Multiple injuries in wreck on First Street in Rockville

At least one person was trapped, and several victims were transported to local hospitals, after a 3-car crash on First Street at Maple Avenue in Rockville last night. The street had to be temporarily shut down while Montgomery County Fire and Rescue personnel tended to multiple injuries at the scene. No word yet on what caused the wreck.

Photo by Pete Piringer/MCFRS

Driver attempts to hit officer as police chase covers MD 355/270 corridor from Germantown to Bethesda

Montgomery County Police pursued a stolen vehicle Wednesday night throughout large portions of the jurisdiction. Around 11:45 PM, police spotted a stolen, white Mercedes Benz with Virginia tags, and began a chase around Gunners Branch Road in Germantown.

Multiple units, including at least one K-9, pursued the Mercedes through the Watkins Mill area off of MD 355, with the suspects reportedly weaving all over the road. The chase continued through Old Town Gaithersburg and the heart of Montgomery Village, before turning north on Brink Road to MD 27, and back to 355 again.

While racing through Montgomery Village, one officer called for a helicopter. As the County Council foolishly declined to fund a County Police helicopter a number of years back, that means waiting for a Maryland State Police chopper to come from outside the County. A while later, an officer pleaded with the dispatcher, "Can you get the helicopter started?"

Returning to Germantown, stop sticks were deployed at Observation Drive to no avail. Based on scanner reports, it appears the driver of the Mercedes aimed the vehicle at one of the officers attempting to deploy stop sticks. "Be careful with the sticks - he went right at that officer," a colleague warned via radio.

A second attempt with stop sticks failed in Germantown. "We set 'em up, and they were missed," an officer radioed.

The suspects then returned to southbound 355, turning onto Montgomery Village Avenue and then onto southbound I-270. "Let DC and Virginia know we might be coming their way. P.G., too," an officer told the dispatcher.

Sure enough, the suspects passed River Road and Clara Barton Parkway, and crossed the American Legion Bridge into Virginia.

"Cut off all the lights and let him go!" an officer shouted into the radio.

A Virginia State Police cruiser passed him, and was attempting to continue the pursuit on the Beltway as Montgomery officers withdrew from the chase.

Alas, the radio channel for the Virginia State Police Division 7 is currently offline, so the outcome of the pursuit is not known at this time. There was no report on the pursuit on the Fairfax County Police channel.

Once again, this is a reminder of the dangers County officers face on a daily basis in protecting our community.

Twinbrook Library to reopen January 23

The newly-renovated Twinbrook Library will reopen to the public on January 23, with a public ceremony hosted by Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett.

Updates to the building include an ADA upgrade of the restrooms and parking spaces, the addition of two collaboration/conference spaces, a new combined information and circulation customer service desk, an updated preschool children's space with new shelving, more furnishings, fresh paint and carpet where needed, programming of outdoor green space, more electrical outlets and enhanced Wi-Fi, and a 3-D printer and laptops you can borrow in-house.

The grand reopening ceremony will begin at 10:00 AM on the 23rd.

MoCo threatens residents: Keep government liquor monopoly...or else! (Photos)

Signs tweeted by
Justin Fidler

Montgomery County's political machine is in full panic mode as public opposition to the County government's monopoly control of liquor increases in volume. Punches are being thrown, and landing. But new government signs printed at taxpayer expense are threatening those very taxpayers with "sky is falling" outcomes and punishments, should the unwashed masses dare to boot Big County Government out of the liquor business at the ballot box this November. This follows another taxpayer-funded propaganda campaign to maintain the monopoly that I reported on just yesterday.

The County is even using schoolchildren as human shields, threatening to derail construction projects at Walt Whitman, Pyle, Ashburton, East Silver Spring, Greencastle, Montgomery Knolls, Pinecrest, Piney Branch, Woodlin, Christa McAuliffe and Col. E. Brooke Lee if voters reject the government liquor monopoly. This even as many of the same elected officials are clamoring to approve classroom-busting, high-density development in those same school clusters in the coming months. Oops.

What else will happen if you pursue your quest for better beer and wine lists, and the right to purchase Bud Light at CVS?

"Liquor stores on every corner," thunders the sign. 

Here's a good one - the monopoly actually touts its authority to keep certain liquor products it arbitrarily decides are a little too wild for you, the heavy-tax-paying adult, out of your hands. Boasting of its "power to exclude" certain products - now there's a heckuva way to convince residents that this is a good system. Just what we want: less choice, right?

