Olive & Loom opens at Pike & Rose, to host Grand Opening Saturday

Sabun Home is packing up their downtown Bethesda store this week and relocating to a larger space in Rockville at Pike & Rose, under the new name of Olive & Loom. Olive & Loom is now open for business at 11815 Grand Park Avenue. But they will be officially celebrating their arrival at Pike & Rose with a Grand Opening event this Saturday, March 30, 2019 from 2:00-5:00 PM. Stop by the new store for complimentary hors d'oeuvres and cocktails during those hours.

Rockville McDonald's gets more than a makeover (Photos)

Now it's clear why the McDonald's at 1390 Rockville Pike had to close for an extended period for its renovations. The building looks nothing like it did before. In place of the traditional McDonald's one-story design is a building now two stories in height. The cream-colored exterior walls and brown roof are now replaced with a monotone beige with dark brown accents. Drive-thru windows remain in the same spot, but now have small canopies directly over the windows, instead of the angled overhang of the original building's roof.

Inside, you will find another transformation. Darker floor tiles and lighter interior walls complete the redesign. There is still an outdoor seating area at the front. The famous Golden Arches and delicious foods remain the same. Annoy the Fellow Travelers on the Montgomery County Council, and stop by for a an All-American meal today.

China Garden Rockville opening update

A long time has passed since China Garden announced it was moving to the White Flint area at 11333 Woodglen Drive in Rockville. Some have expressed concern it wasn't going to happen, and "When is China Garden opening?" has become one of readers' most-asked questions in my mailbox. The good news is, things are moving forward at China Garden.

The permanent sign and statues have just been installed outside the restaurant. There's still a lot of work to be done inside, however. The owner told me that there were some delays getting the necessary permits from Montgomery County, which held up construction. They have a liquor license hearing scheduled for May 2, so that should give a rough idea of how close opening day is. This is the most grand restaurant entry in White Flint since the Lerners went berserk and demolished White Flint Mall, taking the impressive statuary of P.F. Chang's along with it.

Rockville Volunteer Fire Department vehicle strikes 2 pedestrians on Beall Avenue

A truck belonging to the Rockville Volunteer Fire Department struck two pedestrians on Beall Avenue Saturday night around 9:30 PM. Montgomery County police say they have not yet determined how or why the 2008 Chevrolet Silverado driven by Diane Evans, 59, came to strike the adult male and adult female as it traveled east on Beall.

The female victim was transported to an unidentified local hospital with life-threatening injuries. Although the male victim was also transported, police describe his injuries as "minor."

If anyone witnessed the collision or has additional information regarding this incident, they are asked to contact the Collision Reconstruction Unit at 240-773-6620.

Rockville Mayor & Council end process to fill vacant seat with no replacement

March 20, 2019 agenda shows no closed session,
no vote on candidates

Closed session vote was

not listed on agenda

The sudden end of what was otherwise a long process to fill a vacant Rockville City Council seat raises several questions, legal and otherwise. At a special meeting Wednesday night, the three finalists were again interviewed by the Mayor and Council. After the third interview was finished, the Mayor and Council abruptly went into closed session. When the public was let back into the room, Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton announced there was no consensus among herself and the councilmembers sufficient to give any of the three candidates a majority. 

Councilmember Beryl Feinberg then made a motion to end the Council vacancy process, and leave the seat vacant for the remainder of this term, which ends in November. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Mark Pierzchala, and passed unanimously. "The onus is now on this body to come together and serve this city as one for the remainder of the term," Newton said after the process fell apart. 

How the process ended was only the latest indication that appointments are not the way to fill Council seats. But it also left several questions about the legality of how it ended. There is a process on the books for filling this seat, as bad as it was. But it was not clear that the process could legally end with the seat remaining vacant.

Secondly, the public was not only reduced to spectator status in this process, but was not given public indication that a vote would take place Wednesday night. As the photo of the meeting agenda clearly shows, a vote was not shown on the agenda. Nor was a closed session indicated on the agenda. That does raise some question about the legality of the meeting under the Maryland Open Meetings Act, which states, "'Before meeting in an open session, the public body must make available to the public an agenda' that (1) contains 'known items of business or topics to be discussed at the portion of the meeting that is open' and (2) indicates 'whether the public body expects to close any portion of the meeting' under GP § 3-305." 

Third, the vote to select a new councilmember should have been held in an open session. 

And finally, one or more participants in the closed session leaked the proceedings of the session - including the number of votes each candidate received - following the meeting. Such leaks are illegal, and an elected official could be disciplined for leaking details of an executive session.

Ultimately, the outcome may be to the benefit of residents, as there is no majority to ram through any decisions on the future of RedGate golf course, or on adequate public facilities ordinance changes. Given past votes, it's unlikely the Mayor and Council would deadlock on the passage of the new budget, although other critical issues could wind up in a 2-2 tie. And with no members representing a specific district, the empty seat won't leave one area without representation.

If anyone was treated more unfairly in this process than residents, it was the applicants themselves. They clearly spent a great deal of time preparing written statements and for interviews - some for two or three interviews. To dedicate so many hours for a job that in the end does not even exist was a waste of everyone's time and energy. With voting by mail now the norm in Rockville, there's no reason this process can't be switched to a special election in the future.

Ocado skips across the pond, and Montgomery County, in U.S. HQ search

Just months after Montgomery County's humiliating-but-self-inflicted defeat in the Amazon HQ 2 sweepstakes, even Amazon's enemies are passing on MoCo in favor of Northern Virginia. Ocado, a British partner of Kroger that specializes in online grocery sales systems, announced yesterday it will conduct its search for its future U.S. corporate headquarters from gleaming offices in beautiful and booming Tysons. CEO Luke Jensen said he was "delighted" with the Tysons choice, and that the office would open in April.

Ocado has a service called Prime Now, that delivers groceries you order online within 2 hours. If the order is small enough, it might be delivered by scooter. Kroger - which owns Harris Teeter and Ralph's - has partnered with Ocado to prepare for the increasingly-competitive world of online grocery shopping, where its greatest rival will be Crystal City's Amazon.

Northern Virginia is becoming a hub for so many things, it's hard for our super-low-energy Montgomery County Council to even keep track, much less compete. But grocery firms are one of the latest; Lidl chose Arlington County for its U.S. headquarters in the most recent example before this. One can reasonably predict the high-tax, low-energy grass of bedroom community Montgomery County won't exactly look greener from Ocado's offices high above the bustling streets of Tysons.

This is just the latest humiliation for Montgomery County officials this week. It follows another disastrous job growth report (there wasn't any), and Montgomery County's leading economic development official returning empty-handed from an expensive SXSW junket. What Montgomery's selling...they just don't want it. They just don't want it.

Robeks Juice, Olio Nails & Spa coming to Research Row in Rockville

The parking lots grow more full by the day at Rockville's newest shopping center, as Research Row continues to lease up after opening last year. Two new tenants are coming on-board. Robeks Juice is a smoothie shop that also features fresh juices and fruit bowls.

On the opposite side of the same building where Robeks is under construction will be Olio Nails & Spa. Robeks is still in the early stages of construction, while the interior fit-out of Olio Nails & Spa is much further along. Traffic at the property is currently dominated by tenants Chick-fil-A and Onelife Fitness.