$2.50 BEER THROUGH THURSDAY AT GORDON BIERSCH IN ROCKVILLE

Today and tomorrow, Gordon Biersch in Rockville Town Square will be offering its own brews at only $2.50 per glass.

INTERSTATE 270 SNOW BLOWER DAMAGES REGENTS SQUARE CONDOS IN ROCKVILLE

A snowblower machine clearing I-270 in the Rockville area inadvertently damaged some nearby residents' windows in the process. At least 5 residences at Regents Square on Azalea Drive were hit by debris. The Maryland State Highway Administration is determining what went wrong, but there is no public indication yet as to who will ultimately be responsible for compensating the residents and the condo board for repairs.

ROCKVILLE TRASH, RECYCLING COLLECTION ON NORMAL SCHEDULE THIS WEEK

Trash collection and recycling pickups will proceed on the regular schedule this week in Rockville. Monday's holiday has no impact on the schedule. If your service was canceled on Thursday, February 13 or Friday, February 14, your collection will not be rescheduled.

ROCKVILLE CITY POLICE UNION SAYS FORCE'S "MORALE IS AT AN ALL-TIME LOW"

The union that represents Rockville's police officers is asking the Mayor and Council to reverse cutbacks in officers' compensation, now that the recession is over. Officer Jan Seilhamer, who is the union's president (and an Army veteran of Operation Desert Storm), said "morale is at an all-time low within the police department," due to the reductions.

Speaking at the last council meeting, Seilhamer argued that the city can easily afford to restore step increases to officers, as jurisdictions with worse economies have already done so. A forensic accountant the Rockville Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 117 hired to review the city's finances concluded the city is in "excellent financial health," Seilhamer noted.

Given that context, Seilhamer said, officers see "a mayor and council who do not value our contributions and sacrifices. We have sacrificed time with our families, we have sacrificed our bodies for this city."

A one-time FY-2015 bonus is "unacceptable," Seilhamer said, especially when officers may be ordered to contribute more to their retirement plans, to boot.

Seilhamer pointed to the amount of the city's surplus being spent on capital improvement projects in the budget as evidence of misplaced priorities. "When are you going to make the people who help make this city so great a priority?" she asked.

The mayor and council did not publicly respond to the issue in their Response to Community Forum directly following Seilhamer's testimony.

LAY'S PICO DE GALLO POTATO CHIPS REVIEW (VIDEO)

Like salsa with your chip? How about a potato chip that has the salsa on it already? Lay's has a new potato chip flavor, Lay's Pico de Gallo. Let's try it out in this video review.

LOCAL DEVELOPER SPEAKS FRANKLY ON MOCO'S WEAK OFFICE MARKET, CRUSHING ENERGY TAX

Some refreshingly-candid commentary on Montgomery County's massive energy taxes, and weak market for office space, was delivered Tuesday by Charles Nulsen, president of Bethesda's Washington Property Company. Nulsen was testifying before the Montgomery County Council, on a slew of new energy and environmental requirements that would impact residents and businesses countywide.

But some of his more general testimony on the current economic development climate in the county jumped out. I recall being in the audience at a council hearing three years ago, and hearing the testimony of the county chamber of commerce regarding job creation. When the statistic of the low number of jobs created in MoCo was contrasted with Fairfax County's number - many times that of Montgomery's during the same period - there was an audible gasp in the room. Listening to Nulsen's testimony, those who might have tuned out local economic matters could quickly understand why we are behind.

Nulsen testified that Montgomery County businesses' utility bills are 30% higher than those in DC or Northern Virginia. He said the county currently "collects more for the distribution of electricity than Pepco itself." In addition to our tremendous traffic congestion (due to the failure to complete our master plan highways), lack of access to Dulles Airport, and high tax burden, these disparities hardly make MoCo the easy choice for large employers seeking to relocate.

That impact is felt in the county's weak office market. The vacant office space in Bethesda, Rockville, Silver Spring and Wheaton speaks for itself. With no large employer moving to the county in a decade, developers are abandoning planned office space countywide. We were told that "smart growth" would allow people to "live where they work." The factual evidence suggests otherwise: Office space planned for "smart growth" communities such as Clarksburg and King Farm is being abandoned, or converted to residential. An office building in downtown Wheaton was recently flipped to residential, as well. Ultimately, the "smart growth" has actually led to more traffic congestion and sprawl, as we are ending up with more residential than was even planned. And all of those additional residents are going to commute in to the usual downtown DC and VA employment centers.

Nulsen said his own office properties have a 25% vacancy rate, and that "our commercial tenant base is dwindling." He added that he has had difficulty attracting office tenants for a decade. I would point out that that coincides directly with the lack of major firms relocating to the county over the same time period. With a dwindling tax base, and surging population, the county's current economic trajectory is "unsustainable," Nulsen argued.

"We have an A- grade in environmental stewardship. We have an F in economic stewardship," was Nulsen's assessment of where Montgomery County stands at present.

ROCKVILLE SNOW UPDATE - HOW MANY INCHES WILL TONIGHT'S STORM BRING

The current temperature in Rockville's West End is 32° F.

Expect delays on the Red Line for Shady Grove-bound trains, but Metro subways are operating. The only Metrobus routes operating in Maryland are: 83, A12, C4, C22, D12, F4, J2, K6, P12, Q1, T18, Y9, Z8. Ride On buses are on the S Schedule, which means they are (supposedly) running, but won't adhere to the posted route schedules.

The federal government is opening 2 hours late, and Montgomery County Government and schools are closed.

We could get an additional 1-3" of snow overnight, as temperatures will drop below freezing.