In some ways it's sort of creepy, but in the morning light I thought this little wheelbarrow filled with gunky water and construction helmets was . . . soothing.
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Friday, May 9, 2008
POTD: Helmets
In some ways it's sort of creepy, but in the morning light I thought this little wheelbarrow filled with gunky water and construction helmets was . . . soothing.
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Thursday, May 8, 2008
Weekend to Weekend 5/8/08
Events in Rockville
Thursday, May 8
Melanie Mason and Mark Wenner of the Nighthawks, Concerts in the Square, Rockville Town Center, 6 PM – 8 PM. Hopefully, we’ll still be able to hear this excellent acoustic blues performance but it is supposed to rain. Stay informed -- the Concerts in the Square has its own myspace.com.
Scottish Dancing, Twinbrook Library, 7 PM. If it is raining, you can go on over and experience this enthusiastic demonstration of traditional Scottish group dancing.
Bully Prevention, College Gardens Elementary School, 7 PM – 8 PM. Free as part of the RM Cluster Parent Education Series. Our RM counselors will present with Voices Vs. Violence. Spanish interpreter available.
Friday, May 9
All My Sons by Rockville Little Theatre, F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre, 8 PM. $16/adults, $14/seniors & students. Arthur Miller play which opened on Broadway in 1947 and was eventually made into a film and TV movie. Based on a true story of a woman who informed on her father for selling faulty parts to the US during WWII.
Saturday, May 10
Royal Tea Party, Twinbrook Community Recreation Center, 2 PM - 4 PM. $8/Rockville residents, $10 Nonresidents. Rock Enroll # 24910. In celebration of Mother's Day, put on that Princess dress and get the royal treatment. Play princess games, make princess crafts, and enjoy refreshments. I'm gonna guess boys aren't going to this tea party!
NIH Chamber Singers, Twinbrook Library, 3 PM. Free. Choral selections from around the world: Psalms, Spirituals and All that Jazz. Good for the whole family.
40th Annual National Capital Area Scottish Festival, Rockville High School, 3:30 Scottish food & Celtic crafts, 5:30 Showtime. $10/adults, $5/seniors & students, under 8 free. Indoor event so rain or shine. Featuring Rockville High School Pipe Band, Sue Richards, harpist, interviewed on Rockville Central Radio, City of Washington Pipe Band, MacMillan Pipe Band, plus highland and Scottish dancing. It’s a fine show all around!
Homes & Hospitality Tour, Peerless Rockville, Baltimore Road in East Rockville, 4 PM - 8 PM. $40/person. Visit these wonderful historic homes never before shown to the public while enjoying gourmet hors d'oeuvres, wine, music, and beautiful gardens. For info or tickets call 301-762-0096. Tickets are on sale at the Waygoose Fine Crafts or the Red Brick Courthouse.
All My Sons by Rockville Little Theatre, F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre, 8 PM. $16/adults, $14/seniors & students. Arthur Miller play which opened on Broadway in 1947 and was eventually made into a film and TV movie. Based on a true story of a woman who informed on her father for selling faulty parts to the US during WWII.
Sunday, May 11
All My Sons by Rockville Little Theatre, F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre, 2 PM. $16/adults, $14/seniors & students. Arthur Miller play which opened on Broadway in 1947 and was eventually made into a film and TV movie. Based on a true story of a woman who informed on her father for selling faulty parts to the US during WWII.
Monday, May 12
Rockville Roundtable, Gelico Cafe & Pizzeria, 12:15 PM - 1:30 PM. Join Rockville Central Publisher, Brad Rourke, for lunch (Dutch!). There's no set agenda, just informal talk on what's happening and what people are thinking. You can let him know you are attending or just show up!
Wednesday, May 14
Town Hall Meeting, Glenview Mansion, 7 PM – 9 PM. The Mayor and Council are meeting with the Burgundy Estates Citizens Association, as they endeavor to meet with different neighborhoods around the City to hear citizen concerns.
Thursday, May 15
Mystic Warriors, Concert in the Square, Rockville Town Center, 6 PM – 8 PM. Andean music in a new way. Fusion, not just New Age, or Jazz or International. Experience the sound.
Last Martinis and Matisse, VisArts, 6:30 PM - 9:30 PM. $10 cover charge includes painting a martini glass. This is the last one of the season. Sponsored by the Fractured Prune, very decadent. The Jim Steed Music will bring on the power pop. Still haven’t seen it? Don’t miss the exhibition: "Kimonos and Woodcuts: Collaboration - A Way Of Work." Visit the resident artists in their studios. The cash bar features a "Summer-tini" with other martinis & bottle beers.
Town Hall Meeting, Rockville City Hall, 8 PM – 10 PM. Councilmember Piotr Gajewski is scheduled to have another citizen meeting.
