Assault at Montgomery Mall in Bethesda

Montgomery County police responded to a report of a 2nd-degree assault at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda late yesterday afternoon, January 10, 2026. The assault was reported at the mall at 5:58 PM Saturday. This is the first assault of 2026 at the mall. Twelve assaults were reported at the property in 2025, and eleven in 2024.

Assault at Westbard Giant in Bethesda

Montgomery County police responded to a report of an assault at the Giant supermarket at 5320 Zenith Overlook in Bethesda on Wednesday night, January 7, 2026. That is at the Westbard Square development. The assault was reported at the grocery store at 8:50 PM Wednesday.

Tia Queta closing in Bethesda after 45 years

The recent wave of closures of some of Bethesda's longest-operating businesses continues. Tia Queta at 4839 Del Ray Avenue announced on Facebook yesterday that it will permanently close on January 31, 2026. The family-owned Mexican restaurant has been in business for 45 years. As the family also owns the property the restaurant stands on, the small lot could be valuable if assembled with the planned - but ridiculously-long-delayed - redevelopment of the Steamers site next door. The Tia Queta property was advertised as being for sale in August of 2024.

Maryland's MARC earns F grade in survey of America's commuter rail systems

Trains magazine, a publication that provides in-depth coverage of the passenger and freight railroad industries, recently used federal transit data to rate America's commuter rail systems. Maryland's MARC commuter rail received a failing F grade, ranking it as one of the nation's worst. In contrast, Virginia Railway Express earned a B.

The magazine noted that MARC service expanded during the 1990s, and that the state made great effort to update train equipment during the gubernatorial terms of William Donald Schaefer and Parris Glendening. This century, the picture has turned far bleaker for Maryland rail commuters.

Trains found MARC ridership dropped 64% between 2018 and 2023. MARC now has the worst cost efficiency, and the poorest mechanical reliability record of any medium size commuter railroad in the country. In other words, Maryland is at rock bottom in commuter rail service. The magazine summed up its analysis of MARC by saying, "it's tough to find a silver lining."

Reporter John Friedmann described the criteria and data utilized in the magazine's survey as follows: Each railroad was graded on the same five criteria. Efficiency was calculated by the operating cost per passenger mile. Utilization, or how much do passengers utilize the network, was measured by the number of passenger miles per route mile. Growth was determined by a comparison of 2018 ridership versus 2023 ridership. Relevance was measured by number of rail trips per area resident. And reliability was rated by the number of mechanical failures per train mile.

All data was compiled from the Federal Transit Administration's National Transit Database.

Not surprisingly, the Long Island Railroad and Metro-North Railroad in New York earned an A grade in the survey. So did commuter systems in Salt Lake City and Denver, railroads that aren't discussed as often as their more famous counterparts like the MBTA, Metra, and SEPTA, all of which scored below the Utah and Colorado lines in this survey - but far higher than our beleagured MARC. Can it get any worse for Maryland? Yes! Beyond a massive structural budget deficit forecast, any Purple Line financial losses will siphon even more money from MARC over the coming decades.

Chase Bank seeks sign variance for Wisconsin Avenue branch in Bethesda

J.P. Morgan Chase is requesting a sign variance from Montgomery County for a new sign it would like to install at its 7901 Wisconsin Avenue branch in downtown Bethesda. The sign proposed is 91.35-square-feet, illuminated, and will be attached to the Wisconsin Avenue facade of the bank facing west. It will read, "J.P. Morgan." The sign placement will be higher than 26' above ground level, which is what necessitates the variance.

Their application will be reviewed at a virtual meeting of the Montgomery County Sign Review Board on January 14, 2026 at 8:30 AM. A decision should quickly follow the review that morning. If you wish to join the meeting, or submit comments regarding the proposed sign, you must contact roger.waterstreet@montgomerycountymd.gov TODAY, January 9, 2026.

Signage at this branch has led to controversy before. Extremely bright blue signage and lighting cast a blue tint into apartment windows at the 8001 Woodmont development directly across Wisconsin, and raised the ire of some neighbors in East Bethesda. The bank then toned down the brightness.

