Per MCPD: Detectives from the Montgomery County Department of Police – 2nd District Investigative Section are asking for the public’s assistance in locating a missing 56-year-old from Rockville.  Neil Bernstein was last heard from on Friday, February 17, 2023, at approximately 9:53 a.m. He is missing from Twinbrook Parkway in Rockville.

Bernstein is approximately 5-feet, 9-inches tall and weighs 150 lbs. He has short grey and brown hair and green eyes.  Police and family are concern for his welfare.


Per Montgomery County: As the world continues to grapple with the complexities of securing critical IT systems and infrastructure, the Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC) and partners are stepping up their collaborative approach to cybersecurity innovation. A new initiative with a focus on helping small businesses seeking to provide cybersecurity services will be detailed at an event in Rockville on Monday, March 6. The National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE) is launching the new Cybersecurity Connections initiative with a special emphasis on small businesses seeking to provide cybersecurity services or that want to connect with companies, government or academic organizations for cybersecurity support.

Some of the effort’s goals are to:


Per Montgomery County: A formal plaque has been dedicated at the Rockville Memorial Library recognizing the name change from the original Rockville Library. The name change for the branch of the Montgomery County Public Libraries system was instituted in 2010 at the request of Gold Star families—those who have lost a family member in U.S. military conflicts—and the County Commission on Veterans Affairs.

The plaque is located on the first-floor lobby of the library, next to a digital display honoring the County’s Fallen Heroes. The Fallen Heroes digital display honors County residents killed in action dating to World War I


The City of Rockville will mark Earth Month in April by waiving permit fees for certain environmentally friendly home improvements. The city will waive all fees assessed by Rockville’s Inspection Services Division that are directly associated with the residential installation of solar photovoltaic systems, electric vehicle charging stations and energy-efficient heating and cooling upgrades, such as heat pumps.

Applications must be submitted by Sunday, April 30 at www.mygovernmentonline.org and must be accepted by city staff by 5 p.m. Monday, May 1. For more details, visit www.rockvillemd.gov/165/Permits-Inspectionsor email questions to [email protected]. This program is in support of the city’s Climate Action Plan, which was approved by the Mayor and Council in 2022. For more about the plan, visit www.rockvillemd.gov/climate.


Explore chemistry, rockets, robots, reptiles and more on Sunday, April 23 at the 32nd annual Rockville Science Day. This Rockville tradition returns to Montgomery College, Rockville Campus, 51 Mannakee St., from noon-5 p.m. The free event offers an opportunity to experience hands-on science- and technology-related exhibits, activities, games, and demonstrations from over 70 local organizations and businesses. Admission is free.

Activities and exhibits include building and launching rockets, telescopes, robots and backyard wildlife, microscopes, snakes, stream science, Civil War medical practice, coding challenges, math puzzles, chemistry in action, electric vehicles, quadcopters, archaeology mini-digs, 3-D printing, brain games, and more.


The Montgomery County Students Automotive Trades Foundation (ATF) at Damascus High School recently refurbished a Town and Country accessibility van for the family of a former MCPS and current Montgomery College student.

In 2019, Saniya Lipford, a former student at Thomas S. Wootton High School, lost her left leg and left arm from a blood clot in her lungs. Between the medical bills, extended recovery time and rehabilitation services, Saniya and her family have struggled. Now a student at Montgomery College, Saniya requested the ATF’s support to ensure that her family’s accessibility van was a reliable source of transportation.


The Board of Education business meeting on Thursday, Feb. 23, will cover key items of public interest, including discussions and Board decisions on Future School Boundary Analyses (Agenda Item 7.1).

Future openings of two new high schools will require boundary studies in multiple areas throughout the county. The new Charles W. Woodward High School is scheduled to reopen in 2026 and will impact current school boundaries. The clusters included in the superintendent’s recommendation for the boundary scope include Bethesda-Chevy Chase, Montgomery Blair, Albert Einstein, Walter Johnson, John F. Kennedy, Northwood, Wheaton and Walt Whitman high schools. Additional future boundary studies will address midcounty overutilization with the opening of Crown High School (2027) and upcounty with the expansion of Damascus High School (2026).


It has been over two years since we let you know about the initial plans Kensington Crossing at 10619 Connecticut Avenue (at Plyers Mill Road). Since then, the plans were approved, and Kensington Crossing has already signed it’s first three tenants– M&T Bank, Buffalo Wild Wings GO, and Mezeh. Construction recently began at the site and a couple photos, along with additional information about each tenant, available below:

M&T Bank, which currently has a Kensington location on Howard Avenue, signed on as its first tenant to take over its largest space (2,635 SF). A representative from the Howard Avenue location has told us that the plan is for the branch to relocate to the new space once it’s ready to go.


Georgetown Prep has announced the success of the ‘The Assist Goals campaign, Stay Warm Challenge’. “What an amazing success this year as Harrison Hall ’23 and Andrew Hall ’25 were able to put together 23 teams, including 127 boys and families from Prep!” As a whole, the Challenge generated over $25,000 in support, in which Prep students were responsible for 127 Stay Warm Care Packages ($4,425).

Per Georgetown Prep: All four Prep classes were instrumental in achieving this goal and more importantly worked hand in hand with our communities most in need The organizations we supported this year are Shepherd’s Table, Adam’s Place Men’s Shelter & Harriet Tubman Women’s Shelter (both Catholic Charities), Downtown Day Services Center, @awidercircle, National Center for Children and Families, Father McKenna Center, and Veterans on the Rise.


Personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2023’s Most & Least Ethnically Diverse Cities, and four of the top ten spots were taken by places in Montgomery County. To identify the most ethnically diverse places in America, WalletHub compared more than 500 of the largest U.S. cities across three key metrics: ethno-racial diversity, linguistic diversity and birthplace diversity.

Germantown was ranked as the most diverse in the country, coming in at #1 overall and #1 for ethnoracial diversity. Gaithersburg came in #3 overall, Silver Spring was ranked #4 overall, and Rockville came in ranked #8 overall. For the full report, please visit: https://wallethub.com/edu/cities-with-the-most-and-least-ethno-racial-and-linguistic-diversity/10264


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