (areas) across five major diversity categories: socioeconomic, cultural, economic, household and religious.


Celebrities

Beef was last week’s #1 series on Netflix. The show is about a near-accident in a parking lot that turns two strangers into enemies. The argument, or “beef”, quickly develops to escalating acts of revenge as Amy (Ali Wong) and Danny (Steven Yeun) learn about each other’s identities and families and become more and more involved in each other’s lives. The role of Danny’s younger brother, Paul, is played by MoCo native Young Mazino.

Mazino is a Silver Spring native and graduated from Sherwood in 2009, where he excelled in track & field. He has previously been in shows like Prodigal Son, Blue Bloods and New Amsterdam, but Beef marks what’s likely Mazino’s most popular role to date. In an interview with PEOPLE magazine, Mazino mentioned growing up in Maryland  and developing an interest in music and acting at a very young age. “Growing up as a kid I played the violin and I was performing just seemingly endlessly in concerts and recitals,” he told PEOPLE. “Since elementary school, I was always participating in the school plays,” he said, recalling of his early experience acting, “that feeling was electric, just getting to be outside of myself.”


Gaithersburg

Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services (MCFRS) responded to a collision involving a driver crashing their vehicle into a building at 8135 Snouffer School Road, near Cherry Laurel Lane, in Gaithersburg on Monday evening shortly before 6pm.

The crash occurred at Seasons Nursery, Inc. According to MCFRS Chief Spokesperson Pete Piringer, the driver was transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. There is no word at the cause of the collision at this time. Featured photo sent in by Instagram user @gotta_fw_steff


Gaithersburg

The personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2023’s Most Diverse Cities in America, and MoCo claimed the top three spots with Gaithersburg, Germantown, and Silver Spring coming in as the three most diverse cities/areas the United States. Rockville was also ranked 13th. Categorized rankings available below.

To determine the places in the U.S. with the most mixed demographics, WalletHub compared the profiles of more than 500 of the largest cities (areas) across five major diversity categories: socioeconomic, cultural, economic, household and religious.


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