An SUV was driven into Papa John’s at College Plaza in Rockville (near Montgomery College Rockville) on Tuesday, April 25 around 10pm. There were no serious injuries and a building inspector was notified. Chief Spokesperson for Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services Pete Piringer reminds residents that “Papa John’s delivers and there is no need to drive-in for carry out.” We will post an update if additional information becomes available.

Per @mcfrsPIO on Twitter: “(~10p 4/25) 15100blk Frederick Av, near College Parkway, Rockville, collision, vehicle into bldg, @mcfrs RS703 & others responded, building inspector notified @MCFRSNews”


Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services (MCFRS) responded to a vehicle fire on northbound I-270 (prior to Exit 6A MD 28 W Montgomery Ave) on Tuesday, April 25 around 12pm.  According to Chief Spokesperson for MCFRS Pete Piringer, the vehicle involved was semi-trailer truck that was packed full of paper products.  MCFRS units pulled pallets out from the truck and extinguished the smoldering debris. WTOP reports that cleanup is ongoing as of 1:30pm. Drivers should expect residual delays. We will post an update when additional information is available.

Per @mcfrsPIO on Twitter: “(~1245p) NB I270 @ Exit 6A, local lanes Between Falls Road & Rt28, Rockville, Semi tractor trailer packed full of paper products. Smoldering. @mcfrs  Units beginning to pull pallets out & extinguishing. Extended operations, some lanes blocked”


Hinode Japanese Restaurant (134 Congressional Ln in Rockville), a local family-owned restaurant that has been serving traditional Japanese cuisine in Montgomery County since 1992, is closing permanently next month.

The restaurant, well known for its sushi buffet, posted a notice stating the following on its website earlier this week, “We do not serve alcoholic beverage effective on May 1st, 2023. Restaurant is planning to close permanently as of May 15, 2023. We really appreciate your patronage for last 25 years. Thank you.” The notice has since been removed from the website, but a call to the restaurant this morning confirmed the closure, with a representative stating that Hinode would close after Mother’s Day.


In January, So What Else received the devastating news that its lease at Lakeforest Mall was being terminated due to the recent purchase of the space for redevelopment. The Rockville-based non-profit operated its food pantry out of Lakeforest, but was required to vacate by March 31st. They’ve now moved their pantry headquarters to a new location at 4924 Wyaconda Rd in North Bethesda to continue serving 150,000 meals a week without disruption. So What Else?  mentions that this move comes with a 1300% rent increase and will be holding a “Forced to Move Fundraiser”’in May.

So What Else’s mission is “to improve the lives of children and families living in underserved communities in the Baltimore-Washington Metro Area by providing food security, access to basic necessities, and high-quality out-of-school time programs in literacy, athletics, and the visual and performing arts while inspiring young people to give back to the community by creating volunteer opportunities for individuals of all ages.” So What Else’s new distribution schedule, starting May 1st, can be seen below.


Paris Baguette, “the neighborhood bakery café where communities come together over expertly crafted baked and brewed goods,” has announced it will hold the grand opening of its Rockville Town Square location at 101 Gibbs Street on Friday, April 28. Paris Baguette offers cakes, gourmet sandwiches, salads, and an assortment of baked goods such as croissants and donuts.

The company detailed its expansion plans back in August: “Paris Baguette currently operates in 14 states with a focus on expanding to a nationwide footprint in top-tier markets through a combined strategic approach of corporate-owned and franchise locations; franchise agreements have been signed to expand across 25 states. “The increased interest we’ve seen in franchise agreements and rapid expansion through new store openings at Paris Baguette is a testament to the success we’ve seen by focusing on the elevated bakery café experience and creating an emotional connection with our guests,” said Darren Tipton, Chief Executive Officer, Paris Baguette America. “We set an aggressive goal to open 1,000 locations in the U.S. by 2030 and we’re on track to exceed this plan with strategic direction on growth, quality products, customer experience, and innovation.”


In addition to HalfSmoke closing its Westfield Montgomery Mall location, the restaurant also closed its Baltimore location earlier this month. According to a report from BizJournals, the Baltimore restaurant closed at 2400 Boston St. in Canton’s Can Company on April 4.

