Car stolen from Gaithersburg parking garage

A car was reported stolen from a Gaithersburg parking garage Tuesday evening around 6:04 PM. The vehicle was parked in a garage at an apartment complex in the 200 block of Fairbanks Drive. That is right by Gaithersburg High School along MD 355.

Bonefish Grill, Carrabba's lay off over 100 employees in Montgomery County

More devastating news for the already-moribund Montgomery County economy - two more county restaurants have joined the list of those laying off workers during the coronavirus pandemic. Bonefish Grill at 82 Market Street in the Kentlands in Gaithersburg has laid off 51 members of its staff. Carrabba's Italian Grill followed suit, laying off 63 at its Germantown restaurant.

Okey Poke opening soon in Gaithersburg

The poke bowl phenomenon isn't over yet in Montgomery County. Okey Poke is coming soon to 501 N. Frederick Avenue #104 in Gaithersburg. Construction of the interior appears to be complete.

Car stolen in Germantown

A car was stolen from the Farmington area of Germantown last Friday. The vehicle was taken from a parking lot in the 13200 block of Dairymaid Drive, according to crime data.

Rape reported in Gaithersburg

A strong-arm rape was reported in Gaithersburg on Wednesday night. According to crime data, a forcible rape was reported to City of Gaithersburg police around 9:23 PM. The assault was reported from a residence in the 300 block of E. Diamond Avenue.

Judge orders Maryland to hand over Montgomery County voter data in voter fraud investigation

MoCo has more names registered to

vote than citizens eligible to vote

A federal judge has ruled that the Maryland must hand over the voting registration data of Montgomery County voters to Judicial Watch, a right-wing government watchdog organization. Judicial Watch filed the suit several years ago when a review of public data revealed that there are more names registered to vote in Montgomery County than there are citizens eligible to vote.

The Maryland Board of Elections refused to hand over the voter data after earlier legal action. Elections Administrator Linda Lamone went as far as to delete the voter birthdate box on the registration form. That action was one that U.S. District Court Judge Ellen Hollander seized upon in her ruling for Judicial Watch.

Judge Hollander stated in her opinion that:

"Judicial Watch need not demonstrate its need for birth date information in order to facilitate its effort to ensure that the voter rolls are properly maintained. Nevertheless, it has put forward reasonable justifications for requiring birth date information, including using birth dates to find duplicate registrations and searching for voters who remain on the rolls despite 'improbable' age."

"Because full voter birth dates appear on completed voter registration applications, the Administrator may not bypass the Act by unilaterally revising the Application."

Judicial Watch had stated its intention to sue Maryland over the issues with the Montgomery County voter rolls in 2017, if the state did not remove names of ineligible voters, or of those who had passed away or moved out of the county. A man noted on Twitter in a post just last week that voting records showed his mother continuing to "vote" in Montgomery County elections for a full decade after her death.

Maryland and Montgomery County rebuffed Judicial Watch at the time. The organization filed suit over Montgomery County's "impossibly high registration rate – over 100 percent of its age-eligible citizenry" later that year.

“Maryland politicians fought us tooth and nail to keep Judicial Watch from uncovering the full truth about their dirty election rolls,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a statement yesterday. “This latest court victory will allow Judicial Watch to ensure Maryland and Montgomery County are removing voters who have moved or died long ago.”

Gaithersburg Starbucks drive-thru line wraps around store

The Starbucks at 505 Quince Orchard Road in Gaithersburg is one of the few open in Montgomery County during the coronavirus pandemic. Caffeine fiends are clearly sticking to their favorite coffees, even if it means an extra wait. When I stopped by, the drive-thru line wrapped all the way around the store in the Firstfield Shopping Center.