Former Piratz Tavern space marketed for lease in Silver Spring

Have you ever wanted to bring back the famous Piratz Tavern in downtown Silver Spring. Arrrr...you might have your chance in the future. The building at 8402 Georgia Avenue has a sign attached to it stating that it is available for lease. The Republic Garden is the current tenant, and is still operating. I have not found an online listing so far, so it's not yet clear at what future date the property is coming available, or if the property owner is simply testing the market. Don't tell Jon Taffer!

Renovations ahead for Plaza Del Mercado McDonald's

Significant renovations are scheduled for the McDonald's restaurant at 2207 Bel Pre Road at Plaza Del Mercado in Aspen Hill. The front counter, dining room, and restrooms will all be remodeled or updated. New seating will be installed, as well as new kitchen equipment and fixtures. However, the restaurant is expected to remain open for business during the construction. We've seen a number of McDonald's in Montgomery County getting makeovers in recent times, particularly in the East County and Upcounty areas. Work at the Plaza Del Mercado location is anticipated to begin before the winter.

"Sirius" failure for Montgomery County, Maryland as Virginia wins UK defense firm's US HQ

Officials in Montgomery County and the State of Maryland just can't seem to get "Sirius" about economic development, coming up empty again as a U.K. defense firm has followed so many others to Virginia to establish its first U.S. headquarters. Sirius Analysis, a defense management software consulting company headquartered in Portsmouth, England, will open its American headquarters at 4525 Main Street in Virginia Beach, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced in a statement. The headquarters will bring 105 new high-wage tech jobs to the Old Dominion. 

Youngkin said Virginia and Massachusetts were the two finalists competing for the headquarters. There's no indication that Montgomery County or Maryland officials even bothered to compete. This despite Sirius having sought a location near military bases, of which Maryland has twenty, compared to Massachusetts' paltry six. Did we blow it, or what?

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin

“Sirius Analysis choosing Virginia Beach as their U.S. headquarters showcases the Commonwealth's magnetic appeal in global defense innovation,” Youngkin said in a statement. “This expansion bridges UK-US defense collaboration, bringing cutting-edge analysis capabilities to our shores and creating valuable job opportunities for Virginians.”

“The arrival of Sirius Analysis signals a bright future for our region's tech ecosystem,” Virginia State Senator Aaron Rouse said. “By choosing our Virginia Beach for their U.S. operations, Sirius Analysis is not just creating over 100 high-skilled jobs, they're planting seeds for a new wave of innovation by strengthening our position as a hub for defense technology." 

It's long past time Montgomery County and Maryland's elected officials conducted a "Sirius Analysis" of their failures to attract corporate headquarters to locate here. Virginia is laughing at us.

Photo credits: Sirius Analysis (top), Office of Gov. Glenn Youngkin (bottom)

Montgomery County Public Libraries hit by network outage

Montgomery County Public Libraries announced that they are experiencing a system-wide network outage, due to an "underground fire in Baltimore this past weekend." The fire damaged a fiber optic cable network that serves public libraries statewide, MCPL said in a statement this afternoon. 

All Montgomery County libraries remain open on their normal schedules, and it is possible to check out books and materials. However, MCPL’s Wi-Fi, public computers, printing, scanning and copying services are currently unavailable, and MCPL believes the outage may last for several days. Libraries and school systems in all Maryland counties have been impacted.

Repairs to the fiber optic system are currently underway, MCPL stated. Baltimore City officials do not yet know the cause of several recent underground fires that have impacted electrical and communication utilities. This past weekend's fire was followed Monday by a major Verizon cell service outage impacting multiple states, and today by an eight-hour Sony PlayStation Network outage that affected users worldwide. Neither Verizon nor Sony have indicated the cause of their service interruptions so far.