MCS Staff, Author at The MoCo Show

David Blair Regains Lead Over Marc Elrich in Latest Democratic Primary Update By State Board of Elections

Published July 26, 2022 at 7:55AM | Updated July 26, 2022 at 10:24AM

As mail-In/provisional ballots are counted in the Democratic primary for Montgomery County Executive, David Blair has taken the lead over incumbent Marc Elrich by just 134 votes after trailing by 141 votes on Sunday morning, according to the latest update by the Maryland State Board of Elections at 9:16pm on Monday night. David Blair (42,705, 39.33%) holds a lead of 134 votes over Marc Elrich (42,571, 39.20%). David Blair led by 1,191 votes when early voting and Election Day votes were tallied, and has received 13,351 mail-in/provisional ballot votes compared to 14,543 for Marc Elrich. Marc Elrich defeated David Blair by just 77 votes in 2018.

In a presser, @DrZ_ElectionNut
provided some numbers on the count… keep in mind these are all ballots, not just Democratic…
1) 30,218 ballots have been canvassed and sent to state board to post vote results
2) 32,312 mail-in ballots through USPS (more on that in a bit) 🧵

Restaurant

Miller’s Ale House Closing Date Update (September 25)

By MCS Staff

Published July 25, 2022 at 8:53PM

Last week we spoke with a manager at the restaurant who was able to confirm that Miller’s Ale House will be closing permanently in August, but the date has since been updated to September 25th. The restaurant closes after approximately 10 years at 1471 Rockville Pike in Rockville.

The location was previously home to Hooters before it moved across the Pike (and later closed) and Shakey’s before that. Miller’s Ale House is a Florida-based American restaurant and sports bar chain that was founded in 1988. The restaurant serves steaks, chicken, burgers, salads, seafood, and more. Though most of their locations are in Florida (over 50), there are over 30 other locations open across the east coast. Miller’s Ale House has nearby locations in Hyattsville and Sterling, VA locations.

Maryland

Mobile Sports Betting Moves One Step Closer in MD

By MCS Staff

Published July 25, 2022 at 8:06PM

The Sports Wagering Application Review Commission (SWARC) voted Wednesday to approve a set of draft regulations and application forms for prospective mobile and Class B facility sportsbook operators, according to a BizJournals report. The drafts will head next to the Maryland General Assembly’s Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review for emergency approval.

Per Gaming Today, “SWARC hopes to have a decision from the state legislative administrative rules committee by the next scheduled SWARC meeting on Aug. 17. That will start the clock on a public comment period (which is typically 30 days), and move the emergency rules toward final approval. That said, a mobile launch by NFL kickoff on Sept. 8 looks unlikely.”

MoCo Government

David Blair Narrows Marc Elrich’s Lead to 141 Votes in Latest Update By State Board of Elections

By MCS Staff

Published July 25, 2022 at 11:19AM | Updated July 25, 2022 at 5:43PM

As mail-In/provisional ballots are counted in the Democratic primary for Montgomery County Executive, David Blair has closed the gap and now trails incumbent Marc Elrich by just 141 votes after tailing by 276 votes on Saturday night, according to the latest update by the Maryland State Board of Elections at 9:39am on Sunday morning. Marc Elrich (39,117, 39.30%) holds a lead of 276 votes over David Blair (38,976, 39.16%). David Blair led by 1,191 votes when early voting and Election Day votes were tallied, but has received 9,622 mail-in/provisional ballot votes compared to 11,089 for Marc Elrich. Marc Elrich defeated David Blair by just 77 votes in 2018.

Approximately 115,000 mail-in ballots were sent to voters in Montgomery County. According the State Board of Elections, there were 25,453 Democratic mail-in ballots received by the county when polls closed (all ballot drop off boxes were also locked shut on Tuesday at 8pm). Ballots are still coming in via the mail and will be counted as long as the envelope was postmarked by July 19 and arrives by July 29. A final result could take days due to how close the race is and the amount of ballots left to count.

MoCoSnow

Slight Risk of Severe Weather as Cold Front Pushes Through Region Monday Evening

By MCS Staff

Published July 25, 2022 at 10:21AM

Coming off of the hottest day of the year, we are experiencing another hot one as the July heat wave ends. Temperatures should reach approximately 90 degrees for most later on Monday afternoon before a cold front brings the chance of sever weather in the form of thunderstorms later this evening. According to the National Weather Service, “A cold front will push through the region today bringing showers and thunderstorms to the region. A few storms may become severe, bringing damaging wind gusts and heavy rainfall.”

As the day goes on, chances of showers increase this evening, with the greater chance for thunderstorms coming this evening around 7pm and into the early night. Highs tomorrow will be in the low 80s, which will be a welcomed break from the 90+ degree weather for many in the area. Temperatures are expected to remain pleasant and in the 80s for the rest of the week, including the weekend. August looks to be coming in warm, with temperatures approaching 90 degrees, but we are still about a week or so away.

