BGR Holds Burger Eating Contest in Bethesda
In honor of National Cheeseburger Day, BGR The Burger Joint held its first annual burger eating contest this afternoon at BGR’s 4827 Fairmont Avenue location in Bethesda. Competing in the contest were four men and one woman, all from the greater Washington area.
After downing 17 cheeseburger sliders in ten minutes, 24 year old “Munchin” Michael Longo from Dumfries, Va. took home the $500 cash first place prize. In addition to his prize, Longo will also have the chance to compete in BGR’s national championship next May for $2,000 in winnings including a $1,000 cash prize and a $1,000 BGR gift card.
This wasn’t Longo’s first eating championship. He holds titles in the With Cheese Please National Cheesesteak Championship, the Little Jimmy’s National Italian Ice Eating Championship, the National Bun & Cheese Eating Championship, and the National Potato Latke Eating Championship. He currently holds the national record for Italian ice, after consuming four pounds and 1.25 ounces of it in one sitting.
Tyron Hill placed second after finishing 11 sliders to win a $250 BGR gift card, and Jonathan Henderson placed third after finishing 8 sliders to win a $150 BGR gift card.
After the contest ended, owner Mark Bucher treated spectators to free sliders.
NWS Issues Severe Storm Warning for Montgomery County
Update (3:45): High water near the intersection of Rock Spring Drive and Democracy Boulevard might force a road closure, according to scanner traffic.
Update (3:20): A tornado warning is now in effect for Montgomery County until 3:45.
Update (3:00): A flash flood warning has been issued for Montgomery County until 5:45 p.m. National Weather Service radar indicates an additional two inches of rain could fall.
Update (2:55): The traffic light at Chevy Chase Lake Drive and Connecticut Avenue is out, according to scanner traffic.
The National Weather Service has issued a severe thunderstorm warning for all of Montgomery County until 3:15 p.m.
Storms are expected to pass through the Washington D.C. area this afternoon and into this evening.
From the severe thunderstorm warning:
AT 213 PM EDT… SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE DETECTED ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM WARRENTON TO BEALETON… AND WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH. THIS LINE OF STORMS IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH. SEVERE WINDS ARE EXPECTED DESPITE VERY LITTLE LIGHTNING BEING ASSOCIATED WITH THIS LINE.
County To Hold Voter Registration Drive at Bethesda Library
The Montgomery County Board of Elections will hold a voter registration drive this Sunday, Sept. 23 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Bethesda Library (7400 Arlington Rd.)
Volunteers from the Board’s Multicultural Outreach Committee and Future Vote Program will be on hand to help register voters for the 2012 General Election on Nov. 6.
The deadline to register is Oct. 16.
In addition to the Presidential and Congressional elections, the ballot will include three major ballot questions: the Dream Act Referendum, the Same-Sex Marriage Referendum and a Casino Referendum that would allow a Las Vegas-style casino in Prince George’s County and live table games at existing state casinos.
Police Arrest Montgomery Mall Burglary Suspect
Police last week arrested a suspect in two burglaries at Westfield Montgomery Mall, including one from the new Dumpling Dojo in the mall’s food court.
Delonte Ernesto Smith, 23, of the 5200 block of Chillum Place NE, Washington D.C., was arrested on Friday after mall security recognized him as the suspect in surveillance video that showed one of the burglaries.
At about 11:30 a.m. on Sept. 10, officers were called to the mall after Dumpling Dojo’s owner arrived and found cash missing from the office area, according to a Montgomery County Police press release.
Another business, Brow Art 23, had a portion of its pull-down security gate cut out and cash taken from the register inside the store.
Dumpling Dojo surveillance video showed the suspect, a black male wearing a skull cap and carrying a backpack, going over the front counter and walking into the office area.
When mall security spotted Smith on Friday, they contacted police, who arrested him at a bus stop outside the mall.
Police say Smith confessed to the burglaries and has been charged with several burglary and theft charges.
Smith is being held on a $7,500 bond.
New Growth Policy Shows Continuing Traffic Issues For Bethesda
The standards Montgomery County uses to control development will be discussed in a Council Public Hearing tonight.
The 2012-2016 Subdivision Staging Policy, formerly known as the Growth Policy, seeks to regulate the timing of new development to ensure areas have adequate school facilities, transportation capacity and water and sewer infrastructure.
Montgomery County Public Schools wants more freedom to spend funds from special developer taxes anywhere in the county, and not just in the school cluster they are collected in.
Meanwhile, the Montgomery County Planning Department is recommending a new traffic-measuring system called the Transportation Policy Area Review (TPAR).
Planning Staff used TPAR to determine that in 2018 and 2022, the Bethesda-Chevy Chase area will have the county’s most congested group of main roads. The study combined measurements of evening rush hour traffic with 2018 development forecasts and expected results of traffic improvement projects in the Capital Improvements Budget.
Man Suffers Life Threatening Injuries In North Bethesda Wreck
Two adult males, one with serious, life threatening injuries, were transported to Suburban Hospital yesterday after an early afternoon collision at Executive Boulevard and Old Georgetown Road.
Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services spokeswoman Beth Anne Nesselt said units were called at 12:16 p.m. and found two overturned vehicles and two people pinned by those vehicles.
Fire and Rescue Services personnel extricated the patients in 15 minutes, Nesselt said.
The second patient was transported with serious non-life threatening injuries.
Morning Notes
Olazzo Owner Frustrated By Power Outage Issues — Roberto Pietrobono, co-owner of the Olazzo Italian restaurant on Norfolk Avenue, says frequent power outages have cost his business between $50,000 and $75,000. [MyMCMedia]
County to Vote On Displaced Workers Bill — Area business owners are hoping to stop a proposed County Council measure that would require them to keep low-wage security guards, janitors, food service workers and others on for 90 days after a service contract changes hands. [Greater Bethesda-Chevy Chase Chamber of Commerce]
Request Form For Alternate Polling Place Available — The Montgomery County Board of Elections must receive all requests for an alternate polling place by Oct. 16, ahead of November’s election. [Maryland State Board of Elections]
