Speak Out: Metro's Weekend Service

The run-up to the weekend led to more grumbling about the transit agency. Was it warranted?

  This weekend was supposed to be a big one for getting out and about in and around DC. The Caps, the Nats and the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer were all in town on Saturday, along with the usual complement of springtime tourists. And then there was the usual track maintenance on Metrorail. With trains running once every 24 minutes on the Red Line from 10 a.m. Friday through close on Sunday, Metro advised riders to add 20 minutes to their travel time. Transit advocates asked for a reprieve. No can do, a Metro spokewoman said. “For many, it's getting to the point that Metro is just unusable during weekends and even during off-peak service on weekdays,” Unsuck DC Metro wrote Friday. “It's as if Metro is thinking construction must go on, riders…

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Long Before The Potomac River, There Were Rocks

If you think we’re living in exciting times, you should have been around here 400 million years ago.

I tried to imagine the scene. Far offshore, an arc of volcanic islands appeared, advanced and collided with our region, thrusting up the land to form great mountains.   Things calmed down, but not for long. Next, a whole microcontinent loomed in the distance, and it too made its calamitous landfall, complete with volcanic eruptions.   Then it happened a third time. The megacontinent of Godwanna took aim at our region, locking present-day Montgomery County in the middle of a supercontinent called Pangea for many millions of years. Evidence of all of this turmoil lay in the slab of rock under my feet by the shore of the Potomac River, downstream from Carderock. The rock was faintly patterned with brown and grey, but otherwise unremarkable.  …

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Richard Rice

2:37 pm on Tuesday, May 8, 2012

A number of times when I was a bit younger I enjoyed walking the tow path with friends. Have even done the Billy Goat Trail years back and enjoyed hiking that when my late wife (my fiace' at the time) were fit and nimble. What a thrill to have such a place so close that we can access for exercise and contemplation! I am thankful to my Creator for His handiwork.   more ›

Op-ed: Pepco’s Tree Slaughtering in Bethesda Easement

Community members speak out against what they feel is excessive tree-trimming and tree-cutting by Pepco.

Editor’s note: This is an opinion piece submitted to Patch by members of the community. As an opinion piece, it does not represent the views of Patch. Trees have been shown to absorb a huge amount of carbon dioxide greenhouse gas. They live all around us, usually benignly, not only absorbing our pollution but also offering us shade, beauty, protection for animals and serenity. Pepco is about to kill 77 of 83 trees in its few-blocks-long easement area for its wires near us in Bethesda. The trees will join hundreds of other trees that Pepco has already felled in easement and right-of-way areas in Montgomery County. The ostensible reason for the tree cutting is to protect the wires from potentially falling trees. A certain amount of cutting …

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Blogs of the Week: Smuggling Cigarettes, DNA Testing

Patch highlights the best of our Local Voices section.

  Each week, community bloggers contribute to Patch sites across Montgomery County and Maryland through our Local Voices section. Non-profit groups, students, residents, and government agencies and officials are among those that weigh in with their viewpoints and help contribute to the dialogue in our communities. Check out a few of the blogs we featured on Patch sites this week. Comptroller Peter Franchot Hopes To Combat Cigarette Smuggling This week, Patch’s own political blogger Bryan Sears brought us a post about the  increase in the smuggling of cigarettes that have not been taxed in Maryland. Comptroller Peter Franchot is asking residents to keep an eye out for anyone who may be carrying an unusually large amount of cigarettes. “If …

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Trash-free Potomac River Goal Won't be Met

But as we keep trying, we can learn to appreciate trash's other side.

For years, the Alice Ferguson Foundation has championed a “Trash Free Potomac Watershed by 2013.” I’ve often wondered about that goal. It reminded me of when I worked for the World Health Organization, whose slogan at the time was “Health for All by the Year 2000.” A trash-free river? It sounds unlikely. Just about everything we produce, use and throw out finds its way into the river, like a force of nature. Halting it would practically mean abolishing Western Civilization. So, with 2013 looming, and on the eve of the foundation’s 24th Potomac River Watershed Cleanup, I decided to call the group and ask what’s up with their deadline. Coordinator Elena Rosen confirmed the obvious: there would be no trash-free river by 2013. Instead, the …

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Roger Hamilton

9:18 am on Thursday, April 19, 2012

Good point Ana. A lot of people think that trash in the river comes from antisocials dumping garbage bags over stream banks. Actually, the problem is often far from the river itself, where things that gets tossed or left on the ground get washed down the nearest storm drain, and so begin their journey. So it's school children, moms, dads, everyone.   more ›

Readers' Choice: Best Public Golf Course

There is no dearth of golf courses in Montgomery County.

Rockville, Potomac, Chevy Chase and Bethesda are teaming up to find the best public golf course in our Readers' Choice contest.  It's easy to participate: Simply vote for your favorite place in the poll below. Choose from the following places: Play other public courses in Montgomery County? Weigh in on Laytonsville, Little Bennett, Poolesville and Rattlewood, and Sligo Creek, Hampshire Greens and Northwest. The winners of each poll will go head-to-head next week for the title of Best Public Golf Course in Montgomery County. Be sure to click the links and review the courses in our community directory.

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Celebrate Spring With an Outdoor Meal

This week, Patch continues our roundup of best outdoor eateries.

Welcome back to our roundup of the best spots to eat outdoors! With the weather warming, you may find yourself craving a meal under the stars. Last week, Patch brought you our pick for most romantic street-side dining: Mon Ami Gabi. This week, we continue our roundup with our choices for most fashionable and most family-friendly outdoor dining. Most Fashionable Streetside Dining: Redwood While the food is sometimes hit or miss at Redwood, you’ll find dining al fresco very entertaining. Tables poised under Bethesda Lane’s string of white lights offer an opportunity to observe dapper pedestrians of all ages—many with really cute dogs—wandering by. Strangely, both times that I dined here in the last two months, film crews were shooting …

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River Watch

Enjoy The Potomac Through Island Hopping

Some islands offer majestic bluffs, others nettles and poison ivy―take your pick

  A dead sapling snapped off in my hand, sending me downhill with a clattering of rocks and a tearing of thorns.   I was climbing the formidable west slope of Turkey Island, a few minutes’ paddle from the Billy Goat Trail at Carderock to get pictures of a blue barrel lodged high up in a tree by flood waters. But I couldn’t pass up the chance to get to know another of the Potomac River’s islands. Some, such as Turkey Island, are rocky and picturesque, with imposing cliffs that gleam in the afternoon sun. Others are low-lying and mysterious. Each has its own personality and secrets to share.   My next attempt at gaining the summit was successful, and well rewarded. There before me was a park-like forest so open and airy that I could imagine …

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Cooking In Real Time: Passover Ready Spinach Mina

A special Passover dish in advance of the Jewish holiday.

I had the pleasure several years ago of attending a Passover Seder. The friend who invited me is from a Sephardic family originally from Syria. Because Sephardic Jews are from countries surrounding the Mediterranean, their food traditions differ from Jews in Eastern Europe.  Still following the dietary laws for Passover, the Sephardic Passover meals tend to be highly aromatic, with liberal use of spices, herbs and vegetables such as eggplant, artichokes and even asparagus. Interestingly, the Syrian Jews include rice in their Passover meals. In order to have dishes that meet their guests’ various dietary restrictions, this Passover Seder included several Minas. A Mina is a layered casserole of matzo and fillings, which can be vegetarian or …

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