WMATA

More than a hundred fire and emergency personnel converged on the new Ashburn Station on the Silver Line Extension as part of a full-scale emergency drill Wednesday, August 17.  NBC’s Adam Tuss tweeted that “Metro’s safety training drill is turning up some issues with the rail along the second phase of the Silver Line. The rails have been sitting for so long, that many are rusted – meaning some safety” equipment is having a hard time “connecting” to the rails.”

WMATA GM Randy Clarke provided a response to the issues via Twitter on Wednesday night, “While today’s @wmata emergency drill didn’t go perfectly it’s important to clarify that rail rust occurs when trains are not running & is not a safety or construction issue. Pre start-up simulation testing will clean this up similar to what other 🚇 lines look like.


MoCo Government

Per Montgomery County: Montgomery County’s Police Accountability Board (PAB) is seeking applicants to fill two civilian vacancies on the newly established Administrative Charging Committee (ACC). Members must be able to demonstrate through professional or lived experience the ability to balance effective oversight, perform objective analysis of an investigation report, and practice procedural fairness. An active police officer must not be a voting member of the ACC. ACC members must meet all qualifications mandated by State law and Maryland Police Training and Standards Commission (MPTSC) regulations while serving on the ACC, including consenting to a criminal background check, and signing an agreement to maintain the confidentiality of matters and information considered by the ACC until final disposition. Each member must complete training on matters relating to police procedures from the MPTSC before serving. Member eligibility requirements are subject to change. Members must reflect the racial, gender, gender-identity, sexual orientation, and cultural diversity of the County. Members must be Montgomery County residents. Members will be required to file a public financial disclosure statement before appointment and annually thereafter.

Note: If you applied to the PAB or ACC between April 6, 2022 – April 27, 2022, your application has been provided to the PAB for further consideration. You need not apply again.


Rockville

The Rockville City Police Department, in partnership with the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office and Montgomery County Public Schools, will host a gun buyback event from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 27, in the parking lot of the RCPD station, 2 W. Montgomery Ave.

Community members will be able to voluntarily turn in their firearms and receive a $100 Visa gift card for functioning handguns, rifles and shotguns, and $200 in Visa gift cards for functioning assault-style weapons and privately-made firearms, i.e., ghost guns. All firearms will be accepted, with no identification needed and no questions asked by law enforcement. RCPD will make the ultimate determination on what firearms are eligible for gift cards.


Event

General admission is $25 per person, which includes chili tastings. Free Admission for kids under 18, Police Officers and their Family is provided by MCPF). All proceeds benefit the Foundation’s mission to strengthen community-police relationships, support officers wellness, and enhance public safety initiatives across Montgomery County.

In addition to delicious chili, attendees can enjoy local craft beer from Lone Oak Brewery, family activities, and opportunities to meet and interact with Montgomery County police officers in a fun, relaxed setting.


Beyond MoCo

Per Prince George’s County Police: Homicide Unit detectives arrested and charged 21-year-old Kiayon Strowbridge of Temple Hills in connection with the fatal shooting of 55- year-old Nesredin Esleiman of Silver Spring. 

On August 10, 2022, at approximately 6:20 am, patrol officers were called to the 5400 block of Chesterfield Drive for a welfare check. Once on scene, officers located the victim inside of a vehicle suffering from a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead on the scene. The preliminary investigation revealed Esleiman was operating as a rideshare driver at the time of the murder.


Crime

Detectives from the Montgomery County Department of Police – Major Crimes Division have arrested 16-year-old, Maynor Josue Bonilla-Flores of Washington and 18-year-old, Cesar De-La-O-Rodriguez of Washington for the December 19, 2021, homicide that occurred in the 13000 block of Ashby Road in Rockville.

On Sunday, December 19, 2021, at approximately 3 a.m., 4th District officers responded to the location for the report of a shooting that just occurred. Officers arrived on scene and located three adult victims suffering from gunshot wounds. Two of the victims sustained non-life-threatening gunshot wounds. The third victim had a gunshot wound to his upper body. All three victims were transported to area hospitals. The victim, suffering from the gunshot wound to his upper body, identified as 22-year-old, Danis Alcides Salgado-Mata of Rockville, succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased at the hospital.


