Rockville Writers: Sign Up Early For The F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Conference

>The annual F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Conference, one of the premier events of letters in our fair city of Rockville, has been set for October 13, 2007. Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda, are buried in St. Mary’s Cemetary.

This year, the all-day event honors author William Kennedy, whose Pulitzer-winning Ironweed ranks as one of my favorite novels, and not just because it became a movie starring Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep.

According to Eric Goodman’s blog post at Gather.com announcing the event:

POTD: Zoom-Zoom

> I found this over the weekend on Smallwood.

Do You Know A Good Rockville Neighbor?

>The City of Rockville is calling on residents to nominate their deserving neighbors for the annual Good Neighbor Award.

• They must be a resident of the City of Rockville
• They must have made significant contributions to their neighborhoods after July 2006
• They must have demonstrated their efforts beyond the scope of citizen responsibilities
• They must have demonstrated concern for their neighborhood’s well-being or overall quality of life for the City of Rockville
• They must not be employed by the City of Rockville

POTD: Upended

> This chair has been on this lawn for a while now; it just sort of fascinates me. Pretty arty B&W, huh?

Comcast Says "No" To Lawsuits

>According to WTOP news, (aside: my favorite news station; I used to listen on the Internet when I lived in Maine), if you are a Comcast cable subscriber in Montgomery County, you recently received a change in terms notice from your favorite television content-provider.

The change involves your right to sue Comcast over disputes. Unless you say you don’t agree to the new terms, you will give up your right to sue and seek legal remedies, and be limited instead to arbitration. According to Montgomery County (which regulates the cable company), Comcast initiated this change in terms of service without telling them.

County Executive Isiah “Ike” Leggett is none too pleased. “Vendors should not change the terms of service without first receiving the consent of the consumer, and the fact that Comcast has not done this is disturbing,” quotes the WTOP piece.

You can keep your right to sue Comcast by “opting out” of the rule change. You have 30 days to do this, so get on the stick if you plan on doing this. The County recommends you do it.

You can “opt out” online or by sending an old-fashioned letter to Comcast at:

Comcast
1500 Market Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102
ATTN: Legal Department/Arbitration

(Photo from Media Alliance…disclaimer…it is from a San Francisco protest in 2005.)

(Logo is from Comcast site.)

Shady Grove Adventist Profit Drops

>According to the Business Gazette, which reviewed state disclosure records, after two straight years of solid profits, Shady Grove Adventist Hospital showed a net loss in 2006.

After averaging more than $10 million in operating profits in 2004 and 2005, Shady Grove Adventist Hospital in Rockville recorded a net operating loss of $6.3 million in 2006, according to recently released state data. . . . The loss, which included both regulated and unregulated operations, was the second largest among the state’s 47 acute-care hospitals in 2006.

Most other Maryland hospitals showed profits for the year. The only one performing worse than Shady Grove was Laurel Regional Hospital, part of the Prince George’s County health network, which has been having severe troubles.

Shady Grove points out that the operating numbers include real estate and that in the first part of 2007 things are turning around and the hospital is once again beginning to show a profit.

(Photo from Shady Grove Adventist site.)

POTD: Aim For The Sky

> This is a statue behind Gifford’s in Town Square. (No, I was not trying to make a point about the “photo controversy” by taking pictures there. I have been taking photos in Town Square since it opened.)

Weekend to Weekend 7/26/07

>Events in Rockville

Saturday, July 28

Growers Only Farmers Market, Rockville Town Center Plaza between Gibbs St. & Maryland Ave., 9 AM -1 PM. Local farmers come together to sell fruit, bread, flowers and more.

Farm Tour and Harvest Sale, 13 Farms Open, 10 AM - 4 PM. Always great to experience real, live farm life! Support our local farmers here in Montgomery County! Hayrides, pick-your-own or purchase flowers, fruits, and vegetables, music, vineyards, weaving, crafts, fresh milk and eggs. Check the schedule/map and plant a tour to visit a few!

Sunday, July 29

Farm Tour and Harvest Sale, 9 Farms Open, 10 AM – 4 PM. See description for Saturday.

Family Feud, Rockville Town Center, 4 PM. Just like on TV. Watch families compete for prizes and play the Rockville style of the family feud game.

Monday, July 30

Frieda’s Cottage, 10 AM. Open a new chapter in the history of Chestnut Lodge with the transfer of ownership to Peerless Rockville. Hear plans for the restoration of Frieda’s Cottage. Plant an elm in honor of the 100th anniversary of Bartlett Tree Experts. Meet the preservation team. Tour the Cottage. For more details and to rsvp, call 301-762-0096

Tuesday, July 31

Magician Mike Rose, Rockville Library, 2:00 PM. “Magic Road Trip,” for ages 6 and up. Mr. Rose never fails to make the kids AND parents laugh.

Nada Brahma, Kids, Parks & Performing Arts, Montrose Park, 451 Congressional Lane, 7:30 PM. Bring comfortable seating. All performances are held outdoors weather permitting. To verify location and obtain directions call 240-314-8682 after 6:30 PM on the day of the show. A World Concert—with music from the Caribbean, Andes Mountains, Sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East, Central and Southeast Asia and the Australian Outback. Join this party with a message!

