Happy Wednesday, Rockville! It’s another wet one. Hope you’ve got an umbrella for the next few days. With a nod to my alma mater on homecoming week, here’s the “Have You Ever Seen the Rain?” edition of “The Rundown”: The Montgomery County Council is hosting a town hall meeting for students at 7 tonight at the Stella B. Werner Council Office Building in Rockville Town Center. A pre-meeting reception will be held at 6:30 p.m. in the second-floor cafeteria. RSVP by calling 240-777-7931. Expect the county’s proposed curfew legislation to be a hot topic. Can’t make it out? County Cable Montgomery…

Happy Tuesday, Rockville! We had a long-overdue visit from an old friend today before the clouds set in late this afternoon. It looks like the sun will have a more extended stay, beginning tomorrow, with gorgeous weather on tap for the weekend. Here’s today’s edition of “The Rundown”: Take a “snapshot” of a day in the life of Montgomery County Public Libraries tomorrow. Libraries across Maryland will participate in Snapshot: One Day in the Life of Libraries. Library patrons are encouraged to visit their favorite library, snap a photo and upload it here. Twinbrook and Rockville Memorial …

Happy Friday, Rockville! Today, the last day of September, marks the first day for a new-look “Rundown.” The aim is to include more quick-hits and tidbits—and less ranting and raving from yours truly. (There will still be some ranting, as warrants—to offer perspective on big news, for important messages from the editor, to blow off steam about losing streaks by Washington sports teams—but overall, I’m trying to cut it down.) Oh and fewer rhyming headlines. (I’m out of “flow.”) There will also be a more formatted look, with more photos of landmarks from around town, though we’ll throw in a …

Good Tuesday, Rockville! Anybody seen the sun? It came out for a bit late yesterday afternoon … and then, gone. It looks like we’ll see the sun return a bit this weekend, accompanied by fall temperatures. There are lots of changes at Rockville Town Square lately. Readers report that Primo Italiano and Fractured Prune are gone. A new parking system is in place (more on that below). And apparently the fountain at the corner of Maryland and Beall avenues is throwing a foam party. I snapped the shot at the right while on a recent visit to Taste of Saigon. It’s one example of the type of vandalism…

Happy Friday evening, Rockville! The weekend’s here! And it’s another wet one! (Oh well, we can’t have it all.) Yesterday, I indulged my inner hipster rock journalist and took the last chance I may ever have to tell the story of R.E.M. and what many fans regards as one of their favorite R.E.M. songs. The song also happens to name-check our fair city. A footnote to that “footnote in rock history”: To mark R.E.M.’s passing, “Here & Now” on WBUR-FM in Boston produced a segment in which host Robin Young interviewed Athens, Ga.-based music critic Jordan Stepp and former Rockville resident Ingrid …

Happy Tuesday, Rockville! Hail to the Redskins! It’s another good week in Washington—at least if you’re a Skins fan. I can remember a time when the mood of the region really did seem to be predicated on whether the boys in burgundy and gold won. In a town that could agree on little else, everyone it seemed, agreed on the Redskins. That brings us to my new favorite song, courtesy of a Twitter exchange from a couple of weeks back between WTOP’s Nathan Hager and Fox 5’s Dave Ross: @nhagerwtop Redskins 80s rap. That looks uncannily like @Steele_Michael at about :29. h/t @fox5ross youtu.be/…

Happy Thursday, Rockville! Ring the promotional bell. (Ding! Ding!) It’s time for a brief plug. HuffPost DC launched today. Arianna Huffington, president and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post Media Group, discusses what the latest local section of the Internet newspaper will bring to D.C. in this post. (The part I’m most partial to is “the HuffPost DC team will be showcasing stories from the surrounding Patches in Maryland and Virginia.”) She also writes about the duality of a changing Washington metropolitan area that it’s safe to say has changed quite a bit since she lived here in the …

Good Tuesday evening, Rockville! It was a beautiful day out there. I hope you got to enjoy some of it. There will be a chill in the air this weekend as we move closer toward the official start of fall. And now, the “Cool It Now” (new) edition of “The Rundown”: County Executive Ike Leggett will host a virtual town hall meeting from 12:30-1:30 p.m. on Thursday. You can submit questions now or join the online discussion in progress by clicking here. Answers to submitted questions will be posted at the beginning of the live session. Others will be selected during the live discussion. Leggett has …

Missing: The sun. Last seen: Over Rockville sometime Sunday afternoon. If found please return to the sky so that we all can get on with September. What can I say? No “Happy Friday, Rockville!” today. The time for niceties is over. We need to tell Mother Nature we’re not happy. (The second appearance for that clip in the history of “The Rundown,” I believe. Maybe I need anger management classes.) The rain fits the mood this week. Not a lot of happy news. President Obama took to TV last night to talk about jobs, how there aren’t enough and what he plans to do about it. Sept. 11 is Sunday. A lot…

Happy Tuesday, Rockville!  Hope you’re wearing galoshes and have an umbrella handy. It looks like the wet weather will be with us for the entirety of the workweek before the clouds part a bit and we get to see the sun again on Saturday. A flash flood watch is in effect through Wednesday afternoon. Keep your spirits high and do your best to stay dry. Here’s the “won’t get soggy in milk, but rain is another story” edition of “The Rundown”: It’s official: Planning Commissioner Dion Trahan and City Councilman Mark Pierzchala have been certified as candidates for the City Council and will appear …

