Per Montgomery County:
Back in January, Regal Cinemas has announced plans to close 39 U.S. theaters, including its location at 199 E Montgomery Ave in Rockville, according to a report by Business Insider. Yesterday, PoPville reported that Regal in Rockville be among theaters that will remain open under NewCo (formerly Cineworld).
Regal Rockville opened on November 6, 1998. In January, Business Insider reported that Cineworld, the parent company of Regal that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2021, plans to “reject the leases” of the 39 locations starting February 15. The company expected the move to save them close to $22 million a year and “the debtors are hopeful that these negotiations will lead to lease concessions and modifications that will obviate the need for rejection and enable additional theater sites to remain open.” Cineworld, however has confirmed plans to emerge from Chapter 11 cases as NewCo. Additional information in the press release below:
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Auntie Anne’s/Cinnabon combination restaurant is now open at 220 Boardwalk Place in Rio, taking over the location that was recently home to Lilly Magilly’s– as the cupcakery is still preparing for a move to a new location.
The two brands, popular for their presence in malls, are co-branding to open locations across the country. In recent years, Cinnabon left then returned to Montgomery Mall. There’s also an existing Cinnabon location in Wheaton Mall. Auntie Anne’s has locations at the outlets in Clarksburg, Ellsworth Place Mall, Montgomery Mall, and Wheaton Mall in MoCo.
Montgomery County, MD is commonly known as being a suburb of the nation’s capital, but what might surprise some is that it is also home to a thriving biotech ecosystem. With over 350 life sciences companies, including global brands like AstraZeneca, United Therapeutics, and Novavax, Montgomery County anchors the third largest biophama hub in the U.S., behind only Boston and San Francisco.
Running annually in Washington D.C. for over 25 years, World Vaccine Congress attracts an international audience from over 80 countries and convenes more than 3,000 people to learn about the latest trends, research, and technologies in the vaccine industry. This year, Montgomery County took center stage, with a featured session on the extensive Biologics Value Chain in the County, as well as a session during which County Executive Marc Elrich spoke about the extensive resources available to companies here, and an exhibit space showcasing these resources.
A Complete Biologics Value Chain in One Region
One of the defining strengths of Montgomery County is its ability to support the full lifecycle of biologics, all the way from early research to large-scale manufacturing. During the panel discussion, moderated by Dr. Stefanie Trop, Director of Life Sciences at the Maryland Department of Commerce, local leaders emphasized that the region’s strength lies in its network of partners who work collaboratively across discovery, development, testing, and production. Panelists from companies in all stages of the value chain spectrum included Dr. Andrew Lees, Founder of Fina Biosolutions, Benjamin Moutier, Senior Vice-President, Vaccines and Immune Therapies at AstraZeneca, Dr. Helen Sabzevari President & CEO of Precigen, and Dr. Frederick Holtsberg, Chief Scientific Officer of Integrated BioTherapeutics.
This end-to-end capability in close geographical proximity gives companies a unique advantage and is rare to find in other markets, even established ones like San Francisco and Boston. In fact, only a handful of places worldwide offer the combination of infrastructure, expertise, and collaboration found in Montgomery County and if diversity, education and population density are taken into consideration – then Montgomery County standouts even more.
“Gaithersburg is one of the six places in the world where we can do what we’re doing,” explained Benjamin Moutier, Senior Vice-President, Vaccines and Immune Therapies, AstraZeneca. “We have the right partners at every step of the value chain [in Montgomery County].”
A Strong Partnership Network
Biotech breakthroughs rarely happen in isolation. They depend on strong partnerships between private companies, local and state governments, academic institutions, and workforce training organizations. Montgomery County has intentionally cultivated these connections, making collaboration and coordination defining characteristics of its life sciences ecosystem.
Dr. Frederick Holtsberg, Chief Scientific Officer at IBT Bioservices, a full service CRO offering clinical & preclinical contract research services, says the company’s close partnerships between them and local stakeholders have been crucial to its success. “As a Rockville-based company, we’re grateful for the partnership and support from city, County, and state leaders,” explained Dr. Holtsberg. “These programs have helped fuel our growth, and we’re excited about the continued momentum of our community.” (more…)
Montgomery County’s very own Katie Ledecky finished the 1500m with a time of 15:29.64 and now now owns all of the top 15 times ever recorded in the event. According to Olmypics.com, “her dominant performance found her with a two second lead over second place after just 150m. By 200m, she had separated herself by a full bodylength and at the halfway mark, Ledecky was nearly half a pool’s length ahead of her nearest competitor.”
Ledecky was raised in Bethesda, where she attended Little Flower School through eighth grade and attended high school at Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart, where she graduated in 2015. “It’s amazing what a morning off can do,” said Ledecky to Scott Bregman of Olympics.com. “I just wanted to finish on a good note. I really don’t like finishing a meet with a bad swim, so I just really wanted to have a great one tonight. That’s – I think – the first time I’ve been under 15:30 since before the pandemic so I’m really happy with that.”
