The new road diet will again reduce the portion of the parkway in question to one lane in each direction. This time, there will be a grass median between those lanes, instead of the reckless and dangerous configuration that has existed for about 3 years, where the opposing lanes were only separated by two yellow stripes of paint. A bike path will be constructed on part of the space left by the removed southbound lane. This past weekend, a digital signboard was placed on Arlington Road near the parkway (see photo above).
Highly controversial from the beginning, the Little Falls Parkway road diet scandal will leave a legacy of shame in Montgomery County government for decades to come. The Parks Department, Montgomery County Planning Board, and Montgomery County Council all ignored the wishes of the public on this matter. 73% of the residents who testified regarding the road diet opposed it; the County is steamrolling over them and moving ahead with it anyway. That gives you some idea of their commitment to "democracy."
Instead, the Council and their allies in government are privately high-fiving each other over their second monumental victory over a perceived invincible foe. Having defeated the once-feared Columbia Country Club to implement the Purple Line for their developer sugar daddies, they are now giddy at having defeated the powerful Kenwood neighborhood on the road diet issue. Now nothing can stand in their way, as the last remaining private powers in the county capable of inflicting financial or political repercussions are now perceived to have been rendered inert.
And beyond the actual illegal actions that were taken on the earlier road diets, the shame of destroying an expensive public roadway - further crippling highway infrastructure capacity even while increasing the amount of development in the area - for radical, War-on-Cars ideology, is beyond criminal. Once again, one must wonder at what offense, at what illegality, the voters of Bethesda and Montgomery County might finally take action at the ballot box.
Police have no description of the suspects. If you have any information about this incident, or can identify any of the suspects involved, call police at (301) 279-8000.
Kimmel has long been a pugnacious and vitriolic critic of President Donald Trump and his MAGA movement, devoting many minutes of his program to attacks on both nightly. But he has never faced any serious consequences until now, and parent company Disney seemed quite content with Kimmel's shift from a late night comedy show to a hardcore political broadcast that trashed half of his potential viewing audience. What changed?
Nexstar hopes to successfully pull off a merger with Tysons-based Tegna, which would bring more local TV stations into its nationwide portfolio, including local CBS affiliate WUSA 9. Disney and Sinclair may also have potential tie-ups down the road, which would similarly need the approval of a Trump or future GOP administration. As a result, this time they had to show some action on Kimmel's controversial remarks.
Whether Kimmel will actually be canceled by ABC remains to be seen, but his return would certainly risk the ire of Trump. Disney will have to decide if defending the declining career of Kimmel would be worth potentially-major financial consequences for the entertainment giant in the future. Kimmel's ratings have plunged 11% as of the last reporting period, dropping him to third place in his time slot.
The ABC 7 Kirk tribute will be only one of the local events remembering the slain TPUSA founder this weekend. A candlelight prayer vigil for Kirk in Montgomery County is set for this Saturday night in Rockville.
Photo courtesy Salem Media Group
