Shoplifting incident leads to cocaine bust in Germantown

A shoplifting incident turned into a drug bust when Montgomery County police arrived at a clothing store in Germantown on Monday afternoon, October 14, 2024. Police were called to the store, which appeared to have been at the Milestone Shopping Center, at 3:50 PM Monday. The suspect in the theft attempt was found to be in possession of cocaine.

Montgomery County Council pushing plastic bag ban

The Montgomery County Council has only done three things this century: raise taxes, drive business away from and out of the county, and ban stuff. You won't be surprised to hear that they are at it again, with another new law that will do all three. As a body that only copies legislation from other jurisdictions around the country, they're actually a bit late to the table on this one, but they're going to try and ban plastic bags. That goes for grocery stores, and restaurant takeout.

The ban also includes a new tax. There's already a tax on each bag you receive at a business. The deceptively-titled Bring Your Own Bag Bill will ban plastic bags altogether, and place a 10-cent tax on paper bags. They'll say you won't have to pay it, if you remember to bring your stained and germ-ridden reusable shopping bags with you. The press release falsely claims that the bill will create "a more sustainable future for the County," and "improve the effectiveness of the carryout bag tax law." 

If you ask yourself - or anyone outside of the small world of the Montgomery County cartel - to name one thing the Council has done to improve the quality of life since 2000, good luck getting an answer. They haven't. They've just raised taxes, driven business away, and banned stuff. To be fair, they've also jacked up your health insurance premiums with the ambulance fee, and your auto insurance premiums by defunding the police, leading to skyrocketing auto theft and stolen auto parts. Heckuva job, Brownie!

The faces change, but the Council stays the same since the cartel seized control of it in 2002. Smug, arrogant, and corrupt, with delusions of innovation, while plagiarizing the dumbest legislation from Eugene, Oregon to Sacramento, California. Your taxes go up, and so do their salaries, just like Bell, California. They said a bag tax would save the environment, just like they claimed natural gas was the solution to global warming. Lies, all lies, that evaporated as quickly as the Council-mandated paper straw does in your iced coffee. Incompetence combined with autocratic power is a recipe for failure, which is all we've seen in Montgomery County this century. 

But this is what a majority of Montgomery County voters continue to vote for, and they're getting exactly what they wanted. As the writer from another Maryland jurisdiction where voters don't have the heart to punish the elected officials who reliably fail them once wrote, “Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard.”

Boby's Furniture burglarized in Montgomery Village

Boby's Furniture was burglarized in broad daylight on September 29, 2024, according to Montgomery County police. But it doesn't sound like much of a crime. Around 2:24 PM that afternoon, a male suspect entered the store at 9645 Lost Knife Road in Montgomery Village, and stole...nothing. The store is open at that time on Sundays; perhaps the suspect entered an employees-only area? Police describe the suspect as a Hispanic male around 40 years of age.

Gaithersburg Planning Commission to rule on final site plan for Walnut Hill Sheetz

The Final Site Plan for the second Gaithersburg location of Sheetz will go before the city's Planning Commission this Wednesday night, October 16, 2024 for possible approval. Proposed for the parking lot of the Walnut Hill Shopping Center at 16529 S. Frederick Avenue are a 4959-square-foot Sheetz convenience store, with six, double-sided gasoline filling stations. The plan also includes new east and west sidewalk connections to increase pedestrian access to the site, a new retaining wall and fence to be constructed to the east of the site, and a new trash enclosure facing South Westland Drive. Planning staff are recommending approval of the site plan with conditions, including correction of minor drafting errors on the Final Site and Forest Conservation plans, and revision of the recently-approved comprehensive sign plan for the shopping center to include the new Sheetz signage.

Mayan Monkey Brewing Co. installs signage in Gaithersburg (Photos)

Exterior signage has been installed at Mayan Monkey Brewing Co. at 227 E. Diamond Avenue in Olde Towne Gaithersburg. The brewery missed an early summer opening date, but activity at the former Growlers building has created confusion about whether Mayan Monkey is open or not. So much so, that they have had to post an all-caps disclaimer on each of their Instagram posts stressing that they are not open. A number of private events have been held that were invitation-only. The brewery's website still says "Coming soon!"

Big Lots closing in Germantown

Big Lots is closing at 20926 Frederick Road at the Milestone Shopping Center in Germantown. This is one of 46 additional Big Lots store closures found on a list posted by Columbus Business First. Fortunately, the Big Lots in Montgomery Village is not on the list. Big Lots filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on September 9, 2024, the latest victim of America's vanishing middle class. 

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.