Female student gang-raped at Rockville High School

Henry Sanchez

A juvenile female student was raped by two male students in a boys' bathroom at Rockville High School yesterday, according to Montgomery County Police. Jose O. Montano, 17, of an unconfirmed address, and Henry E. Sanchez, 18, of Bel Pre Road in Aspen Hill were arrested by Montgomery County Police Special Victims Investigation Division detectives at the school. They were called by school administrators, police said.

The female student told administrators that she was approached by Montano and Sanchez in a hallway at the school around 9:00 AM Thursday. Montano asked her to walk with them. He then allegedly asked her to engage in sexual intercourse. She declined. After asking her again, detectives said, Montano forced her into a boys' bathroom. Inside a stall in the bathroom, she was allegedly raped by both Montano and Sanchez.

Montano and Sanchez have been charged with first-degree rape, and two counts of first-degree sexual offense.  They were held without bond, and will have bond review today.

Detectives said they are withholding Montano's mugshot because he is a juvenile.

Rockville construction update: Metropolitan at Rockville Town Center (Photos)

The Metropolitan at Rockville Town Center apartments are actually starting to look like a full building at the corner of N. Washington Street and Beall Avenue. You'll also notice a lot of windows are now in place.

Expected to deliver in the 4th Quarter of 2017, the building will house 275 apartments, and 6033 SF of retail space. It stands on the former site of the Suburban Trust Building, also known as the Pink Bank.

The death of hh gregg in Rockville (Photos)

hh gregg, the upper-case-challenged (and bankrupt) big box electronics store is liquidating more than just gadgets, computers and TVs. You can also get lighting fixtures, furniture, beds - and even the store's official wheelchair.

The chain wasn't old enough to generate nostalgia, but as big boxes struggle, one has to wonder who could take over this former Circuit City space. A new, urban-format Walmart like they have in Tysons? Yet another furniture store?

Rockville's hh gregg is one of the 40% of their stores the chain is closing as part of its Chapter 11 reorganization. Everything must go!!! hh gregg is located at 1501 Rockville Pike.

Even the store's wheelchair
is being liquidated

I assume this was used
by disabled shoppers - and
kept standing by for
hh gregg stockholders who
looked at the latest share price

Looks like four TVs
were snapped up here

Residents pan new Montgomery County snow plow tracker, fake news on sidewalks

The new Montgomery County "snow portal" touted by County Councilmember Hans Riemer and other officials got a failing grade from residents I spoke to, and on social media, after yesterday's storm. Not only is there no longer a map to view snow operations countywide, or even in your area, but the consensus opinion was that the time estimates were no more useful than the old map. Not to mention that switching to a primitive text format, instead of a graphic map, was like going from iPhone to DOS.

Constituent gives Councilmembers
Hans Riemer and Roger Berliner his
blunt assessment of their new "snow portal"
on Facebook

Riemer provided some additional fake news about his sidewalk shoveling bill, which cost taxpayers $6,458,000, but came up even shorter than the snow portal. In a blog post, he boasted that since the bill passed two years ago, "I find that the County is doing a much better job clearing snow from sidewalks where the County (or Parks) is the responsible party as well as helping clear snow from sidewalks where there may be a public safety concern."

"It's just as useless

as past versions. #FAIL"

This is simply not true, as I well-documented last winter. On Westbard Avenue alone, sidewalks fronting both Montgomery County (Little Falls Library) and Montgomery County Public Schools (Westland Middle School) property remained unshoveled a full month after the largest storm. Embarrassingly, Riemer himself passed by these very sidewalks after the storm on a carpetbagger's bus tour for the Westbard sector plan, and took no action to get them cleared.

What happened?

Riemer's claim earns him the Four Pinocchios/Pants-on-Fire awards.

Asbestos project underway at Beall's Grant apartments in Rockville (Photos)

An asbestos remediation project has quietly begun at the Beall's Grant apartments in Rockville. No details are available except a notice stating that the project will be completed this Saturday. Beall's Grant is owned by Montgomery Housing Partnership, and is located at 254 N. Washington Street. I don't know if there's a connection, but MHP recently closed financing on the property from Enterprise Community Partners, including $8.75 million in "construction financing."

Salvation Army Family Store opens in Rockville (Photos)

Rockville's newest thrift store is now open for business. The Salvation Army Family Store opened on Saturday in the former Pier 1 store building at 1590 Rockville Pike. There's something for everyone at the Salvation Army store.

UPS Store coming to Wintergreen Plaza in Rockville (Photos):

A UPS Store will be the latest addition at Wintergreen Plaza in Rockville. The store will be located near Paisano's.