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KEEN Sports Festival in Rockville Celebrated 31 Successful Years of FREE, One-to-One Recreational and Exercise Activities for Children and Young Adults with Significant Physical and Developmental Disabilities

Published June 8, 2023 at 12:25PM

KEEN Greater D.C., a nonprofit volunteer organization that provides free on-to-one recreational actvities to children and adults with disabilities, celebrated 31 years last Sunday, June 4 at Timberlawn Local Park in Rockville. This was the 20^thannual KEEN Sports Festival where volunteers teamed up with athletes or instructor-led activities including fitness, Zumba, taekwondo and individualized play.

The 20th Annual KEEN Sports Festival celebrated 31 successful years of FREE, one-to-one recreational and exercise activities for children and young adults with significant physical and developmental disabilities. Volunteers teamed up with KEEN’s athletes for instructor-led activities, including Fitness, Zumba and Tae Kwon Do, and individualized play.

Former Houston Schools Chief Named New PGCPS Superintendent

By MCS Staff

Published June 8, 2023 at 8:54AM

Millard House II, formerly Superintendent of the Houston Independent School District, will take the helm of Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) on July 1. Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks announced his appointment Wednesday during a news conference at the Wayne K. Curry Administration Building.

House led Houston ISD for two years, ending his tenure in the nation’s eighth-largest district earlier this month. He previously served as director of schools for the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System (CMCSS) in Tennessee, chief operating officer of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in North Carolina and deputy superintendent of Tulsa Public Schools in Oklahoma. House founded and led a college preparatory middle school in one of Tulsa’s most economically underserved neighborhoods and served as executive consultant and executive director of New Leaders for New Schools.

Smoke Coming From Fires in Canada Are The Cause for Code Orange and Red Air Day (Wednesday, June 7)

By MCS Staff

Published June 6, 2023 at 9:58PM

The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) has forecast a Code Orange air day for the Metropolitan Washington region tomorrow: Wednesday, June 7. Code Orange levels mean the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups. Smoke coming from fires in Canada will contribute to the increased levels of fine particle pollution. Frederick, Baltimore and areas north/west will fall under a Code Red. On unhealthy air days, COG advises the following health precautions:

Residents can check current air quality conditions on COG’s website or by downloading a free air quality app from Clean Air Partners. On unhealthy air days, residents are encouraged to take the following actions to help reduce pollution:

D.C./Maryland/Virginia Among Top 5 “Most Educated States in America”

By MCS Staff

Published June 6, 2023 at 8:27AM

Stacker, a media website that creates “research-driven stories” created by “data-minded journalists”, has released its list of the “Most and Least Educated States in America” including Washington DC. According to […]

New York Bagel Icon H&H Bagels is Bringing 10 Restaurants to the D.C. Area

By MCS Staff

Published June 5, 2023 at 7:25PM

H&H Bagels is entering a new era of expansion in 2023, with agreements in place for 25 new restaurants, including 10 units in the D.C. area. H&H Bagels, which has been featured on shows like “Seinfeld,” “Sex and the City,” “Entourage,” “The Office,” and more, is now expanding outside of the tri-state area for the first time, opening new company-owned and franchised locations in Florida, California, Washington, D.C., Virginia, Illinois, and Connecticut. A company-owned location will also open at the newly remodeled Penn Station in New York City later this year. “We’re excited to bring our New York City bagels to cities across the country as part of our expansion plan,” said Jay Rushin, Chief Executive Officer of H&H Bagels. “With each new company-owned and franchise location, we are looking forward to welcoming new customers to the H&H family.” H&H Bagels Locations Under Development:

No locations are currently scheduled for Maryland, and the expanded D.C. region will include Norfolk and Virginia Beach, according to the company’s press release. The closest restaurants will be in D.C. and Northern Virginia, but exact locations have not been named yet. The first H&H Bagel franchise location will be in Boca Raton, Florida which is expected to open in the third quarter of 2023. In addition, the first company-owned locations outside of New York City will be in West Palm Beach, Florida at NORA, the redevelopment of West Palm Beach’s warehouse district and in Chicago, Illinois in Fulton Market. H&H Bagels’ sixth New York City location is expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2023 in the newly renovated Penn Station.

Metro Summer Construction Continues June 3, With Four Orange Line Station Closures in Virginia

By MCS Staff

Published May 30, 2023 at 2:19PM

Per WMATA: Beginning Saturday, June 3, Metro will begin rail replacement work on the Orange Line in Virginia. During construction, which will be done in two phases to minimize station closures, Metro will replace the original 40-year-old steel rail between Ballston-MU and Vienna stations. Replacing the track in this section is a top priority to ensure safety and increase reliability. Crews will also install fiber-optic cables during this shutdown to modernize communications and allow for more efficient maintenance in the future.

Free shuttle bus service will be available for customers during all station closures. Customers are advised to plan extra time for their travel. Metro is boosting outreach to customers at the affected stations and will have prominent signage, announcements in stations and on trains, and teams of outreach personnel to assist customers with the temporary travel patterns during the construction. “Replacing some of the oldest tracks in our system is critical to safety and reliability, and crews will work 24/7 to complete this project as quickly as possible so we can get back to normal service,” said Metro Chief of Infrastructure Andy Off. “We make every effort to minimize impacts to our customers, and we thank them for their patience while we continue to build a safe and modern Metro to serve the entire region.”

