Kura Revolving Sushi Bar opening in Rockville Oct. 5

Kura Revolving Sushi Bar at 12266 Rockville Pike at Federal Plaza now has an opening date. It is scheduled for tomorrow, Saturday, October 5, 2024, at 12:00 PM. "Kura Revolving Sushi Bar is a unique 'eater-tainment' destination that combines authentic Japanese cuisine with interactive dining," the chain said in a statement. "With more than 100 dishes served via a two-layered conveyor belt system, guests enjoy a whimsical journey of flavors, enhanced by our drink delivery robots, Kur-B the KuraBot, and Bikkura Pon prizes. It is our philosophy and ongoing promise to prepare food using REAL ingredients free of artificial sweeteners, seasonings, preservatives and colorings." Look for Kura right next to Torchy's Tacos, which just opened this past week.

But, wait, there's more! Save the date for the restaurant's Grand Opening celebration next week on Tuesday, October 8, at 11:30 AM. The first 50 seated dine-in guests on October 8th, 9th and 10th who show their Kura Sushi Rewards Member QR code will receive one (1) sushi towel. The first 300 seated dine-in guests on October 8th will receive a commemorative Rockville, Maryland location sticker. During the grand opening celebration, premium sushi will be $3.70 per plate. Other plate prices will vary. 

Operating hours from Saturday, October 5 through Monday, October 7 will be 12:00 PM – 9:00 PM. Beginning Tuesday, October 8, the regular business hours will be as follows: Sundays from 11:00 AM to 9:30 PM, Mondays through Thursdays from 11:30 AM to 9:30 PM, Fridays from 11:30 AM to 10:00 PM, and Saturdays from 11:00 AM to 10:00 PM. 

How does the dual conveyor belt system work? One circulating belt rotates plates of sushi throughout the restaurant. Freshness is retained via their trademarked Mr. Fresh sushi lid, and the time plates have been out on the belt is monitored to ensure sushi is always fresh. A second belt above the primary belt is used to deliver a la carte items you order from your table directly to you. Any of the more than 100 menu selections you choose will travel the Express Belt to your table.

What are the Bikkura Pon prizes? According to the company, "the Bikkura Pon Prize System is an integral part of Kura Sushi USA’s innovative and tech interactive dining experience and is comprised of a prize machine, touch panel and plate disposal slot located at every table in the restaurant that are connected via sensors. The touch panel registers the number of sushi plates dispensed into the plate disposal slot. After every five plates inserted, a short animation will play on the touch panel and after every fifteen plates inserted, a prize will be dispensed from the prize machine."

Photo credits: 1-2 by Kura Revolving Sushi Bar; 3-5 by Emily J. Davis; 6-8 by Rockville Nights

 

Montgomery County Black cemetery advocates sue River Road self-storage developers

A seven-year dispute between advocates for a desecrated Black cemetery in Bethesda, and the developers of a self-storage building directly adjacent to it, is moving to the courtroom. Several activists have filed suit against the project's developers, 1784 Capital Holdings, LLC and Bethesda Self Storage Partners, LLC, in Montgomery County Circuit Court. The civil case is the latest effort by the Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition to halt and reverse development impacts to the burial ground - which is located under land occupied by the Westwood Tower apartments and a second plot hastily-purchased by Montgomery County to avoid an archaeological search for graves - and ultimately have the graveyard memorialized and restored.

The six plantiffs in the case are asking the court for "a judicial declaration that the land, designated as parcel 242, was used as a burial ground and that human remains, burial artifacts and funerary objects were wrongfully removed from the site, and for an order requiring the defendants to return such remains, artifacts and objects to BACC," a press release from BACC today notes. The plaintiffs are also seeking monetary compensation. 

Although the self-storage site was not part of the original cemetery, the concern since 2017 has been that burials in Black cemeteries sometimes were placed beyond the boundaries of the graveyard in question, when property lines were not delineated by fencing. The core of the dispute is that observers with BACC say they saw potential remains and funerary objects being excavated and trucked away, while the archaeological expert hired by the developers reported that they had determined these were not human remains or funerary objects. Those bones and objects in question are now stored in a Virginia warehouse, and BACC has sought to have them reviewed by their own experts.

Among the plaintiffs are Harvey Matthews, a former resident of the Black community on River Road between Brookside Drive and Little Falls Parkway, that was wiped out by developers who evicted the residents to redevelop the area into an industrial and commercial zone in the 1960s. A second plaintiff is Darold Cuba, a historian who has extensively researched kinship communities and networks that formed in post-Emancipation America, exactly like the one on River Road formed by freed slaves from the adjacent Loughborough plantation. Cuba is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Cambridge. 

BACC and its President, Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, are also plaintiffs. BACC community organizer and activist Ari Gutman, and activist and former Green Party candidate for Montgomery County Council Timothy Willard round out the parties filing suit.

The plaintiffs have the highest-powered legal representation yet in the cemetery saga. They are being represented by the prominent and massive international law firm of Holland & Knight.

A pre-trial conference in the case has been scheduled for June 5, 2025 in Montgomery County Circuit Court. The case has been assigned to Judge James A. Bonifant.

