Author: Patrick Herron

Gaithersburg

City of Gaithersburg Announces Juneteenth & Freedom Day Celebrations

By Patrick Herron

June 19, 2022, best known as Juneteenth/Freedom Day, marks the 157th anniversary of the arrival of Union soldiers and General Gordon Granger in Galveston, Texas. On June 19, 1865, two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation, the Union soldiers enforced the President’s order ending enslavement.

About six months after Granger brought the message of emancipation to Texas, Congress ratified the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution, formally abolishing slavery. Since June 19, 1866, freed slaves have marked the day to celebrate their independence. Juneteenth is also known as Black Independence Day, Freedom Day & Jubilee Day.

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MoCo Government

Council President Gabe Albornoz’s Statement on the FY23 Operating Budget and FY23-28 Capital Improvements Program

By Patrick Herron

Below is Council President Albornoz’s full statement:

This week, as I reflected on the budget we are about to approve, it occurred to me that this is the eighteenth budget I have had a hand in shaping. My early experience with the County budget was as an executive for a non-profit organization, then later as a cabinet official and now, as Council President. Those experiences provide valuable context that helps me see this budget from multiple angles.

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MCPS

MCPS Launches Student Wellness Survey

By Patrick Herron

Montgomery County Public Schools sent out a community message on Thursday, May 19 announcing that all MCPS students K-11th grade will be taking an age-appropriate survey between May 26 and June 17 to gather feedback on their well-being. Parents who do not want their children to take the survery can opt-out by May 25.

MCPS is committed to ensuring schools have the resources and programs in place to foster a culture of well-being and to effectively respond to those in crisis. A student survey has been developed to help schools in identifying high-needs areas for students.

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Education

MCPS: Five Things to Know For Thursday, May 19

By Patrick Herron

Letters about positive cases that include advice about mask use are sent home as necessary. MCPS is also sending additional take-home rapid tests and masks to impacted schools. Students and staff who are not up-to-date on their COVID-19 vaccinations or boosters may be required to quarantine per guidance from the CDC, Maryland Department of Health and the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services.

Seneca Valley is located at 19401 Crystal Rock Drive in Germantown.

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Uncategorized

Detectives Investigate Residential Burglary; Surveillance Video of Suspects Released

By Patrick Herron

The investigation by detectives determined that the two suspects entered the backyard of the residence by opening the unlocked wooden gate. The suspects then gained entry into the residence through the unlocked back door.

The Black male suspect is approximately 20 – 30-years-old, 5-feet, 7-inches tall and thin build. He was seen wearing a royal blue hoodie, royal blue sweatpants, with a white stripe down the side and white and blue sneakers.

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Wheaton

A Three-Year-Old Child Has Died Due to a Collision Last Week; Police Investigating

By Patrick Herron

The investigation by detectives has determined that the driver of a white 1997 Ford F-150, pulling a 2015 Holmes light duty trailer, was attempting to make a left turn from eastbound Atherton Dr. onto northbound Connecticut Ave. The operator of a white 2015 Kia Optima was traveling and continuing south on Connecticut Ave. The two vehicles collided in the intersection.

Officers located six patients with injuries ranging from minor to life-threatening. Four of those patients were passengers of the Kia. Two additional patients were passengers of the Ford.

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MoCo Government

Statement from Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich on the County Council’s Preliminary Agreement on the Fiscal Year 2023 Operating Budget

By Patrick Herron

All of us are focused on improving education, expanding affordable housing opportunities, enhancing public safety, combatting climate change, and committed to equity. This proposed and preliminarily approved FY23 budget will also grow our reserves, helps preserve our AAA bond rating, and provides improved compensation for our employees. This budget makes historic investments while not raising taxes on our residents during these volatile economic times.

After two years of operating in crisis mode in response to the pandemic, nearly 15 years since the beginning of the Great Recession, and, for the first time since I have been a County official, our revenues have returned stronger than even predicted. We finally have the revenue we needed to make key investments as well as right sizing many priorities after years of cuts and similar budgets. This is a long way from just three years ago when we inherited a $90 million dollar deficit in our first budget, a same service budget in our second year at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a budget last year that was supplemented by federal funds that allowed us to have another same services budget that limited our ability to address increasing needs.

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Bethesda

Detectives Investigate Armed Robbery in Bethesda; Surveillance Video of Suspect Released

By Patrick Herron

The investigation determined that the victim was waiting to enter a parking garage when a white 4-door vehicle drove up next to her. The suspect exited the front passenger seat of the vehicle, approached the victim from behind, pointed a gun and demanded the victim’s purse. The victim complied and the suspect ran back to the vehicle and fled the scene.

The suspect is described as a Black male, approximately 6-feet tall, thin build, wearing a grey hoodie and dark colored pants.

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Gaithersburg

Truck Day Event This Saturday, May 21 in Gaithersburg

By Patrick Herron

Truck Day will take place from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at the MCDOT Gaithersburg Depot, which is located at 17000 Crabbs Branch Way in Gaithersburg.

The American Public Works Association has announced “Ready & Resilient” as the theme for its 2022 National Public Works Week campaign. The theme emphasizes that public works employees are always ready to serve their communities and are resilient despite encountering challenges.

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Maryland

Governor Hogan Announces Plan to Deploy $198 Million in Small Business Relief

By Patrick Herron

“Through a number of relief programs, our efforts to keep Maryland ‘open for business’ during the pandemic have protected jobs and empowered one of the strongest and sustainable recoveries in the nation,” said Governor Hogan. “We have one of the most aggressive plans in the country to get these resources out the door utilizing our very successful lending and investment programs to help our small businesses, particularly those in underserved communities primed for revitalization.”

Initially established by Congress in 2010 to provide loans and investments to underserved small businesses, SSBCI received a $10 billion allocation as part of the American Rescue Plan Act. The SSBCI funds will be administered by three state agencies, including the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), the Maryland Department of Commerce, and the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO). The funds from SSBCI will be used to augment existing business lending programs to support businesses with limited opportunities for growth whether due to the pandemic or historic disinvestment. Maryland’s statewide SSBCI initiatives will target communities and areas with a high concentration of small, micro, and Socially and Economically Disadvantaged Individual (SEDI) businesses to support ongoing state investments in underserved communities.

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