Montgomery Hills Car Wash demolished, but hidden historic cemetery remains

The Montgomery Hills Car Wash at 9500 Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring has been demolished. But buried underneath the landmark business remains an earlier, lost landmark: Mount Zion Episcopal Cemetery. The property has been purchased by the Maryland State Highway Administration for use as a construction staging area for the War-on-cars Georgia Avenue Safety and Accessibility Project. It's certainly disrespectful, to use a burial ground as a staging area. But probably par for the course for today's SHA, which has become heavily politicized over the last decade, responding to the every need of our corrupt elected officials, engineering best practices and basic human decency be damned.

Man pistol-whipped, robbed in broad daylight in Silver Spring

Yet another violent crime was committed in broad daylight Saturday afternoon in Silver Spring, a disturbing 2026 trend in Montgomery County. The adult male victim in this case was walking in the 8700 block of Georgia Avenue at 2:59 PM, when he was approached from behind by the adult male suspect. After striking the victim in the head from behind with a handgun, the suspect took unspecified property from him, and fled the scene on foot. Police have not released a description of the suspect as of this writing.

Silver Spring's newest parking garage enters final phase of construction (Photos)

Construction of the new public parking garage at 8615 Georgia Avenue in downtown Silver Spring is entering the final phase. The structure has been designed to have retail space on the ground floor, and it's a nice touch that the corner stairwell echoes the corner window design of the building next door. When Montgomery County's moribund economy scuppered a planned office building on this site, United Therapeutics stepped in to save the day, making a deal with the County. Under the agreement, the biotech firm has constructed this public parking garage on this site, and the County, in turn, is handing over the Cameron Street Garage property at 8700 Cameron Street to UT for future expansion. UT is also providing a fiber hub to the County, a parcel of land for future affordable housing, and a new County Department of Transportation parking operations facility at 9150 Brookville Road in Forest Glen. 

Man saved when would-be killer's shotgun misfires in Aspen Hill

A potential homicide was averted in Aspen Hill Thursday night, July 16, 2026. According to Montgomery County police, two men were arguing inside a home in the 4700 block of Iris Street at 9:00 PM. One of the men allegedly pointed a shotgun at the other, and pulled the trigger. But the gun failed to fire, and the would-be killer was taken into custody by Montgomery's Finest. 

Spirit Halloween haunting scary-early in Wheaton for 2026

Spirit Halloween fans are getting a thrill out of the freakishly early appearance of signage for the chain's 2026 Wheaton location. Those with season and holiday boundary issues may be getting a chill, by contrast. People not ready to face Back-to-School shopping sales yet, much less All Hallows Eve, likely don't want to hear that everyone's favorite costume, accessory, decoration and animatronic destination will be at 11006-L20 Veirs Mill Road at Wheaton Plaza. Or that it will be "opening soon." But for those of us counting down to Halloween season on September 1, this is a welcome "sign" that it is rapidly approaching.

Maryland has 2nd-worst economy in America, CNBC finds

Maryland has the second-worst economy in the U.S., CNBC found in its 2026 Worst State Economies in America survey, the results of which were released today. "Economic growth and job growth nearly flatlined in Maryland over the past year," the cable TV business channel noted in its analysis. "[H]igh costs, unpredictable taxes, and growing regulatory burdens," are each a drag on the state's economy, as is an over-reliance on government jobs and federal funds. A new IT services tax walloped businesses, sending many firms packing for greener pastures in other states. Especially hard hit by the IT tax were government contractors, a painful irony in a state where little beyond government has been growing this century.

Some factors in CNBC's criteria certainly hit Maryland where it hurts. These included job growth, economic growth, and the number of major companies headquartered in the state. The first two "flatlined" over the last 12 months, in CNBC's own word, and Maryland hasn't attracted a single new major corporate headquarters this century. In fact, the story has been the number of companies leaving the state. "Budget situation" isn't a category any Maryland elected official would want to delve into publicly. Debt? Maryland and Montgomery County are both in deadly serious trouble on that front, as well.

"Small business survival rates?" Ho ho. The ubiquitous "Going Out of Business" and "Everything must go!!!" signs in Montgomery County storefront windows tell a most tragic story indeed.

"Maryland finds itself in a deep hole in 2026, with no easy way out of it," CNBC concluded. But the picture is even bleaker than the one painted by the already-stinging rebuke of a friendly, liberal news outlet. They didn't even mention the budget apocalypse currently forecast for the state in 2030. 

Can we continue to whistle past the graveyard, raising taxes and instituting new ones? Refusing for radical ideological reasons to construct the long-delayed new Potomac River crossing to the Dulles area? Continuing to block completion of our master plan highway system? Keep on losing, and often hardly trying, in the corporate HQ relocation sweepstakes?

We could. And we just might end up topping CNBC's worst list in the future. It's one of the few things within easy reach for the buffoonish incompetents currently running Montgomery County and Maryland. After all, "We're number two - we try harder."

MoCo Crust pizzeria coming soon to Silver Spring

MoCo Crust, a pizzeria offering "crafted cocktails," is coming soon to the Montgomery Hills area of Silver Spring. It will be at 1907 Seminary Road, the previous home of Meleket Ethiopian Restaurant, which closed earlier this year. One permanent sign has been installed above the storefront. A message posted in the window says that MoCo Crust is being opened by the same team behind neighboring restaurant Lime & Cilantro.