MCPD releases details about shocking assault in Kenwood

The Montgomery County Police Department has released a few details on last month's aggravated assault in the exclusive Kenwood neighborhood in Chevy Chase. According to police, two suspects were attempting to steal items from inside a vehicle parked in the 6400 block of Garnett Drive at 3:49 PM on December 17, 2025. The vehicle's adult male owner spotted the suspects and, accompanied by a second individual, confronted them. Both victims were then physically assaulted by the alleged thieves, who fled the scene.

Police describe the suspects only as a Middle Eastern male and a Hispanic male, both of unknown age. They did not indicate whether the suspects fled on foot, or in a getaway car. If you have any information that could assist detectives in closing this case, call police at (301) 279-8000.

Bethesda construction update - Cheltenham apartments (Photos)

Construction of Cheltenham, a new apartment building at 4725 Cheltenham Drive in downtown Bethesda, is entering its fifth month. The project is already five stories above street level, and more than halfway toward topping out on the former Midas site next to CVS Pharmacy. There isn't an official website for the building yet, for leasing purposes, that I can find. No delivery date for the 102-unit building has been announced by developer Community Three, but the project was previously forecast to take about 18 months to complete.

Bethesda-based Orano USA receives $900 million from USDOE for uranium enrichment plant

Orano USA, the American division of the French nuclear fuel cycle corporation, has received a $900 million award from the United States Department of Energy to produce low-enriched uranium at its new U.S. enrichment facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Headquartered at 4747 Bethesda Avenue in downtown Bethesda, Orano USA is one of only three companies to receive the DOE funding, which totals $2.7 billion. The money is part of the Trump administration push to increase domestic uranium enrichment capacity, and increase nuclear energy production to support American leadership in artificial intelligence. America is working against time in this regard, as enriched uranium imports from Russia - one of our major suppliers - will be banned in 2028.

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright

"President Trump is catalyzing a resurgence in the nation’s nuclear energy sector to strengthen American security and prosperity," U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said in a statement. "Today’s awards show that this Administration is committed to restoring a secure domestic nuclear fuel supply chain capable of producing the nuclear fuels needed to power the reactors of today and the advanced reactors of tomorrow."

Orano USA CEO Jean-Luc Palayer

"We are honored by DOE’s decision to identify Project IKE as a key driver for U.S. energy security," said Orano USA CEO Jean-Luc Palayer said Monday. "Orano’s Project IKE facility is designed to generate a secure and significant American-based supply of enriched uranium. For Orano, there is no mystery to making enriched uranium—and a lot of it—when you have reliable centrifuges, existing transport containers, and enrichment processes refined over decades of successful commercial operations."

Project IKE facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee 

Orano has exported enriched uranium from France to supply America's fleet of nuclear reactors for the last forty years. With the Tennessee facility, Orano USA will be able to continue to provide this stable supply domestically, with high-wage American jobs.

Socks to Be You, Native Arts close at Montgomery Mall in Bethesda

Two recent additions to Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda have closed. Socks to Be You and Native Arts were seasonal pop-ups, and have departed to possibly return next year. The socks retailer has been a perennial tenant since at least 2022. I thought socks and native arts were year-round things, though.

Beyond Yoga to open at Montgomery Mall in Bethesda

Beyond Yoga is coming soon to Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda. The "female-founded and led" (it's actually now owned by Levi Strauss & Co.) athleisurewear brand will immediately face intense competition from existing mall tenants like Lululemon and Fabletics. Like those labels, Beyond Yoga has celebrity endorsers, including Jennifer Lawrence and Olivia Wilde. 

The Los Angeles-based company's calling cards include a "body-positive" product line, a Thred-Up apparel exchange program, and its proprietary soft Spacedye fabric. It recently expanded into men's apparel. Beyond Yoga is expected to be open by summer.

Power outage in downtown Bethesda

Hundreds of Pepco customers are without power in downtown Bethesda after an apparent transformer explosion in the Woodmont Triangle area overnight. Residents report hearing multiple explosions around 3:15 AM this morning. Pepco crews have been working in the area all morning. The utility hopes to have power restored by 2:00 PM. Frequent transformer explosions and outages downtown continue to highlight the question of whether Montgomery County's adequate infrastructure laws regarding growth are, well, adequate. The empirical evidence would suggest not.