Bethesda

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Eagle Bancorp, Inc., based in Bethesda, Maryland, and its former Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board, Ronald D. Paul, with negligently making false and misleading statements about related party loans extended by the bank to Paul’s family trusts. Eagle and Paul have agreed to settle the SEC’s charges.

The SEC’s order against Eagle finds that, from March 2015 through April 2018, Eagle failed to include loans to Paul’s family trusts totaling at times nearly $90 million in the related party loan balances included in its annual reports and proxy statements. The SEC’s order also finds that Eagle improperly omitted tens of millions of dollars of loans to Eagle directors and their family members from these related party loan balances. Both SEC regulations and Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) required Eagle to disclose these material related party transactions.


Bethesda

Last week we reported on the Montgomery County man, Jeremy Duffie, who claimed the world record top prize at The White Marlin Open. The total winnings have increased and Duffie, along with Sandy Spring’s Bill Britt, have claimed over $5.7 million in prize money. The White Marlin Open is a 48-year-old deep-sea fishing tournament held annually in Ocean City, Maryland.  The tournament awards prize money for catches of white marlin, blue marlin, tuna, wahoo, dolphin and swordfish. This year, a Bethesda resident, Jeremy Duffie, caught a white marlin and claimed the billfish tournament’s top prize., which is a world record payout. Duffie, fishing off Ocean City boat Billfisher, reeled in a 77.5-pound white marlin and claimed $4.536 million prize. Sandy Spring’s Bill Britt (seen in photo below) received a $1.208 Million payout for reeling in a 511 pound blue marlin.

About The White Marlin Open: The first tournament, held in 1974, drew 57 boats, 150 anglers and paid $20,000 in prize money with the top award of $5,000.  The 2021 event drew 444 boats, over 3,500 contestants, and paid out over $9.2 million dollars in prize money including the top individual awards of $3.2 million. Long known as “World’s Largest Billfishing Tournament,” the White Marlin Open has awarded over $86 million dollars since 1974 to the lucky winners among more than 110,000 anglers aboard over 15,000 registered boats.  Along the way, the WMO became not just the largest billfish tournament, but also holds the world record for prize money payouts for any type of fishing tournament.


Crime

Update per Montgomery County Police: At approximately 11:23 p.m., for reasons unknown a juvenile male was involved in a dispute in the area of the 18300 block of Lost Knife Circle. During the course of the dispute, shots were fired and it was determined that a juvenile male was the victim of a shooting. Officers and fire rescue responded. The victim was transported to an area hospital with serious injury.

Original Report: A teenager was shot at approximately 11:20pm last night on Lost Knife Circle, which is located just off of Montgomery Village Avenue and Lost Knife Road in Montgomery Village. Officers were initially dispatched for a sound of shots complain and found the teenaged victim critically shot. Officers rendered first aid prior to EMS arrival. The victim was transported to the hospital with very serious injuries.


Education

The Thomas Edison High School of Technology will be holding a Back-to-School Open House between 5:30pm and 7pm on Wednesday, August 17th. The school is attached to Wheaton High School and located at 12502 Dalewood Drive. The event will allow community members to join the TEHST leadership team for games, conversation, and school tours.

Anyone interested in joining the waitlist for one of the school’s programs for the upcoming school year (2022-2023) can click HERE to access the application page.


Gaithersburg

On Thursday, August 18th, the basketball courts at Life Time in Gaithersburg will be closed due to basketball backboards being removed, as the right side court will be permanently converted to Pickleball in the coming weeks. The basketball courts are currently unavailable due to Summer Camp that ends on Friday, August 26th. After that date, full basketball availability will continue in Gym 1 and Pickleball will become a permanent fixture once the courts are ready.

Per the Life Time website, each club has scheduled pickup play for basketball throughout the week for adults, including 18+ and 40+ only, as well as kids 17 and under and 12 and under. Outside of the pickup schedule and other scheduled events on the court, you can always shoot hoops or find a game of 21, 2-on-2 or even a run of 5-on-5. Pickleball is offered through clinics, lessons, and open play, which is a series of set times every week where all players with a reservation can participate in fun and challenging games.