Gaithersburg

A Silver Spring resident is $31,714 richer after purchasing a winning lottery ticket from Giant at 18250 Flower Hill Way in Gaithersburg. Full story below courtesy of MD Lottery:

“A Montgomery County woman was all smiles as she reeled in a $31,714 prize on a FAST PLAY Gold Fish ticketThe anonymous player, who is using the nickname “Disco” for Lottery publicity, said that her winning story began at the Flower Hill Giant in Gaithersburg. She bought the $2 ticket there on Wednesday, July 19 and took it outside to her car to check for a win.


MoCo Government

Per Montgomery County: Montgomery County’s process for reviewing and approving development projects during the Development Review Process Workgroup listening sessions will provide one more opportunity for residents to provide input. Residents can sign up to provide feedback during the workgroup’s third and final listening session that will be held virtually from 6-8 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 2. The second listening session was held at the Wheaton Headquarters of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) on July 18.

The Maryland General Assembly’s Montgomery County delegation created the workgroup, which is chaired by State Delegate Lesley Lopez (D-District 39). It is examining the County’s development review process, with a special focus on finding opportunities to improve the County’s economic competitiveness. The workgroup’s July 18 listening session followed a June 22 listening session and three livestreamed workgroup work sessions June 9June 27 and July 12.


Highways / Interstates

Per Montgomery County: The history behind the plan and building of the Inter-County Connector is the focus of a free online presentation from Montgomery History that will be available for a one-week period starting Monday, July 31. John Spiers, a visiting assistant history professor at Boston College, will lead “Road to Sprawl: The Intercounty Connector and the Limits of Mobility, Development and Land Preservation.”

Throughout his career, Dr. Spiers has presented looks at the histories of how communities throughout the U.S. have evolved. In 2011, one of his presentations at the Montgomery County History Conference was “The Long and Winding Road: A History of the Intercounty Connector, 1950-2006.”


Downtown Silver Spring

Per Montgomery County: Folklore follows formulas and conventions that govern the folksongs, the folk art and the folktales and legends people share. Many of the personal accounts of being abducted by aliens follow a three-part formulaic structure: captured by aliens; examined by aliens; and then returned to pre-abduction status, often with lasting memories of the encounter.

Mr. Deutsch is a curator and editor at the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage in Washington, D.C., where he has helped plan and develop public programs on the Peace Corps, Hungary, China, Circus Arts, Apollo Theater, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Mekong River, U.S. Forest Service, World War II, Silk Road, and White House workers.


MoCo Government

Residential customers above 150 percent of area median income and commercial and multi-unit residential accounts with master meters are eligible for the 100 percent waiver of late payment charges and turn-on fees. As of mid-July, more than 79,000 accounts were past due, accounting for $51.6 million in total revenue. The vast majority of overdue accounts reflected residential customers.  WSSC Water resumed residential water service turnoffs on past-due accounts on July 5. Turnoffs were temporarily suspended in June to encourage program participation.

Only after extensive customer notification and all other reasonable alternatives have been exhausted, including efforts to connect every income-constrained customer with available financial assistance, will WSSC Water disconnect water service. WSSC Water offers several financial assistance programs to help customers get current with their bills. More information on other customer assistance programs is available at wsscwater.com/assistance.


MoCo Libraries

Per Montgomery County: Montgomery County Public Libraries (MCPL), in partnership with Friends of the Library, Montgomery County, Inc. (FOLMC), Mid-Atlantic Scratch League (MASL), Levine Music and Classroom 2 Community (C2C) will have a full day of free events on Saturday, Aug. 12, to celebrate music on vinyl records and the DJ culture. Just for the Record—A Vinyl Day, geared toward all ages, will take place from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. at the Brigadier General Charles E. McGee Library in Silver Spring.

The activities scheduled for Just for the Record—A Vinyl Day will include:


Potomac

Per Montgomery County: A spectacle of nature in Montgomery County is nearing its summer peak as the vast sunflower fields of the McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area on River Road in Potomac is showing off its best right now. There is no fee or permit required to access the property. The 2,000-acre tract in a mixture of woodlands, fields, wooded bottomland and managed wetland impoundments (green-tree reservoirs). The property shares a common boundary with the National Park Service Chesapeake and Ohio Canal to the south and borders Seneca Creek State Park on the east.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources—Wildlife and Heritage Service plants sunflowers each spring on the McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area. The primary purpose for planting sunflowers on wildlife management areas is to provide a food source for mourning doves, as well as other wildlife species. In addition to mourning doves, sunflowers and sunflower seeds are a favorite food source for a host of other songbirds, mammals and pollinators. Sunflowers require pollination by insects, usually bees, to produce a seed crop. In turn, honey bees and many species of native bees, benefit from the abundant nectar and pollen that sunflowers produce.


Retail

Dream on Me, the New Jersey-based company that recently purchased BuyBuy Baby’s brand and digital assets for $15.5 million and was a supplier for the store, was the successful bidder for 11 store leases at a bankruptcy auction for about $1.17 million, according to court records that were filed last week. Buy Buy Baby’s sole Montgomery County location, at 1683 Rockville Pike in Rockville’s Congressional Plaza, will be closing its doors on Sunday, July 30th. According to court documents, the Rockville location, which was the first Buy Buy Baby store to ever open, is included in the eleven leases that were purchased.

Per CNBC, “It is not immediately clear what Dream on Me plans to do with the 11 leases. The retailer does not have a brick and mortar footprint and currently sells its goods through a host of retail partners, including Amazon, Kohl’s, Target, Walmart and Home Depot, according to its website. However, Dream on Me could use the Buy Buy Baby IP assets it already obtained – plus the leases – to reopen the beloved chain.


Health

Per the State of Maryland:  Governor Wes Moore is today urging Marylanders to take appropriate precautions as extreme weather conditions are expected beginning Thursday. According to the National Weather Service, a heat advisory has been issued for central, northeast, and southern Maryland, with temperatures expected to reach 100 degrees and heat index values expected to reach approximately 105 degrees. Temperatures approaching 100 degrees are also forecast for Friday and Saturday. 

“The health and safety of Marylanders is our  top priority,” said Gov. Moore. “Take preventative measures to deal effectively with this week’s high temperatures and look out for those in your community during these extremely hot summer days.”


Business

On our MoCo Directory, we’ll be offering amazing, exclusive deals and telling the stories of the people behind the businesses that operate locally. We’d like to thank some of our first members and encourage you to check them out!

Class 520 in Rockville is the very first Thai-inspired ice cream establishment to open in the state of Maryland.