Boyds burglars sought by Montgomery County police

Montgomery County police are seeking the public's help in identifying and locating two suspects who allegedly burglarized a home in Boyds on September 26, 2024. At 8:35 AM, the two suspects were caught on camera entering a house in the 22000 block of Knoll Crest Court. One of the two suspects is described by police as a White male of unknown age wearing a black jacket, black pants, and black sneakers. If you can identify either suspect, or have any information about this burglary, you are asked to call police at  1-866-411-8477. Tipsters may remain anonymous.

NIST awards potential $1.5 million to develop regenerative medicine curricula

Gaithersburg's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has awarded a potential $1.5 million to two organizations, with the goal of developing regenerative medicine standards curricula. Brammer Bio, LLC, and Gaithersburg's own Standards Coordinating Body (SCB) for Gene, Cell and Regenerative Medicines and Cell-Based Drug Discovery, will each receive $250,000 per year, with the option to renew for up to three addition years of funding. 

Regenerative medicine includes cell therapy, gene therapy, and therapeutic tissue engineering. It relies on the human body's own healing abilities to regenerate or replace damaged organs, cells, and tissue. As a rapidly-growing field in medicine and research, regenerative medicine is a promising new avenue in preventing, treating, and curing cancer and genetic disorders.

NIST was charged by the U.S. Congress last year to help develop the regenerative medicine workforce of the future. It oversaw a competitive process earlier this year, through which the two winning organizations were identified. Now these organizations will endeavor to create training programs on the standards, protocols, and measurements that will provide a foundation for the field going forward.

“We are thrilled to announce our new partnerships to develop an innovative standards education program, paving the way for flexible and immersive learning experiences that support advanced biomanufacturing,” Sheng Lin-Gibson, chief of NIST’s Biosystems and Biomaterials Division, said in a statement this morning. “These educational programs will facilitate the adoption of standards and best practices to increase quality and consistency of advanced therapies and ultimately bring down costs.”

Photo courtesy Robert Rathe/NIST

Sam's Car Wash expanding to Damascus

Damascus drivers will soon have a new car wash option close to home. Sam's Car Wash is planning to open a Damascus location at 26201 Ridge Road (MD 27). According to the company, Sam's is the oldest family-owned-and-operated car wash business in the Washington, D.C. area. Monthly memberships and commercial fleet services are available. It looks like they still offer self-serve car wash bays, a feature rapidly disappearing from some competing car wash chains in Montgomery County.

ATM stolen from Germantown gas station

Montgomery County police are investigating the theft of an ATM machine from a gas station in Germantown on September 23, 2024. One or more burglars forced their way into the station building at 5:19 AM, ripped out an ATM machine, and fled. Police do not have a description of the suspect(s) at this time. If you have any information about this incident, call police at (301) 279-8000.

Arrests made in Montgomery Village armed robbery

Montgomery County police have arrested two suspects in the September 17, 2024 armed robbery in Montgomery Village. The suspects allegedly approached the adult male victim in the 18200 block of Lost Knife Circle at 3:14 PM that afternoon. Police say they displayed unspecified weapons, and assaulted the victim, before taking his money.

Jose Ortega-Mejia, 29, of Germantown, and Abner Ortiz-Cruz, 23, of Gaithersburg have been arrested and charged in the incident. Ortega-Mejia has been charged with felony armed robbery, felony 1st-degree assault, 2nd-degree assault, theft of less than $100, possession of drug paraphernalia, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, conspiracy to commit 1st and 2nd-degree assault, and conspiracy to steal less than $100. He is being held without bond.

Ortiz-Cruz faces similar charges, with an additional charge of concealing a dangerous weapon. He is also being held without bond. Lost Knife Circle continues to rank among the highest-crime streets in Montgomery County.

"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.