Victim assaulted outside apartment building in Rockville

Rockville City police responded to a report of a 2nd-degree assault on the street outside an apartmetn building early yesterday morning, November 18, 2022. The assault was reported in the 500 block of Blandford Street at 12:02 AM Friday.

Rockville Town Square tree lighting 6:00-8:00 PM tonight, November 18, 2022

The annual Christmas tree lighting at Rockville Town Square will be held tonight, Friday, November 18, 2022, from 6:00 - 8:00 PM. Free to attend, the event will include ice skating on the outdoor rink in the town square, live music, crafts, and appearances by Rockville City officials and Santa Claus himself! For safety purposes, Maryland Avenue will be closed to automobile traffic from noon until 10:30 PM tonight. Parking garage access from Maryland and Beall Avenue will be maintained throughout the day, however.

Montgomery County Councilmember Will Jawando added to Wes Moore steering committee

Montgomery County Councilmember Will Jawando (D - At-Large) was added to the transition Steering Committee for the incoming administration of Maryland governor-elect Wes Moore (D), lieutenant governor-elect Aruna Miller (D) announced Thursday. Jawando, who was just reelected to a second term on the Council earlier this month, joins Maryland Business-Clergy Partnership Co-Chairman Joe Gaskins as the newest members of the committee. 

“Councilman Jawando and Joe Gaskins are critical additions to our transition team," Miller said in a statement. "We have so much work to do together to ensure that this is Maryland’s decade. I look forward to working closely with Councilman Jawando and Joe Gaskins, and our entire transition team, to lay the foundation for a stronger, healthier, and wealthier Maryland.”

"It's a honor to serve as we work towards a stronger and more equitable Maryland!" Jawando tweeted Thursday night. Jawando and Moore are both veterans of the administration of President Barack Obama.

Photo courtesy Montgomery County Council website 

Rockville gas station broken into

Montgomery County police are investigating a burglary at a Rockville gas station early yesterday morning, November 16, 2022. The burglary was reported at a gas station in the 5500 block of Norbeck Road at 12:17 AM Wednesday. That is the Exxon station at the Rock Creek Village Center. Officers responding to the scene found evidence of forced entry at the business.

Assault in Rockville parking lot

Rockville City police responded to a report of a 2nd-degree assault in a parking lot early yesterday afternoon, November 16, 2022. The assault was reported in a parking lot in the 700 block of Rockville Pike at 12:26 PM.

Montgomery County Council passes gun bill despite assurance of expensive court fight

The Montgomery County Council unanimously passed a gun control bill yesterday that will prevent lawful gun owners with concealed carry permits to carry their firearms within a massive swath of the jurisdiction. Because the bill designates so many types of common buildings and spaces as gun-free zones, and includes the area around them up to 100 yards, it renders the recently-affirmed right to carry a gun outside the home nearly impossible to exercise. Councilmembers may find themselves on the stand in a courtroom within the next year as a result. County taxpayers will pick up the tab to defend any legal challenge to the new law. 

The bill also adjusted language in the County's recent law on privately-manufactured firearms to match the new state restrictions on them. Despite Maryland having passed some of the most-restrictive gun laws in the nation in the previous decade, and the Council having passed a PMP bill last year, the Council acknowledged in a press release that the County is nevertheless still experiencing "an epidemic of gun violence." 

"I continue to believe that guns create immeasurably more problems, often with tragic outcomes, than they attempt to solve,” Council President Gabe Albornoz (D -At-Large) said in a statement. “This legislation will help to ensure that we do everything possible to minimize the number of guns in our public space." Albornoz led the effort to pass the PMP bill in 2021. 

"[T]his will go into effect very rapidly, and we’ll be moving in court, equally rapidly,” Mark Pennak, President of gun rights organization Maryland Shall Issue told DC News Now following the Council vote.

Armed robbery in Rockville

Rockville City police responded to a report of an armed robbery at a business on Rockville Pike Sunday night, November 13, 2022. The robbery was reported at a retail business in the 800 block of Rockville Pike at 8:31 PM Sunday.