Per Montgomery County: “The $47 million MD 97 (Georgia Avenue) Relocation Project, which includes a new nearly one-mile, two-lane highway with bicycle-compatible shoulders between north of Goldmine Road and south of Holiday Drive that bypasses Brookeville, was formally dedicated recently. The new stretch of road opened in May.

MD 97 functions as a major north-south commuter route between Montgomery and Howard counties. The bypass project included construction of two bridges: one at Meadow Branch stream and another at Reddy Branch stream. It also included two single-lane roundabouts. Construction began in 2018.


Scott Van Pelt has been named the new host of ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown, according to Adam Schefter. MyMCMedia noted that Van Pelt will be taking over for Suzy Kolber, who was let go by the network during their recent round of layoffs.

Van Pelt will join former Commanders players Ryan Clark, Robert Griffin III, and Alex Smith, as well as Schefter, Marcus Spears, Michelle Beisner-Buck, and Larry Fitzgerald who are all part of the show’s cast. The week 1 show will take place at 6pm in anticipation of the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets game later in the night.


The Washington Post recently released its “10 Best Burgers in the D.C. Area” list and Montgomery County’s very own Steeze Burger was ranked the #1 burger in the area. It was the only MoCo burger to make the actual list, with burgers from Soko Butcher (Takoma Park) and Quarry House Tavern (Silver Spring) named as honorable mentions. After going back and trying some reader’s picks, write Tim Carman believes MoCo’s Sunshine Burger deserves a spot on the original list.

The Sunshine burger deserves a spot on the original list. It checks all the boxes: an unassuming preparation that trusts the basic building blocks of a good burger, even if they’re not necessarily the kind of ingredients sought out by chefs in white-tablecloth restaurants.” Carman wrote. The burger itself is generally loved by many, but there are also plenty (based on various comments through the years on our various social media posts) who can’t get past the look of the Sunshine General Store, where the burger is made.


MoCo native (Brookeville) and 2023 Sherwood graduate, Bryan Kim, has won the 75th U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, held at Daniel Island Club in Charleston, South Carolina. He will be attending Duke University in the fall.

Kim, 18, joins Jason Widener (1988) as Duke players to etch their name on the U.S. Junior Amateur Trophy that includes the likes of major champions Tiger Woods, Johnny Miller, David Duval, Jordan Spieth, Scottie Scheffler and Brian Harman, this year’s Open winner at Royal Birkdale who sent a congratulatory video message to the champion. Kim advanced to the championship match, where he defeated Joshua Bai. A breakdown of the championship can be found here. Kim is 11th in the latest iteration of the American Junior Golf Association rankings and 443rd in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. As champion, Kim receives the following:


Per MCPD: Officers from the Montgomery County Department of Police – 4th District station responded to a hate/bias incident involving an electronic sign board in a construction zone. On Saturday, July 8, 2023, at approximately 6:47 a.m., the Montgomery County Emergency Communications Center received multiple calls about a sign board displaying a racist message near Brookeville Road and George Avenue, in Brookeville.

When patrol officers arrived, they discovered that the sign board, intended for construction safety messages, had been hacked into. Officers were able to erase the message and arranged to have the sign removed.


Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Serviced (MCFRS) responded to a fire at a two-story farmhouse on the 4200 block of Sundown Road between Sunshine and Laytonsville on Saturday afternoon.

According to MCFRS Chief Spokesperson Pete Piringer, approximately 55 firefighters responded to the call. Upon arrival, fire and smoke was coming from the house, which is located in a non-hydrant area with a limited access driveway. Live wires were reported down in the area and all occupants and pets were reported out of the house.


Sherwood High School’s Rock ‘n Roll Revival just had its 52nd annual show– the tradition has been going strong since 1971, with 2020 being the only year a live show wasn’t produced due to Covid (a virtual show was produced that year). It all began when Sherwood students were inspired by a concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Since then, students audition for the show and rehearse for a couple months, working with staff members to put together a show that is routinely seen by thousands of people each year.

Per Dan Gross of MCPS Communications, “performers work on four to five songs a day. Other cast members who rehearse separately accompany the larger group little by little until all 40 songs have been rehearsed en masse. Shortly before opening night, dancers join in when rehearsals move to the theater. In the weeks before opening night, the stage is built and painted, while the tech crew finalizes sound and lighting.” Gross writes that this year’s show involved 250 student performers and crew members and was seen by over 6,000 people over six performances this year. See the full MCPS photo story here.


Per Montgomery County: Four in-person seminars on “Introduction to Women’s Self-Defense” will be offered this spring by the Montgomery County Commission for Women. Each S.A.F.E. (Self-defense Awareness and Familiarization Exchange) seminar is a two-hour “sampler” session for women of all ages and abilities taught by Rape Aggression Defense (R.A.D.)-certified instructors. The seminars, which cost $12 per participant, are exclusively for women and require pre-registration to participate. Women ages 13-17 are welcome to participate, but they must be accompanied by an adult woman who is also registered for the class.


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