Montgomery Mojo

MoCo Mojo: 'Tis the Season of Anticipation

The holiday visions in our heads probably still have more to do with sugar plums than Scrooge, so let's hold that thought for a few more days.

  Montgomery County may have gotten a whole new political season for Christmas, considering what looked like an unofficial announcement last week. Below are the details, as well as the rest of the week's highlights in our continuing investigation into life in these 500 square miles.  You'd think we would have gotten a call back considering the newsworthiness of the information, but we'll stick with the evidence we did get. According to an email sent to supporters, former county executive Doug Duncan is set to vie for that office again, after a six-year hiatus.  “I am not seeking to return to the County Executive office simply because it is winnable—I am returning because I have so much energy for the job and know that Montgomery County is …

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MoCo Mojo: Being Thankful in These 500 Square Miles

"Gratitude is the sign of noble souls" - Aesop.

  A few years ago, I started a "gratitude journal" as a way of turning my many complaints on their head. Finding what to be grateful for among all that happens each day can be a challenge at first, but it's an exercise in thoughtful awareness of the good things in life. Below are some stories that might help in applying that philosophy toward Montgomery County during the Thanksgiving season. Who says there's no positive news? Just click and think thankful thoughts: After Decades on the Street, a New Home for Bethesda Veteran MCPS Achievement Gap Shrink Noted at National Conference Toys for Tots Drop Off Locations Sending the Troops Holiday Cards and Gifts State Touts Successes in Investment and Innovation Chamber of Commerce Announces …

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MoCo Mojo: Post-Election Hangover Cure, Scandal at Lockheed Martin, Countdown to Holidays

Recover from super storm. Check. Elect president. Check. Thaw turkey. Already?

  Montgomery County dodged the Superstorm Sandy bullet, then sailed through Election Day without major delays or problems. Could Thanksgiving Day run as smoothly? Not likely at this reporter's house. But miracles do happen, especially around these 500 square miles as of late. We won't rehash the election results here. They're available on your favorite Patch site under the "News/Elections" tab. Suffice it to say, Democrats generally dominated and the state made national headlines with its ballot initiatives. We hope you've recovered sufficiently to get on with a long holiday season. If you found yourself distracted last week, there was plenty going on around here other than voting: Incoming Lockheed Martin CEO Resigns in Ethics Scandal On …

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Montgomery Mojo

MoCo Mojo: A Superstorm Skips Through, Politics Next in These 500 Square Miles

Life in Montgomery County gets interesting.

  Here's to your recovery from Superstorm Sandy and to the continued relief efforts in the New York/New Jersey area. Look back at our coverage throughout Maryland here, and find ways to help your neighbors to the north here. We probably would have spent a lot of time talking about Halloween and the trauma of returning to standard time this week, but tomorrow is Election Day, so while you're trying to figure out how to vote on the Dream Act, same-sex marriage and/or your congressional representative, perhaps we can pretend for a day that life is normal in Montgomery County. First, take a look at our comprehensive Montgomery County Election Guide and our recent video interviews on our top political issues with Executive Isiah Leggett. We'll …

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Montgomery Mojo

MoCo Mojo: Is Montgomery County Too 'Fuddy Duddy?'

Is there a generation gap in Montgomery County?

  We have a test for you. Do you call it Montgomery County? Or do you call it MoCo? The answer may tell us something about the different generations in our county. In Montgomery County, seniors are the fastest-growing age group, according to the county’s Division of Aging and Disability Services. The number of seniors in Montgomery County, the state’s largest, increased 130 percent from 1980 to 2010, the agency said. That number is expected to increase an additional 65 percent from 2000 to 2020. The way the blog just up the pike put it, Baby Boomers arrived and "found life so good here that they never left." According to county planning officials, the county has 15 percent fewer adults between 15 and 24 than in 2000 and 17 percent fewer 25…

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Moco Mojo: It's Just SO Montgomery County

What says "Montgomery County" to you?

