Redwood still battling to reopen after pipe floods Bethesda Row restaurant

Redwood Restaurant and Bar on Bethesda Lane remained closed yet another night. A new sign posted offers a conflicting message to the more optimistic one currently on their Facebook page.

The sign says they now hope to reopen "early next week" (which is now early this week, given that today is Sunday). They say a remediation crew is scheduled to work inside the restaurant until then. Last night, coiled hoses were visible on the floor of the dining room.

There is one bit of good news - Redwood is promising free soup when they reopen. With these temperatures, I'm sure many will be taking them up on that offer.

One Burger at Community closes in Bethesda (Photos)

After holding on another two months with a slimmer menu and focus on high-quality hamburgers, One Burger at Community has closed. The Mark Bucher establishment began life as Community, an all-day, upscale diner concept in the new 7770 Norfolk luxury apartment tower. It seemed to draw crowds well enough, but dropped hours and many menu items at the start of November last year.

Bucher's other popular venture in the same building, Medium Rare, was open and packing them in Friday. Meanwhile, One Burger at Community was dark to begin the day. A sign blamed weather-related water problems. By early evening, however, Community had announced "we have closed" on their Facebook page.

While the specific cause of the closure has not been announced publicly, I must note Community is the 13th restaurant/bar with a late-night focus to close in downtown Bethesda since Montgomery County Council Hans Riemer's failed "nighttime economy" initiative.

Quincy's for lease in downtown Bethesda (Photos)

There have been rumors off-and-on about the owners of Quincy's getting the financial backing they need to reopen the shuttered bar at 4920 Del Ray Avenue. It's been vacant since March 2017. Those rumors now appear to be moot with the posting of for-lease signage at the building Friday. Quincy's was one of 12 downtown Bethesda nightspots to close, after Montgomery County Council President Hans Riemer's disastrous "nighttime economy" initiative ended up destroying the nighttime economy in downtown Bethesda.

Bethesda was hit the hardest by Riemer's fiasco of any town in the County. The other Quincy's locations remain open for business. To add insult to injury, Riemer had promised restaurant and bar owners he would end the County government's antiquated and arcane liquor sales monopoly, only to later do a 180° and take steps to preserve and strengthen that hated monopoly. That liquor regime alone puts a heavier financial burden on MoCo restaurateurs and bar owners, compared to their peers in D.C. and Virginia, in an already-slim profit margin business.

Cordell Ave. water main break worsens, WSSC finally responds (Photos)

The water main break that has been flowing on Cordell Avenue near Caddies, Alatri Bros. and Gringos & Mariachis for several days began spewing water out of the middle of the street yesterday. WSSC crews finally responded last evening, after letting the worsening leak run unchecked this week. Heavy ice and slush developed in the roadway, due to the widespread pooling Friday.

Firefighters investigating black smoke at Highland House in Friendship Heights

Montgomery County firefighters are responding to a report of black smoke coming from the roof of the Highland House apartments in Chevy Chase. Firefighters searching the basement, top floor and roof, and examining the building from the rear, both said there was "nothing evident," according to scanner reports. Further examination of a rooftop boiler indicated a malfunctioning unit, that was emitting black smoke. Firefighters will now check all stairwells, after confirming there was no smoke or fire on the 24th floor below the roof.

MoCo Council's war on the homeless spreads across the pond

The Montgomery County Council's war on the homeless, including a proposal to ban panhandling, appears to be contagious. A British official is demanding the Thames Valley police remove homeless people from the streets before the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, scheduled to take place on May 19 at Windsor Castle.

Our County Council has set a similar deadline. Claiming they will end homelessness by housing every single homeless person by December of this year, they conveniently are seeking to pass laws criminalizing homelessness, in an apparent scheme to drive the homeless away - - to make it appear they were successful.

But what's so interesting about the British case, is that Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Council leader Simon Dudley's talking points are almost identical to those of our Montgomery County Council. "A large number of adults that are begging in Windsor are not in fact homeless," Dudley wrote to police, "and if they are homeless they are choosing to reject all support services ... In the case of homelessness amongst this group, it is therefore a voluntary choice.”

The Montgomery County Council, during their last attempt to pass the panhandling law, claimed that the homeless asking for money in Montgomery County are actually "professional panhandlers" who travel here from outside the County each day. They provided no evidence to support their claim. A national non-profit organization condemned the County's proposal at that time, writing that the Council was trying to "criminalize homelessness."

Similarly, homeless advocates in Windsor blasted Dudley for his claims. “For someone to ask for loose change, your self-esteem is at its lowest," Murphy James of the Windsor Homelessness Project told The Guardian. "No one does this from choice. We shouldn’t be demonising these people, but asking them what we can do to help.”

A public hearing will be held on the panhandling ban on January 30 at 1:30 PM at the County Council Office Building.

