MoCo Government

Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich Announces New $1 Million Dollar Fund To Ensure Access to Abortion Services

By Patrick Herron

“We live in a time where people’s rights are under attack – from the Supreme Court to the halls of Congress, to State Houses throughout this nation,” said County Executive Elrich. “We must do all we can to protect women’s health and their personal rights. With this allocation of funds, we are helping ensure that any woman who needs assistance will be able to access it. I want to thank our nonprofit partners, doctors, and nurses who are so critical to our efforts. In Montgomery County, we are committed to working in partnership to stand up for all people and will continue to do so.”

“The County Executive’s initiative is in great alignment with the County Council’s resolution on reproductive rights, which I spearheaded,” said County Councilmember Nancy Navarro. “The resolution affirmed our commitment to ensuring that health care organizations that provide reproductive health services have the appropriate supports and capacity to safeguard the reproductive rights of residents in our communities. As the lone woman Councilmember on the Council, I will continue to do all I can to support the County executive and the County Council in doing the right thing – protecting our reproductive rights and safeguarding the welfare of all our residents. I also call on Governor Hogan to support reproductive rights in Maryland by releasing the $3.5 million earmarked by the legislature for training.”

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Business

ignITe, a Collaborative Space Created to Inspire Innovation, Will Hold It’s Grand Opening on Saturday, May 24

By MCS Staff

A collaborative space created to ignite and inspire innovation in Montgomery County is having its Grand Opening on Saturday, May 14th from 11am until 1pm at Montgomery College (900 Hungerford Drive in Rockville)

“ignITe Hub is an exciting, unique space where students of all ages can learn coding and entrepreneurial skills to help prepare them for the future workforce.”

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Silver Spring

Holy Cross Hospital Named Among America’s 100 Best Hospitals in the Country

By MCS Staff

Holy Cross Hospital (1500 Forest Glen RdSilver Spring, MD 20910) is  recipient of the Healthgrades 2022 America’s 100 Best Hospitals Award. This places Holy Cross Hospital among the top two percent of all hospitals for clinical care and patient outcomes across treatment of the most common conditions and procedures. This is the 2nd consecutive year Holy Cross Hospital (Silver Spring) is among America’s 100 Best Hospitals, one of only six hospitals in Maryland among America’s 100 Best Hospitals, and the only recipient in Montgomery County, Maryland.

Per the press release: “The past two years have been the most challenging of my 38 years in Medicine,” said Ann Burke, MD, vice president of medical affairs at Holy Cross Hospital, part of Holy Cross Health. “COVID-19 has stressed every aspect of medical care and put unusual pressure on efforts to achieve excellence. To attain the Top 100 Hospital designation over these challenging two years is a testament to the unrelenting quest for quality in our colleagues and physicians. As the only hospital in the U.S. in 2021 to achieve the Top 100 Hospital Designation plus all Three Excellence Awards for Women’s Services further solidifies our position at the most trusted provider for women. Our participation and leadership of State and Regional Collaboratives supports excellent care for sepsis, diabetes, heart failure and pneumonia.”

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Beyond MoCo

Governor Hogan Announces Donation of Medical Supplies and Body Armor to Ukraine

By Patrick Herron

The governor made the announcement at an MDH warehouse facility in Hanover, joined by Yaroslav Brisiuck, Deputy Chief of Mission for the Embassy of Ukraine; Karina Mandell, chair of the Baltimore-Odesa Sister City Committee; Dr. William Chester of the Paul Chester Children’s Hope Foundation; and Maryna Baydyuk and Boris Levonenko of United Help Ukraine.

“The atrocities taking place in Ukraine have served as a reminder to all of us of exactly why strong ties and alliances are so critical, and why it is so important that we do whatever we can to support our allies in their time of need,” said Governor Hogan. “I want to thank our entire state government team for working around the clock over the past week to make this possible, along with the Baltimore-Odesa Sister City Committee, which has been indispensable in helping us coordinate efforts on the ground.”

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Event

Closing Reception at “Inspired!” Art Show & Sales

BlackRock Center for the Arts

12901 Town Commons Drive

Germantown, Maryland 20874

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Beautiful venue; great art, gifts and hand-crafted items; refreshments; and meet the award-winning painters, photographers, mixed media artists, ceramicists, fiber artists, and more – some 40 artists in all. It’s an extraordinary array of framed wall works, 3-d media including sculpture, ceramics, jewelry, and fiber pieces, and unframed prints.

