There will be a food distribution event today, May 3, at Germantown Elementary School (19110 Liberty Mill Rd) from 2-3PM. Please remain in your vehicle while food is being delivered.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Black Rock Center has temporarily transformed into the Upcounty Consolidation Hub. The Hub provides essential food, baby, and household supplies to over 1,000 families disproportionally impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic every week. Learn more at blackrockcenter.org
The new law expands the number of buildings covered by the County’s existing Benchmarking Law to include additional County-owned, commercial and multifamily buildings and establish long-term standards for those buildings and require the use of less energy.
At the bill signing, County Executive Elrich stressed the importance of the legislation in realizing the County’s Climate Action Plan goals of eliminating greenhouse gas emissions by 2035. A video of the bill signing ceremony can be viewed at https://youtu.be/eQE5Uezy7MQ.
A small single-engine Piper PA-32 plane that was headed to the Montgomery County Airpark in Gaithersburg was forced to make an emergency landing in New Jersey on Sunday morning after the pilot reported smoke in the cockpit, according to a report by FOX 5. The plane, which had initially departed from Norwood Regional Airport in Norwood, MA landed safely at Teterboro Airport in Bergen County, NJ around 11am. It is not know how many people were aboard the plane at the time of the incident. Per Wikipedia, the Piper PA-32 is a single-engine, light aircraft manufactured in the United States by Piper Aircraft and is used around the world for private transportation, air taxi services, bush support, and medevac flights.
According to US News & World Report, the FAA is investigating the incident and that “The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns and manages the airport, did not immediately respond to questions about the incident, and local police also did not respond.”
“We know that many residents depend upon the Ride On bus system for daily trips throughout the County such as work, daycare, health services and other essential trips,” said MCDOT Director, Chris Conklin. “These service improvements are a step in the right direction. They provide access and opportunity to residents who need it.”
Passengers using Montgomery County’s Ride On buses are encouraged to wear a mask, but are no longer required to wear them. The change to the County’s mask policy comes after the announcement on April 18 that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) decided to suspend enforcement of its mask mandate on all modes of public transportation. TSA’s decision came after a Federal judge’s ruling that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s mask mandate was unconstitutional.
Big Al’s Subs and Soups in the Montgomery Mall food court has closed. It was located in the space that was previously home to Wicked Waffles, next to Charley’s. The restaurant, which had a menu very similar to that of Subway, opened in December of 2021. The restaurant offered ten different signature sandwiches, including a vegetarian option called “The Mediterranean”, and a rotating list of soups.
In other Montgomery Mall restaurant news, HalfSmoke Bethesda will be opening in the Montgomery Mall food court, as first reported by The MoCo Source on Instagram. It will be located in the former home of Coldstone Creamery and more recently Gelato Galaxy. HalfSmoke was the first restaurant of its kind to serve gourmet sausages via an assembly line format. Its sausages and toppings can be fully customized to create over 50,000 variations. The HalfSmoke menu also features craft beer, mac and cheese balls, tater tots, milkshakes, funnel cakes, wine, cocktails, and more, but there is no word on if the Montgomery Mall location will offer everything the DC restaurant does. No word yet on an opening date.
The Sierra Club Montgomery County Group has announced their list of candidate endorsements for Montgomery County Council seats. The Sierra Club is an environmental protection and advocacy group, which has local chapters throughout all 50 states. According to their website, “the Montgomery County Maryland Group focuses on local issues, including improving public transit, maintaining clean water sources, supporting and monitoring the county’s Climate Protection Plan, and endorsing and supporting green candidates.” Last week, the club announced that they would be endorsing David Blair for Montgomery County Executive, saying that Blair will be a strong and effective leader that has an appealing environmental platform. The primary election will be held on July 19.
Sierra Club looks forward to strong progress on a variety of environmental priorities over the next four years. In particular, we’d like to see substantial forward movement on
At approximately 8 p.m., on Friday, April 15, 4th District officers responded to the Wheaton Mall, located in the 11100 block of Veirs Mill Road for an assault that just occurred.
The investigation by detectives determined that the female victim was inside the mall when she was approached by two female suspects. The suspects approached the victim and pushed her down on the ground. Once on the ground, the suspects began kicking the victim in the face. One of the suspects then sprayed bleach in the victim’s eyes prior to fleeing the scene.
The number of vendors varies from 50 to 150 depending on the weather. Since the markets are outdoors, weather always plays a part in the activity, but the markets are only canceled for heavy steady rain or high winds. The markets are held on the first Saturday of the month – April though November – and the cold dark early mornings of the first and last months require heavy coats, gloves and flashlights. In the summer months a rogue thunderstorm can send vendors racing to cover their goods with tarps and to seek shelter in their cars, only to pop out again like prairie dogs from their holes when the sun comes out. But that isall part of the adventure.
Vendors are charged $25 for a 10’ x10’ space and must set up before 7am and pack up at 1pm. After the overhead of insurance, port-a-john, signage and security, all the proceeds go to three local non-profit organizations – the Germantown Historical Society, the Button Farm Living History Program, and a Boy Scout Troop. The Germantown Historical Society began the Flea Markets in 1993 to raise funds. There were only about two dozen vendors at that first market
Rockville Farmers Market opens for the season on Saturday, May 14 and will provide a dollar-for-dollar match for customers using their federal nutrition benefits.
Entering its 11th year, the Eat Fresh Rockville and Maryland Market Money program removes economic barriers for food-insecure shoppers, by increasing access to fresh produce and increasing purchasing power. Customers can receive a dollar-for-dollar match of up to $10 weekly when they shop with SNAP/EBT (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program/Electronic Benefits Transfer), P-EBT (Pandemic EBT) and WIC-FVC (Women, Infants and Children-Fruit and Vegetable Checks) at the market. Matching funds can be used to purchase locally grown and produced items including fruits, vegetables, meat, cheese, dairy, baked goods, eggs and honey.
“[T]he Mayor and Council wishes to strengthen efforts to help proactively engage school communities and identify issues that impact the Rockville Community’s education and leadership opportunities,” the ordinance creating the commission states. Members of the group, who will be appointed by the Mayor and Council, will be representative of Rockville’s demographic and educational diversity, as well as its neighborhoods.
Of the 11 members, four will represent public education; three, private, parochial and home schooling; and three will be educational professionals. Those members will serve for two years. One will be a student member, who will serve for one year. See a full list of the commission’s duties with the staff report at www.rockvillemd.gov/AgendaCenter by selecting the Monday, April 18 Mayor and Council meeting listing.
Coming soon signage is up at the Olney Crab House, located at 18200 Georgia Avenue, the former site of the Olney Tavern in the Hillcrest Center in Olney. In February we were informed by the property management of the center that the original owners had pulled out of the location and new owners had just recently taken over the lease. We first reported that the Olney Alehouse was coming back in November 2019. Renovations on the building began in the summer of 2020 but remained dormant until the new tenants took over. No opening date has been announced.