In honor of Asian Pacific American Islander Heritage Month, 95 K–12 students in 49 schools participated in a poster contest hosted by the Asian Pacific American Student Achievement Action Group. The contest called on students to create original art work to commemorate the histories, challenges and contributions of Asian American and Pacific Islanders in the U.S. All 21 student winners and honorable mentions were honored during a ceremony last month. See the winning artwork.
Winners are:
Montgomery College has been ranked one of the year’s best schools for online degrees in public service by STEPS (Student Training & Education in Public Service). Just under 6 percent of colleges and universities in the U.S. earned a ranking position. “The virtual campus at Montgomery College provides students with comprehensive services and support to help them reach their academic goals, and the online degree in criminal justice is a great example of how students are provided with the option to complete their degree entirely in the virtual environment,” said Shinta H. Hernandez, Ph.D., the College’s Dean of the Virtual Campus, Office of E-Learning, Innovation, and Teaching Excellence (ELITE).
“Criminal justice professors have worked tirelessly over the past several years to ensure that the programs’ online courses utilize best practices in distance education, including a variety of media and innovative, often free, instructional materials,” said Ginger R. Robinson, JD, Interim Department Chair, Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal Justice, Associate Professor, Criminal Justice. “Courses are routinely updated to incorporate current events, reflecting the changing nature of law, justice, and society. The faculty’s willingness to meet students where they are, whether it’s the physical or online classroom, ensures that every criminal justice student in Maryland possesses the ability to access the highest quality education.”
ProShares to Launch the First U.S. Short Bitcoin-Linked ETF on June 21. BITI will offer investors the opportunity to potentially profit when the daily price of bitcoin declines, with the convenience, cost-efficiency, and liquidity of an ETF.
“As recent times have shown, bitcoin can drop in value,” said ProShares CEO Michael L. Sapir. “BITI affords investors who believe that the price of bitcoin will drop with an opportunity to potentially profit or to hedge their cryptocurrency holdings. BITI enables investors to conveniently obtain short exposure to bitcoin through buying an ETF in a traditional brokerage account.” BITI is designed to deliver the inverse (opposite) of the performance of the S&P CME Bitcoin Futures Index. It seeks to achieve its objective on each investment day and for no other period. BITI seeks to obtain exposure through bitcoin futures contracts.
Summer fun starts at Good Counsel! Our Summer Camps are packed with exciting activities, sports, creativity, adventure, and unforgettable memories for campers of all ages. From the field to the classroom and everywhere in between, there’s something for everyone at Good Counsel’s Summer Camps!
Spend your summer learning, laughing, and making new friends with the Good Counsel community. Spots are filling fast so be sure to register today!
Register at: www.olgchs.org/camps
20 acres of Gaithersburg’s Crown Farm was sold to JBG Rosenfeld Retail and the Bozzuto Group for $28 million nearly 10 years ago, in July of 2012. According to documents from what was then Crown Farm Community, this purchase included approximately 11 percent of Crown Farm’s 180 acres, for the development of Downtown Crown, “a mixed-use project slated to include a Harris Teeter-anchored retail center and nearly 540 apartments.” JBG Rosenfeld Retail purchased the property to build 260,000 square feet of retail. The Bozzuto Group purchased the multifamily development rights to build 538 apartments above the retail.
Located in Gaithersburg, just west of Interstate-270 and the Intercounty Connector, Downtown Crown is considered the “retail heart” of Crown—a 182-acre master-planned community that was to consist of “more than 2,200 new homes and apartments, acres of parks, trails and a future transit stop for the Corridor City Transitway.” The community plan also incorporated a high school and a Corridor Cities Transit station for a light rail or bus line that would connect Gaithersburg with Clarksburg. Construction began later that summer for the plans that included the previously mentioned Harris Teeter, an LA Fitness, and a Starbucks. In October, the following restaurants were announced for Downtown Crown (not all ended up opening):
Performances:
Saturday June 20 @ 8pm
Samantha Jayasundera will be honored during the 11th annual Montgomery Serves Awards, the county’s highest honor for service and volunteerism, tonight (June 15). This year’s honorees represent volunteers dedicated to programs including social justice and educational advocacy, safety-net healthcare services and outreach to vulnerable populations.
