A rare phenomenon in downtown Bethesda - did you witness it?

Here's something you almost never see in downtown Bethesda - the Tastee Diner closed. But it happened for about seven hours last night. As I reported over the weekend, water was cut-off to buildings all around the Marriott construction site for three hours Monday evening, so pipes could be attached to the new development.

Tastee Diner in Bethesda is one of the few 24-hour businesses remaining after the Montgomery County Council's "Nighttime Economy Task Force" effort ending up tanking the nighttime economy - and running 18 nightspots out of business in downtown Bethesda alone. A moribund nighttime economy was even tougher for mom-and-pop businesses like Tastee Diner that lost water service Monday night.

Fortunately, the diner reopened at 5:00 AM this morning, and in a couple of years will probably benefit from the hotel guests and Marriott employees who will by then be located on their block. Optimism isn't as strong for the nighttime economy, however. That will likely require replacing our clueless County Council.