The History of Classic Bakery

By MCS Staff

Published May 29, 2023 at 7:51PM | Updated May 29, 2023 at 8:13PM

We’d like to welcome Classic Bakery, a bakery with a rich MoCo history as the newest member of the MoCo Directory (amazing photos below). The family business was introduced over half a century ago by Grandpa Souren, who discovered his passion for baking in 1947 at the age of 17 in Tehran, Iran. He left his job as a machine mechanic to focus on his small bakery.

Grandpa Souren’s oldest son, Rubic, began helping at the family business when he was just seven years old. Rubic was doing everything from sweeping the floors to mixing large batches by hand– learning the business from the ground up. After immigrating to the United States, Rubic Movsessian and his Grandpa Souren opened Classic Bakery in Gaithersburg in 1991 in its original location in the shopping center that was then home to Hechinger’s and currently home to Bruster’s ice cream.

“Innovations in Flight” Event Returns to Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum

By MCS Staff

Published May 25, 2023 at 7:24AM | Updated May 26, 2023 at 8:28PM

The National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center will host its annual “Innovations in Flight Outdoor Aviation Display,” Saturday, June 17, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Visitors will be able to view over 50 vintage, modern and commercial aircraft that will fly in for the day and be on display outside the museum. Aircraft scheduled to appear include a C-17 from the 514th Air Mobility Wing; a Bell UH-1 Iroquois from the 1st Helicopter Squadron; aircraft from the Naval Test Pilot School such as a T-6B Texan II, Bell H-58 and C-26 ASTARS III; and a variety of civilian aircraft. Free passes are required to view the outdoor display and can be reserved on the museum’s website.

“Innovations in Flight Outdoor Aviation Display” will explore the engineering and design achievements of the past century of flight. Visitors can talk with pilots and explore the aircraft’s cockpits and cabins. In addition to the outdoor aircraft display, museum educators will lead visitors in plane spotting aircraft landing at Washington Dulles International Airport and teach them how to spot and identify aircraft from anywhere. Visitors will also be able to use social media filters to transform into iconic pilots from aviation history.

Meerkats Are Born at Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute

By MCS Staff

Published May 25, 2023 at 7:16AM

For the first time in 16 years, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (NZCBI) in Washington, D.C., is celebrating the birth of three meerkats. Keepers in the Small Mammal House reported for duty the morning of May 10 and observed that 5-year-old Sadie had given birth overnight. NZCBI had received a recommendation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan (SSP) to breed Sadie and the pups’ 6-year-old father Frankie. These pups are the first offspring for Sadie; Frankie sired offspring previously at his former zoo. Meerkats live in groups called mobs that can include as many as 30 individuals, although the average mob size is around 10 to 15 individuals. Visitors can view NZCBI’s meerkat mob—which also includes Sadie’s sister, Stella—at the Small Mammal House.

In the wild, meerkat pups typically remain in an underground burrow for about three weeks. To encourage the meerkats to exhibit their natural burrowing behavior, a system of tubing—concealed within rockwork—runs along the outskirts of their habitat in the Small Mammal House. At the end of the tunnel, a nest box offers visitors a view of the meerkats’ underground sleeping chamber. The day Sadie gave birth, she surprised keepers by bringing her pups into the main exhibit space.

“Nah, Doesn’t Interest Me” – Marc Elrich on a Commanders Stadium in MoCo

By MCS Staff

Published May 23, 2023 at 8:40PM

“Nah, doesn’t interest me,” County Executive Marc Elrich said regarding MoCo putting in a bid for the Commanders new stadium, in an interview with the Washington Business Journal.

The team is currently in the process of being sold– coincidentally from one MoCo native (Dan Snyder) to another (Josh Harris), but Elrich stated that “people who makes deals for stadiums get their clocks cleaned” and that he’s “got enough problems in the county without having another drain on the county budget and a bunch of lousy jobs for people making minimal wages so I can have a billionaire raking in all this money.”

Woman Arrested, Charged With 2nd Degree Murder, For Crash That Killed Three in March

By MCS Staff

Published May 23, 2023 at 7:05AM

The United States Park Police arrested the driver involved in the fatal March 15 crash on Rock Creek Parkway that killed three occupants, including a Montgomery County resident, in one of the involved cars. Nakita Marie Walker, 43, of Washington, D.C. was charged with Second Degree Murder and arrested on May 22.

Per Park Police, On Wednesday, March 15 at 1:43 a.m., USPP officers were dispatched to a crash on the Rock Creek Parkway near P Street NW. The three occupants in the Honda were pronounced dead on the scene. The deceased were later identified as Mohamed Kamara, 42, of Burtonsville, MD, Jonathan Cabrera Mendez, 23, of Arlington, VA, and Olvin Torres Velasquez, 22, of Arlington, VA.