Your Whole Body to become a coffee shop in Silver Spring

Your Whole Body, an organic wellness and nutrition store at 8646 Colesville Road, is closing. A source tells me the new tenant will be a coffee shop. This is just a few doors down from The Fillmore. Expect the interior conversion to take some time here, as it converts to a new use.

Euro Style boutique opens in downtown Silver Spring

Euro Style, a fashion boutique for men and women, has opened at 8429 Georgia Avenue in downtown Silver Spring. They are holding a Grand Opening sale, with savings up to 40% off storewide.

No MCPS schools make 2019 Blue Ribbon Schools list

Montgomery County Public Schools were shut out again in the U.S. Department of Education's 2019 Blue Ribbon Schools list. Not a single MCPS school was named a Blue Ribbon School this year, and it's not the first time this decade this has happened. MCPS performance has steadily declined across the board since 2010. Its failure to close the achievement gap certainly did not help earn an award that partly considers schools' success in doing so among its criteria. Overall academic excellence is the other major consideration for recognition as a Blue Ribbon School.

The failure to show in this annual federal measure of academic excellence is just the latest embarrassment for MCPS. Surging drop-out rates, questions about student safety, failure to fully-vet staff, repeated sexual abuse scandals, a persistent achievement gap, poor test scores, and a chronic class attendance problem have already tarnished what was once considered the premiere school district in the Mid-Atlantic. MCPS has also begun to earn a national reputation as lightweight in academic rigor; a new, easy grading system has really taken the shine off top marks, and when students continued to fail final exams, MCPS simply got rid of the exams. Neither move will impress college admission officials as word spreads.

Unlike Montgomery County, public schools from Calvert, Howard, Prince George's and Worcester counties were recognized on this year's Blue Ribbon Schools list. Only one Montgomery County school made the list this year, and it was a Catholic school - St. Raphael School in Rockville. Students there celebrated with Chick-fil-A, according to the Catholic Standard. 

Montgomery County officials have continued to throw greater amounts of money at MCPS, with no positive result, clearly indicating that the problem is not funding alone. With Montgomery County floundering on every front from education and economic development to crime and traffic congestion, it's clear we need new leaders who actually know what they are doing, and will put the best interests of children ahead of their own political calculations. We must overcome a political cartel that suffers from a severe case of Lake Wobegon Syndrome, and accept that this County is in real trouble, folks.

Fidel's Restaurant opening in Silver Spring

Fidel's Restaurant is coming to 13439 New Hampshire Avenue, in the Colesville area of Silver Spring. The specialty of Fidel's is charcoal chicken. Sounds like a nice addition to this commercial strip.

Demolition underway inside The Ambassador in Wheaton

Interior demolition has commenced at The Ambassador, located at the intersection of University Boulevard and Veirs Mill Road in Wheaton. The former Howard Johnson hotel is being torn down as part of the Wheaton Gateway redevelopment of this site, and the adjoining properties currently home to Lindsay Ford and Mattress Firm.

The development partnership behind the Wheaton Gateway project - The Duffie Companies, Willco and the Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County - says demolition of the exterior should begin by late October. It would be great if one of the buildings, or new interior streets, at the new development could be named to remind people of the history of this site as a Howard Johnson, hotels and restaurants that were once landmarks across America.

All that is known about the new development at this stage is that it will be mixed-use, with retail and restaurant space on the ground floor. Units will be 1, 2 and 3-bedrooms, with 70% being market-rate and 30% being MPDUs. Parking will be underground. The approval process is still ahead, and the developers' latest estimate for breaking ground is 2023. They add that Wheaton Gateway will be built in phases over time.

Roll by Goodyear opens at Downtown Silver Spring

Goodyear's new retail-service concept, Roll by Goodyear, has been popping up in urban settings across Montgomery County this year. The tire store just rolled into Downtown Silver Spring at 815 Ellsworth Drive. Roll sells tires, but also provides off-site service by taking your car to a service location elsewhere.

We'll likely see more of this trend as gas stations and industrial parks are allowed to be redeveloped in lower Montgomery County, along with fuel deliveries that come to you. It's kind of surprising that Roll closes at 7:00 PM in an urban storefront, though. Usually, landlords of "town centers" require businesses to remain open until 9:00 PM to avoid dead zones.

Wheaton Carnival runs through September 29 (Video+Photos)

A carnival has set up in the parking lot of Wheaton Plaza, and will be here through September 29, 2019. If you're right in the center of it, you can hardly believe you're in Wheaton. The carnival features rides similar to what you would find at a county fair. Every standard carnival-fair food you can name is available to eat. A midway features games of skill and chance. Here is a video and photo sample of what awaits you at the carnival: