Author: MCS Staff

Potomac

California Tortilla Reopens in Cabin John Village

By MCS Staff

California Tortilla has reopened its Cabin John Village location, according to a report by Store Reporter. Per the report, the newly reopened fast-casual restaurant now has a “revamped design (now featuring a Cava-style assembly line) and an expanded patio area.” Often referred to as “Cal Tort”, the fast-casual chain serves fresh, made-to-order burritos, quesadillas, and salads all grounded in a foundation of Mexican cuisine.

California Tortilla has nearly 50 locations in the DMV, burn its first ever location came in August 1995 on Cordell Avenue in Bethesda. The restaurant’s headquarters are also currently in Rockville/Potomac. Featured photo courtesy of Google Maps.

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Downtown Silver Spring

Downtown Silver Spring Chalk Festival to Take Place on April 29

By MCS Staff

Per the Downtown Silver Spring Chalk Festival: “Join us for a colorful day of chalk art and community at the first ever Downtown Silver Spring Chalk Festival! Watch as artists decorate the roads with colorful chalk art, create your own masterpiece, or doodle in sidewalk chalk with the kids in our Community Chalk Zone. Our newest 400-foot-long street mural design will be unveiled to the public, and a DJ will keep the energy high. Fuel your day with food and drinks from the wide variety of restaurants in Downtown Silver Spring!”

The chalk art won’t last forever, so catch them before the next rain! Artwork will be located along Ellsworth Drive in between Fenton Street and Georgia Avenue, and blocked off to vehicles. There is no experience required for participating in our chalk festival! There are two opportunities for creation: a reserved artist square, or doodling in our community chalk zone.

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Montgomery Parks

Montgomery Parks to Host GreenFest Celebration at Brookside Gardens on Earth Day, Saturday, April 22, 2023

By MCS Staff

GreenFest in the Gardens is part of a two-day celebration with Montgomery County: the second festival, GreenFest in the City, takes place Sunday, April 23, 2023, at Marian Fryer Town Plaza. Montgomery Parks, part of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, is participating in a two-day GreenFest celebration during Earth Day weekend Saturday and Sunday, April 22-23, 2023. The event includes GreenFest in the Gardens at Brookside Gardens and GreenFest in the City at Marian Fryer Town Plaza in downtown Wheaton. “This is our third year participating in GreenFest by hosting a fun, educational event at Brookside Gardens,” said Mike Riley, director of Montgomery Parks. “Brookside Gardens is the perfect venue for this event – where attendees can enjoy the beautiful 52 acres of gardens while learning practical ways to help the environment.” 

GreenFest in the Gardens: Saturday, April 22, 2023, 11:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m., Brookside Gardens (1800 Glenallan Avenue, Wheaton, MD 20902)

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DC Sports

Former Terps Star Duane Simpkins Named Head Coach of American University Men’s Basketball Team

By MCS Staff

Per American University: Nationally recognized assistant coach and legendary DMV basketball star Duane Simpkins has been hired to usher in a new era of American University men’s basketball, announced Director of Athletics and Recreation Dr. Billy Walker. Simpkins is the 18th head coach in the history of the program.

Simpkins comes to American after eight seasons on the staff at George Mason, working alongside two head coaches during his tenure. During his time in Fairfax, Simpkins helped guide the Patriots to a series of new program bests within the Atlantic 10. Mason set or matched A-10 program bests in league wins and tournament seeds in four seasons during his tenure. The Patriots matched a program best with 11 Atlantic 10 victories in 2022-23, and finished at 20-13 overall.

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Gaithersburg

City of Gaithersburg’s 2023 Environmental Award Winners

By MCS Staff

Corky Logsdon: Corky Logsdon has been a resident of Shady Grove Village since it was built in the 70s and has always been a great resource for the community. In 2022, he went above and beyond by planning, installing, and maintaining a pollinator garden in the HOA common space for everyone to enjoy. He also purchased and planted a native red maple as the first step of re-establishing Shady Grove Village’s historic tree canopy. Corky continues to provide guidance for future plantings and assessing trees for the neighborhood.

Karl Van Neste: Karl Van Neste’s passion is reducing the amount of road salts that wash into our streams and eventually end up in our drinking water. Whether he is outside with a test kit after a winter storm, advocating for legislation changes at the state and local level, providing interviews or gathering petition signatures, Karl is working to improve our natural environment and health outcomes for all members of the community.

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Events

(Cancelled) 22nd Annual Paws in the Park to Take Place on April 30

By MCS Staff

Due to inclement weather forecast for April 30, the event is cancelled. Please contact Montgomery County Humane Society at 240-252-2555 for more infromation.

