MoCo Government

Montgomery County Council Meets on May 2 at 9 a.m. to Conduct Interviews with Candidates for the Montgomery County Planning Board

By Patrick Herron

Per Montgomery County: The Montgomery County Council will meet on Tuesday, May 2 at 9 a.m. and the meeting will begin with two proclamation presentations. The first proclamation, presented by Councilmember Gabe Albornoz, commemorates Mental Health Awareness Month. The second proclamation presentation, led by Councilmember Natali Fani-González and County Executive Marc Elrich, recognizes Building Safety Month. At 11:30 a.m., Council President Evan Glass and Councilmember Kristin Mink will lead a commemoration celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. More detail on each agenda item is provided below.

Montgomery County Planning Board Chair Interviews

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Rockville

Rockville Farmers Market Returns May 13 with Food Benefit Matching Programs

By Patrick Herron

Per the City of Rockville: The City of Rockville and Rockville Farmers Market opens for the season on Saturday, May 13 and will provide a dollar-for-dollar match of up to $10 for customers using their federal nutrition benefits. Entering its 12th 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.

The program aims to fight hunger while investing directly in farmers, strengthening the local food system. Customers can stop by the market tent, located at the market entrance for more information.  The market will be open 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays, from May 13 through Nov. 18, in the jury parking lot at East Jefferson (MD 28) and Monroe streets in Rockville Town Center. The market gives shoppers their pick of farm-fresh produce and more from regional growers/producers, transforming itself weekly as fruits and vegetables become available throughout the season.

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MCFRS

Collision Leads to Car On Its Side In The Woods Monday Night

By MCS Staff

Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services (MCFRA) responded to a collision that ended with a vehicle on its side in the woods on Park Vista Drive off of Layhill Road at approximately 10:15pm on Monday night. According to MCFRS Chief Spokesperson Pete Piringer, one adult was trapped inside the vehicle and was extricated by crews on the scene. The adult was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

ICYMI (5/1 ~1015p) Park Vista Dr, off Layhill Rd, collision w/ entrapment, Car on its side in the woods. 1 patient extricated, @MCFRS_EMIHS transported 1 adult NLT pic.twitter.com/vMwoOfyzuG

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Bethesda

The 10 Best Restaurants in MoCo, According to ChatGPT

By MCS Staff

ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot developed by OpenAI and released in November 2022. We asked it to tell us the “10 best restaurants in Montgomery County, MD.” Three of the restaurants on ChatGPT’s list are no longer open, but the AI chatbot did provide a disclaimer that it doesn’t have access to the most current data. Here’s the response we received:

“As an AI language model, I don’t have access to the most current data or information about restaurants in Montgomery County, MD. However, here are ten restaurants that have received high ratings from various sources:

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Event

Free Lunch & Learn: The 10 Financial Mistakes New Entrepreneurs Make

Online event (see link)

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Free Lunch & Learn: The 10 Financial Mistakes New Entrepreneurs Make

Starting a business is exciting, but financial mistakes can create costly challenges at any stage of growth. Join K. Graham Accounting & Advisory, LLC for a free Lunch & Learn designed to help entrepreneurs and business owners build a stronger financial foundation and make more informed business decisions.

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Gaithersburg

IKEA ‘Plan and Order’ is Coming to Rio (Gaithersburg)

By MCS Staff

IKEA will be opening a new urban-format concept, “which appear to be the first of their kind in the United States”, according to a BizJournals. Per the report, IKEA will open “plan-and-order” points with pick-up at two locations in the DMV– Fairfax Corner in Fairfax and Rio Lakefront in Gaithersburg. The Rio IKEA location will be taking over the space that was previously home to Charming Charlie at 101 Boardwalk Place #102 and could open by the end of the year.

Per IKEA, “Our Plan and Order points are smaller stores dedicated to kitchen, bedroom, and living room planning where you can find home furnishing advice and expertise to help design your ideal space.” You can book an appointment to start your design with a planning specialist, or use in-store, self-service tools to design your own solution. “Whilst there are no items to purchase in-store and take home on the day, for your convenience, purchases made at the Plan and Order points can be delivered to your home or picked up from one of our collection points.”