Happy Friday, Rockville! Is everyone ready for an unofficial last blast of summer? Schools returned to session this week. College football is back (Fight on State!)—and the NFL season is almost upon us. The Nats are their usual 20-plus games out of first place. It must be Labor Day weekend! Here’s your “cheers to not working on Labor Day” edition of “The Rundown”: I was in Town Square on Tuesday after the groundbreaking ceremony for the Choice Hotels International headquarters, but I haven’t been back since the calendar turned to September. So I don’t know what to make of the “parking ticket…

Happy Tuesday evening, Rockville!  It was back to school for county school students on Monday—and back to editing for me. After a week away (miss me?) I’m digging out from an avalanche of email. (Earthquakes and hurricanes aside, this one’s a doozey: 633 new messages between 1:45 p.m. on Aug. 20 and 9:49 a.m. on Aug. 29. Ouch.) If your message is one of the many important emails in that pile, please trust that I have not purposefully neglected you. I’ve had to perform a lot of triage over the past two days. If you’re worried that your message might’ve gotten lost in the shuffle of this editor…

Happy Friday, Rockville! I had lunch with the guy pictured at the right today. I had left-over Chinese. He had my shrubs. If I could train him to eat only the weeds my wife would be happy. And now the “natural gardener” edition of “The Rundown”: A six-point buck in the front yard seems like the proper occasion to remind folks that the draft report by the city’s White-tailed Deer Management Task Force is out.The task force’s recommendations include two that would require changes to city code. One would increase the allowed maximum height of backyard fences from 8 feet to 10 feet. Another, …

Happy Wednesday evening, Rockville! Have you made it up Route 355 to the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair in Gaithersburg yet? Did I mention they have fried dough and racing pigs? Back in the day, (which, as my wife likes to say, was a Wednesday) my father coached high school soccer here in the county. About this time every year, as his teams wrapped up preseason conditioning workouts I remember them coming off the practice fields, sometimes at the same time as the football team. The football players were often finishing the second half of “two-a-days,” those practices that are soon to be …

Happy Friday, Rockville! It’s gorgeous out there again today. But the National Weather Service says we might be playing “run between the raindrops” throughout the weekend. So get out there and enjoy the sunshine while it lasts.  And now, the “Go play in the yard!” edition of “The Rundown”: Weather like today’s gets us thinking about getting out and getting moving—and about fall. If you’re having similar thoughts, find a recreation program or class that’s right for you.The City of Rockville’s fall recreation guide is now available here. Registration opened on Thursday.The Montgomery County …

Happy Tuesday, Rockville! It’s a beautiful August day in the neighborhood. The National Weather Service says to be prepared for the possibility of some wild weather later today. Thunderstorms around the region are expected to usher in cooler temperatures for the remainder of the week. And now, the “Is it football season yet?” edition of the “The Rundown”: It is almost football season. The Redskins play their first preseason game on Friday. On Monday, we posted a few photos from training camp to get you ready for the season. Read the article to find out how to post your own training camp …

Happy Friday, Rockville.  The heat and humidity is finally giving us a break as we settle into the dog days.  We all should get out there and enjoy it. In that spirit, let’s keep this brief. Here’s the “rapid fire” edition of “The Rundown”: Finances are on everyone’s mind these days. Debt crisis averted. Five hundred point market loss. Jobs report rebound. Investors aren’t so sure. Well, I’m getting seasick.For folks facing foreclosure, the county’s Department of Housing and Community Affairs and the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development are hosting a free workshop on …

Happy Thursday, Rockville! Wow, so that’s what temperatures in the 80s feel like. I’d forgotten. The National Weather Service says to expect more of the same for the next few days. Usually I prefer enjoying this (awesome collaboration) in the summer time, but it’s felt more like this lately. I’ll take a few clouds if it means lower temperatures. The other day I started writing a “Rundown” intro, then decided to put it away for a rainy day. Well, today’s that rainy day and with it comes some news that makes that intro all the more timely. So here it is—now with news!: A long time ago, in a …

Good Thursday, Rockville! The hot, hot, heat (a fine Canadian indie band, as well as a way to describe our extreme temperatures) will be back for at least for one day—Friday—according to our friends at the National Weather Service. It should be hot enough to try this, but not hot enough to do this. Here’s the “car omelet” edition of “The Rundown”: National Night Out is Tuesday.The county police have posted a list of community events around the county, including one at North Lake Center in Rockville, which is presently the home of Farmland Elementary School.If you have details of events around…

Happy Tuesday, Rockville! It’s a gorgeous, sunny summer afternoon. Enjoy it while it lasts. According to the National Weather Service we might be able to try this experiment again by Friday. Here’s your “egging them on” edition of “The Rundown”: It’s a great evening to go for a ride. The Rockville Bike Advisory Committee can lead the way. Meet at 6:30 at King Farm Homestead Park. Read more about the bike rides here. The Rockville Planning Commission meets at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday at City Hall. The agenda includes the seventh work session on the draft plan for Rockville Pike redevelopment. …