Wentworth Gallery, Nature's Elite close at Montgomery Mall in Bethesda

Wentworth Gallery has closed at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda. The upscale art gallery has hosted many celebrity artists over the years, including Paul Stanley of KISS, Rick Allen of Def Leppard and Michael Cartellone of the 1990s supergroup Damn Yankees. It will be greatly missed for that star-drawing power alone. The Wentworth Gallery in Tysons remains open for business.

In other mall news, Nature's Elite has also departed. The facial spa's space next to Beauty Boss has been cleared out and walled off. 

Rockville home broken into

Rockville City police responded to a report of a burglary at a home in the Rockville Park neighborhood early yesterday morning, August 16, 2023. The burglary was reported at 4:50 AM Wednesday at a home in the 700 block of Grandin Avenue. Officers responding to the scene found evidence of forced entry at the home.

Swarovski opens at Montgomery Mall in Bethesda (Photos)

Swarovski has opened in its new location inside Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda. It had temporarily closed this past spring. The months spent on the interior fit-out of the new boutique have paid off. A sharp and colorful interior design is capped off by an attention-grabbing and modern storefront. Look for Swarovski on Level 2 of the mall, next to UNTUCKit.

Montgomery County misses deadline to release bone fragments to Bethesda cemetery advocates

Montgomery County has ignored a second deadline to relinquish over 200 bone fragments excavated from a site directly adjacent to the Moses African Cemetery in Bethesda to cemetery advocates and the descendant community for testing. Attorneys for the Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition had set a deadline of August 15, 2023 for the County, a developer excavating the site for a self-storage project, and a contractor to release the bone fragments from their current location in a Gainesville, Virginia warehouse. Advocates, and descendants of those buried in the cemetery, want to confirm if any of the excavated fragments are indeed human remains. They have sought assistance from County Executive Marc Elrich and Maryland Congressman Jamie Raskin (D - 8th District) in this effort, to no avail so far.

This was the second time BACC had set a deadline. The first was on Juneteenth earlier this summer. This latest deadline was the first submitted by the organization's attorneys. BACC is now asking the public to write to Raskin and Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen (D), to ask them to facilitate a federal intervention in the matter. 

Moses African Cemetery was desecrated in the late 1960s during the construction of Westwood Tower, and remains hidden under two parking lots astride the Willett Branch stream behind the apartment tower. The current standoff over who will possess the potential human remains is eerily reminiscent of the horrific and illegal use of African-American remains in medical experimentation during the 1800s and 1900s, and the retention of many of those remains in American institutional collections to this day.

"Montgomery County is engaged in grave robbing to signal its contempt for Black people and to line the pockets of developers," BACC President Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo said in a statement Tuesday evening. "Not only is this sick but clearly criminal. How can a County that prides itself on being 'progressive' allow Black bodies to be trafficked from Moses African Cemetery in Bethesda, Maryland (represented by Congressman Jamie Raskin) to a warehouse owned by an US govenment contractor - without any legal consequences? We call upon the Department of Justice (FBI) to initiate a federal investigation leading to prosecution. No one is above the law. What is happening in Bethesda is a hate crime that must be punished to the full extent of the law."

Rockville shopping center redevelopment meeting scheduled for August 23

An in-person public meeting has been scheduled to present the latest redevelopment proposal for the Rockshire Village Center in Rockville. Two sessions will be held on August 23, 2023, from 6:00 PM to 7:15 PM and from 7:30 PM to 8:45 PM, at the Thomas Farm Community Center at 700 Fallsgrove Drive in Rockville. To register for the meeting, fill out the online form. You can also view the presentation materials for the meeting on developer EYA's website.

Rendering courtesy EYA

Aggravated assault on Rockville street

Montgomery County police responded to a report of an aggravated assault on a Rockville street late Saturday night, August 12, 2023. The assault was reported in the 1700 block of E. Jefferson Street at 11:30 PM. That is a commercial area behind Federal Plaza.

Pickpocket strikes at Shady Grove Metro station

Montgomery County police responded to a report of a pickpocket theft at the Shady Grove Metro station yesterday, August 15, 2023. The theft was reported at 6:00 AM Monday. Watch your wallet, as thieves may be watching it when you pull it out to buy a farecard at the station.