Mía Cane Juicery and Açaí Bar opening in Rockville

Mía Cane Juicery and Açaí Bar is coming soon to Rockville. It will bring the newest beverage trend of sugarcane juice alongside smoothies, açaí bowls and Vietnamese coffee to 785-I Rockville Pike at the Ritchie Center. This was Japong Bakery's original spot before it moved to 765-A at the center. 

This will be Mía Cane Juicery and Açaí Bar's third U.S. location, and their first in the Washington, D.C. area. Their first two are in New England: Worcester, Massachusetts, and the soon-to-open store in Providence, Rhode Island. Coming-soon signage is now up at the Rockvile location.

Sherwin-Williams building up for sale in Rockville

A commercial building in a high-visibility location is now on the market in Rockville. 856 Rockville Pike is being offered at the asking price of $4,075,000. It is not only on the very busy commuter route of MD 355, with an average of 62,800 vehicles passing it per day, but is also across from Wintergreen Plaza. The current tenant is Sherwin-Williams Paints, which has 10 years remaining on its lease, with 2 5-year extension options. Built in 1970, the building was renovated in 2020, according to the online listing.

Black cemetery advocates raise Juneteenth flag at Jamie Raskin's office

Leaders and members of the Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition traveled to Congressman Jamie Raskin's office last week, to protest Raskin's "continued refusal to take congressional action on the desecration, flooding, pouring of concrete on our ancestors, and cover-up of crimes against African people in Moses African Cemetery." Raskin previously visited the site of the burial ground, which is located under Montgomery County government-owned parcels of land on the Westwood Tower property, and directly across the Willett Branch stream from the rear parking lot of Westwood Tower. However, he has refused to meet with the group since or take action at the federal level on the cemetery issues, BACC says.

At Raskin's office last week, the group raised the Juneteenth flag in honor of Pvt. William H.H. Brown, who served with the United States Colored Troops who fought for the Union side in the U.S. Civil War. Brown is among the many former slaves buried in Moses African Cemetery. BACC has also created a video with a Civil War reenactor playing Pvt. Brown. "We told the White Union officers, if they would give us the gun, we would free ourselves," the actor portraying Brown says in the video. "We won our freedom. Now Montgomery County, Maryland is desecrating our sacred remains."

The BACC has called on the public to boycott all official Montgomery County government-sponsored Juneteenth events, in light of our elected officials' inaction on the cemetery matters. It has planned a full program of alternative Juneteenth events it encourages residents to attend instead. See the event announcements below for full details:

NIST begins joint research on Secure Digital ID for public benefits

The U.S. Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg has embarked on a collaborative project to adapt NIST's digital identity guidelines to the administration of public benefits programs. These include programs that help beneficiaries pay for food, housing, medical and other living expenses. The initiative gained momentum due to large-scale fraud related to COVID-19 pandemic benefits.

NIST is teaming up with the Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation at Georgetown University, and the nonprofit Center for Democracy & Technology, on the project. The partners are attempting to balance security concerns with potential impacts on privacy, "due process," and "potential biases in systems that disproportionately impact communities of color and marginalized groups."

"To improve benefits delivery to the U.S. public, it is vital that agencies balance access and security," Undersecretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Laurie E. Locascio said in a statement this morning. "Different populations have different needs, barriers and circumstances that must be considered, and this collaboration will bring together a diverse set of communities to do just that."

Rockville school principal charged with assaulting student

Rockville City police have arrested the principal of Ritchie Park Elementary School at 1514 Dunster Road for allegedly assaulting a student in the building. The department jointly investigated the accusation with Montgomery County police detectives after the assault was reported to the RCPD by a staff member at the school on February 9, 2024. Principal Andrew Winter, 54, turned himself into police at the Montgomery County jail central processing unit on June 3, after a warrant was issued for his arrest by Judge Roger Zepeda that day. 

According to court records, Winter has been charged with misdemeanor 2nd-degree assault. He posted $1500 bond on June 4. A trial has been scheduled for July 18, 2024 at 8:30 AM in Montgomery County District Court in Rockville. Winter has led Ritchie Park ES since his appointment in May 2020. WTOP reports that Winter is accused of stomping on a student's foot during a disciplinary interaction that was allegedly captured on video, and has been on leave since the incident was first reported.

Bonobos closes at Montgomery Mall in Bethesda

Bonobos has closed at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda. Its parent company, Express, Inc., filed for bankruptcy in April. However, the filing hadn't affected Bonobos until now. Columbus Business First reports that Express rejected 17 leases across the country last week, and that some of those stores were Bonobos locations. Bonobos has another Bethesda location at Bethesda Row, which remains open.

Armed robbery at Park Potomac

Montgomery County police responded to a report of an armed robbery at the Park Potomac development early Saturday night, June 8, 2024. The robbery was reported on the street in the 12400 block of Park Potomac Avenue at 6:41 PM. It is still daylight at that time, and also the height of dinner hour.