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Per MCPD: On Wednesday, July 5, 2023, Detectives from the Montgomery County Department of Police – Major Crimes Division Auto Crime Enforcement Section (ACES) located a stolen Lexus IS300 in the 13800 block of Avonshire Drive, in Silver Spring. Two adult males were observed getting into the stolen vehicle and attempted to drive away. ACES detectives, along with Montgomery County K-9, and 1st and 3rd District Special Assignment Teams (SAT) officers, immediately surrounded the Lexus, taking both occupants into custody without incident.
The occupants of the Lexus have been identified as 20-year-old Jeferson Figueroa of Capitol Heights and 19-year-old Steven Becerra of Cheverly, MD. Through the course of the investigation, ACES detectives learned that the Lexus had been stolen from Prince George’s County. Within close proximity to the Lexus was a second vehicle, a Hyundai Elantra, which was determined to have been stolen from Montgomery County. Figueroa and Becerra were arrested and transported to the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit. Both face multiple auto-theft related charges. Featured photo courtesy of Google Maps.
According to the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office, “Today in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, MD, the Honorable Margaret Schweitzer sentenced defendant, Reginald Dunlap, 45, of Silver Spring, to life in prison suspend all but 55 years to serve and five years of supervised probation upon release. On March 10th, 2023, a jury found Dunlap guilty of First-Degree Murder for the brutal slaying of his wife, 40-year-old Lauren Charles. Charles was beloved in the community and dozens of friends and family members attended today’s sentencing hearing.”
Charles’ body was found inside the couple’s home on March 7th, 2021. She had asphyxiated due to a pillowcase forced down her throat and was beaten to death. A decorative Buddha statue is believed to have been the murder weapon. After murdering his wife, defendant, Dunlap poured bleach on her body and ransacked their bedroom in order to stage a crime scene.
The Lakeforest Mall auction has officially ended and winners of the auctions will be picking up their items in the coming days. The 2014 Chevy Silverado, emblazoned with the Lakeforest Mall logo and 21,242 miles of usage (and currently not running), was the item that went for the highest price– selling for $23,700. The plow used to clear snow from the Lakeforest Mall parking lot, that attaches to the pick-up truck, sold for $1,525. It’s unclear if the same person won both items.
The popular food court canoe structure (with grapes in it) ended up going for a price of $205. A scissor lift used by maintenance staff at Lakeforest went for just over $3,000, a candy machine sold for $1,375, and someone is going to have a really fun play area for their kids at home as the entire Lakeforest Mall play area (with walls included) sold for $1,425.
Per Montgomery County: More than 1,300 pregnant Montgomery County residents currently enrolled in the County’s Maternity Partnership Program, which is part of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), are now eligible to receive Medicaid, regardless of immigration status. A bill passed in the Maryland General Assembly earlier this year—the Healthy Babies Equity Act (HEBA)—went into effect July 1 and provides Medicaid coverage to low-income individuals, regardless of immigration status. Maryland joins 17 other states, including Virginia, and the District of Columbia in providing Medicaid to the expanded group.
Medical and dental services previously offered through the Maternity Partnership Program are now part of the Medicaid program and pregnant individuals must apply for Medicaid to receive prenatal care, dental care, labor and delivery hospital care and postpartum care. To be eligible for Medicaid, an individual must be pregnant, live in Maryland and be 250 percent or below the Federal Poverty Level (approximately $4,340 or less per month for a family of two, $6,600 for a family of four).
Per MCPD: Detectives from the Montgomery County Department of Police – 3rd District Investigative Section are asking for the public’s assistance in locating Porfirio Adolfo Diaz-Sanchez, a missing 60-year-old from Silver Spring. Diaz-Sanchez was last seen on Thursday, July 6, 2023, at approximately 3 p.m., in the 8600 block of Flower Avenue.
Diaz-Sanchez is approximately 5-feet, 8-inches tall and 130 pounds. He has gray hair and gray eyes. He was last seen wearing a black baseball hat, white short-sleeved shirt, khaki pants, and brown dress shoes. He uses public transportation. Family and police are concerned for his welfare.
Per Montgomery County: The Montgomery County Office of Procurement won a National Association of Counties (NACo) Award for the Digitization of County Contracting in the County Administration and Management category. NACo is an organization that represents county governments in the United States. It works to advance excellence in public service. Until recently, the County’s Office of Procurement utilized paper-based methods to manage procurement actions for more than 2,600 contracts, totaling goods and services valued at more than $1 billion annually. Due to the unforeseen urgency brought on by COVID-19, paper-based methods of submitting and receiving bids were no longer possible.
To improve the system, technical and operational staff fast-tracked the development and implementation of an e-bidding system to accept responses to solicitations online. These efforts were fully developed and maintained with existing staff at no cost and implemented within one year.
Per MCPD: Detectives from the Montgomery County Department of Police – 3rd District Investigative Section have arrested and charged 43-year-old Olutoye Ayorinde of Silver Spring, in connection to a shooting that occurred in the 2900 block of Marlow Farm Terrace. On Saturday, February 25, 2023, at approximately 1:03 a.m., the Montgomery County Emergency Communications Center received multiple calls for shots fired in the area of Fairland Road. Officers subsequently located the scene of the shooting in the 2900 block of Marlow Farm Road. Montgomery County Police Officers also responded to a local hospital for a patient suffering from non-life-threatening gunshot wounds.