  We found ourselves thinking a lot recently about this or that event or story being so Montgomery County. Over the weekend, for example, Writers on the Row brought authors and readers together in Bethesda. Richard Belzer, star of Law & Order: SVU, and author of “Dead Wrong: Straight Faces on the Country’s Most Controversial Cover-Ups,” as well as Rosie Pope, author of “Mommy IQ” and star of the Bravo hit TV show “Pregnant in Heels,” were among the celeb writers in town. Then, on a Saturday night trip to see a movie in downtown Silver Spring, the excited throngs brought to mind the recent George Washington University School of Business study praising Silver Spring for successfully walking "the tightrope in attempting to achieve higher …

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Moco Mojo: Walking, Shopping, Riding, Eating and Remembering in These 500 Square Miles

Life is rich in Montgomery County. We'll prove it to you.

  Sometimes it takes looking back at the bad times to appreciate the good. Tomorrow, Oct. 2, is the 10-year anniversary of what became known as the DC sniper case -- a horrific chapter in local history that began in Montgomery County and became a national story. It's hard to describe to those who weren't here what it was like to fear a random bullet during routine trips to the grocery store or gas station, or to drive past playgrounds and parks empty of children, runners and bike riders. The perpetrators, John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo, were regulars at the YMCA of Silver Spring.  New details of their time there emerge in an account in The Atlantic magazine by Jim Ross, a public health researcher. Read Ross' article here. The …

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Moco Mojo: There's a Dinner Conversation In Here Somewhere

Most of the news that's fit to publish in these 500 square miles of Montgomery County.

  There's only one reason a pumpkin spice latte sounds delicious all of a sudden. It must be fall! So, with heat waves, hurricanes and back-to-school behind us, the iPhone 5 unveiled, the election and holidays still a way off, what's there to talk about in Montgomery County and environs? Traffic, of course. Here are some Patch headlines to get the conversation started: On the Agenda: More HOV Lanes on I-270? Walter Reed Bethesda Campus Upgrades Could Tack On 15 Seconds To Commute Times Commuting Mess Reported On Red Line Montgomery, Fairfax Leaders Urge Study Of High Occupancy Lanes Over Legion Bridge Cracks on Intercounty Connector are Getting Fixed Repairing Cracked ICC Bridges May Bring Road Closures Then, there's always development to …

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Montgomery Mojo

Toll Road Scofflaws, Chevy Chase-Bethesda Smackdown, Autsch! Germantown Without Oktoberfest?

Moco Mojo has a lot to tell about these vibrant 500 square miles we call home.

  Are you partial to Chevy Chase or Bethesda? It's not like the border dispute between Gaithersburg and Rockville earlier this summer. But why not stir up a little trouble? "Exceptionally livable" is how website AreaVibes describes Chevy Chase, giving it the following marks: That F might have something to do with the approximate median list price of Chevy Chase houses, which is $1.2 million. Even with that mark against it, AreaVibes gave Chevy Chase a "Livability Score" of 87, while Bethesda received an 84. What if the criteria were best cupcakes? Which would come out ahead then? You decide. Cruiser Blues Nearly a third of Montgomery County’s police cruisers were called off the road last week because two officers found themselves with …

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Montgomery Mojo

Moco Mojo: Cute Kids, We Heart Labor Day, What's That on Your Popcorn? Ew

Everything you may have missed the last week of August in these 500 square miles, plus what is surely the world's largest back-to-school photo gallery.

  Thank goodness it's a holiday after that grueling first week of school. Can't remember back to last week? Take a look at the world's cutest kids in our giant back-to-school photo gallery, and a few terrified ones as well. Can you spot the picture of the Patch editor from the first day of school, 1983? One of the hottest events in county for today's celebration is the Labor Day Parade in Kensington. It has grown from a few Brownie troops and the slow-stepping town chess club to a full-blown county event in the last couple of decades, but it's still small enough that you can usually get a curbside seat -- that is, actually sitting on the curb. It's Americana-on-a-stick complete with baton twirlers and moon bounces. This year it coincides …

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