Casa de Dios y Puerta del Cielo church takes over Wheaton Tile Center space

A tenant has finally been found for the old Wheaton Tile Center space at 2670 University Boulevard W. Casa de Dios y Puerta del Cielo (God's House and Heaven's Door) Church is now conducting services there. The church is headed by Pastors Tony and Veronica Gonzalez. Based on the images and videos shown on the church's Facebook page, they have turned the interior into a very nice sanctuary space, and the depth of the building allows for quite a few seats.

Although best remembered as Wheaton Tile Center, this space was also briefly home to a Doña Bessy Pupuseria location, as well.

Fat Fingers sign installed in Silver Spring

The sign is up at Fat Fingers at 8213 Georgia Avenue in downtown Silver Spring. Last night after nightfall, it was already powered and lit up. See my previous report on the Fat Fingers menu as we await an opening date.

Aspen Hill home invasion leaves one shot, another injured

A terrifying home invasion in Aspen Hill in the early hours of June 5 left one resident fighting for his life with multiple gunshot wounds, and a second one injured enough to be transported to a local hospital. Montgomery County police are looking for four black men who carjacked one of the victims in Rosemary Hills just after midnight.

The suspects, and possibly two additional assailants, wore masks and brandished handguns before ordering the victim to drive to his home in Aspen Hill. Once there, the four who drove with the victim burst into the home in the 14200 block of Georgia Avenue, and announced a robbery was taking place.

Hearing the commotion, a 47-year-old resident emerged from a back bedroom, and was immediately shot multiple times by the suspects. The four assailants then grabbed property and fled the residence. Detectives can only describe them as four black men, masked, and wearing black clothing.

Detectives urge anyone with information about the suspects or this home invasion robbery to call the Major Crimes Division at 240-773-5100. For those who wish to remain anonymous, Crime Solvers is offering a reward of up to $10,000 for any information that leads to the arrest of the suspect(s). Tipsters can call Crime Solvers of Montgomery County toll-free at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477).

Hogan capitulates on Beltway express lanes, I-270 express lanes will go to bid

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan folded up like a card table on the issue of widening the Capital Beltway with tolled Express Lanes yesterday, delaying that proposal, while he and the Maryland Board of Public Works voted to allow a similar plan for a portion of I-270 to move forward to a bidding process. A well-orchestrated anti-highway campaign, backed by big cash funneled from developers who need congestion to justify their urban projects and shadowy dark-money groups from outside Montgomery County, somehow buffaloed Hogan into agreeing to delay the Beltway lanes.

The lanes would be paid for by private contractors, who would recoup their expenses via the tolls on the new lanes. Taxpayers would pay virtually nothing. That arrangement allows the state to bypass the inept Montgomery County Council, which has only worsened congestion since the MoCo political cartel seized control of the Council in 2002.

Why Hogan would capitulate to the noisy 1%, who have received outsize coverage from the cartel-controlled local press, is mind-boggling. It's not the first time. When Hogan had the advantage to choose early voting sites favorable to his party in 2016, he buckled and agreed to a Democratic-favorable site plan. What's the point of being governor if you don't exercise the power you hold?

Treasurer Nancy Kopp sounded confused and unfit to serve on the board, claiming to be unfamiliar with the details of a plan Hogan announced two years ago. She sounded an awful lot like our Council, which spent the last four years outlawing Styrofoam, Raid and teenage tanning beds, when they weren't debating whether or not to ban circus animals. Good God. Once again, Beltway commuters have been hung out to dry by our elected officials at both the county and state levels.

Hogan deserves tremendous credit for coming up with a brilliant end-run around our corrupt, criminal and utterly-incompetent County Council that has failed to reduce traffic congestion AT ALL over decades. His plan could theoretically one day deliver the express lanes on the Beltway via yesterday's vote. The problem is, by capitulating to the delay on the Beltway part, Hogan will be long out of office by the time that phase would begin. Instead of locking it in now, Hogan has left it up to the political winds of 2022 and beyond. We know from painful experience, and the child-like ballot choices of low-information voters, how that's likely to end.

Montgomery County is currently at rock bottom in the region in economic development by every relevant measure, from job creation to new business starts to business growth. Meanwhile, Virginia has successfully built the same type of Express Lanes from D.C. to the Fredericksburg area, and is winning all of the jobs and corporate headquarters. Montgomery County, by contrast, hasn't attracted a single major corporate headquarters in over twenty years.