Bethesda Safeway stocked up for the bomb cyclone - and the next one (Photos)

We're having a hard time finding evidence of global warming in Bethesda right now, but there's no difficulty finding winter storm supplies at the Safeway at 5000 Bradley Boulevard. Even better, they are open 24 hours - - one of only four round-the-clock businesses left after the disastrous "nighttime economy" initiative of Montgomery County Council President "Helpless" Hans Riemer ended up wrecking downtown Bethesda's nighttime economy.

Windshield fluid/anti-freeze

Ice melter!

Firelog!

Snow shovels

Rock salt- and it's classic
Morton brand

Redwood watch continues on Bethesda Lane

Redwood Restaurant and Bar was closed again last night on Bethesda Lane, after being closed two previous days due to a burst water pipe. A wet-dry vac could be seen inside the dining room last night.

There is a schedule posted on the Redwood website showing the hours they will be open each day through January 7. No explanation is given, and they were actually not open on January 3 and 4, contrary to the hours shown for those evenings. According to the schedule, they will be open regular hours today and tonight, so we'll have to see what happens.

Wet-dry vac box

Water main breaks continue, causing icy roadways in downtown Bethesda (Video+Photos)

There is good news and bad news on the water main breaks in downtown Bethesda. First, the good news: The WSSC has finally gotten to that steady water main leak on Bradley Boulevard near Wisconsin Avenue.

Westbound Bradley Boulevard near
Strathmore Street was slick with ice

WSSC crew working on the Bradley Boulevard
water main break last night

The bad news: there were at least two other water main breaks active last night, an existing one on Cordell Avenue, and a new one on Wisconsin Avenue near the Marriott headquarters construction site. While fresh running water continued to flow from the leaks, standing water rapidly froze in the parking lanes on both roads.

Cordell Avenue between
Old Georgetown Road and
Norfolk Avenue

Ice in the parking lane

But the ice didn't dissuade some
from still using the parking spaces

Wisconsin Avenue - very dangerous

A cone is not enough to prevent a
major spinout here, which could
cause a car to jump the curb
and strike pedestrians

Unshoveled sidewalk at 7900 Wisconsin a hazard for Bethesda pedestrians

The sidewalk in front of the construction site at 7900 Wisconsin Avenue presented a slip risk to pedestrians as late as last night. Sidewalks along Wisconsin on either side of the site were shoveled, making the stretch in front of 7900 stand out. Accumulation was low, but with the hard freeze, could easily cause someone to fall between now and Monday. The property owner is technically in compliance with the sidewalk shoveling law if the snow is removed by the 24th hour after snow stopped falling Thursday, however.

Urban Country to move Friday at Bethesda Row

Urban Country Designs will make its short move one door up to 7121 Arlington Road at Bethesda Row tomorrow, Friday, January 5, 2017. The upscale furniture store is taking over the vacant City Sports space, and its current location will become Amazon Books in a few months.

They're having a clearance sale that includes floor samples, which had to be moved over to the former lululemon store at 4856 Bethesda Avenue during the big move. Furniture prices are up to 75% off, so head over there (next to the Apple Store) to browse until Friday.

Barnes & Noble reopens, Redwood closed again last night (Photos)

Barnes & Noble reopened as scheduled yesterday morning, following what the store termed a "heat outage." B&N is still scheduled to close on January 11, and a closing sale is underway. Meanwhile, Redwood was not able to reopen yesterday, following a burst pipe on Monday. They will try again today, according to an employee.

Up Top Acres to open rooftop farm at Pike & Rose

Up Top Acres, the urban farming company that brought a rooftop farm to Bethesda Row, will bring an even larger one to Federal Realty's Pike & Rose development this April. The 17000 SF farm will grow greens, root vegetables, herbs, tomatoes, peppers and more. 

Produce grown at the Farm at Pike & Rose will be distributed through a Farm Membership Program, where Up Top customers will sign up to become members, and receive a weekly share of produce. Additional produce will be sold to nearby restaurants.

Training Ground to hold grand opening this Saturday, Jan. 6, in Bethesda

Training Ground, a new fitness concept located at 4940 Hampden Lane, Suite 200 in downtown Bethesda, will hold its Grand Opening this coming Saturday, January 6, 2018 from 1:00-3:00 PM.  Click here for free tickets.

The first 50 attendees will receive a free gift bag. Inside the bag will be snacks from Amazi, Noshbar and Territory Foods. Bag winners will also be entitled to a free personal training consultation at Training Ground, and a free physical therapy consultation from Cohen Health & Performance.

Everyone will enjoy free food and mimosas from Bethesda Row eateries Sweetgreen and Modern Market as they tour the facility. Training Ground's selling point is that they provide the large, modern space and world-class fitness equipment, but the various training options are provided by the independent personal trainers who use the facility as a shared workspace.

Photos courtesy Training Ground