Education

Maryland Ranks 5th in List of “2022’s Best School Systems”

By MCS Staff

Published July 25, 2022 at 10:14AM

With the gaps in test scores between low-poverty and high-poverty elementary schools growing by 15% to 20% during the COVID-19 pandemic, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2022’s States with the Best & Worst School Systems. Maryland was ranked 5th overall, including bring ranked 7th in “Quality” and 6th in “Safety”. 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.):

Germantown

Power Restored For 6,000+ Germantown Residents

By MCS Staff

Published July 25, 2022 at 8:04AM

Power has been restored for over 6,000 residents in the Germantown area after a small animal came into contact with electrical equipment to cause the outage on Sunday afternoon. Power for most residents was restored by Sunday evening, but some retailers in the area were forced to temporarily close due to the outages.

Thousands of residents had to deal with this outage on the hottest day of the year, with temperatures approaching 100 degrees on Sunday afternoon. According to an NBC Washington report, “A spokesperson for FirstEnergy, of which Potomac Energy is a subsidiary, the company couldn’t confirm the exact type of animal that caused the outage, except that it was similar in size to a squirrel.”

Rockville

Meixin Supermarket Demolished, Chase Bank Construction Starting Soon

By MCS Staff

Published July 25, 2022 at 7:41AM

Back in November of 2020, we let you know that Chase Bank was close to receiving approval to take over the location previously occupied by Meixin Supermarket (formerly Maxim) on Hungerford Drive (355) in Rockville. The building has now been demolished (photo below) in preparation for the upcoming Chase Bank building, but the process has been a long one.

Rockville’s Historic District Commission (HDC) recommended and found that the property met certain criteria for historic designation. City staff staff disagreed and recommended the the Planning Commission deny the change of zones from MXCD (Mixed-Use Corridor District) to MXCD-HD (Historic District) due to not meeting criteria for the designation. After a vote late last year, the City of Rockville decided that the building did not meet criteria for historic designation and the decision to move forward with the plans for Chase Bank moved forward.

Gaithersburg

MoCo Native Brings Authentic Taiwanese Cuisine, Bao Bei, To Rockville for Pick-Up/Delivery

By MCS Staff

Published July 25, 2022 at 7:18AM | Updated July 25, 2022 at 7:54AM

Bao Bei, specializing in authentic Taiwanese cuisine, is now available for pick-up and delivery through a ghost kitchen located at 11910 Parklawn Dr #O in Rockville. The ghost kitchen is owned and operated by Gaithersburg native, Kevin Hsieh.

“The past few years I’ve attended food festivals and private events, but recently opened for pick-up and delivery (UberEats, DoorDash, Grubhub) at a ghost kitchen located in North Bethesda.” said Hsieh. “I’m excited to finally share it with our local community.”

MoCo Government

Health Officials Urge Continued Prevention as New COVID-19 BA.5 Variant Is Now the Predominant Strain

By MCS Staff

Published July 25, 2022 at 6:46AM

Per Montgomery County: COVID-19 cases are increasing in Montgomery County and throughout the nation as Omicron’s BA.5 variant has become the predominant strain circulating. The BA.5 variant spreads easily, and while symptoms are generally not severe, it is still important to practice recommended COVID-19 prevention steps. Montgomery County’s Department of Health and Human Services recommends residents follow these precautions:

Beyond MoCo

Montgomery County Man Dies After Lyft Driver Ends Ride on Highway in Dewey Beach

By MCS Staff

Published July 24, 2022 at 7:34PM

Delaware State Police are investigating a fatal pedestrian crash that occurred early Sunday morning on southbound Coastal Highway (Route 1) in the area of Anchors Way, Dewey Beach, DE. On July 24, 2022, at approximately 1:44 a.m., the victim and five of his friends hired a “Lyft” driver to pick them up in Dewey Beach and transport them back to their residence in Bethany Beach. As the group was traveling southbound on Coastal Highway all in the same vehicle, a disagreement occurred between the group and the Lyft operator. The Lyft operator terminated the ride and stopped in the middle of the southbound left lane and demanded all six passengers exit the vehicle.

At this time, a 2016 Toyota Corolla, operated by a 27-year-old male was traveling southbound on Coastal Highway in the left lane approaching the stopped Lyft vehicle (possibly a white Honda Pilot). As the operator changed lanes to avoid striking the rear of the Lyft vehicle, he failed to see the pedestrian who had just exited the right rear passenger seat and was standing in the roadway. As a result, the left front of Corolla struck the pedestrian. After impact, the Corolla immediately pulled over on the southbound shoulder and came to a controlled stop. The Lyft vehicle fled southbound on Coastal Highway immediately after the crash.