Back in May we let you know about ‘That Smoothie Place’ coming to Damascus, taking over the location that was formerly home to Sprint in the Damascus shopping center at 9815 Main Street, suite 106. The store is now expected to open within the next couple weeks.

That Smoothie Place has been operating as a food truck since 2018, frequenting Damascus and other surrounding areas.  They offer a variety of smoothies known as “Rock Star Smoothies” named after popular rock stars of the past and present. The featured photo shows a special known as “The Lennox” named after Annie Lennox of the popular 80s group Eurythmics and contains apple, banana, apple cider  and a few other ingredients. Other smoothies on the menu include the Ozzy, Ringo Starr, Jagger, Morrison, and more.


The Northwest High School Booster Club is holding a community 5K Fun Run/Walk on Saturday October 29 at 8:00 AM. Registration is $35 per person and includes a t-shirt (sign-up by 9/23 to be guaranteed your desired shirt size). Every person on the course must be registered and able to individually navigate the course (course map). No strollers or pets please. The run will begin and end at Northwest High School and will include a Health & Wellness Fair with information from numerous local businesses. The entire community is invited to participate.

Volunteers are needed to help with various tasks on race day.  If you are injured and can’t run or are accompanying a runner to the race, or you just want to give something back to the sport and contribute to the success of the event, please send an email to [email protected].


District 39 Delegate Lesley Lopez has announced the expansion of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to Montgomery Village and Germantown. “It’s finally happening! My lifelong dream of collaborating with Dolly Parton is happening… kind of. I’m excited to say that Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is expanding to District 39, specifically Montgomery Village this month and in Germantown in November! I was thrilled to be contacted by the IL team and am so glad to partner with them to spread the word to the upcounty community! Residents with zip codes 20886 and 20876, and who have children aged 0-5, will be able to receive a new book every month to help build their library at home. Use this link to  sign up and view information about the current program, which Dolly started in 1995 to honor her father who was illiterate.”

Per Imagination Library of Montgomery County: As an affiliate of of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, we provide free, age-appropriate books to children from birth to age 5. Each month a carefully selected, new book will arrive in the mail, allowing children to build their own personal libraries, regardless of family income. We aim to foster the parent-child connection through a love of books. When young children are read to by adults and start learning to read at an early age, they develop literacy skills that prepare them to succeed in school. Books have the power to engage the imagination and contribute to a brighter future!


The principals of Gaithersburg and Northwest high schools sent out a joint message to the community following the altercation that took place during the football game between the two schools. The full statement can be seen below:

Dear Gaithersburg and Northwest High School Communities,


Hallie, Tyler, and Ben Butler (of Butler’s Orchard) have announced that they’ve purchased neighboring Doc Waters Cidery from their aunt Susan Butler and her husband Washington White. Per the announcement, made earlier this week via social media, the Butlers are “committed to continuing and expanding the dream that Susan and Wash had for the Cidery and Orchard.”

The Cidery, which has been open around the corner from Butler’s Orchard in Germantown since 2018, features food trucks, live music, cider made on site, and more. The full statement can be seen below:


Ella Bresee, the younger sister of Clemson football star and former Damascus High School standout Bryan Bresee, died after a battle with an aggressive form of brain cancer, her family announced on Thursday.

Bryan Bresee posted the following message on Instagram on Thursday, “My beautiful sister Ella you amazed me every single day with the fight that you put up and how joyful you were constantly through this battle. Never did I think I would be sitting here today saying bye to you. I want to thank you for bringing happiness to not only me but so many people. You are the best sister a brother could ask for and I know for a fact heaven has gained a beautiful angel today, Love you forever and always Ella bear.❤️


The U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Terrorism and Financial intelligence (TFI) has selected Germantown-based Amentum, under its METIS Solutions entity, to provide a full range of state-of-the-art investigative and analytic solutions to counter cyber-enabled financial crime under a new multi-award Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) contract. The BPA has a maximum value of $500 million over five years.

Per the press release: “Our confidence to meet the Treasury TFI mission stems from our proven performance providing analysis of financial intelligence, and a thorough understanding of the changing financial crimes landscape and illicit financial typologies,” said Jill Bruning, President of Amentum’s Engineering, Science and Technology Group. “We can bring to bear our successful partnerships and collaboration with financial analysis industry leaders, and our extensive knowledge of the many tools and datasets required to safeguard the nation’s financial system against threats.” Under this contract, Amentum will compete for task orders to provide intelligence, financial, and investigative expertise and technology-enabled approaches across Treasury TFI at the Bureau level, including sanctions investigation and enforcement, transaction licensing, analysis and investigation of financial crimes, and other analytic solutions.


Pumpkin Festival returns to Butler’s Orchard (22222 Davis Mill Road, Germantown) this year from September 24th-October 30th.  Admission includes access to Pick Your Own Pumpkins, hay rides, tractor pulls, a straw maze, games, and more. The event runs each Wednesday – Friday: 1-6pm (Last entry 4:30 PM) and Saturday – Sunday, and Columbus Day: 9am-6pm (Last entry 4:30 PM).


At approximately 7:30 p.m., 5th District officers responded to the location for the report of an armed robbery.

The investigation by detectives has determined that an unknown male suspect entered the store and walked behind the cashier counter, reaching around the employee to open the cash register. The suspect then pointed a gun at the employee’s neck and demanded that he open the cash registers. The employee complied with the suspect’s demands. The suspect removed the cash from both registers. A customer attempted to leave the store and the suspect redirected the gun to him, telling him not to move. The suspect then demanded Newport cigarettes, prior to leaving the store.


Rio Grande Grill at 13541 Clopper Rd in the Seneca Plaza shopping center in Germantown has been sold. Former owner Erika Myers tells us that the new owners will be keeping the same name and menu.  The restaurant is currently closed for renovations and is expected to reopen in a few weeks.

Rio Grande opened in December 2020, in the location that was previously home to the Mistik Taverna, Germantown Kabob & Sweets, Bhima’s Kitchen & Bakery, and Arirang Korean restaurant. The restaurant offers an extensive menu that goes beyond Tex-Mex cuisine. Menu items consist of “bar food” such as crab pretzels, spinach dip, mozzarella sticks, etc., various salads, build-your-own burgers, fried chicken and pasta dishes, tacos al carbon, bowls, and a wide variety of entrees.


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