Rockville

Rockville’s annual Veterans Day and Memorial Day ceremonies each include a member of the military as a featured speaker. Rockville and Montgomery County residents who have retired from or currently serve in the United States military are eligible to take part in the ceremonies. Volunteer speakers must be comfortable speaking in public and must prepare a five- to seven-minute speech about their experiences in the armed forces, including what it means to serve and honor those who have served.


Education

President Biden, Vice President Harris, and the U.S. Department of Education have announced a three-part plan to help working and middle-class federal student loan borrowers transition back to regular payment as pandemic-related support expires. This plan includes loan forgiveness of up to $20,000. Many borrowers and families may be asking themselves “what do I have to do to claim this relief?” This page is a resource to answer those questions and more. There will be more details announced in the coming weeks. To be notified when the process has officially opened, sign up at the Department of Education subscription page. You’ll have until Dec. 31, 2023 to apply.

Due to the economic challenges created by the pandemic, the Biden-Harris Administration has extended the student loan repayment pause a number of times. Because of this, no one with a federally held loan has had to pay a single dollar in loan payments since President Biden took office.


MDLottery

Shady Grove Beer & Wine at 15904 Shady Grove Rd in Gaithersburg sold 20 winning $1 Pick 5 tickets for the midday drawing on October 14. The winning numbers were 82466 and each ticket is now worth $50,000. The tickets are presumed to have been purchased by a single individual and remain unclaimed as of Monday, October 17. Additional details below courtesy of the Maryland Lottery:

The Montgomery County retailer sold 20 $1 straight-bet Pick 5 tickets for the Oct. 14 midday drawing that matched the winning number of 82466. Each of those tickets is a $50,000 winner, and if all 20 were purchased by the same person, the total prize is $1 million, making it the biggest win of the week. As of the morning of Oct. 17, none of those 20 Pick 5 prizes had been claimed.


Aspen Hill

After several roof leaks became prominent last winter, DGS evaluated the existing roof structure and determined that it needed to be replaced. The new roof will have simplified lines, which will provide a significant energy savings. “We anticipate the project taking eight weeks to complete,” said DGS Director David Dise. “However, over the course of the work, hidden conditions may be discovered which may require remedial attention prior to proceeding. We will keep the Aspen Hill community updated on the progress.”


Aspen Hill

Coming soon signage is up at Floor & Decor, which is taking over the location that was home to Kmart at 14014 Connecticut Avenue in Aspen Hill.  The new store is expected to open in 2023. Floor & Decor was founded in 2000 and has an existing Montgomery County location at 18501 N Frederick Ave, formerly Great Beginnings and Hechinger, in Gaithersburg. There are no current plans to close that location. 

The Aspen Hill Kmart location was the retailer’s last remaining Maryland location. An opening date for Floor & Decor is not available, as plenty of work is left to be done inside.


MoCoSnow

The Farmers’ Almanac has released its 2022-2023 extended winter outlook. MoCo and almost all of Maryland seem to fall under the “Significant Shivers, Slushy, Icy, Snowy” category. Just to our south and west is the “Unreasonably Cold, Snowy” category, which means that we may have a good amount of winter precipitation for the first time in a few years, according to the forecast.

“The Farmers’ Almanac suggests a stormy winter in on schedule especially for the eastern half of the country. For some areas this may mean snow, but for others it will result in more slush and mush.”


MCFRS

At approximately 8:20 p.m. on Saturday, October 15, 2022 an officer was involved in a collision with another vehicle at the intersection of Georgia Avenue and Olney Laytonsville Road. No injuries were reported.

The following photo of the collision was tweeted to us at 8:45 on Saturday night. The road was temporarily closed; but reopened later Saturday Night. Featured photo tweeted to us by Mike Jackman.


MCPS

Last Friday we let you know that Kusshi Sushi, a popular sushi and Japanese cuisine restaurant in Pike & Rose that has just opened its second MoCo location in Downtown Silver Spring (8512 Fenton Street), will be feeding the staff members of 48 different Montgomery County schools. The restaurant has now upped it to 65 schools (full list available below), following an outpouring of support.

Kusshi Sushi co-owner Wesley Yao posted a contest to social media offering to feed the staff of one MCPS school that would be randomly selected after participants tagged and MCPS teacher or school. 48 different schools were tagged and Yao was going to start the process of randomly selecting a school. “When I saw how much each of those who entered wanted to win, I couldn’t choose just one…so we’re going to feed every school that was nominated.” Yao told us.


MoCoSnow

After a string of pleasant days, including highs in the upper 60s today (Monday, October 17), temperatures are expected to take a bit of a nosedive mid-week with high expected to be in the mid to upper 50s.

Monday is expected to reach 67° with clouds and a slight chance of rain. Tuesday will get to about 55° with a breeze that’ll make it feel even cooler and more like November . Wednesday will be about the same as Tuesday without the breeze, but will still feel cool with highs around 56°. Thursday will be mostly sunny with temperatures getting up to about 59°. Friday looks to be pleasant with sunny skies and temps in the mid 60s. As of now, the weekend is also looking nice with sunny skies and temperatures around 70° on Saturday and mid 60s on Sunday.


Restaurants

Last December we let you know that The Creek Lodge Bar & Grill would be replacing Urban BBQ at 5566 Norbeck Rd in the Rock Creek Village Center. Back in May, permanent signage went up and the restaurant has looked ready to go for a couple weeks. The restaurant officially opens today, Monday, October 17th.

Soft opening hours: Monday to Thursday: 3PM – 10PM, Friday to Sunday: 12PM – 11PM. Happy Hour: Sunday to Friday: 4pm-6:30pm.


Aspen Hill

Pacific Dental Services (PDS) has announced the grand opening of its 900th supported practice, and third Maryland location, in Aspen Hill. Aspen Hill Modern Dentistry is located at 13745 Connecticut Ave in the Aspen Hill Shopping Center. PDS previously opened a Montgomery County location in Silver Spring in 2020 (Dentists of Silver Spring at 1286 East-West Hwy)  and will be opening its upcoming Olney location in the Shoppes of Olney in the coming months.

Per the press release: “Surpassing 900 supported practices nationwide is not only an extraordinary achievement for Pacific Dental Services, but a testament to our solid foundation upon which dentists can grow successful businesses,” said Stephen E. Thorne IV, the Founder and CEO of PDS. “We’re honored that so many dentists have trusted us to provide the support services to their clinical practices that enable outstanding patient care. I look forward to our sustained growth as we continue our efforts in helping clinicians create healthier, happier patients across the nation.”