Palisades Lounge, Quarry House Tavern post new signs as countdown to opening continues in Silver Spring (Photos)

Palisades Lounge has posted "coming soon" signage. The lounge is replacing a closed paint store at 8211 Georgia Avenue.

Meanwhile, Quarry House Tavern still doesn't have a confirmed opening date, but deliveries are picking up. A new sign posted tries to clear up the confusion - Amazon deliveries are going in, but not customers yet. However, they say, stand by for an announcement "soon."

Power outages persist in Wheaton (Photos)

Wheaton business owners were delivering the same message in multiple languages Saturday, after continued power outages forced them to remain closed. On Saturday evening, only one Pepco truck could be found in "downtown" Wheaton, on Veirs Mill Road in front of Lindsay Ford. The power utility failed to summon enough additional crews from other states, despite having 72 hours notice from the National Weather Service. About 100 customers remain without power in the commercial area of the Wheaton Triangle. Thousands more are still without power in residential homes and businesses across the East County at this hour. Heckuva job, Brownie!

Hogan warns residents of extreme winds today, 28 outages already reported across MoCo

“I urge all Marylanders to 

take this severe weather

 very seriously and 

prepare now” 

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan has issued a statement warning residents to be prepared for extreme wind gusts up to 70 MPH today. “I urge all Marylanders to take this severe weather very seriously and prepare now,” Hogan said in an urgent message from Reisterstown. “These wind speeds have the potential of causing power outages and creating hazardous conditions for travel and being outdoors starting Friday morning. Be sure to check on your family, friends, and neighbors so that we all are prepared for this rare and potentially very dangerous weather event.”

Hogan advised residents to avoid traveling this morning, never to run a generator indoors, and to not leave pets outdoors today. High winds are expected to fell many trees and cause major power outages across the state. There have already been 28 reports of power outages across Montgomery County as of early this morning.

Tree falls on Burtonsville house

Tree crashed into 100-year-old resident's
bedroom on E. Bexhill Drive

High winds got a quick start felling trees across Montgomery County overnight. Among the first to fall landed on a house in the 4200 block of Red Maple Court near Cedar Tree Drive in Burtonsville. No one was injured in that incident, according to Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services spokesperson Pete Piringer.

One of the other early collapses was a tree at Baltimore Road and Gladstone Drive in Rockville. That one took out a Pepco transformer and power lines, causing a temporary road closure.

The very first tree to fall in the County was in Kensington, which landed on a house at 9912 E. Bexhill Drive. Tragically, there was not only significant damage to the home, but a 100-year-old resident was rushed to the hospital as a Priority 2 trauma patient. The victim was trapped in her crushed bedroom before being extricated by firefighters.

Photo by Pete Piringer

MoCo drops ball again, loses out on Fannie Mae, Wilcoxon jobs

Montgomery County took it on the chin again Wednesday, as our elected officials continue to fumble the ball on economic development. High-tech manufacturer Wilcoxon announced it is moving its Germantown facility - and its 100 jobs - to Frederick. In a statement, Wilcoxon President Dr. Christopher McLean cited Frederick and Frederick County's "manufacturing-friendly taxes and [the] simplified permitting process that exists in both jurisdictions" as major factors in the move.

McLean also noted the quick access to three major highways, key to a manufacturer, and that "8435 Progress Drive provides a lower cost of ownership than our previous [Montgomery County] facility, and we can remain close to Washington, D.C. and three major airports." "Whenever you can attract 100 tech jobs, especially filling 45,000 square feet of space, it’s a great opportunity for the city," Frederick's Director of Economic Development Richard Griffin said, according to the Frederick News Post.

This was yet another clear example of our draconian taxes, red tape regulations and poor business climate costing us jobs and tax revenue.

But it got worse: Fannie Mae announced it has leased a whopping 850000 SF at Boston Properties' Reston Gateway, and will be the anchor tenant there. Tons of jobs will move into the site in 2022, Boston Properties said in a press release, bringing more revenue and business foot traffic for Virginia.

How did this happen? We have a County Council clueless about how the world of international business works in 2018. They are ideologically-opposed to making the common sense changes in taxes and regulations, and building the necessary transportation infrastructure, needed to make Montgomery County competitive in the region again.

Look no further than the Council's brainless decision to loudly broadcast they intend to cancel funding for the Montrose Parkway East. The Council, at least in public, claims they want Amazon to choose the Pike District for its HQ 2.

What better way to impress a logistics company like Amazon, than to announce you are canceling the main infrastructure project near their potential headquarters, right?

It's amateur hour at 100 Maryland Avenue again, folks!

Aspen Hill residential street concrete replacement to begin this spring

The Montgomery County Department of Transportation has announced a contractor will begin concrete replacement operations on a number of residential streets in the Wheaton Woods subdivision of Aspen Hill, starting this spring. See the above map for the included streets in this phase of the project.

Crews will conduct advance inspections to determine which curbs and sidewalks need replacement. They will install ADA-compliant curb ramps at intersections, and replaced damaged curb and gutter sections. Finally, they will offer residents an opportunity to have the contractor replace their driveway aprons, should they wish.

The work will take 8-9 weeks to complete, and the contractor is supposed to restore disturbed soil with new soil, grass seed, and mulch. Traffic will be reduced to one lane on affected streets at times, and temporary parking restrictions will be announced via signs. All work will be performed between 7:00 AM and 6:00 PM.

MoCo residents give thumbs down to County's transportation system, MCPS class sizes, high taxes

The results of Montgomery County's annual Community Livability Survey for 2017 show a deep dissatisfaction with the County's current transportation system, liquor sales monopoly, high cost of living, crowded schools and what little value residents say they get in return for the high taxes they pay.

74% of residents surveyed said they are dissatisfied with the traffic flow on major routes. That's especially notable, given that the County Council has recently canceled many of the projects designed to reduce congestion, including the M-83 Highway, and Montrose Parkway East. 56% are dissatisfied with the ease of finding and using public parking facilities. A majority, 53%, gave a thumbs down on the ease of travel by car in the County. Public transportation fared even worse, with 55% expressing dissatisfaction.

Other points of dissatisfaction with Montgomery County included the high cost of living and housing, and the perception that it is a poor place to retire. A majority, 51%, said they are not getting their money's worth from Montgomery County government compared to the high amount of taxes they pay.

75% of residents said they neither attend government meetings nor watch County government meetings and programming on cable television. 50% are dissatisfied with the County's government liquor sales monopoly.

A solid majority of East County and Bethesda-Chevy Chase residents give the County poor marks for MCPS class size, two years after the County Council hiked taxes 9%, with the promise of reducing class size. Both areas also disapprove of the current teacher-to-student ratio in MCPS. Countywide, residents are dissatisfied with the food served in MCPS cafeterias. Only 52% of East County residents believe their children are safe in MCPS schools.

Also very notable after the County Council has claimed we are a healthy jurisdiction: As with so many aspects of infrastructure, schools and public facilities, East County lags behind in health. Only 50% of East County residents reported they are in "excellent" health.