Bradley Party & Variety is fully stocked for Halloween (Photos)

Now the only variety store left in Bethesda, Bradley Party & Variety is going all-out for the Halloween season, aiming to be the headquarters for costumes, decorations, accessories, party goods and more. Stop by between 3:00 and 7:00 PM daily to see the gargoyle in the front window put on a scary performance complete with sound and billowing smoke. Want to buy it for yourself? That will set you back $3999 for this movie-quality prop.

It's just a stone
gargoyle, right?

Wait a minute, the
eyes just lit up

Now it's starting to
belch more smoke
than a VW diesel 

Costumes range from Zoolander to Superman to a high-tech Godzilla get-up that's probably going to be more realistic and entertaining than the Matthew Broderick version. Every type of ghoul imaginable to haunt your home or haunted house is here, along with an army's worth of party supplies, dinnerware, welcome mats, and scary invitations.

With no pop-up mega-Halloween stores in downtown Bethesda, Bradley Party & Variety is going to come in handy for the serious Halloween fanatic and last-minute costume shopper alike. Bradley Party & Variety is located in the Bradley Shopping Center at 6922 Arlington Road.

Abuse of EV spaces rampant in new Bethesda garage (Photos)

Special Investigative Report

Bethesda is known as a progressive, enlightened and environmentally-conscious town. But that isn't on display beneath its urban streets. Drivers of gasoline vehicles are regularly hogging spaces reserved for electric vehicles (EVs) in the new Capital Crescent Garage at Bethesda and Woodmont Avenues, and enforcement appears lax.

Whoops, Hyundai doesn't
make an EV Tiburon 

BMW and
Honda Accord in
EV spaces Friday
evening

Honda makes EVs, but
this ain't one of them

On Friday evening during the busiest dinner hour, several EV charging spaces were taken up by gas vehicles, ranging from Hyundais to expensive BMWs. Subsequent spot checks turned up the same abuse, including on Monday night, again during the 6:00 PM hour.

Volvo on Monday evening
during dinner hour

Nope, these aren't
EVs 

Neither is this

Nor this

Space after space was available
on lower levels of the 900+ space
garage - over 600, to be exact -
for gasoline-powered vehicles

With over 600 parking spaces available, non-EV drivers were still parking in the limited-but-convenient EV spaces - including a Porsche. The EV spaces were conveniently located as another incentive for choosing alternative fuel vehicles, much like the HOV access EV drivers often enjoy.

Only one offending driver
had been ticketed

Only one vehicle had been ticketed by parking enforcement during the times shown here. With Bethesda having one of the largest percentages of EVs in America, the rampant abuse could mean EV drivers planning to park and charge their vehicle would be blocked out by an ineligible driver.

The Capital Crescent Garage is also known as Public Parking Garage 31, and is operated by Montgomery County Government.