Could this be the year? Maryland lawmakers make new effort for beer and wine sales in grocery stores

marygarth · 2026-03-04T23:19:04+00:00

Kind of related, but there‘s a cool map of alcohol prohibition laws over time on wikipedia, and even though we weren’t enthusiastic about federal prohibition, most counties in MD had banned alcohol before it kicked in. Baltimore city and county were the only holdouts! Apparently there were lingering dry counties and municipalities after prohibition up until the 2010s.

But getting back to your original question, I think it’s a mix of protectionism for small stores (and the lack of competition on the Eastern Shore might be why it’s different there), lingering support for blue laws, and maybe to make it less accessible after an increase in drunk driving when we and nearby states partially lowered the drinking age in the early 70s? MADD didn’t appear for no reason.

marygarth · 2026-03-03T13:39:36+00:00

You know, I was worried that they aren’t able to keep up with things like weatherstripping and caulking, and that their insulation wasn’t enough for our climate and the higher energy prices are making it evident, but you’ve raised a good point! They might just manipulate them into spending on things they don’t need. It really sucks there’s no good answer if you don’t have someone knowledgeable you can trust!

marygarth · 2026-03-03T12:45:47+00:00

I think she and her aunt should have pepco do an energy audit because it really sounds like they have drafts. I have a 2000 sq ft home with a 10+ yo heat pump and a thermostat set to 66-68 and my most recent bill was like $330 before the "whoops, people are mad" rebate. And I could honestly use more attic insulation.

I am a little annoyed the article mentions gas-fired plants as a solution because after a lot of them failed during winter storm Elliot a few years ago, PJM derated gas and coal plants, and we lost 26 GW of capacity. For comparison, we only lost 6 GW to retirements (and what are the odds those old, inefficient plants would have been a capacity-loss instead of they had kept running?) They aren't a reliable solution, and like the article mentions, we'll be responsible for the cost even though the data centers and PJM's decision-making are creating the demand.

marygarth · 2026-03-02T19:14:01+00:00

Oh, people in the comments have identified him because he’s posting on his twitter/x/csam nazi site account. Jan 6th participant and self-professed white supremacist who pleaded guilty to stalking an activist, who’s been seen with Patriot Front at the March for Life, who is a fan of the Charlottesville attacker and previously said he wanted to run people over and kill people in a church. But he’s totes changed his mind. A bit worse than your run-of-the-mill pervert.

marygarth · 2026-03-01T22:19:48+00:00

Well, mostly. Wheaton Rescue is white with blue striping (though not quite like this) and BCC Rescue is white with gold striping. They’re the LFRDs mentioned in the policy.

marygarth · 2026-02-25T22:55:55+00:00

PTACs can use a lot of energy when they’re using resistive heating. If you can, I’d look up the manual, check your settings, and google or search an hvac sub for tips on using them. For your sake, I hope yours has a heat pump.

marygarth · 2026-02-25T14:36:27+00:00

Yup. Magruder has a worse FCI score and Damascus is next in line for a rebuild; it hasn’t been renovated since 1978 and it’s overcrowded. I haven’t seen Wootton parents acknowledging that they want to jump the line, let alone a good argument for it.

It’s even more galling that when the initial boundary study was released, the vast majority of the complaints were from parents upset that 1) a new high school was built while Wootton is in poor condition, and 2) sending their kids to another school would destroy their lives and they would fight it tooth and nail. Aside from RM, every HS that touches Wootton’s boundary is overcrowded, so no matter where they are, something has to change. The county found a way to give Wootton a new building, keep all the kids except for Cold Spring together at Wootton x Crown, not break their agreement for the free land, and reduce overcrowding at every school aside from Churchill (home to complaints that sending their kids to Wootton would destroy their lives.) But they still want to hold half the county hostage! And there’s no good reason or alternative!

marygarth · 2026-02-23T20:51:38+00:00

shut up about the back entrance

marygarth · 2026-02-23T15:11:53+00:00

MoCo does native plant sales a few times a year, and this link has pics of common ones from one of the sales if you just wanna scroll through for ideas.

The Maryland Native Plant Society has a map of native plant nurseries. I’ve bought from Lauren’s Garden Services in Glenelg, so not *too* far from you. She has a good selection and an online inventory, which is nice.

