Westfield warns of staffing shortages at Montgomery Mall, Wheaton Plaza amid omicron surge, snow

Mall operator Westfield is warning patrons about staff shortages at both of its Montgomery County properties. Blue alert banners have been posted at the top of the home pages for Westfield's Montgomery Mall and Wheaton Plaza malls advising patrons to call ahead to verify if a particular store is open regular hours. Hours may vary at the moment, Westfield says, due to "unexpected changes in store staffing levels." This week, factors have included not only Covid-19 and the media-hyped "Great Resignation," but also winter weather (more of which is on the way in the coming days).

11 Montgomery County Public Schools switching to virtual learning for 2 weeks

Montgomery County Public Schools are closed today, but students at eleven schools won't be returning to the classroom anytime soon. MCPS announced this morning that the following schools are switching to virtual learning for two weeks, due to student coronavirus case numbers:

Cannon Road ES

Forest Knolls ES

Hallie Wells MS

Monocacy ES

North Chevy Chase ES

Roberto Clemente MS

Rock Terrace School

Rosemont ES

Seneca Valley HS

Sherwood ES

Waters Landing ES 

Roaming Rooster aiming for spring 2022 opening in Rockville (Photos)

The signage is up at Roaming Rooster at Pike & Rose. This local chicken sandwich chain is booming, and opened its latest area location in Tysons a couple of months back. Roaming Rooster says it currently expects this restaurant at 11586 Old Georgetown Road to open this spring. The closure of Taylor Gourmet at Pike & Rose will be a boon for Roaming Rooster in the lunchtime sandwich search at the property, with many offices being added to the site in the next two years.

Amici Miei Ristorante closes in Rockville

Patrons of Amici Miei Ristorante at 6 N. Washington Street in Rockville were surprised to hear that the longtime Italian favorite had permanently closed this past weekend. The restaurant announced the closure on social media, and in an email to customers. Owner Roberto Deias reports some good news, however: he and his staff will be relocating to Trattoria da Lina in Takoma Park on January 11, 2022.

Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich tests positive for Covid-19

The omicron wave has hit the top of government in Montgomery County. County Executive Marc Elrich (D) announced Saturday that he has tested positive for Covid-19. Elrich had received two doses of an RNA vaccine, and a booster, as had many victims of the omicron coronavirus variant in recent weeks. He credited those shots for his relatively mild symptoms so far.

"Just feeling tired," was Elrich's characterization of his condition as of yesterday. In a statement, he encouraged everyone to get vaccinated and boosted. Elrich said he is isolating, and will continue to execute his duties from home.

Aggravated assault at Derwood convenience store

Montgomery County police responded to a report of an aggravated assault at a convenience store in Derwood Thursday evening, December 30, 2021. The assault was reported at a store in the 15800 block of Frederick Road at 6:45 PM. There are two gas stations with convenience stores on that block - 7-Eleven and Marathon Gas.

Taylor Gourmet closes Rockville location

It seemed like only yesterday that Taylor Gourmet reopened its Rockville store at Pike & Rose. But it has now closed permanently. The timing is sad, because the store would likely have seen an increase in lunch sales from all of the new office workers relocating to Pike & Rose for Choice Hotels (which will have its own new office building), and for new 909 Rose office tenants Carl M. Freeman Companies, Prudential Financial, and ACA Group.

Boston Market returning to Rockville

Boston Market fans, rejoice. The all-American cuisine restaurant is returning to Rockville after closing its Loehmann's Plaza location two years ago. Boston Market will be in the Towne Plaza retail center at 12238 Rockville Pike. I can taste the mashed potatoes and cornbread now!

Rockville Burger King touts new restaurants Ripieno's Italian Bistro, JoJo's + dining room sneak peek (Photos)

One reason the major renovation of the Burger King on Shady Grove Road has taken so long may be the addition of other restaurants to the building, which is on the border of Rockville and Gaithersburg. New signage has been posted in the restaurant windows for Ripieno's Italian Bistro and JoJo's. Potomac Foods Group owns many restaurants across Maryland, including this Burger King.