Friday, May 16
Wine Tasting Social, Rockville Senior Center, 7 PM – 9 PM. Rock Enroll to register $10/members, $12/nonmembers, $15/nonmembers, non-City residents. If you are single and at least 60, this is your chance to get out and meet some people! Dress well and enjoy a variety of wines and hors d’oeuvres.
Saturday, May 17
Authentic Trea$ures to Tra$h Yard Sale, East Rockville Citizen Association, 8 AM – 1 PM. ERCA tells us “Last year we had over 25 families and organizations selling and hundreds of customers. We invite one and all to come and get lost in East Rockville, you never know what you'll find!
Rockville Growers Only Farmers Market, Corner of Monroe Street & Rt. 28, 9 AM – 1 PM. Free parking. First one of the season! Flowers, fruits, vegetables, plants and home-baked goods. Always a good review. Stop by on your way to baseball at Dogwood Park!
Sunday, May 18
Rockville Chorus, F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre, 7:30 PM. Free, no tickets required. This is the Spring Performance of this approximately 70 member chorus which performs works by well-known and local composers.
Email the information for any fun, educational or community events to be included in Weekend to Weekend. Businesses are invited to send along specials and discounts. Include links! We will publish event listings occurring in & around our coverage area (map) on Thursdays. The inclusion of events and specials is at our discretion.
If you attend an event, we invite you to write a contributor review. Just send it in and we will consider it. Rules: Event is in Rockville; fairly recent; article is your work; you are not offering it for publication elsewhere. Try to keep it under 500 words; we will edit for length. Include a photo if you have one!
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Rockville Central Radio Tomorrow At Noon!
Tune into Rockville Central Radio tomorrow at noon! It's a talk show: Call-in number is 646-200-3332.
As you know, we have launched a weekly radio talk show called "Rockville Central Radio!" It airs every Friday at noon, and audience response has been really gratifying.
It's completely easy to listen to: Just go to this page at noon on Friday, to start listening in. You'll need a computer, an Internet connection, and speakers.
This week we are again planning a great show. Rich Gottfried will be discussing his take on the City budget, and we'll have lots of other surprises.
Last week's show had a bit of technical difficulty, but we think that's been ironed out -- so dial in! Don't be shy!
(That coffee cup is merchandise from a certain band, not an advertisement for a neighborhood! You can get a cup like it here.)
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TCAT Meeting Set For May 20
The next Town Center Action Team meeting is Tuesday, May 20th at 7:00 p.m. in the Blue Crab Conference Room at City Hall.
I am told Bill Murray of Federal Realty Investment Trust will be there to talk about Town Square and answer questions.
For questions and such, get in touch with Bridget Newton.
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POTD: Red, White, And Green
Like the flag of Italy! Among others . . . sort of.
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Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Contributor Opinion by Rich Gottfried: Good Work; And Things To Watch On Budget
The following contributor opinion is by Rockville Central friend Rich Gottfried:
Some positive goals that were accomplished in this year's budget besides maintaining the services provided to support the City's operations include but are not limited to:
- Property tax rate reduction by one percent
- Property tax credit of $100
- No SWM Utility fee of $55.80 per ERU this year and utilizing the SWM fund balance to pay for the expenditures in this area in this fiscal year.
- Public hearing on switching from a contracted outside city attorney to an in-house attorney along with utilizing some contracted outside attorney's services in specialized legal areas.
- Increase in the income and the asset limits for the Homeowners Property Tax Credit program (the "circuit breaker" that lets seniors stay in their homes) and possibly future COLA ("cost of living adjustments") to the limits so that this program accurately reflects the high cost of living in Rockville.
- and many other services like the funding for some additional not-for-profit agencies.
Some concerns that are still unresolved in this year's budget include but are not limited to:
New style once per week trash pickup impacts: Since most of the City outside Hungerford has little knowledge that they will be losing
The parking garage enterprise fund operational financial deficit: If the parking fund is truly an enterprise fund like the water, sewer, SWM and refuse funds --- is the City planning make this fund "self-sufficient" by charging taxpayers a "user" fee, "subsidy", or "interest fee" as in the SWM utility fee example.
REDI, Inc.: There is an inherent conflict of interest having the City fund this nonprofit when the goals of REDI's mission are to entice new businesses to Rockville and to support and maintain existing businesses in Rockville.
Rockville already has a Chamber of Commerce where businesses pay membership dues to support the Chamber. REDI's goals and mission are great, however REDI should be a self-funded organization not by the City but by the business community, especially if REDI is as effective as claimed.
REDI cannot advocate effectively for existing businesses (for example the Home Based Businesses and the Stonestreet Businesses) against policies that the City proposes or that currently exist because REDI is funded by the City, hence a conflict of interest. "No man can serve two masters" and REDI cannot speak for Rockville based businesses in front of Rockville's City Council while it is taking its funding from that same Council.
What was decided regarding an audit committee, an investment committee, and a finance committee?
