A bill that would increase wages for tipped employees was introduced at the Montgomery County Council meeting on Tuesday, September 19. Bill 35-23 would adjust the calculation of the minimum wage for tipped workers and phase out the tip credit amount under the Montgomery County’s minimum wage law. Currently, businesses are required to pay servers $4.00 per hour; if a server does not make the current minimum hourly wage ($15-16.70) per hour, employers are required to make up the difference.

If the bill passes, there will be incremental increases over the next five years:
• $4.00 per hour, until July 1, 2024;
• $6.00 per hour, effective July 1, 2024 until July 1, 2025;
• $8.00 per hour, effective July 1, 2025 until July 1, 2026;
• $10.00 per hour, effective July 1, 2026 until July 1, 2027; and
• $12.00 per hour, effective July 1, 2027 until July 1, 2028

On October 10, the Council will hold public hearings on the proposed bill Details below.

Per Montgomery County: The County Council will hold public hearings to receive testimony on new items introduced to the Council as follows:

 

Oct. 10, 2023 at 1:30 p.m.
Deadline to sign up to speak is Oct. 9 at 2 p.m.

 

  • Bill 35-23, County Minimum Wage – Tipped Employees, would adjust the calculation of minimum wage for tipped workers, phase out the tip credit amount under the County minimum wage law, and generally amend the County minimum wage law.
  • Bill 34-23, County Minimum Wage – Wage Commission – Established, would establish an advisory wage commission to make recommendations to the County Executive and the County Council regarding minimum wages and working conditions by industry in the County, specify the membership and duties of the wage commission, and generally amend the law regarding the establishment of a wage commission and regarding minimum wages and labor relations in the County.
  • Supplemental Appropriation to the FY24 Operating Budget, Montgomery County Government, Department of Environmental Protection, $813,710 (Source of Funds: State Grant, The Chesapeake Bay Trust – Urban Tree Grant Award).

A full list of upcoming public hearings is available on the Council Calendar. Review the public hearing frequently asked questions for additional information.

To testify in-person or remotely during a live public hearing at the Council Office Building, residents need to preregister on the Council’s web page. Residents may also choose to provide pre-recorded testimony in written, audio or video formats or submit testimony by mail.

Send testimony by mail to County Council, 100 Maryland Ave., Rockville, MD 20850; or residents may sign up to testify remotely by phone (call 240-777-7803 for information). To express an opinion call 240-777-7900.

The Council meeting schedule may change from time to time. View the current Council and Committee agendas, Council staff reports and additional information on items scheduled for Council review on the Council website.

Public hearings will be televised live by County Cable Montgomery (CCM) on Xfinity channels 6 and 996, RCN channels 6 and 1056; and FiOS channel 30. Also available live via streaming through the Council website, Facebook Live (@MontgomeryCountyMdCouncil or @ConcejodelCondadodeMontgomery), or YouTube (@MoCoCouncilMD).

How to Sign Up for Public Hearings

The Stay Council Connected video series is a step-by-step guide to navigating the Montgomery County Council that offers instructions for residents.

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The Powerball drawing scheduled to take place tonight, Monday, September 25, has an estimated jackpot of $785 million, with an estimated cash option of $367 million. Powerball drawings take place every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million. The odds of winning a prize are 1 in 24.9. Additional details below courtesy of Powerball:

“The Powerball jackpot now stands at an estimated $785 million for the next drawing on Monday night. The jackpot has a cash value of $367 million. The jackpot currently ranks as the game’s fourth-largest prize – only behind three grand prizes that reached the billion-dollar mark:

  1. $2.04 Billion – Nov. 7, 2022 – CA
  2. $1.586 Billion – Jan. 13, 2016 – CA, FL, TN
  3. $1.08 Billion – July 19, 2023 – CA

The Powerball jackpot rolled Saturday night after no ticket matched all six numbers drawn – white balls 1, 12, 20, 33, 66 and red Powerball 21. The Power Play® multiplier was 2X.

The Saturday drawing produced more than 1.5 million winning tickets across the country, including three tickets (California, Florida, New York) that matched all five white balls to win $1 million prizes. One ticket in Michigan matched all five white balls and doubled the $1 million prize to $2 million by including the prize multiplier feature, Power Play®, for an additional $1 per play. Other big wins from Saturday night include 30 tickets that won $50,000 prizes and nine tickets that won $100,000 prizes. Note: In California, prize payout amounts are pari-mutuel and determined by sales and the number of winners.

The Powerball jackpot was previously won on July 19, when a ticket in California matched all five white balls and the red Powerball® to win a $1.08 billion jackpot. Since then, there have been 28 consecutive drawings without a grand prize winner.

If a player wins the jackpot on Monday night, they will have the choice between an annuitized prize worth an estimated $785 million or a lump sum payment estimated at $367 million. Both prize options are before taxes. If the winner selects the annuity option, they will receive one immediate payment followed by 29 annual payments that increase by 5% each year.

