Toy Kingdom closes early at Rockville Town Square (Photos)

Toy Kingdom has closed at Rockville Town Square. The independent toy store had been scheduled to close its doors forever on December 31. However, the windows were covered with paper this weekend, and a new sign posted in the window thanking long-time patrons for their support.

Exposed: Montgomery County Council is not a "full-time job"

Wouldn't you like to have the power to raise your own salary? In doing just that, to a record $137,000 taxpayer dollars, the Montgomery County Council justified the cash grab by claiming serving on the Council was "a full-time job." That claim, already easily proven false, has now been totally debunked, after Councilmember George Leventhal released a statement yesterday announcing he has secretly been earning a doctorate in public policy.

In fact, Leventhal has been on a Rodney Dangerfield-esque return to college since 2007, by his own admission. He has been on the Council since 2002. Surely, his ever-increasing taxpayer-funded salary over the last decade has afforded him the ability to pad his thin resume with degree after degree, an advantage not available to many of the constituents paying his salary.

Council observers have known for some time that members have too much free time on their hands. New Council President Hans Riemer recently spent a day on Capitol Hill, trailed by taxpayer-funded County government TV crews to capture it all. Alas, things went awry when Riemer found himself being arrested by police in Washington, D.C. later that day. It's believed he is the first Montgomery County Councilmember to be arrested while in office.

Montgomery County celebrity Matthew Lesko has been selling books on how to get free money from Uncle Sam to earn a "GED, or a PhD!!!" on TV for years. Winning a County Council seat could actually be a smarter move at this point. Sit on a padded leather chair for four hours a week, and the rest of the time, earn a law or medical degree at taxpayer expense using your amped up Council salary. Maybe even hit up a few frat house parties in-between.

The Bell, California Council jacked up their own salaries, too, raising taxes massively to cover the costs. Sound familiar? Bell's Council is currently in prison. Montgomery's is on campus. What's wrong with this picture?

Man disappears from Montgomery County homeless shelter in Rockville

A resident of the Montgomery County men's emergency shelter at 600 East Gude Drive is unaccounted for, according to Montgomery County police. Nathaniel Lee Robinson, 27, has been reported missing by shelter staff.

Robinson is described by police as an African American male, 5’ 9”, and weighing approximately 200 pounds.  He has black hair and brown eyes.

Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of Nathaniel Lee Robinson is asked to call the Montgomery County Police non-emergency number at 301-279-8000 (available 24 hours). Callers may remain anonymous.

MoCo Council candidate calls on Rockville leaders to take emergency action on taxes

Richard Gottfried, a Rockville resident and candidate for Montgomery County Council At-Large (D), is calling on municipal governments like Rockville and Takoma Park to call an emergency meeting in response to the federal tax plan expected to be signed into law by President Trump before Christmas. Gottfried, a CPA, is recommending municipalities in Maryland pass legislation that will allow residents of those jurisdictions to prepay their property taxes. The move would allow residents affected by a new cap on property tax deductions in the federal plan to avoid higher taxes this year.

"By prepaying your city property taxes before December 31, 2017, you would be able to take advantage of your property tax deduction in 2017 before the new federal law takes effect in 2018 and the tax deduction is eliminated for homes valued at over $750,000," Gottfried said Wednesday. "The residents of incorporated cities such as the City of Rockville, Takoma Park and Gaithersburg will lose this city property tax deduction opportunity in 2018, and our current elected officials need to come back from their holiday break to City Hall to pass this most important legislation to benefit the residents that they represent!"

Police snag 2 more drunk drivers at unexpected Rockville checkpoint

When Rockville and Montgomery County police responded to an accident involving a driver now charged with DUI Saturday night, they set up a road closure around the scene at Rockville Pike and Templeton Place. In the process, they managed to catch two additional drivers allegedly driving under the influence.

Two Rockville police officers arrested a 27-year-old man who slowed and stopped at the barricade, appearing confused, around 1:50 AM on December 17. Almost exactly two hours later, a 20-year-old female driver approached the two-police-car roadblock. She ran over cones, and almost hit officers, before continuing through the roadblock. Ultimately, a County police sergeant pulled her over down the road, and arrested her.

MoCo Council to take another stab at criminalizing the homeless

The Montgomery County Council building is just overflowing with Christmas spirit, as the Council is taking the initial steps before the holiday break to criminalize the homeless. This isn't the first time, as the Council tried this previously in their last term, but ran into controversy, including a report from a national organization that condemned the effort.

With Council Bill 39-17, they will again attempt to ban panhandling in the County. The Council memorably claimed last time that the majority of those who panhandle are not actually homeless, but "professional panhandlers" who drive into the County each morning from out-of-state. That's probably news to the folks in downtown Bethesda and Silver Spring whose main wheels are shopping carts filled with everything they own.

What's driving the Council's mania to criminalize the homeless? Well, it may just have something to do with politics and the election year ahead. Councilmember George Leventhal has given himself loud credit for supposedly finding homes for every single homeless veteran in Montgomery County. The local media hasn't bothered to fact check Leventhal on that claim, and simply print it as fact. In reality, it's almost impossible to verify such a boast, which is probably why Leventhal is making it.

Now Leventhal has promised to house every single homeless person in the County by December 2018. Conveniently, that will be a month after the election, in which Leventhal is running for County Executive. Wouldn't it also be convenient to use a panhandling ban to clear the homeless from their most-visible perches on County roads, to make it appear as if they aren't there?

They've just banned circus animals, now the homeless...think they'll get around to dealing with that $120,000,000 budget shortfall anytime soon?

Rockville fatal collision under investigation by police

Montgomery County police are investigating a fatal collision that occurred Saturday night in Rockville, around 11:15 PM. Rockville resident Ross Stanley Redler, 56, was traveling southbound on Rockville Pike, nearing Congressional Lane. A 2008 BMW 335xi was making a left turn from northbound Rockville Pike onto westbound Congressional Lane, and struck Redler's 2014 Tao Tao Scooter.

The BMW driver, Mark Steven Andrade, 24, fled the scene, but was located by police and arrested for DUI. Redler passed away at an unidentified local hospital. Andrade was not injured.

Anyone who witnessed, or has information about, this collision is asked to call the Collision Reconstruction Unit at 240-773-6620.