The draft amendments to the law and regulations include:
MoCo
In addition to riding the carousel, families are welcome to enjoy many other FREE activities throughout the Park, including live music & performances, kids’ arts & crafts, open artist studios & galleries, and lots more (see below)! Plus, the star of the show: carousel rides!
The TLC program is a long-running annual grant program that funds small projects that coordinate transportation and land use. The awards fund planning and engineering of small projects that would not otherwise be able to move forward and help advance the region’s goals of being multimodal and more walkable.
The five Montgomery projects that received grants were the Olde Towne to Washington Grove Bicycle Connection (City of Gaithersburg); the Montgomery County Streetlight Standards program; the Fleet and Monroe Streets Complete Streets Feasibility Study (City of Rockville); the Takoma Park Metropolitan Branch Trail Upgrade (City of Takoma Park) and the City of Takoma Park New Avenue Bikeway.
The Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services has released an updated population health report, “Health in Montgomery County 2010-2019”, which includes “data and statistics on major health topics such as demographics and social determinants of health; vital statistics; maternal and infant health; chronic diseases; infectious diseases; behavioral health; injuries; and environmental health” in Montgomery County and how it compares to State and national health outcomes. According to the report, health outcomes in Montgomery County have performed better than state and national averages, but there are “several health conditions with increasing trends and disparities by race/ethnicity, age, sex, and geographic areas that warrant special attention.”
Findings of the report, per Montgomery County:
Among those joining the formal groundbreaking ceremonies were County Councilmembers Andrew Friedson and Craig Rice; Maryland State Senator Brian Feldman; Poolesville Mayor Jim Brown; Craig Beyrouty, dean of College of the Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Maryland; Keith Miller, CEO of the Montgomery County Revenue Authority; and Marc Weller, founding partner and CEO of Weller Development Company. See photos from the groundbreaking event.
“For the past two years, Montgomery County and the nation have been dominated by the impact of COVID-19, but we continued to plan for the future—and for our future economy,” said County Executive Elrich. “Crossvines is an exciting project that will change the economic prosperity of the Agricultural Reserve. As one of the only grape-crushing facilities in the region, this will open up opportunities for more landowners to grow profitable grapes and to explore winemaking as part of their future options.”
Standard adoption procedures are still in place. Interested adopters should visit the website to view available pets. An appointment can be made by filling out the application online, calling the shelter at 240-773-5900 during business hours, or walking in. Patrons with scheduled appointments will have priority over walk-ins. Submitting a questionnaire does not reserve an animal for adoption and adoptions are first come, first served by appointment. Information on how to adopt can be found at https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/animalservices/adoption/howtoadopt.html.
“These local maps will help us identify where we can take action to protect vulnerable neighborhoods now and in the future from extreme heat risk,” said Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich. “We are pleased to be participating in this nationally competitive program and continuing our work in Montgomery County toward equitable climate resilience.”
This campaign is part of a national effort to track “Urban Heat Islands.” Heat inequities will be tracked in 14 states and two international cities. Urban Heat Islands are areas that can be up to 20 degrees hotter than nearby neighborhoods due to buildings, pavement, and other parts of urban environments amplifying high temperatures compared to nearby vegetated areas. They can put people at heightened risk of illness and death during extreme heat events. Through this effort local climate scientists and residents will work together to identify the hottest areas in the County. Heat equity refers to the development of policies and practices that mitigate heat islands and help people adapt to the impacts of extreme heat in a way that reduces the inequitable distribution of risks across different populations within the same urban area.
To serve in this paid volunteer position, all election poll workers must be registered to vote in the State of Maryland; able to speak, read and write the English language; and cannot hold, or be a candidate for, public or party office. In addition, election workers may not serve as a campaign manager for a candidate or as treasurer for any campaign finance entity.
Training is required and will be provided to all election workers. This includes an online quiz, virtual training and classroom in-person training. Volunteers will be paid for completing training and working the election. Several positions are offered, including all-day and part-day. More information is available at www.777vote.org.
At the event, there will be tree planting, trees will be raffled off and volunteers will take part in a trash pickup. It is hoped the activities will bring attention to the new County tree and encourage the planting of trees so the tree canopy increases. Residents also can register for “plogging” supplies at the event. Plogging is an innovate way to help the environment by doing an exercise like jogging, walking or biking while picking up trash.
“The black tupelo is now added to the list of county symbols that includes the robin as the County bird, the dogwood as the County blossom and the County seal,” said County Department of Environmental Protection Acting Director Adriana Hochberg. “The black tupelo is resilient, beautiful and critical to the County’s ecosystem and tree canopy. It’s a perfect symbol for Montgomery County as our official tree”.
The Sierra Club Montgomery County Group announced Tuesday that they would be endorsing David Blair for Montgomery County Executive. The Sierra Club is an environmental protection and advocacy group, which has local chapters throughout all 50 states. According to their website, “the Montgomery County Maryland Group focuses on local issues, including improving public transit, maintaining clean water sources, supporting and monitoring the county’s Climate Protection Plan, and endorsing and supporting green candidates.” The Sierra Club said that Blair will be a strong and effective leader, and that he has an appealing environmental platform. In a press release, the Sierra Club said, “we understand that our endorsement of Mr. Blair will be met with surprise and even frustration by some. Montgomery County Sierra Club, though, believes that Mr. Blair is the best candidate overall to continue and expand real environmental progress in our County.”
MCOT responses to behavioral health crises without police presence represent a significant change toward a civilian response. The civilian response is designed after the Crisis Assistance Helping Out on the Streets (CAHOOTS) model that has been successfully implemented in Eugene, Ore., for more than 30 years. In 2021, DHHS consulted with the White Bird Clinic (WBC) that runs the CAHOOTS model. Staff from WBC provided training to MCOT team members, homeless outreach workers, police, and other staff on de-escalation, scene safety, situational awareness, community engagement and trauma informed care. To request sign language interpreter services or other assistance to participate in this meeting, email Dorne Hill at [email protected] no less than five business days before the meeting date. For more information about the event, Dorne Hill at [email protected].