Public art installed at Ansel apartments in Rockville Town Center (Photos)

Public art has now been installed at the new Ansel apartments at 33 Monroe Street in Rockville Town Center. Suspense remains in the air, however, as the art is about 95% under protective cover. The cover is also wrapped in police tape. Only the top parts are sticking out, but details such as a house are visible.

Construction advancing at new Rockville Qdoba (Photos)

Qdoba is out to an early lead among new tenants at the new Rock Grove shopping center at the corner of MD 355 and Shady Grove Road. The interior fit-out appears to be more than 50% complete. Permanent signage was installed this week above the storefront. The Mexican chain has an existing Rockville location at 128 Rollins Avenue.

Japanese supermarket Ebisu Life Store opening in Rockville

Ebisu Life Store, a Japanese supermarket chain, will open a new location in Rockville at 836 Rockville Pike. This space was formerly home to Shah & Patel Grocery, and is next door to Mattress Frame. Ebisu Life Store has existing locations in New York City and Aurora, Colorado. In addition to imported groceries and snacks, the store will also carry health and beauty products and other goods from Japan.

Rockville biotech receives patent for tech that can identify patients at-risk of opioid addiction

HSR.health CEO Ajay Gupta

Rockville-based HSR.health announced this morning that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a patent for the firm's novel use of geospatial tech, advanced AI models, and sets of social determinants of health data to identify patients at risk of opioid addiction. The technology also can identify patients at risk of having an overdose in the next 12 months. Overall, the purpose is to mitigate these negative outcomes before they happen, the company said.

HSR.health CEO Ajay Gupta said this morning that the issuing of the patent "is an acknowledgement of the uniqueness of our health-focused spatial data infrastructure." The now-patented tech can also be applied to pre-diabetic patients. Other areas of focus for the firm are reducing hospital readmissions, and assisting countries with pandemic response efforts.

Six additional HSR.health patent applications are now before the USPTO, related to geospatial tech, data and AI models. Montgomery County's biotech sector continues to be the bright spot amid an otherwise-moribund county economy.

PetWellClinic opening in Rockville

When your dog goes to Pike & Rose next year, it may not just be for fun and treats at Bark Social. That's because PetWellClinic is opening a location on the Rockville Pike/Old Georgetown Road corner of the Federal Realty property. The preventative-care veterinary clinic will be between Visionworks and Chipotle.

Franchisees Dave Ballow and Liz Overmann plan to open this and 24 other locations in our region. The Knoxville-based clinic chain was founded in 2009 by Dr. Sam Meisler, who sought to catch pet illnesses early through preventative care, while lowering vet bills for pet owners by stopping disease before it requires more expensive treatment.

Armed carjacking in Rockville

Rockville police responded to an armed carjacking at an apartment complex off Rockville Pike on Tuesday afternoon, November 23, 2021. The carjacking was reported in the parking lot of the complex in the 100 block of Talbott Street at 5:30 PM, according to crime data.

Beer and wine store to open in Derwood

A new tenant has signed on at the small strip mall just south of the 7-Eleven at MD 355 and Redland Road in Derwood. The store will sell beer and wine, as well as Maryland Lottery tickets. It fills the end space at 15809 Frederick Road, across from the Rockville neighborhood of King Farm.