Meet: Notable Rockville Women sponsored by Peerless Rockville, Rockville Senior Center, 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM, $2 fee

Wednesday, August 1

Project Natale, Out to Lunch Wednesdays, City of Rockville, Food & Farmer’s Market, E. Montgomery Ave, 12 PM - 1:30 PM.

Maryland Science Center, Twinbrook Library, 7:00 PM. A fun educational science show.

Thursday, August 2

Patty Reese Duo, Concerts in the Square, City of Rockville, Rockville Town Center Plaza, 6 PM - 8 PM. Blues, country, R&B.

Weekend to Weekend will publish event listings occuring in & around our coverage area (map) on Thursdays. If you know of a fun, educational, or community event, please email [email protected]. The inclusion of events is at our discretion.

POTD: Feeling Squirrelly

> Another in the neighborhood series of cute little guys on lawns. When I first took this picture (which was much larger) I did not notice the squirrell.

Our Election-Season Pledge To You

At a recent Citizen’s Forum, >think-tanker and president of the College Gardens Civic Association Mark M. Pierzchala announced his candidacy for mayor. With that in mind, now is as good a time as any to let you know of Rockville Central’s city-election plans.

We’re a community news resource, and elections are a key part of community news. So we’re going to do our best to provide ordinary Rockville folks with the information they need to help make their decision this November. But we’re not a politics or opinion blog, so we will try to avoid “insider” pieces about the machinations of the campaigns, just as we will try to avoid pieces supporting this or that candidate for city council or candidate for mayor. We aren’t going to endorse anyone.

We’ll just try to be straight down-the-middle, and tell you what you need to know. We think that’s how we can be most useful.

Here is what you can expect us to try our best to give you:

• A way to know who is running for what City offices, with a link to their campaign website
• Significant news items or analysis that relate to their positions on City issues or the overall viability of their candidacy
• Interviews with candidates — written recaps and full audio (see below for how you can help)
• Personal opinion — tagged as opinion — about the election if it seems honestly helpful
• A direct statement from each candidate, either text or video or both
• A photo of each person running for City office
• Other information and that seems useful

We will try to make sure you won’t get:

• Screeds, rants, tirades, anonymous flame-wars, personal attacks
• Idealogical invective disguised as “news”
• Trumped-up “investigation” pieces that amount to nothing
• Glowing puff-pieces disguised as “news”
• Endorsements by Rockville Central
• Punditry, predictions, and insider politics

We will try our hardest to meet these goals. When we fall down, we hope you will help us out by letting us know. We will try to be as transparent as possible. But remember, we are just doing this in our spare time so try to give us a break!

Here are two important ways you can help us out:

1. Between now and mid-September, we plan to interview each announced candidate for mayor and city council. We’ll ask them the standard kinds of questions, and also go into different avenues suggested by each conversation. But, we want to know what you would like to know from the candidates. Please use the comments section for this post, or drop us a line.
2. And…if you are a candidate or can connect us to a candidate and help set up an interview, please let us know.

We hope you will find Rockville Central useful as we move into election season and beyond. This is a work in progress. Please tell us how we’re doing.

POTD: Take A Meeting

> This arrangement can also be used for tea parties.

Rockville Restaurant Charged With Dumping Grease

The >Sentinel reports that the City of Rockville discovered last friday a 700-gallon plug of grease in a storm drain that empties into Cabin John Creek. That’s 15 feet worth of grease. Eeeeeww.

“We went to where the pipe emptied into Cabin John Creek and found a lot of greasy, oily residue,” [head of Rockville's environmental management division Mark] Charles said. “So presumably a large amount had gotten into that water system.”

The City has fined Halal Kabob at 1327 Rockville Pike for dumping the grease, claiming that employees disposed of the grease on a weekly basis over at least months. Halal Kabob owner Amir Faraji denies the claim.

In an interesting twist, had the city discovered the grease just a few days later things would have been different. On Monday, the City Council enacted a new water quality ordinance that specifies penalties of up to $1,000 per day for water pollution offenses. But up to then, according to the Sentinel, the top penalty was just $100, which is what Halal Kabob is facing.

International Drug Trafficking Suspect Held in Rockville

>According to officials, a Chinese Mexican businessman, wanted on international drug trafficking and money laundering charges by mexican authorities, was arrested and is being held in Rockville. Zhenli Ye Gon was taken last night on charges of importing 19 tons of pseudoephedrine, the key ingredient in methamphetamine or “meth.” Reports say that, in March, $207 million in dollars, pesos, and euros was also found in his home in a suburb of Mexico City.

According to ABC News:

Ye Gon denies the charges. He says that the pseudoephedrine was intended for prescription medications his company, Unimed Pharm Chem de Mexico SA, was going to be making in a new factory in Toluca, Mexico. He also says that $150 million of the cash in his home belongs to Mexico’s ruling political party and that he was ordered to hold it, hiding it behind walls and in closets. If true, this would be significant as president Felipe Calderon has become known for vigorously fighting drugs, sending soldiers into the streets in crackdowns on traffickers and their networks.

POTD: Flowers

> Photo by Carson

POTD: Twilight Run

>Some runners from Saturday night’s annual Twilight Run, which goes right by my house. Why is the photo so bad? It was nighttime, silly!