Samantha, a senior at Montgomery Blair High School, will be named a Youth Volunteer of the Year. She is a co-founder of Sankofa Empowering Women in Ghana (SEWING), a women’s empowerment and human rights program combating child labor and female exploitation. Committed to her personal focus of “education for all,” she has spoken on the local, national and international stage, hosted conferences and led large-scale initiatives for education and equity.
Applicants must be Montgomery County residents and registered for at least six credits this fall
Montgomery College is providing a $500 tuition scholarship to Montgomery County residents who are spring 2022 graduates from a Montgomery County high school and are taking at least six MC credit hours this fall. The $500 “Raptor Ready” Scholarship may only be applied to fall 2022 tuition and fees, and the application MUST be completed by August 1, 2022. The first 3,000 eligible applicants will be considered for the scholarship with all others added to a waitlist.
Back in September of 2021 we let you know that &Pizza would be coming to Olney’s Fair Hill Shopping Center. At that time, we didn’t have an exact location, noting that it would likely take over a spot that was home to an existing business. It turns out the location will be the storefront that was formerly home to Olney Winery. Olney Winery will soon be moving to Ashton Market, but will remain in the Fair Hill Shopping Center until the Ashton Market location is ready to open. This means that &Pizza would not begin construction until after Olney Winery has moved, so the opening is still many months away, possibly early 2023.
&pizza was founded by Michael Lastoria and Steve Salis (Ted’s Bulletin, Federalist Pig, and Ensemble) in 2012 with their first location on H Street in D.C. The growing chain now has over 36 locations across the east coast including MoCo locations in Bethesda, two in Gaithersburg (Crown and Gaithersburg Square), Germantown, Pike & Rose, and Silver Spring.
With the Fourth of July approaching, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2022’s Most Patriotic States in America. Maryland ranked 6th on the list, with our neighbor Virginia coming in 3rd behind Montana (2nd) and Alaska (1st). According to the report, “Americans may feel their patriotism dampened this year in the face of startling statistics such as the fact that there was a 44% increase in hate crimes in major cities last year, as well as a similarly high jump in the homicide rate. Many people may find it hard to celebrate a country in which racist incidents and frequent violence persist. However, an expression of love for fellow citizens is patriotic in itself.”
To determine where Americans have the most red, white and blue pride, WalletHub compared the 50 states across 13 key indicators of patriotism. The data set ranges from the state’s military enlistees and veterans to the share of adults who voted in the 2020 presidential election to AmeriCorps volunteers per capita. Below are some additional highlights from the report.
“Maryland is open for business, and our economic recovery continues to be one of the very best in America,” said Governor Hogan. “This mission will be focused on expanding partnerships with key allies, promoting some of Maryland’s key industries, and fostering new opportunities to continue creating jobs and strengthening our economy.”
This is the governor’s first mission of this kind since September 2019, when he led a joint infrastructure and economic development mission to Australia during his time as chairman of the National Governors Association.
Flower Coffee Collective has announced that it’s last day of service will be on June 25. The mobile coffee shop opened at 8805 Flower Ave in Silver Spring (in front of El Gavilan Restaurant) in August of last year and sold specialty coffee, espresso, agua fresca and pastries out of a vintage camper.
Flower Coffee posted the following message on their social media pages: “It’s with a heavy heart that I tell you Flower Coffee is closing. Our final day of operation will be Saturday, June 25th. While this iteration of my coffee journey is coming to a close, it is not the end of coffee in the Long Branch neighborhood. Your individual and community support has made this particular coffee venture a success, and as we move forward I can’t wait to share what the future holds. More soon!”
Magruder Hugh School’s Colin Abrams has picked up his second national title in four days, easily winning the Emerging Elite 800m race with a personal best of 1:52.6 at the Nike Outdoor Nationals. The Nike Outdoor Nationals are currently wrapping up at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field (June 16-June 19).
According to Magruder Track’s Instagram account, the time is “one of the fastest-ever run by a 14-year-old in the WORLD. It is also the 6th fastest time posted by a freshman, ever, the fastest time run by any American freshman in the 2022 season, a new school record and a new Maryland Freshman Class record.” Colin Abrams will now come home from Oregon a two-time National Champion after his previous first place finish in the Freshman 400m with a time of 49.46.