The Gaithersburg Mayor and City Council will hold its Policy Discussion on the annexation of the Walnut Hill shopping center tonight (Monday, October 16, 2023 at 7:30 p.m. at City Hall– virtual participation will also be available). The Annexation Plan proposes several changes to the existing Walnut Hill Shopping Center, including bringing in Aldi to take most of the grocery store space, constructing a new freestanding Sheetz convenience store with accessory gasoline pumps, demolishing an existing small freestanding building on the south side of the property, renovating the exterior of the main shopping center building, and making improvements to the parking lot and landscaping.

Gaithersburg Staff previously recommended that the Mayor and City Council hold their record open until 5:00 p.m., September 29, 2023, with the Policy Discussion and Final Action on October 16th. Staff is supportive of the annexation petition that would annex the Walnut Hill Shopping Center into the City of Gaithersburg.


Buffalo Wild Wings, a sports bar and restaurant franchise with two Montgomery County locations, will temporarily close its Gaithersburg store (668 Clopper Road) in Quince Orchard Plaza for renovations. Multiple worried customers sent messages to The MoCoShow about signage being removed, but an employee of the restaurant let us know that it remains open and will only temporarily close from Monday, October 16th until Thursday, October 19th for renovations.

The Gaithersburg location opened in early 2013, replacing Chevy’s, which abruptly closed in February 2012. Buffalo Wild Wings has an additional location in Rockville Town Square and will be opening its first MoCo ‘Buffalo Wild Wings GO’ location– a scaled-down version of the restaurant that focuses on the to-go and delivery format in the upcoming Kensington Crossing– a new retail development that will be located at 10619 Connecticut Avenue (at Plyers Mill Road) in Kensington.


Per Novavax: Novavax, Inc. (Nasdaq: NVAX), a global company advancing protein-based vaccines with its Matrix-M™ adjuvant, today announced that it has finalized agreements with major pharmacy retailers and prominent Group Purchasing Organizations (GPO) in the U.S. to provide the Novavax COVID-19 Vaccine, Adjuvanted (2023-2024 Formula) (NVX-CoV2601) to prevent COVID-19 in individuals aged 12 and older this vaccination season.

Through these agreements Novavax’s updated COVID-19 vaccine will be widely available across the U.S., including but not limited to, Costco, CVS Pharmacy, Giant, Publix, Rite Aid, Stop & Shop and Topco, a large retail purchaser for member pharmacies. Novavax’s vaccine received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on October 3, 2023.


Verny Varela is an arranger, composer, singer and flutist who born in Cali, Colombia, and raised in the “Barrio Obrero,” Verny started singing and playing with his father’s band, El Nuevo Son. In 1996, he sang with Ismael Miranda, Adalberto Santiago, Pete “El Conde” Rodríguez and the Fania All Stars, in Cali and in Tulua. In 1997, Verny became the lead singer in the Gabino Pampini Band, and later toured Europe and the U.S. with Tito Gomez.”

The special display of Lotus is expected to have at least 20 vehicles with the ACBC founder’s initials. Models expected will include a Seven and a Type Nine. There also will be displays of Elite, Elan, Europa, Eclat, Esprit, Elise, Exige and Evora. The cars will represent Lotus models from the 1950s to the 2020s. The special display will be located at the front of the show field, near the stage. In addition to the vehicles on display, with owners nearby to provide details and histories, the show will have a flea market and a car sales area. Food and drink will be available for purchase. Visitors can bring their own food to the show area. Music will be provided by Blue Sky Five.


Marcus & Millichap  a leading commercial real estate brokerage firm specializing in investment sales, financing, research and advisory services, recently announced the sale of Gaithersburg Citgo| Daytona Auto Care, a 2,506-square foot retail property located in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The property sold for $2,500,000 plus inventory, or $837.99 per square foot.

“The property attracted offers from several buyers,” Zhao said. “It’s not a typical Marcus & Millichap net leased deal.  This deal involved real estate and its 35 years of business operation.  Ultimately, an investor with a keen interest in auto care was found who enlisted the help of an experienced operator from California to assist with the business operation of the auto care facility. The buyer negotiated strategic termination of the property’s current fuel supply agreement as a contingency to close.” The property is located at 401-409 E Diamond Av. in Gaithersburg and includes Gaithersburg Citgo gas station and Daytona Auto Care LTD, which have been in business for more than 35 years.


Yelp’s “Yelp MD Burbs” released its list of “Top 25 Places to Eat in MD Burbs”  and 18 of the 25 restaurants on the list are in Montgomery County, including four of the top five. Yelp is a popular company that publishes crowd-sourced reviews about businesses with a major focus on restaurants. According to Yelp, “The MD Burbs knows how to eat, and these locally-loved spots are proof of that! We’re excited to announce the MD Burbs’ Top 25 Places to Eat (2023), backed by Yelp data and approved by taste buds everywhere!”

https://www.facebook.com/tastemoco/posts/pfbid0GEXYRbUvfamiJfACVenm1maeQ87vw5UkPVRPWQxurXvabFqqQVYfnRwKNoaSn4pFl


According to the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office, “Today in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, MD, the Honorable Karla Smith sentenced defendant, Zyier Brown, 19, of Washington D.C. to 30 years in prison suspend all but 13 years to serve and five years of supervised probation upon release. On September 28th, 2023, Judge Smith sentenced a co-defendant, Victor Noel, 17, of Upper Marlboro to 30 years in prison suspend all but 11 years to serve and five years of supervised probation upon release.

Each co-defendant pleaded guilty earlier this year to two armed carjackings and use of a handgun in commission of a crime of violence. This stems from two incidents: the armed carjacking of an Uber driver along the 15000 block of Shady Grove Rd. in Rockville on October 25th, 2022, and the armed carjacking of a man driving a Toyota Corolla along the 7800 block of Guildberry Court in Gaithersburg on November 14th, 2022. Immediately after the November 14th carjacking, the defendants crashed the Corolla following a high-speed police pursuit on I-270.


At approximately 9:55 p.m., 6th District officers responded to the location for the report of shots fired. The investigation has revealed that the suspects arrived at the location in an unknown model white SUV. While the vehicle was traveling in the parking lot, the front passenger fired multiple rounds from the vehicle. The suspects then drove away and left the scene.  No injuries were reported. The gunfire struck one apartment and three vehicles in the parking lot. Shell casings were recovered from the scene.


Montgomery County Police is conducting a death investigation after an incident that occurred Wednesday morning in Gaithersburg. According to police, “On Wednesday, October 11, 2023, at approximately 9:36 a.m., MCPD and Fire Rescue personnel responded to the 17100 block of Downing Street for a vehicle on fire. The initial investigation has determined that an adult male was located deceased inside the vehicle.

The victim was transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore, where an autopsy will be conducted to officially determine the cause and manner of death.  Preliminarily, no foul play is suspected, and there is no known threat to the public.   This is an active and ongoing investigation.   More information will be released as it becomes available.” We will provide an update if additional information becomes available. Featured image courtesy of Cordell Pugh (@CordellTraffic).


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