They also made another gaffe in the process - they state that Montgomery County is only the second-best jurisdiction in Maryland when it comes to alcohol abuse and drunk-driving accidents. So we're not the healthiest in America, as our elected officials boasted? No, not even in the state, according to the County's own propaganda.

Councilmember George Leventhal tussled on Facebook with restaurateur Roberto Pietrobono (Gringos & Mariachis, Olazzo), who asked, "At what point in time would you be fed up if you were in our position as restaurant owners? For me it's been 15 years." Leventhal replied that he hoped the proposed "special orders" change would solve Pietrobono's woes.

Alas, as regular readers here already know, the "special orders" plan won't do that. It will allow the Department of Liquor Control to retain the power to declare which products are special order. It will allow the DLC to levy a tax on those new private liquor transactions, which as anyone who knows about business realizes, will raise the cost of product for consumers and hospitality businesses (of course, the County Council is not known for its vast knowledge of operating businesses). How does that make Montgomery County competitive with the District again?

Are you smart enough to decide the fate of liquor control in Montgomery County?

According to the Sentinel newspaper, Councilmember Leventhal says you aren't. Of Leventhal's opposition to a ballot referendum on the issue, the Sentinel reported "he did not think voters should decide whether to privatize alcohol because they would not understand how it would affect the county.

Leventhal posted that he thought only restaurant industry insiders were concerned about the County having monopoly control of liquor. But his colleague, Councilmember Hans Riemer, who also favors government retaining monopoly control, recently acknowledged the biggest complaint heard is the inability to buy beer and wine at grocery stores.

It's clear that the people have spoken. Now, will the politicians listen?

As a resident, is your current inability to buy Bud Light or a bottle of chardonnay at Giant, and your being forced to pay more for alcohol than those in the District, really "of little interest" to you?

MoCo Liquor stores hand out flyers to preserve monopoly, days after DLC delivery disaster (Photo)

Flyer being handed out, as
tweeted by Justin Fidler

Montgomery County-operated liquor stores are handing out literature to customers that threatens to raise their property taxes by "$100" if the County's Department of Liquor Control loses monopoly control over booze. The flyers state they have been printed by the County Office of Public Information, which is obviously funded by taxpayer money. What they don't state, is that just days ago, the DLC failed to make scheduled deliveries to restaurants, bars and beer-and-wine retailers at the height of the critical holiday season. More on that in a moment.

Of course, County Executive Ike Leggett has already stated his intention to raise taxes in the next budget, as the County Council's fiscal mismanagement over the last 14 years has created a structural deficit with no end in sight. And, no, raising taxes every year to cover ever-increasing spending is not a responsible record for a public official.

Councilmember Hans Riemer, who has posed as a critic of the liquor monopoly to promote himself through the local media, has ironically ended up defending the current regime along with seven of his colleagues. Roger Berliner, who represents District 1 on the Council, has declined to oppose new attempts to end the monopoly. Delegate Bill Frick - who like Berliner represents Bethesda, where bars and restaurants have been hurt by the current monopoly - has joined Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot in efforts in Annapolis to allow private competition within the county.

The flyer states that the current monopoly "doesn't cost taxpayers a single dime." Well, not only did these flyers cost the taxpayers, but the current County-controlled system requires both consumers and private businesses to pay more for liquor than they would in the District. So that statement is false.

Riemer's compromise, to allow competition for "special order" products, not only conveniently allows the DLC to define which products are "special orders," but would also allow the DLC to levy an arbitrary fee the consumer would end up paying - a tax, in other words. Tax? No wonder Riemer and the Council are for it!

But the flyers are essentially a gaffe for the County liquor regime, as they are being handed out mere days after yet another DLC holiday delivery disaster. As the Seventh State blog reported December 31, a DLC blunder resulted in missed deliveries to restaurants and bars between December 23-29. Don't worry, DLC Director George Griffin assured them, orders would be back on schedule by New Year's Eve. Oh, and there was a little matter of an order backlog... No big deal if you own a restaurant, bar or beer-and-wine store, right? - it's only one of your biggest times of the year during the holidays, after all.

This comes after the DLC was criticized last year for being unable to fill orders for items as basic as Maker's Mark during previous holiday seasons. You can't make this stuff up, folks.