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Gaithersburg

Police and Family Concerned for Missing 11-Year-Old

By Patrick Herron

Berns is approximately 5-feet, 2-inches tall and weighs 120 pounds. She has brown eyes and black hair that is currently styled in box braids. She was last seen wearing a black sweatshirt, multi-color yoga pants and black Nike tennis shoes. Police and family are concerned for her welfare.

 

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Bethesda

Man Sentenced to Life in Prison For Murdering His Former Boss

By MCS Staff

Per the Office of the Montgomery County State’s Attorney: Defendant, Billy Phillips, sentenced today to life plus 65 years for the murder of his former boss, Geoffrey Biddle, inside Biddle’s Bethesda home.

For a period of time, Geoffrey Biddle had trusted the defendant to work for his company, and the defendant abused that trust by using what he learned during his employment to plan his vicious, premeditated attack. According to witnesses, Billy Phillips was fired from his job in April 2021 for fraud and was in financial despair. On June 23rd, 2021, the defendant terrorized Biddle inside Biddle’s own basement and ultimately shot him four times, the final shot being close range to the victim’s head. Phillips had disabled Biddle’s car to prevent him from trying to escape. He also impersonated Biddle via email to excuse Biddle’s absence from work. Hours after the murder, Phillips was cashing forged checks from the victim’s bank account. When he was arrested, the victim’s bank card and checkbook were in his car.

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Downtown Crown

Lovesac Now Open in Downtown Crown

By MCS Staff

Last year we let you know that specialty furniture brand Lovesac was planning to open a new location in Gaithersburg’s Downtown Crown. The store opened at 111 Crown Park Ave STE C120 last month.

The company’s name comes from the brand’s original Durafoam-filled bean bags called Sacs. Stamford, Connecticut-based Lovesac was founded in 1998 and first came to the area when it opened its Montgomery mall location in 2017. The retailer specializes in a patented modular furniture system called “Sactionals.” Sactionals combine both multiple “seats” and “sides,” as well as custom-fit covers and accessories that allow patrons to configure different styles of seating. Sactionals can fit most spaces, no matter the size or layout, because patrons can add, subtract and arrange pieces in an infinite number of ways. There are more than 250 available fabric options and more than 150 available covers that are machine washable, according to the company’s website.

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Bethesda

Suspect Apprehended by Police After Fleeing Scene of Hit and Run

By Patrick Herron

Montgomery County Police responded to the scene of a hit-and-run collision on Monday, May 1 in Bethesda. According to MCPD,  “the call was received at approximately 3:35 p.m.  2nd District officers responded to the 7800 block of Wisconsin Ave.,  for the report of a hit-and-run collision, involving two vehicles.  The driver of the striking vehicle got out and ran. Officers circulated the area and found the suspect nearby, where he was taken into custody.

There were no injuries were reported. We will post an update if additional information becomes available.

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Potomac

Progress at Upcoming Colony Grill Location

By MCS Staff

Last summer we let you know that Colony Grill, a popular Connecticut Pizza restaurant offering “bar pies”, is expanding into Maryland with its upcoming location at Cabin John Village in Potomac. Over two years ago, the New England-style hot oil bar pizza spot opened a nearby location in Arlington (2800 Clarendon Blvd). The menu is simple- Drinks on one side and pizza/toppings on the other. Pizzas range from $10.50 to $13.50, according to the Arlington location’s menu. While an opening date has not yet been set, the restaurant could open by the end of spring. Progress photos below:

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Bethesda

MoCo Business Returns to Shark Tank for Update on Friday, May 5

By MCS Staff

Bethesda-based clothing line Collars & Co. was featured on the November 11 episode of Shark Tank on ABC.  Many may have seen the clothing company’s signature item, the “Dress Collar Polo”, a buttery soft polo with a standard English spread collar that is said to be more comfortable than a normal collared shirt. Collar & Co went on Shark Tank seeking $300K for 4% equity at a $7.5 Million valuation from the sharks and ended up striking a deal. The business will return on the May 5th edition of Shark Tank for a business update. More below on how their initial Shark Tank appearance went:

According to its website, Collars & Co.’s mission is to “provide men and women with extremely high quality clothing that not only looks great, but feels amazing as well.” The business sells shirts, sweaters, underwear, and accessories. Bethesda resident Justin Baer presented his product, asking for $300K for a 4% equity (valuation of $7.5M). The business launched in 2021 and went viral on TikTok, leading to 500 orders off the bat and $40K in revenue the first month after the video’s release.

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