PFG has already added a Ripieno's to the rear of its Ocean City Burger King restaurant. That location's pizza has been named to some Top 10 pizza lists since its opening there. Potomac Foods Group has operated Golden Corral restaurants in Maryland. One of its former Golden Corral locations in Salisbury is now....JoJo's Family Restaurant. The surf and turf photograph in the sign matches one on the JoJo's website.

The idea of adding two restaurants to this Burger King is not exactly brand new. PFG previously considered adding a Bojangles and a sub and salad shop to the Shady Grove location. The Bojangles was to replace the large play area at the front of the restaurant. 

There's still no reopening date announced, but it looks like opening day is getting closer. We now have our first look at the renovated interior. Furnishings now look a bit more upscale than the typical fast food dining room. There appears to be an outdoor dining patio space, as well.

Rockville's Century Distributors acquired by National Convenience Distributors

Century Distributors, a Rockville-based convenience store wholesaling business founded in 1976, has been acquired by National Convenience Distributors, NCD announced in a press release this morning. NCD is America's fourth-largest full line convenience store distributor. Century will become its own division of NCD, rather than be absorbed into the larger company.

“This opportunity to join NCD opens the door to even greater potential, Century VP of Operations David Sadugor said in a statement this morning. "We are confident this will be an overwhelming benefit and positively impact our retail customers and valued employees.” Century is located at 15710 Crabbs Branch Way.

Assault at Rockville grocery store on Christmas

Now that's not the Christmas spirit! Rockville police were called to a grocery store Christmas Day after an individual reported being the victim of an aggravated assault. The incident was reported at a supermarket in the 600 block of Hungerford Drive at 2:06 PM, according to crime data. There is a Giant store on that block.

Armed robbery in Rockville

Rockville police responded to a report of an armed robbery Thursday evening, December 23, 2021. The robbery was reported in the 100 block of Congressional Lane at 5:05 PM, according to crime data. A knife was the weapon used in the robbery.

Montgomery County sets new record for homicides

Montgomery County tied its 1994 homicide record of 34 this week, with the brutal stabbing death of a man in a stairwell at the Shops of Wisconsin in Bethesda. Last night, the County's record was broken with a homicide reported at 6:35 PM in the 19300 block of Circle Gate Drive in Germantown. The record was smashed just as it was revealed that the County police force has shrunk by 56 officers since February 2021. Response times have suffered, and the annual number of police traffic stops plunged from 106,075 in 2019 to only 39,412 in 2020.

Defunding of the police department by the County Council accounts for only 27 of the 56 lost officer positions. The others have resulted from retiring officers not being replaced, and from reduced morale. Perhaps the only relief for County officials who have to own the new record of 35 homicides, is that there are only seven more days in 2021.

Rockville City Hall reopening delayed due to omicron variant

The City of Rockville will delay the planned January 3, 2022 reopening of City Hall to the public, due to the omicron variant of the coronavirus. City Hall has been closed since March 14, 2020. The Mayor and Council will consider the timeline for reopening again at their January 10, 2022 meeting.

Retro Burger King logos installed at Rockville location

The main sign at the temporarily-closed Burger King at 16004 Shady Grove Road features a more-recent burger king logo. But the renovated restaurant will also display retro BK logos. Several have now been installed, as well as the structure that will hold the drive-thru menu. 

Striping and arrows have been applied to the drive-thru lane. Burger King announced last January that it planned to switch back to the logo the chain used during its most successful era.

Shake Shack opens at Montgomery Mall

Shake Shack opened yesterday at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda. The burger chain continues to favor the I-270 corridor over downtown Bethesda or Rockville Town Center. A third Shake Shack is planned for the Kentlands in 2022; an existing location is open now at Cabin John Village in Potomac. Look for Shake Shack in the Dining Terrace food court near Cinnabon.

Galito's Flame Grilled Chicken opening in Rockville (Photos)

Galito's Flame Grilled Chicken is coming to 15918 Shady Grove Road in early 2022. "Coming soon" signage has been posted on the storefront. Galito's will serve piri-piri-style chicken, a famous flavor of Portugal, Brazil and South Africa. The restaurant will be located next to Argos Optical in the Shady Grove Center, on the border of Rockville and Gaithersburg.

Photo: Robert Dyer/ Rendering at top courtesy Galito's Flame Grilled Chicken