Powerball tickets are $2 per play. Tickets are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. More than half of all proceeds from the sale of a Powerball ticket remain in the jurisdiction where the ticket was sold. Powerball drawings are broadcast live every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. EST from the Florida Lottery draw studio in Tallahassee. Powerball drawings are also live streamed on Powerball.com.

The overall odds of winning a prize are 1 in 24.9. The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million.

Top 10 Powerball Jackpots

  1. $2.04 Billion – Nov. 7, 2022 – CA
  2. $1.586 Billion – Jan. 13, 2016 – CA, FL, TN
  3. $1.08 Billion – July 19, 2023 – CA
  4. $785 Million (est.) – Sept. 25, 2023
  5. $768.4 Million – March 27, 2019 – WI
  6. $758.7 Million – Aug. 23, 2017 – MA
  7. $754.6 Million – Feb. 6, 2023 – WA
  8. $731.1 Million – Jan. 20, 2021 – MD
  9. $699.8 Million – Oct. 4, 2021 – CA
  10. $687.8 Million – Oct. 27, 2018 – IA, NY”
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The Fall Makers Market will take place on Saturday, September 30th from10:00 am – 4:00 pm. “Join us for the Fall Makers Market on Saturday, September 30, from 10 am – 4 pm along Ellsworth Drive between Georgia Avenue and Fenton Street!”

Kick off fall, grab a latte, and get a jump on holiday shopping with unique and handmade products from local artisans at the Pop Up Makers Market. Shop handmade products from more than 35 local artisans. Enjoy live music and plenty of outdoor dining options.

Locally Crafted, whose storefront is located in Gaithersburg’s Rio Lakefront has recently posted a warning an out potential scammers. “Please Beware: Locally Crafted is the only organizer of this event, and we are no longer accepting vendor applications. Any comments here that there are spaces still available are from scammers attempting to steal your money.

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The 42nd annual Takoma Park Street Festival will take place on Sunday, October 1st, 2023 from 10:00 am – 5:00 pm and once again will fill the streets of Takoma Park with music, artists and makers, community groups, green companies and great food.

Music: The free event celebrates local music with 18 performances on 3 stages, with a mix of soul, funk, roots rock, blues, swamp funk, folk, working girl blues and new grass, and more.

TIME

WILLOW AVE STAGE

GAZEBO STAGE

COLUMBIA AVE STAGE

11:00 am

The Thrills

Big Howdy

Local Takoma Cream 
w/Annette Wasilik, Juels Bland and Susan Rowe

12:00 noon

The Bill Baker Band

Hazel Raven Band

Djangolaya

1:00 pm

The Sidleys

Cherry Blossom Special

The Natty Beaux 

2:00 pm

Burt the Dirt

The Wharf Rats, Live!

The Beat Hotel

3:00 pm

Tommy Lepson & The Bad Dawgs

Tower Green

Jon Carroll Experience 

4:00 pm

The Nighthawks

Proverbs Reggae Band

Chopteeth

Vendors: Over 150 booths extend all along Carroll Avenue from Eastern Avenue, NW in Washington, DC to Philadelphia Avenue (Rt. 410) in Takoma Park, MD with work from local artists and makers including art, jewelry, stationary, home decor, clothing, personal care products, plants, and much more. Community groups and green companies participate as well with info to share. Visitors may explore Takoma’s unique local shops along the way.

Food: There will be many great food options from Takoma restaurants, food trucks and festival food favorites all to be enjoyed on the Takoma Streetery on Laurel Avenue. The Takoma Park Farmers Market runs during the festival with 25 additional vendors in an adjacent parking lot. Entrance to the farmers market is at 6931 Laurel Avenue.  For the latest info and entire vendor list: WEBSITE

Festival Entrances: Entry may occur all along the festival route, but there are two main entrances at either end of the festival:
(1) Carroll Avenue at Eastern Avenue, NW: Take Metro’s Red line to the Takoma station or park in the Metro parking lot. Entrance is 3 blocks away.
(2) Carroll Avenue at Philadelphia Avenue: Free parking lot hosted by the TPSS Co-op at 201 Ethan Allen Avenue. Festival entrance is .5 block away.

Event hosted by the Old Takoma Business Association, Your Main Street Takoma
Takoma Park Street Festival
Sunday, October 1, 2023
10:00 am-5:00 pm
Carroll Avenue, Takoma Park
Featured photo courtesy of Sam Kittner

All affected roads will be closed at 7:00 AM and will reopen at 7:00 PM:

Road Closings
●       Carroll from Philadelphia to Eastern
●       Westmoreland at Walnut/Elm
●       Tulip at Spruce
●       Columbia at Pine
●       Carroll at Fire Station
●       Park at Spruce
●       Carroll at Eastern
●       Laurel at Eastern

No Parking
●       Tulip, both sides between Maple and Carroll

As a reminder, please follow all placed parking signs.  Efforts will be made for the vehicle to be moved prior to towing; vehicles will have towing and/or parking citation fees attached.

