Akira Ramen & Izakaya is now open at 105 Paramount Park Dr, next to Ela Mesa Taste of Greece in the Spectrum Town Center in Gaithersburg. Menu items include Ramen, Soba/Udon, and Sushi. There is an additional Akira location at 1800 Rockville Pike h1 in Rockville.
Per MCPD: “A former Montgomery County teacher has been arrested and charged with multiple sexual offenses for engaging in sexual acts with a minor. Detectives believe there may be additional victims. On Thursday, October 5, 2023, the Montgomery County Department of Police – Special Victims Investigations Division (SVID) initiated an investigation into allegations of sexual abuse by an adult male victim. The victim alleges that he had engaged in sexual acts with 31-year-old Melissa Marie Curtis of Upper Marlboro, when he was a minor.
The alleged abuse began in 2015 when Curtis was 22-years-old. The incidents continued for several months while the victim was a student at Montgomery Village Middle School, and Curtis was a teacher at the same school. All of the incidents took place within Montgomery County.
Montgomery County native and New Orleans Pelicans rookie Jordan Hawkins, making a start in place of CJ McCollum, scored a career-high 31 points on Monday night in a 116-134 loss to the defending World Champion Denver Nuggets. Hawkins’ coach Willie Green referred to him as fearless, saying, “When he’s open he’s going to shoot it. He’s aggressive and the beauty of it is Brandon, Z, all of his teammates are looking for him.”
The young man from Gaithersburg was drafted 14th overall by the New Orleans Pelicans in the 2023 NBA Draft. He is averaging 12.6 and 4.7 rebounds per game coming off of the bench, but earning significant minutes, for the Pelicans this year. Including the seven he hit on Monday night, Hawkins has made 20 three pointers in seven games this season. He has made 11 in his last two, showing that he is the outside-shooter he was drafted to be in the NBA.
Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services (MCFRS) responded to a fire in the 9000blk of Center Way Rd, near Goshen Rd in Montgomery Village on Monday, November 6 around 10am. According to Chief Spokesperson for MCFRS Pete Piringer, the fire was located in a pre-fabricated chimney and was caused by an overloaded fireplace. There was minor extension into the second floor of the home. There are no reported injuries and two occupants have been displaced.
Per @mcfrsPIO on Twitter: “Centerway Rd, Flower Hill/Montgomery Village, pre-fabricated chimney, overloaded fireplace, (burning construction debris in fireplace), no injury, 1 family displaced” We will provide an update if additional information becomes available.
Per the Office of the State’s Attorney: “Today in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, MD, the Honorable Cheryl McCally sentenced defendant, Tavon Burton, 21, of Gaithersburg, to 20 years in prison suspend all but 15 years to serve and five years of supervised probation upon release. The State requested Burton be admitted to the Patuxent Youthful Offender program and Judge McCally recommended he be admitted to the program while incarcerated.
Burton pleaded guilty on July 24th, 2023 to first-degree assault for an incident on October 10th, 2022 when he fired a gunshot at a 21-year old male from whom he planned to purchase marijuana. The victim told police Burton attempted to hand him counterfeit money and a confrontation ensued. As part of the plea agreement, Burton also pleaded guilty to an unrelated burglary charge from January 2021.”
Per IKEA, “Our Plan and Order points are smaller stores dedicated to kitchen, bedroom, and living room planning where you can find home furnishing advice and expertise to help design your ideal space.” You can book an appointment to start your design with a planning specialist, or use in-store, self-service tools to design your own solution. “Whilst there are no items to purchase in-store and take home on the day, for your convenience, purchases made at the Plan and Order points can be delivered to your home or picked up from one of our collection points.”
More bout Poke Bros: After the founders were introduced to the Hawaiian staple on a trip to California. The appeal of this fast and casual—while healthy—concept immediately inspired the founders to begin thinking how they could bring this unique dish to the midwest. From its inception, we were confident the foodies of Columbus would love the poké concept, but wanted to provide an inexpensive and accessible product in the larger market. After some intense research and trial and error, the Poké Bros founders developed their own brand of poké bowl flavor they are proud to share and call their own. Modeling similar assembly line casual dining concepts, we developed a unique way to build your “sushi in a bowl” and have fun doing so! As the poké movement has caught on, Poké Bros has rapidly expanded into multiple states across the Midwest and East Coast, offering the same fresh and authentic cuisine to a wider range of customers. We will continue to stick to our roots, as Poké Bros continues to grow, and offer only the best fresh ingredients that fill you up but don’t slow you down.