At the mall, HalfSmoke was located in a kiosk in the mall’s food court/terrace (previously occupied by Coldstone Creamery and Gelato Galaxy) and was the first restaurant/bar to serve alcohol in the food court (nearby restaurants off of the food court served alcohol, ex: Slade’s). The menu consisted of the best-selling sausages and sides from its DC location (651 Florida Ave, NW), as well as boozy milkshakes and a funnel cake bar. HalfSmoke’s sister restaurant Butter Me Up also closed its Montgomery Mall location earlier this month.


At its peak, Bed Bath & Beyond operated the largest home furnishing retailer in the United States with over 970 stores across all 50 states, consistently at the forefront of major home and bath trends. Operating stores spanning the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, Bed Bath & Beyond offers everything from bed linens to cookware to electric appliances, home organization, baby care, and more. Now, Bed Bath & Beyond has announced that it will close all 360 stores and 120 Buy Buy Baby locations on Wednesday and seek to sell parts of its business. In its filing with the bankruptcy court, the company said that it expected all stores to close by June 30, according to the New York Times.

According to the New York Times report, customers may use Bed Bath & Beyond coupons until Wednesday, when store closing sales begin. Customers will have until May 8 to use Bed Bath & Beyond gift cards. The company did not specify when its Bed Bath & Beyond and Buy Buy Baby apps would shut down, saying only that customers can continue using the apps “at this time.” The Gaithersburg location closed a couple years back and the Germantown location closed permanently on Sunday. The Rockville location is the only Bed Beth & Beyond store left in MoCo with Buy Buy Baby also having a location in Rockville.


Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services responded to a collision with rollover on Friday afternoon in Rockville. According to the Rockville Police Department, the collision occurred at Southbound Frederick Rd and Redland Rd. Three people have been transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Drivers should expect delays. We will post an update if additional information is available.

Traffic Alert – 4/21/23 at 3:00 p.m. Southbound Frederick Rd at Redland due to rollover collision. 3 people transported to hospital w/non-life threatening injuries. pic.twitter.com/2bczeDvwTw


Rockville Little Theatre (RLT) has announced that their production of “Pride@Prejudice” by Daniel Elihu Kramer was selected Outstanding Production at ESTA (Eastern States Theatre Association) on Sat., April 15 at the Tatnall School in Wilmington, Delaware. Participating states included New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland). “Pride@Prejudice” received several other accolades as well:

– Outstanding Achievement in Ensemble Acting – Niranjali Amerasinghe, Lena Winter, Meghan Williams Elkins, Ian Swank and Joseph Coracle


In November we let you know that RASA, a fast-casual Indian restaurant with four locations in DC and Virginia, would be taking over the recently-closed Slapfish location at 12033 Rockville Pike in the Montrose Crossing shopping center. Earlier today, RASA announced that it will be opening its Rockville location on Thursday, April 27th at 10:30am.

The restaurant, founded by Rahul Vinod and Sahil Rahman (combined to create the name, RASA), opened its first location in Navy Yard in 2017 before opening a location in Mt. Vernon Triangle in 2020, Crystal City in 2021, and Fairfax this past summer. The menu offers seven chef-curated bowls under the “We Got You” portion of the menu, that includes their signature bowls like the “Tikka Chance on Me”, “Open Sesame”, “Eat Your Veggies”, “Home Cooking”, “Goa Your Own Way”, “Aloo Need is Love”, and “Caul on Me” or the “You Got It” portion of their menu that allows customers to “DIY” and design their own bowl using the assembly line format of a base, main, sauce, veggies, toppings, and chutneys/dressings. The full menu can be seen here.


Per MCPD: Detectives from the Montgomery County Department of Police – Major Crimes Division have charged 19-year-old Mateo Paredes-Vincent and 20-year-old Havanna Holland-Miller with an attempted armed carjacking that occurred on Tuesday, November 23, 2021, in the 100 block of Talbott Avenue in Rockville.

Through the investigation, detectives identified Paredes-Vincent of Washington, D.C. and Holland-Miller of Southbridge, MA as the suspects.  On Tuesday, March 28, 2023, detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Paredes-Vincent, charging him with attempted armed carjacking related charges. He is currently in jail in Alachua, Florida on an unrelated arrest. He is awaiting extradition to Montgomery County.


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