Poolesville

According to a Town of Poolesville press release, Phase one of LED streetlight conversions are underway. Over 300 lights will be retrofitted over the summer.

Funding for this project was possible through a $45,000 grant from the Maryland Energy Administration.  The LED lights use about 75% less electricity than the conventional lights they are replacing, which will significantly lower operational costs.


Events

Gospel music, the uniquely American art form that gave rise to jazz, blues, R&B, and rock & roll, will be celebrated to the highest as the City presents the 16th Annual Jubilation Day Gospel Concert. On Saturday, June 11, 2022, from 3 to 7 p.m., the Concert Pavilion at City Hall will host performances of all styles of Gospel, Christian & uplifting music by local & regional artists. The event will also feature an acknowledgement of the upcoming Juneteenth Holiday.

This year’s featured performer is The Chosen Vessels, a local group from Pleasant Grove Christian Community Church of Damascus, MD. The group, under the leadership of Nathan Cooper, Jr., was inspired by God to praise his name in song. Their most requested songs, which they have performed throughout Maryland, Virginia & Washington, DC, include “Standing in the Safety,” “What a Fellowship,” “Faith in Jesus Christ,” “I’ve Learned How to Live Right,” and “He Changed Me.”


Germantown

Actor Rich Rotella grew up in Germantown, MD. He graduated from Northwest High School in 2002 and has gone on to star in Lionsgate’s feature comedy, “The Newest Pledge (2010).” One of his favorite gigs has been a national commercial for “TIDE Laundry” opposite iconic Betty White. And recently, he wrote, directed, and starred in the original feature film, “Marlo Lasker (2020).” Rotella’s latest role is as the star of a documentary he is filming about cosmetic limb lengthening, where he is the patient.

Though Rotella has trained in improvisation at “The Groundlings” and studied under Lee Strasberg’s disciple Eric Morris (acting coach to Johnny Depp and Jack Nicholson), he says that at 5’5 casting directors have always told him he is too short to play the lead. So on On April 19, he underwent a painful cosmetic procedure in which both of his femurs were broken, the first step in a process that will make him 3.25 inches taller, according to PEOPLE magazine. He hopes to be 5’8″ by the end of July.


Montgomery Parks

South Germantown SplashPark and boat rentals are open for the season starting  Saturday, May 28. 

Montgomery Parks  announces Memorial Day operating hours, including extending  its  Open Parkways  through Tuesday, May 31, at 7 a.m. for the holiday weekend.    


MoCo

John Poole Middle School in Poolesville was selected as the winner of the first-ever Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) ‘Paint the Plow’ middle school snowplow naming contest. The winning design had a comic theme and featured the words “Kaplow.”

Teams from 14 Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) middle schools participated in the contest. Snowplows and paint supplies were delivered by MCDOT to each school and the student teams had four days to name and decorate their snowplows.


Rockville

Due to construction and paving work at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s Rockville Metrorail station, bus stops on the West Side Kiss & Ride will be closed and temporarily relocated, from May 31 to June 6.

All bus stops normally on the west side will be temporarily relocated to either the east side, on the street at MD 355, or one block over on Monroe Street in front of the Montgomery County Executive Office Building. Wayfinding signs will be placed at the Metro station to help riders locate their bus stops. Additionally, Ride On staff will be onsite at the station, for rider assistance.


MCDOT

With the recent selection of a new contractor and construction activities of the Purple Line continuing, the Maryland Department of Transportation Maryland Transit Administration (MDOT MTA), which manages the project, will be hosting a number of in-person community meetings in Montgomery County.

The Purple Line is a 16-mile light rail line that will extend from Bethesda in Montgomery County to New Carrollton in Prince George’s County. It will provide a direct connection to the Metrorail Red, Green and Orange Lines at Bethesda, Silver Spring, College Park, and New Carrollton. The Purple Line will also connect to MARC, Amtrak, and local bus services. The Purple Line has a planned completion date of 2026.


Poolesville

Congressman David Trone (MD-06) announced that Poolesville was one of the successful grantees among 15 projects requesting funding for projects across Maryland’s Sixth District. These investments will create new jobs, deliver much-needed resources to Sixth District communities, and restore neglected infrastructure.

Details: $4,192,720 through the Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill for the Fisher Avenue Streetscape Project for the Town of Poolesville, located at 19721 Beall St, Poolesville, MD 20837. A financial disclosure letter can be found here.


Business

Silver Spring-based United Terapeutics has announced the First approval of a dry powder inhaler for treatment of PAH and PH-ILD. The DPI device represents a convenient option for administration of treprostinil therapy. Commercial launch activities underway; patient availability expected in June 2022. Per, BizJournals, this has “sent the local drugmaker’s stock soaring.”

United Therapeutics Corporation (Nasdaq: UTHR), a public benefit corporation, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Tyvaso DPI™ (treprostinil) inhalation powder for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH; WHO Group 1) and pulmonary hypertension associated with interstitial lung disease (PH-ILD; WHO Group 3) to improve exercise ability. Tyvaso DPI represents a new formulation and inhalation device for inhaled treprostinil and is the only dry powder inhaler approved by the FDA for use in PAH and PH-ILD.


MCPS

The Earle B. Wood Middle School community is mourning the loss of Mr. Bill Allen, who passed away suddenly on Friday night. Mr. Allen was a physical education teacher at Wood Middle School for 52 years before retiring last June.

Below is a letter to the Wood Middle School community from principal Heidi Slatcoff. Our condolences to his family, friends, coworkers and students.


View More Stories