The bottom line is that the vast majority of County residents want government out of the liquor business, the benefits of high-quality retailers in competition with each other, and the simple ability to pick up Bud Light or a $9 wine bottle at the grocery store. Despite odd claims that the state is responsible for the current inability to do the latter, the reality is that requires the same sort of state-level law change in Annapolis that Riemer is seeking for his current plan. The only difference is that our elected officials aren't asking for it. Hmm...why is that?

This is not the first time we as taxpayers have been forced to pay for PR materials promoting a position the majority of residents oppose (Ambulance Fee, Bus Rapid Transit, anybody?). It should be the last.

Karaoke Fridays start January 8 at American Tap Room in Rockville

DC-area "KJ" David Gaines (a.k.a. Dave the Karaoke Guy) is bringing his microphone to American Tap Room in Rockville Town Square next Friday, January 8. That will be the launch day for the bar's new Karaoke Fridays, which will be held there from 9:00 PM to 12 midnight.

You can submit song requests in advance through Dave's website.

American Tap Room

36-A Maryland Avenue

Montgomery County Council helping their billionaire sugar daddy evade taxes

Councilmember Hans Riemer, a
leading recipient of campaign
donations from billionaire
under investigation for tax evasion

Senate Finance Committee

investigating museum scheme

Most of the controversy surrounding Potomac billionaire Mitch Rales' Glenstone museum has related to its private operation, its addition of a sewer line, and his sugar daddy status to members of the Montgomery County Council, to whom he has donated tens of thousands of dollars. Now a U.S. Senate Finance Committee investigation is looking into another question - is Glenstone actually an art museum, or simply an easy way to avoid personal, capital gains and estate taxes through its Glenstone Foundation?

Councilmember Roger Berliner has received at least $27,000 from Rales, according to blogger Eric Hensal. The second-biggest recipient of money from Rales, a pioneer in outsourcing American jobs to China, has been Councilmember Hans Riemer. 

Riemer has used a mysterious out-of-state bounty of cash from a rogue's gallery of Wall Street scoundrels, banks, mortgage sharks, and lobbyists - who together caused the "Great Recession" - to win two council elections. Yet, he has faced no media scrutiny of his unusual campaign finances. 

Rales' Danaher Corporation wrested 140 jobs away from Hanover, Maryland alone, in a four-state liquidation of factories, as the linked video demonstrates. Is it surprising that Riemer would support a Wall Street outsourcer in evading taxes right here in Montgomery County? After all, Riemer also took a fat campaign check from Mitt Romney's Bain Capital, another pioneer in closing factories, and outsourcing jobs to overseas countries. And, while receiving funds from anti-Obamacare lobbyists, Riemer endorsed dropping the public option from the Affordable Care Act in 2009, creating a huge payday for the insurance companies.

Both councilmen, and several other colleagues who received Rales booty, delivered a series of votes that enabled the expansion of Glenstone in recent years.

While they spoke of Glenstone as a public amenity, it is actually private, not open to just anyone to visit during set hours, and located on Rales' Potomac estate, nowhere near public transit infrastructure. Glenstone has already denied access to visitors, including reporters who have dared to criticize it.

The Senate Finance Committee has heard enough, and is now investigating whether Glenstone - enabled by the County Council - is violating IRS rules and evading taxes. While the New York Times accepted Glenstone's visitor numbers at face value, fortunately, the City Paper actually did the research and found just how few visitors there have been over the years in relation to similar facilities elsewhere - and that no visitor records are publicly available for the past two years.

Meanwhile, the City Paper found that Rales is stashing away more than $360,000,000 in Danaher stock in Glenstone, and another $26 million from his Janalia Corporation. Can you get into Glenstone? City Paper reporter Kriston Capps has been rejected from visiting twice. That's not a public museum.

Aside from determining whether tax evasion has occurred (gee, you think?) with the aid and abettance of the County Council, there is another possible benefit to the Senate-level investigation. Investigations tend to turn up more than what they start out looking for. Montgomery County has a false reputation as an ethical jurisdiction primarily because there have not been federal investigations here. In a federal probe, a lesser member of a political machine can be threatened with jail time - until he or she starts talking about the bigger scandal going on higher up, in exchange for leniency or immunity. 

Farm Road, the Silver Spring Transit Center, the Council-connected nonprofit that "lost" $900,000 in taxpayer money? In every case the politicians themselves were able to control what passed for an "investigation", and declare the case closed. While the feds seem to be in constant pursuit of African-American officials in the District and Prince George's County, our white Montgomery County and Maryland politicians continue to evade scrutiny.

That has to change.