Montgomery Mojo

MoCo Mojo: National Regifting Day

There's nothing wrong with regifting. It's akin to recycling. We do it in the news business every December. It's called a year-ender, or "best of."

  If you've ever taken an item that was given to you and put it in your "gift bin" to pass on to someone else, it's okay to admit it. In fact, this year, there's a day to celebrate such frugality. According to one web site, Dec. 20 is unofficially regifting day. Another has given prizes for the best regifting story and a third offers a “Gift Giver’s Guide to Gracious Regifting.” In the spirit of regifting, MoCo Mojo gives you some of the best of what Montgomery County had to offer last week, including a new face of the county council, a cutting-edge county web site and a veiled admission that Montgomery County may need to catch up to Virginia when it comes to development and attracting business. No more: Please Hold for the Next Available …

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MoCo Mojo: 'Tis the Season of Anticipation

The holiday visions in our heads probably still have more to do with sugar plums than Scrooge, so let's hold that thought for a few more days.

Montgomery Mojo

MoCo Mojo: 'Tis the Season of Anticipation

The holiday visions in our heads probably still have more to do with sugar plums than Scrooge, so let's hold that thought for a few more days.

  Montgomery County may have gotten a whole new political season for Christmas, considering what looked like an unofficial announcement last week. Below are the details, as well as the rest of the week's highlights in our continuing investigation into life in these 500 square miles.  You'd think we would have gotten a call back considering the newsworthiness of the information, but we'll stick with the evidence we did get. According to an email sent to supporters, former county executive Doug Duncan is set to vie for that office again, after a six-year hiatus.  “I am not seeking to return to the County Executive office simply because it is winnable—I am returning because I have so much energy for the job and know that Montgomery County is …

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MoCo Mojo: Being Thankful in These 500 Square Miles

"Gratitude is the sign of noble souls" - Aesop.

  A few years ago, I started a "gratitude journal" as a way of turning my many complaints on their head. Finding what to be grateful for among all that happens each day can be a challenge at first, but it's an exercise in thoughtful awareness of the good things in life. Below are some stories that might help in applying that philosophy toward Montgomery County during the Thanksgiving season. Who says there's no positive news? Just click and think thankful thoughts: After Decades on the Street, a New Home for Bethesda Veteran MCPS Achievement Gap Shrink Noted at National Conference Toys for Tots Drop Off Locations Sending the Troops Holiday Cards and Gifts State Touts Successes in Investment and Innovation Chamber of Commerce Announces …

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MoCo Mojo: Post-Election Hangover Cure, Scandal at Lockheed Martin, Countdown to Holidays

Recover from super storm. Check. Elect president. Check. Thaw turkey. Already?

  Montgomery County dodged the Superstorm Sandy bullet, then sailed through Election Day without major delays or problems. Could Thanksgiving Day run as smoothly? Not likely at this reporter's house. But miracles do happen, especially around these 500 square miles as of late. We won't rehash the election results here. They're available on your favorite Patch site under the "News/Elections" tab. Suffice it to say, Democrats generally dominated and the state made national headlines with its ballot initiatives. We hope you've recovered sufficiently to get on with a long holiday season. If you found yourself distracted last week, there was plenty going on around here other than voting: Incoming Lockheed Martin CEO Resigns in Ethics Scandal On …

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Montgomery Mojo

MoCo Mojo: A Superstorm Skips Through, Politics Next in These 500 Square Miles

Life in Montgomery County gets interesting.

  Here's to your recovery from Superstorm Sandy and to the continued relief efforts in the New York/New Jersey area. Look back at our coverage throughout Maryland here, and find ways to help your neighbors to the north here. We probably would have spent a lot of time talking about Halloween and the trauma of returning to standard time this week, but tomorrow is Election Day, so while you're trying to figure out how to vote on the Dream Act, same-sex marriage and/or your congressional representative, perhaps we can pretend for a day that life is normal in Montgomery County. First, take a look at our comprehensive Montgomery County Election Guide and our recent video interviews on our top political issues with Executive Isiah Leggett. We'll …

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Montgomery Mojo

MoCo Mojo: Is Montgomery County Too 'Fuddy Duddy?'

Is there a generation gap in Montgomery County?

  We have a test for you. Do you call it Montgomery County? Or do you call it MoCo? The answer may tell us something about the different generations in our county. In Montgomery County, seniors are the fastest-growing age group, according to the county’s Division of Aging and Disability Services. The number of seniors in Montgomery County, the state’s largest, increased 130 percent from 1980 to 2010, the agency said. That number is expected to increase an additional 65 percent from 2000 to 2020. The way the blog just up the pike put it, Baby Boomers arrived and "found life so good here that they never left." According to county planning officials, the county has 15 percent fewer adults between 15 and 24 than in 2000 and 17 percent fewer 25…

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Moco Mojo: It's Just SO Montgomery County

What says "Montgomery County" to you?

  We found ourselves thinking a lot recently about this or that event or story being so Montgomery County. Over the weekend, for example, Writers on the Row brought authors and readers together in Bethesda. Richard Belzer, star of Law & Order: SVU, and author of “Dead Wrong: Straight Faces on the Country’s Most Controversial Cover-Ups,” as well as Rosie Pope, author of “Mommy IQ” and star of the Bravo hit TV show “Pregnant in Heels,” were among the celeb writers in town. Then, on a Saturday night trip to see a movie in downtown Silver Spring, the excited throngs brought to mind the recent George Washington University School of Business study praising Silver Spring for successfully walking "the tightrope in attempting to achieve higher …

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Montgomery Mojo

Montgomery Gets Its Mojo Working

Read this and you'll realize your elected leaders aren't smarter than a fifth grader.

  If you're still an undecided voter, don't worry. Just wait a decade or so, and we've got the candidate for you. Michaelina Panner—a fifth-grader at Somerset Elementary School—would have a lot of people's votes if she ever decides to run for public office. Michaelina was a semi-finalist in the statewide Maryland Municipal League's "If I Were Mayor" essay contest and her essay was selected by the Town of Somerset as the town's winning essay, which she read at the town's October council meeting. Temporarily taking over Mayor Jeffrey Slavin's seat, she talked of the need for a town's different generations to come together to form a true community, including these excerpts: If I were mayor, I would focus on the true meaning of community. I …

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Danna Walker

1:41 pm on Monday, October 8, 2012

Thanks for pointing that out! Added "the books" to make that perfectly clear. Awesome!   more ›

Moco Mojo: There's a Dinner Conversation In Here Somewhere

Most of the news that's fit to publish in these 500 square miles of Montgomery County.

  There's only one reason a pumpkin spice latte sounds delicious all of a sudden. It must be fall! So, with heat waves, hurricanes and back-to-school behind us, the iPhone 5 unveiled, the election and holidays still a way off, what's there to talk about in Montgomery County and environs? Traffic, of course. Here are some Patch headlines to get the conversation started: On the Agenda: More HOV Lanes on I-270? Walter Reed Bethesda Campus Upgrades Could Tack On 15 Seconds To Commute Times Commuting Mess Reported On Red Line Montgomery, Fairfax Leaders Urge Study Of High Occupancy Lanes Over Legion Bridge Cracks on Intercounty Connector are Getting Fixed Repairing Cracked ICC Bridges May Bring Road Closures Then, there's always development to …

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