Miller's Ale House has closed in Rockville

Miller's Ale House has closed at 1471 Rockville Pike. The restaurant and bar operated there for a decade.  Miller's had a 4.1 out of 5 rating on Google and Facebook, a 3.5 on TripAdvisor and 3 stars on Yelp, so they weren't exactly run out of town. Its closure really is the end of an era, in a way.

When Miller's Ale House opened in 2012, it looked like a new age of nightlife might be upon us in Rockville. Bar Louie and American Tap Room had also just opened at Rockville Town Square. And there were old standbys like Gordon Biersch and Hooters. Look around in 2022, and every single one of those businesses is gone.

This may simply be Rockville's chapter in the larger book of Montgomery County nightlife being slammed shut over the last decade. The county had a good number of bars and nightclubs around 2010, and certainly was positioned to improve with the right policies at the county level. Just the opposite ended up happening.

It started with a major hike in the County energy tax, one that saw businesses like Target and Magruder's having to dim their lighting, posting apologetic signs explaining it was due to the energy tax. A series of other anti-business votes were taken by the Council in the ensuing years, over the objections of business owners.

Melvin Thompson of the Restaurant Association of Maryland warned councilmembers in 2016 that Montgomery County's restaurant sector had gone flat since 2012. In contrast, Thompson noted, Fairfax County's restaurant sector had grown by 6% in the previous year alone. Frederick County's had jumped 5.4% over the same period. The Council ignored Thompson, and passed more taxes (including a whopping 9% property tax increase), more regulations, and a $15 minimum wage. 

At the same time, the Council also lashed out at food trucks. Part of the bubbling up of a potentially vibrant new era of nightlife was the new phenomenon of food trucks, which would park in legal parking spots in busy areas at lunchtime in Bethesda, Rockville and Silver Spring. Some would also park in nightlife areas later, to serve patrons emerging after bars closed for the night. 

The Council banned such mobile food operations, limiting food trucks to private property. Trucks - the majority of which were based in Washington, D.C. - retreated over the Maryland border into the District. Office workers in Friendship Heights had a clear view of trucks still working the lunch hour just over the line in D.C. Montgomery County's food truck scene was gone, with the exception of those who were invited to cater private events, or to park on private property like gas stations.

Over the last decade, at least 21 nightspots closed in downtown Bethesda alone. Incredibly, all of those closures followed the Council's 2012 "Nighttime Economy Initiative." Hyped to the max by some local media outlets at the time, the initiative - along with the rest of the misguided Council actions of the last decade - ended up tanking the nighttime economy countywide. The demise of Miller's is only the latest example of that collapse.

Assault at Rockville grocery store

Rockville City police responded to a report of a 2nd-degree assault at a grocery store in the King Farm neigbhorhood yesterday afternoon, October 2, 2022. The assault was reported at a supermarket in the 400 block of Redland Boulevard at 2:20 PM. There is a Safeway store at 403 Redland Boulevard.

Gourmet Bazaar opens in new location in Rockville

Gourmet Bazaar has relocated in Rockville. Back in March, I reported that the Persian deli and grocery store would be moving to 736-A Rockville Pike, and now the move is complete. The family-owned business was founded in 2013. In addition to groceries, they offer a full menu of freshly-prepared carry-out items, so you can pick up a hot lunch or dinner while restocking your pantry.

Hurricane Ian now Tropical Rainstorm Ian In North Carolina, minimal impact so far on Maryland, Rockville

Hurricane Ian is blamed for the deaths of more than 14 people in the southern United States so far, but as Tropical Rainstorm Ian, its outer bands have not made much of a scratch on the Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Virginia areas yet. At this hour, there is only 1 power outage in Montgomery County, caused by a fallen utility pole in the Four Corners area of Silver Spring. Rain has not been constant, and winds have been more breezy than gusty to this point.

Ian's predicted path today and
overnight into Sunday

The National Hurricane Center reports Post-Tropical Cyclone Ian's current location is north of Greensboro, North Carolina, approaching the Virginia border at 10 MPH. Its current maximum sustained winds are only 25 MPH.

Rockville's forecast from the National Weather Service calls for rain or drizzle, and patchy fog for the remainder of this afternoon. Winds will be 16 MPH, with gusts up to 29 MPH. Tonight, rain turning to drizzle at 7:00 PM. Patchy fog will continue to pop up across the area, and the low temperature will be 54 degrees. Wind gusts will top out at 18 MPH.

Sunday morning, those wind gusts will get stronger again, with a maximum gust of 29 MPH. There will be a 90% chance of showers. Sunday night, wind gusts will remain strong at 28 MPH, but rain will taper off after 2:00 AM. Monday will stay breezy, but the forecast has improved with partly sunny conditions for most of the day, and a 30% chance of showers.

Ian caused many major events around the state to be canceled, including the Taste of Bethesda, and the Oceans Calling festival in Ocean City. Public officials and event organizers were put in a difficult position, and have chosen to err on the side of caution in many cases.

Graphics courtesy National Hurricane Center (top)/Accuweather.com (bottom)

The B-12 Store opening Saturday at Montgomery Mall in Bethesda

The B-12 Store will open at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda tomorrow, Saturday, October 1, 2022. Special grand opening promotions will run for the next week at the store, which sells and administers injectable and intravenous vitamins. The store is overseen by a physician who can write prescriptions for the vitamins, and all injections and IVs are adminstered by certified nurses. 

All supplements are manufactured by Legere Pharmaceuticals and Vox Nutrition in an FDA registered outsourcing facility. Look for the B-12 Store on Level 1, next to Haagen-Dazs.

Hurricane Ian outer rain bands to reach Maryland, Virginia today as eye makes landfall in South Carolina

The first outer rain bands of Hurricane Ian will reach the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area around the middle of this afternoon, as D.C., Maryland and Virginia get their first splash of what will be a very wet weekend. Around the same time, Ian will make its third landfall on the coast of South Carolina. Accuweather forecasts a storm surge of 3 to 6 feet in South Carolina, with the greatest impacts north of Charleston, and in the vicinity of Georgetown and Myrtle Beach. The South Carolina and Georgia coasts could experience a total rainfall of 8 to 12 inches, and up to 18 inches in some spots. Rainfall will likely total 4-8" in North Carolina, Eastern Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

Here in Maryland, the localized flood risk will first loom tonight, and today will feature the highest wind gusts of 37 MPH. Winds will drop to gusts of 21 MPH on Saturday and Sunday, Total rainfall in Maryland and Montgomery County is expected to be about 2 inches over the weekend. However, if Ian were to move out over the ocean again or stall over our area, that total could more than double. So be prepared for all potential outcomes.

As of 5:00 AM this morning, the National Hurricane Center reports Hurricane Ian's current location is 145 miles SSE of Charleston, South Carolina. It is moving NNE at 9 MPH. Ian's current maximum sustained winds are measured at 85 MPH.

Graphic courtesy National Weather Service

Car stolen outside Rockville apartment building

Montgomery County police are investigating the theft of a vehicle from the parking lot of an apartment building in Rockville yesterday, September 28, 2022. The vehicle was taken from a residential parking lot in the 1300 block of Piccard Drive. That appears to be the Flats at Shady Grove apartment building. It is believed the vehicle was stolen sometime between 7:00 PM Tuesday night and 5:30 AM Wednesday morning.