We cannot reclaim our old status as an economic player in the region until we build the long-delayed new Potomac River crossing to Dulles, the M-83 Highway upcounty, and Express Lanes on the Beltway and I-270. Our County Council is one of the few in America actively trying to prevent infrastructure from being built. It's insane.

Transit is not a viable alternative for the vast majority of those using both interstates. The people who propose it with a straight face know that better than anyone - which is why they have to resort to brute force. No one wants to spend two-to-three hours commuting each way daily via transit. The Council's goal is to maintain and worsen congestion to justify their $10 billion Bus Rapid Transit boondoggle, and deliver massive profits to their developer sugar daddies.

The Council must be replaced. We need elected officials who respond to the majority of their constituents who commute by car - not to tie-dye advocates of 1960s bus plans, greedy developers and the Rockefeller Foundation. What irony that Hogan, et al, delayed Maryland Beltway relief at the same time Virginia is starting on the final leg of their Express Lanes to Fredericksburg. Montgomery County is now the bedroom community for the booming job centers in Northern Virginia and the District.

The silent majority must rise up and oust these criminals in 2022.

Small renovation planned at Leisure World Giant in Silver Spring

Giant is preparing for a small renovation project at its Leisure World store, located at 3860 International Drive in Silver Spring. While the renovations will cost $100,000, they will only involve 325 SF of floor space inside the store, so it will not require a temporary closure.

Colesville man missing

Montgomery County police are seeking the public's help in locating a missing man from the Colesville area of Silver Spring. Ton Chi Huynh, 29, hasn't been seen since noon on Friday, May 31, when he drove away from his Appleby Court home in his 2010 black Honda Civic sporting plates with Maryland tag number 3DH3107.  His family has been unable to contact him since.

Huynh is described by police as an Asian male, 5’ 7” tall and weighing 180 pounds. He has brown eyes and black hair.

Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of Ton Chi Huynh or his vehicle is asked to call the Montgomery County Police non-emergency number at 301-279-8000 (available 24 hours). Callers may remain anonymous.

Shark Week bigger than ever after Montgomery County loses Discovery

Shark Week 2019 merchandise

arrives in Montgomery County

Discovery Communications is pulling out all the stops for Shark Week 2019, which is scheduled to begin on July 28. A special line of Shark Week merchandise has just arrived in CVS Pharmacy stores in Montgomery County. The annual shark celebration was once a point of pride for the County, when Discovery's corporate headquarters was located in Silver Spring. This year's event will be the first Shark Week since Discovery fled moribund, anti-business Montgomery County for business-friendly Knoxville, Tennessee, and it's a painful reminder of one of the Montgomery County cartel's most humiliating defeats.

Among the great items you will find at CVS are a realistic Shark Week Deep Sea Diver playset, with everything kids need to recreate their favorite Shark Week scenes. The Shark Week Isle of Jaws Collectible Shark Set includes 10 sharks.  There are big Shark Week stuffed sharks hiding in the coral reefs, er, shelves of the display, including a hammerhead.

Pack official Shark Week beach towels for Ocean City, and try to forget a great white surfaced off the shore of Maryland last week. Or play it safe, and watch Shark Week at home on the couch with official Shark Week throws and blankets, including a Shark Week Leopard Shark blanket with "glow in the dark eyes."

Speaking of glowing in the dark, the old Discovery headquarters has become a massive monument to Montgomery moribundity in downtown Silver Spring. The tower looms high above, with the missing Discovery corporate logo giving a ghoulish, haunted vibe. I've captured here some of the final traces of Discovery still left at the building before they are removed.

The Montgomery County Council and expensive economic development entity should have recognized Discovery needed attention when the famous Chompie Shark Week mascot no longer appeared on the facade of the building during Shark Week. Instead, Tennessee actively courted Discovery, ultimately providing the winning site with low taxes, and a campus with direct interstate and airport access in Knoxville. Horrifyingly, we later learned that over the same weeks that Tennessee was sealing the deal in negotiations with Discovery, the Montgomery County Council was taking up all of its time debating whether or not to ban circus animals.

Heckuva job, Brownie!