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Dogfish Head Alehouse has announced it will be closing its Fairfax location later this year, according to a post on its social media. The restaurant, which will only have its Gaithersburg location left (800 W Diamond Ave), has decided not to renew its lease at the Greenbrier Town Center in Fairfax (13041 Lee Jackson Memorial Highway).

Dogfish Head Alehouse, which is owned and operated independent from the Dogfish Head brewery in Milton, DE through a licensing agreement, recently closed its Falls Church, VA location at 6220 Leesburg Pike in the Seven Corners Shopping Center. The Gaithersburg location will remain open. The message left on social media can be seen below:

This comes with a heavy heart,

As some of you may already know, Dogfish Head Alehouse will NOT be renewing our lease. We will be closing our doors at the end of December. Our 15 years here in Greenbriar have been so amazing and honestly we thank you all for that. There were so many businesses that didn’t make it through COVID and because of all you, we did. We are saddened to leave but want to continue our business through the end of the year. We truly want to thank you all for everything you have done for us and the support we have received along the way. It’s been a great 15 years and we hope you all continue to come out and support us through the end!

#DFH4LIFE

https://www.facebook.com/100063662946290/posts/799983435467081/?mibextid=cr9u03

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Per the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Columbia: A government contractor is charged by criminal complaint, unsealed today, with espionage. Abraham Teklu Lemma, 50, a naturalized U.S. citizen of Ethiopian descent living in Silver Spring, Maryland, is charged with gathering or delivering national defense information to aid a foreign government; conspiracy to gather or deliver national defense information to aid a foreign government; and having unauthorized possession of national defense information and willfully retaining it.

Lemma worked as an IT administrator for the Department of State, and as a Management Analyst for the Department of Justice. In those positions, Lemma was granted a TOP SECRET security clearance and granted access to classified systems. According to the criminal complaint, between December 19, 2022, and August 7, 2023, Lemma copied classified information from Intelligence Reports and deleted the classification markings from them. Lemma then removed the information, which was classified as SECRET and TOP SECRET, from secure facilities at the Department of State against protocol. The materials related to a specific country and/or geographic region. Lemma accessed, copied, removed, and retained this information without authorization.

It is further alleged that Lemma used an encrypted application to transmit classified national defense information to a foreign official associated with the specific country’s intelligence service. In these communications, Lemma expressed an interest and willingness to assist the foreign official in providing information. In one communication, the foreign official stated  stated, “[i]t’s time to continue ur support.”  Lemma responded, “Roger that!”

The two espionage charges carry a potential sentence of death or any term of years up to life, and the retention charge carries a maximum sentence of ten years.  A federal judge will determine any sentence based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

This case is being investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service, and the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tejpal Chawla and Alexandra Hughes for the District of Columbia. Trial Attorneys Heather Schmidt and Kathryn DeMarco of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are also prosecuting the case.

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MoCo High School Sports Scores for Sep 23, 2023 (powered by www.MoCoAI.com)

Football JV

Sherwood High School (Home) 0
Blake High School (Away) 6
Clarksburg High School (Home) 42
Magruder High School (Away) 0

Soccer Boys JV

Springbrook High School (Home) 1
Whitman High School (Away) 7

Soccer Boys Varsity

Springbrook High School (Home) 0
Whitman High School (Away) 1

Let us know in the comments for any missing scores.

Powered by MoCo AI. www.mocoai.com

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Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services (MCFRS) responded to the 13500 blk of W. Old Baltimore Rd, near Lake Ridge Dr in Boyds for the report of a fallen tree on a vehicle. According to Chief Spokesperson for MCFRS Pete Piringer, the person that was driving vehicle is out and there were no serious injuries.

W. Old Baltimore Rd is blocked between Lake Ridge Dr and Broadway Ave. We will provide an update if additional information becomes available.

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Per the Maryland State Police: The deceased is identified as Stephen Marquel Thompson, 23, of Washington, D.C.
Maryland State Police are searching for the driver of a Mini-Cooper, suspected to be involved in a hit and run fatal pedestrian crash early this morning in Prince George’s County.

The identification of the deceased is pending next of kin notification. The victim was struck and killed shortly before 2:00 a.m. today on the southbound side of I-495 in the area of Ritchie Marlboro Road.  Emergency medical service personnel from Prince George’s County Fire Department responded and pronounced the victim deceased on the scene.

Currently, information developed by State Police Crash Team investigators indicates the striking vehicle was a 2009 – 2014 Mini Cooper. The preliminary investigation indicates the victim was walking on the southbound side of I-495, south of Ritchie Marlboro Road in lane 3 when the crash occurred. Investigators believe the striking vehicle sustained damage to the right front-end as a result of the crash.

Anyone with information is urged to contact the Maryland State Police Forestville Barrack at 301-669-8100. Callers may remain anonymous.

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