Taste the World in Fenton Village Scheduled for May 21

Whether you are a food enthusiast or someone looking for an enjoyable afternoon, the Taste the World in Fenton Village is the place for you. Located throughout Fenton Village, the Taste the World will showcase the diversity of restaurants just south of downtown Silver Spring and the hard-working entrepreneurs who operate these small businesses. The event is scheduled for Sunday, May 21 from 1 to 5 p.m. 

More information is available at tastetheworld.fentonvillage.org.

Capital Improvements Program Public Forum

Montgomery Parks will hold the bi-annual Capital Improvements Program (CIP) public forum on Thursday, May 18 from 6 to 9 p.m. The meeting will be held at the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission Regional Office located at 8787 Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring.

The forum will provide an opportunity for the public to share their ideas and suggestions on how to improve parks. For more information or to sign up to speak at the forum, call (301) 495-2534 or email Katelyn.Bentley@MontgomeryParks.org.

Additional information about the program, schedules and how to contribute is available at MontgomeryParks.org.

$100 Million in I-270 Congestion Relief Announced

Commuters will soon see a break in the I 270 congestion. County Executive Ike Leggett joined Governor Larry Hogan, State Highway Administrator Gregory Slater, and representatives from the winning firms to announce the advancement of the state’s $100 million I-270 Innovative Congestion Management Project. This program is expected to save drivers up to 30 minutes on their morning commute southbound from Frederick to I-495.

The plan will use innovative traffic management solutions to allow vehicles to move more efficiently along I-270 between I-70 and I-495. Final design is underway this spring with construction to begin this fall. The entire project will be completed in 2019.

Read more from press release.

Montgomery County Recreation Department Extend Summer Programs Due to Later Start Date of the School Year

The Montgomery County Recreation Department has extended summer programs to help families who may not have the option to take off additional weeks from work to care for their children. This follows the executive order that Gov. Larry Hogan signed last fall, which required Maryland’s public schools to start classes after Labor Day, beginning with the 2017-2018 school year. Montgomery County Public Schools traditionally started the school year on the first Monday of the last full week in August.

County Executive Ike Leggett announced that the Recreation Department’s summer camp programs will be extended this summer at a press event on April 6. Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Jack Smith, Board of Education Vice President Dr. Judith Docca and Department of Recreation Director Gabe Albornoz joined Leggett for the announcement.

Montgomery County Recreation added more than 40 additional full or half-day programs. This included six Summer Fun Centers (SFC), which are the Department of Recreation’s most affordable summer day programs. These SFC were positioned to serve communities with the greatest number of families eligible for the RecAssist, which is the Department of Recreation’s financial assistance program. Find information about summer programs.

Author Charles Lane Speaks on Civil War Reconstruction in Louisiana at Libraries Conversation Hosted by County Executive Ike Leggett this Sunday Evening

County Executive Ike Leggett will host the third Contemporary Conversations which will feature author Charles Lane who will discuss his book The Day Freedom Died: The Colfax Massacre, the Supreme Court and the Betrayal of Reconstruction. The event is scheduled for Sunday, May 7 at 6 p.m. at the Silver Spring Library located at 900 Wayne Avenue in Silver Spring.

The Day Freedom Died: The Colfax Massacre, the Supreme Court and the Betrayal of Reconstruction tells story of the Post-Civil War event in Colfax, Louisiana, where African Americans and whites mingled uneasily. On April 13, 1873, a small army of white ex–Confederate soldiers, enraged after attempts by freedmen to assert their new rights, killed more than sixty African Americans who had occupied a courthouse.

Registration is required for this free event. Visit website to sign up.

This event is co-sponsored by the Friends of the Library, Silver Spring Chapter. This Contemporary Conversations is hosted by the County Executive Ike Leggett.

Montgomery County Participates in Regional “Be Street Smart” Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety Education and Enforcement Campaign

Pictured L to R: MDOT Deputy Chief Operating Officer, Erich Kolig, Director DMV's VA Highway Safety Office John Saunders, Prince George's County Executive Rushern Baker, Leggett, MDOT Chief MD Highway Safety Office Tom Gianni, Prince George's County Police Chief Hank Stawinski, friend of D.C. pedestrian crash victim David Narvaez, DDOT Deputy Director Jeff Marootian and Advocate and friend of Narvaez, Michelle Adams.

County Executive Ike Leggett joined other regional leaders and members of law enforcement to kick off the Council of Government's regional “Be Street Smart” pedestrian and bicyclist safety education and enforcement campaign. Due to strong Montgomery County commitment to improving pedestrian and bicyclist safety, fatalities and serious collisions have dropped significantly in the County over the past several years.

This campaign will target areas with high crash rates to focus the attention of travelers in especially dangerous locations. In addition, police departments throughout the region will support the campaign with increased enforcement of traffic safety laws in these “pedestrian alert zones.”

For more information go to Press Release.