The 22nd Annual Paws in the Park dog walk & festival is a signature special event of the Montgomery County Humane Society, held in partnership with the City. One of the largest dog walks in the DC area, it raises funds to help homeless & abandoned animals throughout Montgomery County.

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Burtonsville

MoCo Native Fredricka Whitfield Has Been With CNN For Over 20 Years

By MCS Staff

Montgomery County native Fredricka Whitfield anchors the weekend edition of CNN Newsroom from CNN’s world headquarters in Atlanta, and is also a fill-in/substitute anchor for CNN’s At This Hour With Kate Bolduan. She has been with CNN for over two decades, starting with the news agency in 2002.

Whitfield grew up in Burtonsville and attended/graduated from Paint Branch High School in 1983. She went on to Howard University in DC, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Howard’s School of Communications in 1987. While at Howard, she was a news anchor for campus radio station WHUR.  Whitfield worked for News Channel 8 after college, as well as television stations in Miami, Dallas, New Haven, and Charleston prior to serving as the Atlanta-based correspondents for NBC Nightly News from 1995-2001.

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DC Sports

XFL-Leading DC Defenders Sign Former Washington NFL Player DJ Swearinger

By MCS Staff

DJ Swearinger has signed with the DC Defenders of the XFL, who are currently in possession of a 61 record, the best in the league. Swearinger was a second round draft pick, drafted 57th overall by the Houston Texans, in the 2013 NFL Draft. His NFL career spanned nearly a decade, with stops in Tampa Bay, Arizona, Washington, Oakland, New Orleans, and Indianapolis, earning nearly $19 million overall during that time.

Recently, Swearinger hinted at returning to football when he tweeted, “My son say he want me to play football again. I told em I wan play too. Xfl hit me up saying they need me. If it ain the nfl I can’t really rock. Respectfully. That’s hustling backwards & a step down on my legacy I feel but maybe that’s ego talking or maybe that’s just facts???” to an overwhelming positive and supportive response, urging him to return to football.

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Events

Free ‘Roller Disco’ Event in Germantown on April 14 by Montgomery Parks

By MCS Staff

Montgomery Parks is hosting a free Roller Disco on Friday, April 14, at the inline skating rink at Ridge Road Recreational Park. The event is open to all ages. “We are excited to bring Roller Disco to the community,” said Michael Coppersmith, manager of Montgomery Parks Activation Program. “We encourage guests to go all out and embrace the theme and enjoy music from the ‘70s and ‘80s.”

What: ‘70s and ‘80s themed Roller Disco

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WMATA

Metro Announces Yellow Line Reopening Date

By MCS Staff

Per WMATA: Metro is welcoming customers back to the Yellow Line on Sunday, May 7, 2023, beginning with the start of rail service at 7 a.m. The reopening will mark the completion of extensive rehabilitation work on the Yellow Line tunnel and bridge between Pentagon and L’Enfant Plaza stations.

Following eight months of construction for safety critical repairs, customers will once again have a reliable and convenient connection across the Potomac River between Virginia and DC, instead of only using the Blue Line. This will reduce travel times by as much as 15 minutes and give customers back valuable time. Initially, trains will run every 8 minutes weekdays and every 12 minutes after 9:30 p.m. and on weekends between Huntington and Mt Vernon Square. Blue+ service that has been operating between Huntington and New Carrollton will be discontinued once the Yellow Line reopens.

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Beyond MoCo

Sticky Fingers, Founded by Two-Time Cupcake Wars Winner, to Take Over SouperGirl Location

By MCS Staff

Sticky Fingers, a vegan bakery founded in 2002, is will be taking over the space that was recently home to Soupergirl at 314 Carroll St NW in Takoma DC, just outside of Takoma Park (first reported by Source of the Spring). Sticky Fingers founder, Doron Petersan, has been making award-winning vegan sweet and savory items from the original bakery, Sticky Fingers and plant-based café, Sticky Fingers Diner (formerly known as Fare Well). She is a two-time winner of the Food Network’s Cupcake Wars, and author of Sticky Fingers’ Sweets: 100 Super-Secret Vegan Recipes. Below is the announcement from Sticky Fingers:

“Yes, the rumors are true! Sticky Fingers is opening in Takoma Park this fall, in the space that was formerly Soupergirl. The new commercial kitchen space will give us the room we need for our rapidly growing mail order and wholesale baking mix production (order online at stickyfingersbakery.com), and will have a retail counter to sell our cakes, cupcakes, cookies, brownies and buns. We’ll even have a grab and go to sell popular items from our H Street NE Diner as well as local favorites (like Soupergirl). For more information follow us here and sign up for our mailing list. You can also find our full menu of sweets along with a diner-style menu at StickyFingersDiner.com (formerly known as Fare Well)”

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