Gear Up For Gluttony: DC Meat Week Begins Sunday

Eight days of barbecue festivities wind through DC, MD and VA.

With the new year comes a new cycle of “weeks”: DC Restaurant Week, Bethesda Restaurant Week and now Meat Week. The fourth annual meat extravaganza begins Sunday and continues through Feb. 3, featuring the DMV’s most popular barbecue restaurants, food truck face offs and lots and lots of sweet, smoky meat. Events begin at 6:30 p.m. Sunday at Rockville’s Urban Bar-B-Que, also Montgomery County’s only featured participant. For eight days festivities will wind through DC and Virginia suburbs. Some host venues will be offering Meat Week specials. DC’s Meat Week began with a meet up in Rockville, DC Meat Week founder Mike Bober, of the Capital Spice Blog, told Del Ray Patch. For more information on 2013’s Meat Week, including a list of vendors…

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D.C. Area Ranks No. 5 on Best-Performing Cities List

New study ranks cities based on jobs and economic growth.

The Washington, D.C., area ranked No. 5 in the Milken Institute's annual "Best-Performing Cities" index for 2012. That's up from No. 17 in 2011. The Milken Institute, a think tank located in Santa Monica, CA, bases its rankings on how well metropolitan areas do at creating and sustaining jobs. The top five cities in the 2012 report are: Milken compiles the ratings based on nine metrics: The first five factors carry double the weight of the last four in Milken's ranking system. The DC area's ranking has been somewhat of a roller coaster over the past decade, placing No. 19 in 2003, No. 11 in 2004, No. 7 in 2005, then falling out of the Top 20 until ranking No. 6 in 2010, then falling to No. 17 in 2011. Its high ranking of No. 5 in 2012 was…

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Housing Market Fared Well in December 2012

Both the median sale price and the number of houses sold in the county increased over that of December 2011, according to The Long & Foster Companies.

The housing market fared well in Montgomery County—and in the suburban Maryland region as a whole—last month. Both the median sale price and the number of houses sold in the county increased over that of December 2011, according to The Long & Foster Companies. In December 2012, the median sale price for houses on the market in the county increased by 9 percent and house sales increased by 3 percent, compared to December 2011, according to the statement from Long & Foster. (Sale activity was higher, however, in Frederick County, where last month's median sale price increased by 30 percent and house sales increased by 21 percent over December 2011, the statement added.) These increases occurred along with a decline in houses on the market …

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Fear of Gun Control Drives Gun Sales Sky High in Maryland

By Rashee Raj Kumar, Capital News Service

Fears of new gun control regulations proposed by President Barack Obama and Gov. Martin O’Malley have intensified sales at Maryland gun shops. While the boost in sales has bolstered gun dealer’s profits, it has also led to a shortage in the supply of guns in the state, especially assault rifles, gun shop owners said. "Everybody is panicking. Every day has been absolutely crazy for the last three weeks," Henry Calvert, president of Calvert Firearms, Inc. in North East, a town in Cecil County, said of his customers. “It’s a bear market. Everyone is purchasing everything that comes in." Obama proposed a set of gun control regulations on Wednesday, which included a universal background check for all gun sales and a ban on military-style …

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Rick Hudson

12:55 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013

That is the truth!!! All crime continued to drop after the assault weapons ban was lifted in 2008 (I think i have that year right). The problem is a high capacity magazine, a bullet or an assault weapon never hurt anything or anyone with out a person intent on doing harm behind it, That is the root of this problem that needs fixing, not limitation of rights on law abiding citizens.   more ›

Magruder's Closing All Locations

The supermarkets in Gaithersburg and Rockville are selling all goods at half price, but they may re-open under new ownership in the future.

  Magruder's is closing all four of its supermarkets, including Montgomery County's Gaithersburg and Rockville locations. Large signs promoting a 50 percent off sale lined the store's windows Wednesday morning. Shelves normally lined with goods were half empty, as people made a run on discounted items—particularly non-perishable things like paper towels.  "We are currently in negotiations to sell the remaining four locations to a group who wishes to purchase the individual stores and reopen them as quickly as possible and we are working diligently with all parties involved," Magruder's Vice President Gary Bortnick wrote in a letter. The letter, made available at the customer service desk of Magruder's locations (also including Alexandria …

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Virtual Tour: Houses for Sale in Montgomery County This Week

In the market for a new house? Just curious? Check out these recently listed houses for sale in Montgomery County.

These videos of Montgomery County houses for sale recently were uploaded to YouTube. Each listing links to the YouTube video (also attached to this article). Each house also is shown on the map attached to this article: Houses for sale this week: 9968 Foxborough Circle, Rockville 21312 Autumn Rose Way, Germantown 1 Apricot Ct., North Potomac 21500 Goshen Hunt Ln., Gaithersburg 3309 Edgewood Rd., Kensington  4920 Sentinel Dr., No. 3-105, Bethesda 4849 Chevy Chase Dr., No. 171, Chevy Chase 11624 Swains Lock Terrace, Potomac Check back next week for more virtual tours.  Tell us: Are you selling a house that you'd like Patch readers to see?

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SPEAK OUT: What's Your Favorite Girl Scout Cookie?

It's time to place your 2013 cookie order!

Since 1917, the Girl Scouts of the United States of America have been selling baked goods to raise funds to support local community service projects, maintain Girl Scout camps, develop programs and provide financial support to girls in need. Last year, in the Washington, DC, area alone, more than 4.5 million boxes of cookies were sold. While scouts still sell cookies door-to-door, the Girl Scouts have gone high-tech in the last few years, offering the "Cookie Club" website—which allows scouts to sell cookies via email—and launching the Girl Scout Cookie Locator app so that one is never more than a few clicks away from one's favorite cookies: So, we want to know, what is your favorite Girl Scout Cookie, and why?

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1 Meat, 3 Sides

Food News: Steakhouse Closure, Apizza Opens in April

Foodie news from around Montgomery County and adjacent neighborhoods in Washington, DC.

  Get caught up with the food scene in Montgomery County and adjacent Washington, DC, neighborhoods with "1 Meat, 3 Sides." This week, the closure of a popular Bethesda steakhouse takes center plate: One Meat: Unsuccessful rental negotiations caused Divino Lounge—an Argentinian steakhouse in Bethesda—to close its doors for good, Bethesda Patch reported. After 10 years, the popular restaurant has vacated its Wisconsin Avenue location, and a "for rent" sign hangs above the space. Divino's owners had this to say about the closure on the restaurant's website. The restaurant's message ended on a hopeful note:  Finally, for those who have enjoyed our food, I say goodbye with this message: WE WILL SEE YOU SOON!! Read more on Bethesda Patch. Three…

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