Sheetz is holding a hiring event today, June 14, at the Holiday Inn Express in Germantown in preparation of the opening of its upcoming store at 751 Progress Way in Gaithersburg. The location, which will be the first Sheetz in Montgomery County, is targeting an August 10th opening date. Last month we reported that Sheetz will also be opening a location in the Walnut Hill shopping center in Gaithersburg in 2024.

Sheetz is a gas station/convenience store that offers made to order food and has over 650 locations throughout Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. According to the company, Sheetz provides “kicked-up convenience while being more than just a convenience store. Sheetz is a mecca for people on the go. If you need to refuel your car or refresh your body, we have what you need to keep you moving on to whatever comes next.”


Per MCPD: Detectives from the Montgomery County Department of Police – Special Victims Investigations Division (SVID) are asking for the public’s assistance in locating Zamya Santiago, a missing 14-year-old from Germantown.

Zamya Santiago was last seen on Friday, June 9, 2023, at approximately 11:45 p.m. on Locbury Court.  Zamya is approximately 5-feet, 1-inches tall and weighs 120 pounds. She has shoulder length brown hair and brown eyes. Zamya has a nose piercing.  It is unknown what clothing she is wearing. Police and family are concerned for her welfare.


Montgomery County will celebrate Juneteenth at a special event featuring live music, food, art, films and awards from 12-10 p.m. Saturday, June 17, 2023 at the BlackRock Center for the Arts. The Montgomery County Office of Human Rights coordinates the program, which also features the Living Legends Awards honoring county residents who have helped shape the cultural heritage of the African American community. Look for a City of Rockville table and city representatives at the celebration.

The Juneteenth holiday commemorates June 19, 1865, when the Union army arrived in Texas bearing federal orders proclaiming the end of slavery. The orders arrived nearly two-and-a-half years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation declared that enslaved people living in the secessionist Confederate states were now free.


Per MCPD: A 57-year-old Germantown man was shot and killed on the evening of Friday, June 9, 2023. Montgomery County Department of Police, 5th District officers were dispatched to the Middlebrook Commons apartments in the 19500 block of Gunners Branch Road at approximately 8:03 p.m., for multiple calls of shots fired.

Upon arrival, officers located several shell casings in the parking lot of the apartment complex. The victim, Errick Roy Dixon was found in a grassy area behind an apartment building with an apparent gunshot wound.


Montgomery County Police responded to a fatal shooting that took place in the 19500 block of Gunners Branch Road around 8pm on Friday night.  According to MCPD, “when 5th District officers arrived, they found several shell casings in the parking lot of the apartment complex and located an adult male suffering from apparent gunshot wounds behind one of the apartment buildings.

Officers provided aide until Montgomery County Fire Rescue responded. The 57-year-old male was pronounced dead on scene.  Witnesses stated that they saw several people drive away from the location and there are no suspects in custody at this time. It is too early in the investigation to provide suspect or vehicle descriptions.”


Update 6/10: Montgomery County Police responded to a fatal shooting that took place in the 19500 block of Gunners Branch Road around 8pm on Friday night.  According to MCPD, “when 5th District officers arrived, they found several shell casings in the parking lot of the apartment complex and located an adult male suffering from apparent gunshot wounds behind one of the apartment buildings.

Officers provided aide until Montgomery County Fire Rescue responded. The 57-year-old male was pronounced dead on scene.  Witnesses stated that they saw several people drive away from the location and there are no suspects in custody at this time. It is too early in the investigation to provide suspect or vehicle descriptions.”


According to the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, “Today in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, MD, before the Honorable John Maloney, a jury convicted defendant, Kyle Noble, 30, of unknown address, on charges of second-degree murder and armed robbery for the death and robbery of 31-year-old Efrain Arias. Noble faces up to 60 years in prison and a 25-year mandatory minimum as this is his third conviction for a crime of violence in the state of Maryland. Noble committed this murder while on probation for a stabbing in Frederick County in April of 2017. He also pleaded guilty to robbery in Montgomery County in March of 2014. He is scheduled for a sentencing hearing on July 17th 2023.

This stems from an incident on September 15th 2019, when the defendant, Noble, confronted Efrain Arias as Arias exited a vehicle in the parking lot of the Extended Stay America hotel on Milestone Center Drive in Germantown. Noble chased the victim down a hill into a field near the parking lot, fatally stabbed him, then came back and robbed the dying victim of personal property. As stated by the prosecutors in court, the attack was fueled by drug-seeking behavior and a jealous rage, as the victim was a friend of the defendant’s ex-girlfriend.


New Grand Mart, a Korean grocery chain with locations across Maryland and Virginia, is now open at 13069 Wisteria Drive in the Germantown Plaza shopping center. It is located in the space previously occupied by Lotte Plaza, which closed in November. According to its website, “New Grand Mart carries a variety of fresh produce, fish, meats, and ethnic specialty items that is hard for other markets to match.”

In addition to the grocery store, New Grand Mart will also feature a food court. Vendors announced include Gogi Friends (Korean BBQ), Noodles & Friends (Korean-Chinese fusion), Tous les Jours (bakery), Sushi Friends, and Fortune Cha (bubble tea and dessert.) According to a representative at Grand Mart, the food court is scheduled to open in next month.


Three staff members have been honored with 2022–2023 Counselor of the Year awards. The trio—one each at the elementary, middle and high school levels—were recognized at the June 6 Board of Education business meeting.

The three have one thing in common—they don’t work alone. They all say their success would not have been possible without the support of their colleagues. As one said simply, “When we work as a team, everyone thrives.” The 2022–2023 Counselors of the Year are:


The investigation by detectives has revealed that on Saturday, July 23, 2022, the suspect entered the store, pointed a handgun at the employees and demanded money. The suspect removed an undisclosed amount of money from the registers and left the scene.


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