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| Current location, which is still open |
Make sure to read the FAQ on the website for important information regarding accessibility, clothing and shoe requirements, and parking and weather advisories. You can also buy tickets on there, of course. Also, if you are a traditional hayride fanatic, be forewarned that the separate Haunted Hayride attraction is not simply a standard hayride. You will explore the haunted Leech cemetery on foot, in between your rides out and back from that burial plot. There are fire pits in the village over which you can keep warm, and/or heat up s'mores from kits you can buy. In past years, there have been fortune tellers, merch to immortalize your survival, carnival games, axe throwing, and more in that spooky yet quaint village area. And there are plenty of "characters" to keep you diverted while you wait to enter the trail.
The founders of this attraction have wisely grounded the haunts in a chilling story inspired by the original inhabitants of the property, the Leech family, who met a grisly demise at the hands of truly demented people...or something else...during the brutal Maryland winter of 1804. Suffice it to say, there's enough negative energy on-site to overload your ghost radar and EMF meter. No wonder so many who have survived their trek on the Leech Woods Haunted Trail have reported getting quite a scare in their 5-star Yelp, and 4.7-star Google reviews.
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| An unhoused person sleeps in the doorway of the vacant former Sir Walter Raleigh Inn in Bethesda |
The report was based on a survey of Washington Metropolitan Area residents conducted this spring. Most of Montgomery County's population growth in recent years has been in the low-income range. Meanwhile, the County has failed to generate high-wage jobs, and has not attracted a single new major corporate headquarters in over 25 years. The moribund economy and inflated food prices have been a devastating combination for many. Those who once turned to dollar menus at fast food restaurants to get by can no longer do so, as inflation and imposition of high minimum wages in that industry have had the desired effect of those policies' architects, to force low-income and working class residents to turn to government and non-profits for sustenance.
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| Kate Hudson |
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| Sir Richard Branson |
Officers found evidence of forced entry at the scene. It is believed the burglary took place between 5:00 PM on September 27, and 10:13 AM on September 28. If you saw anything suspicious during those hours, or have any other information that can help detectives close this case, call police at 240-314-8900.
Police describe the suspect as a Black male, 6’2” in height, with a black goatee. He was wearing gray pants, a gray hoodie, black New Balance sneakers, and a Philadelphia Phillies baseball cap. If you can identify this suspect, or have any other information about this incident, call police at 240-314-8900.
Cold Stone Creamery's ice cream is made fresh in every store. Products include sundaes, Signature Creations, prepackaged pints of ice cream, ice cream cakes and pies, Silk Almondmilk frozen desserts, milkshakes, and smoothies.
While the Council claims the motivation is safety, their own internal numbers show that during the period studied from 2021 to 2022, the total number of injurious and fatal crashes increased despite the mass deployment of such ticketing cameras countywide up to that point. The County's economy has been moribund for most of this century, and the flight of the rich to lower tax jurisdictions in the area has robbed the County's coffers of huge chunks of revenue that it previously enjoyed.
At the same time, the Council has passed numerous tax cuts for the developer sugar daddies who fund their campaigns. This has further reduced County revenues, even as the Council has increased spending each year. The Council has found that, so far, County residents have not rebelled at the ballot box regardless of the number or size of the tax increases passed, or additional taxes levied.
As a result, since the last decade, the Council has aggressively begun to shift the tax burden from developers onto the shoulders of residents. They have raised property taxes each year with the exception of FY-2015, in which they allowed a "tax cut" of approximately $12 for the average homeowner. A new energy tax, a massive new "recordation tax" on home sellers, and a new "rain tax" were among the new levies added to what was already the highest tax and fee burden in the Washington, D.C. Metro area.
Speed cameras and red light cameras were also deployed in a concerted effort to raise revenues. Having just passed a new tax cut for developers earlier this year that will cost the County's coffers billions of dollars over the next 20 years, it's no surprise that the Council is desperate to shake their constituents upside down even harder with this massive expansion of the camera program.
Using traffic enforcement ticketing as a revenue source has been shown to be one of the most-regressive taxation methods. Such tickets - with ever-increasing fine amounts up to $425 per ticket as of October 1 - can be devastating to those on the lower income end of the scale. That fits in line with the energy, rain, cell phone, and recordation taxes, all of which are also extremely regressive.
This trend will unsurprisingly continue in Montgomery County, as the Council has grown increasingly confident that there are no political consequences to raising taxes on residents by any amount tried so far. Insiders have reported that Council members have privately referred to residents as "losers" and "suckers" whom they can hit up for almost any new tax or tax hike they can imagine. The Council has dropped more and more taxation anvils onto residents in recent years, and no storied "tax revolt" has materialized.
Instead, the Council has found it has a "green light" to use the same sort of tactics that landed elected officials in Bell, California in prison a little over a decade ago. Like Montgomery officials, the Bell officials passed massive property tax hikes on residents (check), engaged in questionable land deals that were money winners for developers but money losers for taxpayers (check), added new levies such as a "sewer tax" (check), and ordered aggressive traffic ticketing (check), while raising their own salaries to outlandish new heights. Four Bell City Councilmembers and one Bell Mayor were sentenced to prison terms, as were the City Manager and Assistant City Manager.
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| Proposed configuration of the condos |
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| The two-lot site is designated in black in this aerial image of the property as it appears today; the white-roofed building immediately south is the U.S. Post Office, which is not part of the property in question |
Police have no suspect or vehicle descriptions to share in this case. If you have any information about this theft, or can identify the suspect(s) involved, call police at (301) 279-8000.
Kimmel has long been a pugnacious and vitriolic critic of President Donald Trump and his MAGA movement, devoting many minutes of his program to attacks on both nightly. But he has never faced any serious consequences until now, and parent company Disney seemed quite content with Kimmel's shift from a late night comedy show to a hardcore political broadcast that trashed half of his potential viewing audience. What changed?
Nexstar hopes to successfully pull off a merger with Tysons-based Tegna, which would bring more local TV stations into its nationwide portfolio, including local CBS affiliate WUSA 9. Disney and Sinclair may also have potential tie-ups down the road, which would similarly need the approval of a Trump or future GOP administration. As a result, this time they had to show some action on Kimmel's controversial remarks.
Whether Kimmel will actually be canceled by ABC remains to be seen, but his return would certainly risk the ire of Trump. Disney will have to decide if defending the declining career of Kimmel would be worth potentially-major financial consequences for the entertainment giant in the future. Kimmel's ratings have plunged 11% as of the last reporting period, dropping him to third place in his time slot.
The ABC 7 Kirk tribute will be only one of the local events remembering the slain TPUSA founder this weekend. A candlelight prayer vigil for Kirk in Montgomery County is set for this Saturday night in Rockville.
Photo courtesy Salem Media Group