Montgomery County Public Safety Heroes Honored at 43rd Annual Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce Public Safety Awards

County Executive Ike Leggett joined County Fire & Rescue at the annual County Public Safety Awards. Joining Leggett were (left to right) FF/R Enrique Escolero, FF/R David Braun, Fire Captain/Paramedic William Cooke, FF/R David Wakeley, and County Fire Chief Scott Goldstein.

Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce (MCCC) recognized local public safety personnel for acts of bravery and heroism at their 43rd Annual Public Safety Awards luncheon held on March 31. The awards honored members of the Montgomery County Department of Police, Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service, The Sheriff’s Office, Maryland National Capital Park Police-Montgomery County Division and the Montgomery County Department of Correction and Rehabilitation.

In total, there were 21 Valor Award Recipients for eight incidents, three Unit Citations and one MCCC Public Safety Community Service Award.

Two of the incidents for which first responders received awards included the shootings at the Westfield Montgomery Mall and Aspen Hill shopping centers that occurred in May, 2016 and the Flower Branch Apartments explosion/fire that occurred in August, 2016 of last year in Silver Spring.

Body camera video of the police response to the explosion/fire was released for the first time at the event.

A five-minute version is available for viewing at: Emergency Response to 2016 Silver Spring Explosion/Fire Including Body-Camera Footage (Edited):

and a full 18-minute video is available at: Emergency Response to 2016 Silver Spring Explosion/Fire Including Body-Camera Footage (Full Version):



See the 43rd Annual Chamber of Commerce Awards program for more detailed information regarding the awards and award recipients.

Montgomery County’s GreenFest Returns on May 6

The third annual Montgomery County GreenFest will occur Saturday, May 6 at Bohrer Park located at 506 South Frederick Avenue in Gaithersburg. This festival has activities for the whole family with activities ranging from environmental films to workshops on composting, building a community green team and bike repair. While GreenFest has a diverse array of activities for adults, this year’s event has a special focus on making sure kids have fun while learning about the role they play in protecting our environment.

Activities for kids will be concentrated around the Park Pavilion at the center of Bohrer Park. This Pavilion has six stations of water themed activities, including a 3-D watershed model, an introduction to stream critters and the “Water Use Around the World” activity. Adjacent to the Kids Pavilion will be the Stream Maze, where kids can pretend to be a fish making their way upstream to find a suitable habitat. The children complete tasks and games to learn about the types of struggles faced by wildlife in urban streams.

Families can visit one of the two outdoor informational booths or the Park Pavilion to pick up a Scavenger Hunt game card. Kids that complete the scavenger hunt will be rewarded with a prize courtesy of the City of Gaithersburg mini-golf course. More than 80 exhibitors and vendors will have booths to explore while completing the scavenger hunt, including the electric vehicle and hybrid car show and local artist displays.

For more information on the schedule of events, directions, public transit, free shuttle buses from the Lake Forest Transit Center and the Shady Grove Metro, and food trucks that will be on site, visit montgomerycountygreenfest.org.

Office of the County Executive Releases First Quarter 2017 Economic Development Highlights

The beginning of 2017 brought new businesses, jobs and development for Montgomery County. The County Executive’s MOVE program has led to 45 new office tenants in several submarkets in Montgomery County and hundreds of new jobs since its inception three years ago. A new integrated business portal is shaping up to make it easier to start and grow a business here. The White Oak development is moving forward after much anticipation and promises to be a catalyst for revitalizing the East County. A second fiber connection was made with Ashburn, VA through private partnership and the future county-wide bus rapid transit system has a new name: Flash.

Following a robust 2016, which saw the expansion of several global companies and major employers including Marriott International, GlaxoSmithKline, and Wedding Wire, and the relocation of Donohoe Development from Washington, DC, Montgomery County is actively advancing Business Vitality, Talent, Creative Economies and Placemaking—the key strategic areas outlined in the Comprehensive Economic Strategy, to ensure our position as a global magnet for talent, entrepreneurship, and businesses.

The full report can be accessed here. For more information please contact Lily Qi, Assistant Chief Administrative Officer for Economic and Workforce Development, 240-777-2524, lily.qi@montgomerycountymd.gov.

Visit montgomerycountymd.gov/ep for more information on Montgomery County’s economic priorities.

Wheaton Glenmont Outdoor Pool Renamed to Honor Fallen Police Officer Sergeant Hector I. Ayala; New Department of Recreation Pool Safety Initiative to Begin in 2018

On April 4, the seventh anniversary of the line-of-duty death of Montgomery County Police Sergeant Hector I. Ayala, the County renamed the Wheaton Glenmont Outdoor Pool in his honor.

The Department of Recreation also announced a Safe Summer Initiative to honor Sergeant Ayala, that will begin in 2018. It will be offered on a yearly basis at the pool and provide a half-day session of water safety, mini swim lessons, swim stroke instruction and important parent/guardian safety tips for keeping children safe while at the pool.

Sergeant Ayala served many families in the Wheaton Glenmont communities during his seven-year police career working out of the 4th Police District.

Learn more about Sergeant Ayala’s career and the ceremony from press release.