Speed camera revenue: Hopefully during the budget deliberations you will discuss scaling back this program once the overall goal of slowing down traffic for pedestrian safety is achieved. This program will gross $4.8 million dollars for FY09 alone and net $12.6 million dollars over the next five years.
What specific projects in the City will be funded with this money, and how will it affect negotiated traffic mitigation agreements with various developers?
The City may end up with an embarassingly large amount of money earmarked only for pedestrian safety projects, however that should not let developers avoid the costs of impacts generated by their projects.
Is there any mechanism in place to assure that this money is spent throughout the City, for both new projects and for retro-fit projects in older areas such as raised crosswalks, etc.
SWM Utility fee for FY10: There still needs to be some more discussion regarding the committment for staff and consultants amounting to $30 million over the next ten years - especially since there has been no clear distinction made between those parts of the program required by the State of Maryland and the federal government and those parts of the program that are being recommended by staff.
Other issues that could be raised but this is a starting point.
I am willing to volunteer my time to discuss the above items mentioned in detail with the M&C and of course with Mr. Cohen, the City's Director of Finance and with Ms. Tate, the City's Budget Director either as their consultant as needed or in the capacity as the City's Audit Committee Chairperson or the City's Finance Committee Chairperson, if I could be of service to the City of Rockville with my financial background, experience and expertise please let me know how I can help.
Let me know your thoughts, comments, and suggestions.
We all live in the City of Rockville together so let's make this the best place to live in and with a united front . . . together we can help each other out to the best of each of our abilities.
Rockville Central runs occasional, edited opinion pieces by contributors as well as other guest columns. Their views are not necessarily those of Rockville Central. We encourage you to join the growing list of contributors! To submit your piece for consideration, contact us.
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POTD: Haiti-Martin's Lane
I love going around reading the historical signs in Our Fair City!
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Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Man Dead; Three Firefighters Injured In Weekend Twinbrook Blaze
A Twinbrook apartment blaze early Sunday morning claimed the life of the apartment resident and put three Montgomery County Fire and Rescue firefighters in the hospital.
According to STATter 911 and WUSA, at about 1:00 am firefighters were called to 12819 Twinbrook Parkway, a garden apartment, to find the building ablaze with residents still inside. The apartment building has four units on the second floor and four on the first. Firefighters Captain R. Dwayne Dutrow, James Heikka, and Mark Mechlin entered Apartment 203, where the floor collapsed almost entirely, spilling them a floor below into Apartment 103, where the blaze began.
That apartment's resident, Timothy Moran, himself the son of a former Silver Spring firefighter, was found dead. The fire is believed to have been accidental.
The configuration of the building places the first floor about 14 feet above ground level at the rear, where the firefighters were. Dutrow and Heikka were able to exit through a window and fall to the ground below. Firefighter Mechlin, though trapped under a piece of furniture, still had hold of a firehose and continued spraying water toward the window until he was rescued.
(In the photo, firefighters fell from the top to the middle floor, and escaped through the narrow window in the middle.)
All three firefighters were taken to Washington Hospital Center. Mechlin was released Monday afternoon. The other two have left ICU and late yesterday were in "fair" condition.
According to STATter 911:
[Timothy] Moran's body was found in the same apartment where the firefighters landed. Montgomery County investigators say the fire started in that apartment and is believed to be accidental. According to Moran's family he is the son of a former firefighter from Silver Spring, Charles K. Moran. The family has asked that donations be made in the names of the injured firefighters to HEROES, Inc.
Our condolences go to Moran's family, and our best wishes for recovery go to the heroic firefighters.
(Image of rear of apartment from WUSA and STATter 911.)
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POTD: Warm Delight
This lovely scene just seemed to glow the other morning, bathed in light.
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Monday, May 5, 2008
Emergent BioSystems Surprises With Purchase
We've reported before that Our Fair City of Rockville is a hub of biotechnology activity -- especially applications relating to homeland security.
Over the weekend, a local company, Emergent BioSolutions, surprised industry watchers by purchasing the rights to a competitor's anthrax vaccine, according to TechJournal South:
Emergent BioSolutions paid VaxGen $2 million upon execution of the definitive agreement and may be obligated to pay up to an additional $8 million in milestone payments, plus specified percentages of future net sales.
Emergent already has a vaccine in place, but it reportedly takes up to 18 months for an individual to go through its full course. The two companies had been bitter rivals and were competing to win a contract from the Federal government to provide anthrax vaccines. VaxGen's product had fallen on hard times and Emergent picked it up at what appear to be a fire sale price.
Emergent's chief competitor in this effort is now an Annapolis firm, PharmaThene, which would be distributing British firm Avecia Biologic's product, according to the Washington Post.
Emergent argues that, especially for homeland security applications, domestic sourcing is preferable.
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POTD: Me Too!
I saw my friend Chad on the way to the annual Woodley Gardens plant sale and I asked if he wouldn't mind taking along my camera and snapping a few photos. He came back with this doozy. I love it!
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