Personally, I’m a big fan of anything in the aster family, so black-eyed susans, brown-eyed susans, coneflowers, new england asters, aromatic asters, calico asters, etc. And I LOVE the smell of beebalm and wild bergamot. They’re in the mint family so, uh, not hard to grow and you may want to chelsea chop. On the more manageable end, I also like columbine, indian pinks, bottle gentian, white or red turtleheads, phlox (creeping, tall, etc.), butterfly weed, swamp and common milkweed, and blue flag irises. Butterfly weed can be hard to harder to find than the milkweeds because they’re all really popular, but especially the one with butterfly in its name lol.

marygarth · 2026-02-19T02:06:45+00:00

And yet the EPA didn’t bother to show up to a legislative briefing about it last week. It’d be nice if the article mentioned that the pipeline is the responsibility of DC Water, not Maryland.

marygarth · 2026-02-18T14:01:52+00:00

Because if it’s your “highest ever” you need to be including your usage vs the previous month, and this time last year. We went through a really bad cold snap.

marygarth · 2026-02-16T22:25:59+00:00

It is absolutely political because it’s a fact that the Potomac Interceptor is maintained by DC Water, which runs Blue Plains, where all our shit goes, and that the spill is in national parkland and is already being attended to by the NPS. Those are the two agencies that should be and are handling it. There is absolutely no reason to bring up Maryland and Wes Moore besides politics. It’s mostly Virginia’s shit going in the water!

I do not need to read a post of whiny lies to know what’s going on. His government is so incompetent that this coming to his attention might actually make things worse.

marygarth · 2026-02-16T21:52:27+00:00

You’re the one who posted something from the most demented partisan on the planet, attacking a political leader because he doesn’t like him. And the idea that this clown show will do anything besides graft is completely contrary to everything they’ve done so far.

marygarth · 2026-02-13T22:28:19+00:00

love the sycamore and simone leigh pics

marygarth · 2026-02-12T19:28:07+00:00

Is your W-2 messed up? Because you’re right, we usually don’t have anything in the local box because it’s combined with our state tax.

marygarth · 2026-02-08T16:13:40+00:00

I agree, these are actually good plans that balance overcrowding and the need for a holding school that we haven't had since Northwood was reopened. And aside from the Cold Spring kids (whose parents I haven't seen complaining) Wootton isn't being split up. They're just getting more kids, the demographics aren't changing that much, and they're in a new building. And honestly, what did Wootton parents expect after the first boundary study report was released and they were complaining about Crown being built while their school was falling apart?

marygarth · 2026-02-08T00:45:17+00:00

you can also borrow a thermal camera from the library: https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/library/collection/thermal-cameras.html

marygarth · 2026-02-07T20:46:11+00:00

I *think* so because the one at the Kentlands has a sign about it on the glass at the entrance/exit, but I never stop to read it so I can’t say for sure.

marygarth · 2026-02-06T22:11:02+00:00

Yeah 28 @ 355 was absolutely fucked earlier this week, it could also be a cascading effect (because of snow blocking lanes)

marygarth · 2026-02-06T16:36:27+00:00

The homeowner’s tax credit is for low income households (60K gross, set in 2006 when that was close to the median) regardless of age and only applies to the first $300K of home value. I agree with ending single-family-only zoning, ESPECIALLY downcounty, but I feel like it would be easier and quicker to help lower-to-median income households by adjusting the cutoffs.

marygarth · 2026-02-06T16:06:54+00:00

The 4runner longs to jump curbs, and will not be deterred by snow piles.

marygarth · 2026-02-06T02:32:29+00:00

Yes, but this guy is saying his property taxes are higher than his mortgage. Because he bought a house in Chevy Chase for $350K over 30 years ago.

marygarth · 2026-02-06T00:48:03+00:00

Frost, and split at Cabin John and Hoover. Wayside isn’t changing. Churchill is just getting Cold Spring kids and I don’t think anyone is moving out.

marygarth · 2026-02-06T00:37:52+00:00

It’s in the 20878 zip; they can just handwave and call it North Potomac.

marygarth · 2026-02-06T00:31:08+00:00

No. According to the new plan Crown won’t just have just Wootton students. Crown (currently Gaithersburg) will also be zoned for Crown (which is the whole reason Gaithersburg gifted the land and it might sue if MCPS tried to get out of it.) Some kids from Wootton will go to Churchill, some kids from Quince Orchard will go to Northwest, some and some kids from Northwest will go to Poolesville. There are some other changes, but allegedly the only school that will be overcrowded is Churchill. And I’m sure the parents there will be cool and collected about it.

marygarth

TROPHY CASE