Photo: Gail Rebhan

"Sirius" failure for Montgomery County, Maryland as Virginia wins UK defense firm's US HQ

Officials in Montgomery County and the State of Maryland just can't seem to get "Sirius" about economic development, coming up empty again as a U.K. defense firm has followed so many others to Virginia to establish its first U.S. headquarters. Sirius Analysis, a defense management software consulting company headquartered in Portsmouth, England, will open its American headquarters at 4525 Main Street in Virginia Beach, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced in a statement. The headquarters will bring 105 new high-wage tech jobs to the Old Dominion. 

Youngkin said Virginia and Massachusetts were the two finalists competing for the headquarters. There's no indication that Montgomery County or Maryland officials even bothered to compete. This despite Sirius having sought a location near military bases, of which Maryland has twenty, compared to Massachusetts' paltry six. Did we blow it, or what?

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin

“Sirius Analysis choosing Virginia Beach as their U.S. headquarters showcases the Commonwealth's magnetic appeal in global defense innovation,” Youngkin said in a statement. “This expansion bridges UK-US defense collaboration, bringing cutting-edge analysis capabilities to our shores and creating valuable job opportunities for Virginians.”

“The arrival of Sirius Analysis signals a bright future for our region's tech ecosystem,” Virginia State Senator Aaron Rouse said. “By choosing our Virginia Beach for their U.S. operations, Sirius Analysis is not just creating over 100 high-skilled jobs, they're planting seeds for a new wave of innovation by strengthening our position as a hub for defense technology." 

It's long past time Montgomery County and Maryland's elected officials conducted a "Sirius Analysis" of their failures to attract corporate headquarters to locate here. Virginia is laughing at us.

Photo credits: Sirius Analysis (top), Office of Gov. Glenn Youngkin (bottom)

Montgomery County Public Libraries hit by network outage after underground fire in Baltimore

Montgomery County Public Libraries announced that they are experiencing a system-wide network outage, due to an "underground fire in Baltimore this past weekend." The fire damaged a fiber optic cable network that serves public libraries statewide, MCPL said in a statement this afternoon. 

All Montgomery County libraries remain open on their normal schedules, and it is possible to check out books and materials. However, MCPL’s Wi-Fi, public computers, printing, scanning and copying services are currently unavailable, and MCPL believes the outage may last for several days. Libraries and school systems in all Maryland counties have been impacted.

Repairs to the fiber optic system are currently underway, MCPL stated. Baltimore City officials do not yet know the cause of several recent underground fires that have impacted electrical and communication utilities. This past weekend's fire was followed Monday by a major Verizon cell service outage impacting multiple states, and today by an eight-hour Sony PlayStation Network outage that affected users worldwide. Neither Verizon nor Sony have indicated the cause of their service interruptions so far.

First look: Torchy's Tacos in Rockville (Video + Photos)

Torchy's Tacos will open this Wednesday, October 2, 2024 at 10:00 AM at 12266-A Rockville Pike at Federal Plaza in Rockville. Here's a sneak peek from the restaurant's soft opening hours, which are available by reservation again today, September 30. Pictured below are the Trailer Park taco and Chicken Fajita taco, and a side item of Hillbilly Queso (Torchy's famous queso upgraded with chorizo, and probably what J.D. Vance would order if the manager got nervous) and chips (a.k.a. nachos). Notable selections from the soft drink dispenser are Fuze and Strawberry Fanta. The restaurant also has Torchy's merchandise available for sale.

Trailer Park taco (L) and
Chicken Fajita taco (R)

Hillbilly Queso + Chips

Thumbs up for Strawberry Fanta

You're not leaving without a trucker hat

Squishable reopens at Montgomery Mall in Bethesda

Squishable has reopened at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda. The store closed at the beginning of August, and the mall posted a sign indicating that a new retailer would soon fill the space. But the Squishables just wouldn't vacate the premises! Nothing was moved. Nothing changed. 

About two weeks later, the sign was reinstalled above the storefront. The windows remained covered. Now the store has reopened, without any explanation for what happened. So I'm filing this under the category of "weird" once again. Look for Squishable on Level 1 of the mall, between Bath & Body Works and Mango.

No "Megalopolis: The Ultimate Experience" IMAX showings in Montgomery County so far this weekend

Montgomery County didn't make the cut for "Megalopolis: The Ultimate Experience" in IMAX theaters this opening weekend. Neither of the IMAX cineplexes in the County - AMC Dine-in Rio Cinemas 18 in Gaithersburg and Regal Majestic in Silver Spring - will feature the "Live Participant" who will interact with Adam Driver's Cesar Catalina character during the film's most-publicized scene. AMC Tysons Corner 16 is the only theater in the D.C. region offering "The Ultimate Experience" this weekend, according to IndieWire, and a review of local movie listings. 

It's surprising, given that Montgomery County has one of the highest-educated populaces in the nation. By comparison, New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, Phoenix, and Denver have more than one location offering "The Ultimate Experience." Providing a live performer to enact the scene was always expected to be a major challenge when the film went to nationwide distribution, but IndieWire reports that additional theaters could be added as time goes on. If they are, confirmation will be offered at the time of ticket purchase by the label "The Ultimate Experience" on the particular screening time.

How long "Megalopolis" will play in theaters remains to be seen. Many reviews so far suggest the major messages of the film have gone over most critics' heads. It's likely to be a movie that will be reassessed much more positively in a decade or two.