Self-storage unit broken into in Rockville

Montgomery County police are investigating a burglary incident at Extra Space Storage at 11850 Parklawn Drive in Rockville. Police are not sure when the burglary occurred, but the crime was discovered at noon on July 14, 2024. Officers responding to the scene found evidence of forced entry to one of the storage units at the facility. Unspecified property was stolen from inside the unit.

If you have any information about this incident, or can identify any suspects involved, you are asked to call police at (301) 279-8000.

Police respond to assault outside Rockville home

Rockville City police responded to a report of a 2nd-degree assault outside of a home in the Twinbrook area Sunday morning, July 28, 2024. The assault was reported in the driveway of a home in the 700 block of Gail Avenue at 10:54 AM Sunday. That is right off of Veirs Mill Road near First Street.

Montgomery County Council cuts Elrich out of picture on life science center launch

Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich joined WMATA General Manager and CEO Randy Clarke and elected officials at the North Bethesda Metro station yesterday to formally launch the search for a developer to build a Life Science Center at the transit stop. But you wouldn't know this from watching the Montgomery County Council's video on the press conference. Elrich's speech was completely omitted from the Council report, which included excerpts from comments by Clarke, Council President Andrew Friedson, and even U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen. The snub was particularly notable, as Elrich has been the main driver of the Life Science Center from its inception.

If it were up to the Council alone, the site adjacent to the Metro station would have been yet another residential housing development. Elrich was the rare County elected official to acknowledge that MoCo needs more high-wage jobs as much as it does new housing, when he proposed the biotech use for this site several years ago. Yet the Council attempted to take all the credit for itself in its Monday video, similar to Congresspeople who vote against infrastructure projects in their districts, only to later claim credit for them once they come to fruition.

The attempt to cut Elrich out of the launch announcement was only the latest cheap shot by the Council at the Executive. Some on the Council resorted to subterfuge and outright deception in their successful effort to deep-six Elrich's proposal to restore funding for the Office of the People's Counsel. Councilmembers are still pondering whether to create a competing ballot question for the one that will give voters the option to oust Elrich with a two-term limit in the November election. Perhaps they are weighing the possibility of opening the executive seat to one of the ambitious Councilmembers, versus reducing their own future executive terms by one. 

Virginia continues to crush Maryland in job creation

The economic development outlook remains bleak on this side of the Potomac River, as Virginia absolutely crushed Maryland in job creation last month. Just eight days after CNBC declared Virginia "America's Top State for Business," the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the state added 15,000 new jobs in June. That gave Virginia the third-highest job creation number out of all fifty states last month. By comparison, Maryland barely surpassed a third of that total, generating only 5,600 new jobs in June.

Maryland's unemployment rate rose to 2.8% in June, while Virginia's dropped to 2.7%. The biggest area of job growth in Maryland was in the government sector. In contrast, Virginia's largest job growth was in the private sector, in Professional and Business Services. While Maryland has only added 27,800 jobs total since January 1, Virginia was able to add more than half of that in the last month alone.

Montgomery County used to be a major engine of economic growth not only in Maryland, but in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region. It has now ceded that role to Northern Virginia, as MoCo increasingly becomes the bedroom community for workers who are employed elsewhere in the region. In fact, a new Bethesda-to-Tysons express bus has just been proposed to serve those workers commuting to Virginia in the morning. Tysons - and Northern Virginia as a whole - continue to add major corporate headquarters, while Montgomery County hasn't added a single one in over a quarter century.

It's that high-wage job growth that allowed Virginia’s general fund revenues to end fiscal year 2024 $1.2 billion over the official revenue forecast. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin cited "robust job growth" as the driver of that better-than-expected revenue.

In contrast, Montgomery County remains focused on the revenue-sapping activity of adding bedrooms, instead of boardrooms. Aside from presiding over a strong biotech sector that was created by wiser leaders years before they ever took office, MoCo's elected officials continue to put all of their economic development eggs into the residential housing construction basket.

Instead of building a new Potomac River crossing to Dulles International Airport, completing our master plan highway system, creating shovel-ready job sites, and focusing on attracting Fortune 500 companies and aerospace and defense firms to vacant office parks from Clarksburg to Bethesda to White Oak, our County Council is focused on building more luxury apartments and townhomes.

Montgomery County Council President Andrew Friedson told an audience of real estate developers hosted by Bisnow on July 18 that “[i]n Montgomery County, we’re really trying to change the narrative. We have to view housing as the economic infrastructure that we have to build communities.” That's definitely not the narrative guiding Northern Virginia, Texas, or California. We're in real trouble, folks.

Strong-arm robbery at Rockville housing complex

Rockville City police responded to a report of a strong-arm robbery at an apartment complex last Thursday afternoon, July 25, 2024. The robbery was reported along the street in the 1200 block of First Street at 4:15 PM. That is outside of the David Scull Courts housing complex, located near David Scull Park and Gude Drive.

Deadpool & Wolverine special items at AMC Theatres Montgomery 16 in Bethesda (Photos)

AMC Theatres has arguably been the top movie theater chain in recent years when it comes to special promotional items for blockbuster movies. There are almost as many limited-edition collectible and consumable products for Deadpool & Wolverine this weekend at AMC Theatres as there are cameos in the film. True believers will find all of these snacks, beverages, collectibles, and merchandise in the lobby. Here's a look at what's available for this superhero slugfest at AMC Theatres Montgomery 16 at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda:

The Coca-Cola Freestyle machine is loaded with two soft drinks based on the film, Chimichanga Chaser and Piña-Claw-Da, and both are only available at AMC Theatres. For those seeking an adult beverage, the bar in the lobby is mixing up the sweet strawberry Do-Over in Deadpool colors, and the tart orange Crossover in Wolverine yellow with green and blue accents. 

Two theater-goers can share the Deadpool & Wolverine Double Take Combo, which also plays off of the costume color schemes. Deadpool-red Nashville Hot Gourmet popcorn joins Wolverine butter-yellow traditional popcorn, along with large Chimichanga Chaser and Piña-Claw-Da sodas, and red strawberry Twizzlers and yellow Peanut M&Ms.

Choose your choice of hero in the form of Mystery Cups with figurine toppers, or in collectible popcorn vessels. Each popcorn holder includes a large popcorn from the snack bar. While supplies last. Excelsior!

Mind Games opens at Montgomery Mall in Bethesda

Mind Games has opened at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda. The Toronto-based toy store chain sells books, educational toys, and games alongside the conventional popular toys. It also has its own house-brand products. Familiar toy brands stocked include Lego, Funko, Mattel, and Maisto.

Give whoever set up the Funko display at the front of the store extra points for putting Inspector Gadget and Ultraman in that prominent location. Let the mind games begin on Level 1 of the mall, next to Build-A-Bear Workshop.