Rio Lakefront’s ‘Light Up the Lakefront’, which includes a fireworks display, will take place on Saturday, December 9th from 4:00 pm – 7:00 pm. “Join us for a festive evening of holiday fun on the Lakefront with activities along the Boardwalk (near Guapo’s/Charley Prime) and Fire Lounge (between True Food Kitchen & Uncle Julio’s):
6:45 PM: Enjoy a Dazzling Fireworks show over the lake!* Perfect viewing all along the Boardwalk and Fire Lounge.
Chop Robinson, a 6’3, 253 pound Defensive End for the Penn State Nittany Lions, watched his current team beat his previous team as Penn State rolled through Maryland 51-15 on Saturday. Robinson, a Quince Orchard High School graduate and Gaithersburg native who owns his high school’s sack record, was injured two weeks ago against Ohio State, and wasn’t able to play in the last two games, including Saturday’s game against Maryland. The now-Penn State standout is having a great season for the 8-1 Nittany Lions, with five tackles for loss, three sacks, and a forced fumble on the season, and hopes to return next week against Michigan. Many analysts and draft experts currently have Robinson going in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft.
Last year, Robinson was selected All-Big Ten honorable mention by the coaches and media, named a Pro Football Focus All-Big Ten second team selection, and earned the team’s Reid Robinson Outstanding Defensive Lineman Award with Adisa Isaac. Appearing in 12 games as a sophomore, he posted 26 tackles (19 solo), 10 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, two pass breakups, three quarterback hurries, a fumble recovery and a forced fumble. Prior to the start of this season, Robinson earned preseason second-team All-American honors and was named to the Bednarik Award, Lombardi Award and Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch lists prior to the start of the season.
Downtown Crown, the restaurant and retail portion of Gaithersburg’s Crown neighborhood opened in 2014 with Harris Teeter as an anchor and restaurants including Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Coastal Flats, Paladar Latin Kitchen, La Madeleine Country French Café, and more. Though the places listed are all still open, there have been some changes in the area the last nine years or so. Below, we’ll go over a few recent closures, some vacancies, and a pretty big “coming soon.”
BurgerIM, an Israeli burger chain, closed permanently earlier this year after about three and a half years at 200 Ellington Blvd. Doki Toki, an Asian bakery and dessert shop that took over for Mango Mango in May 2022, closed early this past summer after just over a year at 202 Ellington Blvd. Old Town Pour House, one of the original Downtown Crown tenants, closed last month at 212 Ellington Blvd after 8.5 years.
According to the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office, “In the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, MD, the Honorable Christopher Fogleman has sentenced defendant, Marvin Frazier, 24, of Germantown to 40 years in prison suspend all but 25 to serve and five years of supervised probation upon release. Frazier was convicted by a jury in April of 2023 on charges including attempted first-degree murder, two counts each of first-degree assault and use of a handgun in a crime of violence, and illegal possession of a handgun. The sentencing hearing took place on Thursday, November 2nd, 2023.
This stems from an incident at a music studio along Montgomery Village Avenue in Gaithersburg on August 8th, 2020. Frazier shot a 19-year-old male, causing him to become paralyzed from the waist down. He also pistol-whipped a 20-year-old male. The defendant and victims are associated with rival gangs. The defendant fled but was apprehended in 2022.
The two bronze statues of a cat and a bear have been a fixture at Gaithersburg’s Rio Lakefront for years, but did you know that they have a name and a story behind them? The whimsical sculptures of Fridolin, the bronze bear, and Kimo, a human size bronze cat, encourages a “hunt for missing objects.”
The bronze animals hold open books that tell a story about their character and that describe six lost items — a pocket watch, hat, suitcase, beehive, Dutch shoes and a bag of popcorn with a bird eating from the bag. See if you can find them all! Read their stories below: