 As Thanksgiving approaches, County Executive Elrich addresses the increase in COVID-19 cases in Montgomery County and Maryland. He also discusses County priorities for the upcoming Maryland State legislative session and his disappointment with the “Growth and Infrastructure Policy” recently approved by the County Council. He also emphasizes that the best way to have happy holidays in 2020 will be by taking steps to keep friends and family safe.
The Montgomery County Government will observe schedule changes for Thanksgiving, Thursday, Nov. 26.
 Not wearing a seat belt and impairment from alcohol or drugs are leading causes of traffic fatalities in Montgomery County. To keep roadways safer this upcoming holiday season, Montgomery County Police, along with respective city and State police agency partners, are teaming up for dedicated enforcement of seatbelt and driving under the influence laws.
 Montgomery County officials are urging residents to plan for upcoming holiday celebrations with consideration for family and friends as positive cases of COVID-19 continue to increase around Maryland and throughout the nation.
 Montgomery County’s COVID-19 testing program will include 51 free County-operated clinics over the next nine days. Those clinics will be in addition to more than 45 private providers who are continuing to operate testing clinics. There will be no County clinics on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, Nov. 26.
 Montgomery County health officials are urging all residents to get a flu vaccination and there will be one more County-operated clinic providing shots specifically for children ages 6 months to 18. That clinic will be held from 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 21, at the Dennis Avenue Health Center in Silver Spring.
 The Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC) will administer and award grants of up to $10,000 to cover a variety of expenses for eligible food and beverage service businesses that have been impacted by the COVID-19 health crisis. Applications can be submitted starting Friday, Nov. 20, and must be submitted to the Restaurant Relief Grant Program by Friday, Dec. 4.
Montgomery County has created a “Tourism Anchor Institution Grant Program” that will provide financial assistance to nonprofit entities that are tourist-oriented and focus on arts, culture, agriculture and/or recreation that have been hard-hit by the COVID-19 health crisis. Eligible organizations can apply for grants starting Thursday, Nov. 19.
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 The cause might have been damage from recent high wind and powerful rainstorms. Perhaps age has just caught up with it. It all means that replacing a roof is eventually an obligation for homeowners. Although most roofing replacements have common elements, each job has its individual aspects. Regardless of the complications of the job, the Montgomery County Office of Consumer Protection (OCP) wants homeowners to be aware of certain aspects of the roofing industry so they can buy knowledgably and avoid scams that have become common in the business.
Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich, County Councilmember Nancy Navarro, Montgomery College President DeRionne Pollard and Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) Superintendent Jack Smith recently highlighted the gains achieved in the first year of the Early Care and Education (ECE) Initiative. They also presented a detailed action plan for the next three years.
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The Montgomery County will hold a virtual “Procurement Fair” on Wednesday, Dec. 9, to assist those who want to do business with the County. The fair will be hosted by the County’s Office of Procurement from 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m. via Microsoft Team.
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 Much of the holiday season will be different this year, including gift giving. Montgomery County’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and partners are encouraging people to gift greener this holiday season by supporting local businesses and reducing their carbon footprint with the annual “Gift Outside the Box” campaign.
 The COVID-19 health crisis that has dominated 2020 has led to people throughout the world changing their life patterns. In Montgomery County, those changes have impacted work routines, schools, activities and free time. For residents in the Wheaton-Silver Spring area, two award-winning civic associations have been working hard to make some parts of living during a pandemic a bit easier.
 The Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) has started its annual leaf vacuuming, with two collections taking place on each leaf collection district street. This year, residents can more easily find the collection schedule online by simply entering a street address. However, not all homeowners are assembling their leaves correctly and safely. And many are asking what happens to the leaves once they are collected. MCDOT has created two videos that can help better understand the program.
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