Among them, you’ll see:

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Bethesda

Update on HalfSmoke, The First Bar to Open in Montgomery Mall’s Food Court

By Patrick Herron

The upcoming HalfSmoke location in Montgomery Mall is scheduled to open in “about four weeks”, according to a representative from the restaurant. HalfSmoke will be located in a kiosk in the food terrace that was the former home of Coldstone Creamery and more recently Gelato Galaxy. This will be the first restaurant/bar in the food court to serve alcohol. The menu will consist of the best selling sausages and sides from their DC location, as well as boozy milkshakes and a funnel cake bar. HalfSmokes sister restaurant Butter Me Up opened its Montgomery Mall location last week. Butter Me Up is located in the old Aroma Espresso Bar location, which is downstairs near the Old Navy entrance and features “instagrammable” decor, will offer a menu that consists of a variety of breakfast sandwiches, toasts, sides, bowls, smoothies, and juices.

HalfSmoke was the first restaurant of its kind to serve gourmet sausages via an assembly line format. Its sausages and toppings can be fully customized to create over 50,000 variations. The HalfSmoke menu also features craft beer, mac and cheese balls, tater tots, milkshakes, funnel cakes, wine, cocktails, and more.  HalfSmoke is also planning to open a Rockville Town Square location sometime this year.

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Athletes

Lazzaro’s Authentic Italian Deli Now Open in Montgomery Mall 

By Patrick Herron

Lazzaro’s Authentic Italian Deli is now open in the Montgomery Mall Food Court, located in the space recently occupied by Big Al’s Sub Shop. The restaurant features imported cold cuts that are cut fresh daily, homemade meatballs, cannolis, and more.

Owner Larry tells us his family owned Lucia’s Deli on University Blvd in Wheaton back in the 80’s. The business was eventually sold and the company became what is now Mamma Lucia. He’s wanted to open a deli for as long as he can remember and felt the food court location was a good fit.  He plans to bring the same work ethic and authenticity that has mother brought to Lucia’s when he was growing up.

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Germantown

Did You Know You Can Rent a Castle in Germantown?

By MCS Staff

Redwall Castle (built in the 1930s) is located off of Richter Farm Rd. in Germantown, Maryland (22 miles northwest of Washington, DC). It has been available for rent via rental sites AirBNB and VRBO like for a few years now. Per the listing on AirBNB, “it is excellent for families (w kids) and groups.” The castle is made up of a main house and a separate carriage house. The main house has 5 bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms, and is for rent. The carriage house is used by the owner and outdoor open wood fire pits are available. There’s even a theater room.

The building was designed by the first licensed woman architect in the US, following British author Brian Jacques’s fairy-tail Redwall stories. It is composed of a main house (which is for rent) and a separate carriage house (owner occupied), with 6 acres (29,000 Square Yards) of land for outdoor activities. Guests must rent it for a minimum of two nights and have the full access and complete use of the 5 bedroom (4.5 bath) main house. It’s currently going for just over $500 per night.

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Gaithersburg

MCPD 100th Anniversary Celebration This Saturday at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds

By Patrick Herron

Montgomery County Police will be holding a community event this Saturday, May 14, from 12-6pm at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds in celebration of the departments 100th anniversary. According to MCPD, this will be the largest community event the department has ever hosted and will feature food trucks, police displays, music, face painting, and more. The event is scheduled to take place rain or shine.

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Maryland

Maryland Updates Stalking Laws to Include Modern Technology

By Patrick Herron

The criminal definition of stalking has been updated by the Maryland General Assembly to include electronic communications that can track individuals without their consent, such as geotagging.  Previously, an individual would have to be physically followed by a stalker in person.  House Bill 148  was signed by Governor Larry Hogan on April 21 and alters the definition of stalking to include “conduct that occurs in person, through electronic communication, or through the use of a device that can pinpoint or track the location of another without the person’s knowledge or consent.” The new law will go into effect on October 1.

According to the law, “stalking” means a malicious course of conduct that includes approaching or pursuing another where the person intends to place or knows or reasonably should have known the conduct would place another in reasonable fear of serious bodily injury; of an assault in any degree, rape or sexual offense, false imprisonment, death, or that a third person likely will suffer any of the acts listed, or the person intends to cause or knows or reasonably should have known that the conduct would cause serious emotional distress to another. A person who violates this could be found guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 5 years or a fine not exceeding $5,000 or both.

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Gaithersburg

Airpark Towing and Auto Repair to Take Over Former Midas Location on 355 in Gaithersburg

By Patrick Herron

Airpark Towing and Auto Repair has reached an agreement to lease the former Midas shop at 204 N Frederick Ave in Gaithersburg. According to a post by the company, “This will allow for much needed space at our Body Shop! It will be our first shop outside of the Airpark! You will see our famous logo as you drive though 355! We want to thank everyone for all your support on this crazy journey. Airpark has become one of the highest rated repair shops in our area! Our towing service has grown to be be the largest in Gaithersburg, and undisputedly the best!” The company hopes to have the location up later this spring.

The company was founded in 1983 with one tow truck in Gaithersburg, Maryland. It grew through Mario’s relationship building efforts with many mechanic shops, body-shop owners, and auto dealers in the Montgomery County, Maryland area. We owe much of our success to the shops who currently have accounts with us and have recommended Airpark Towing for all these years.

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