As restaurants use their tables and chairs, treating tents they put up as private dining spaces, they鈥檝e also put out propane heaters. Some of those heaters are right up against the walls of the tent, with the large gas cylinder only a few feet beyond that.

Electric heaters are a recommended solution from the , but 最新蜜桃影像 wasn’t able to identify any of the heaters as electric along the Woodmont Avenue Streetery. Electric heaters are the only type approved for use within tents, or just alongside them, as any open flame or fuel-burning heater is supposed to be five feet away.

Sitting at a table inside one of these tents, a patron might only be a few feet away from the heater themselves. While it may offer some temporary comfort from the cold, propane heaters are a major fire risk according to National Fire Protection Association . A Montgomery County flyer that restaurants looking for resources online would see, specifically for 鈥淐ovid-19 Safety Guidelines for Outdoor Dining Tents,鈥� harkens back to the Hartford Circus Fire of 1944 as a warning.

That was a disaster that cost 164 lives and was instrumental in creating the NFPA fire code. That same code that has propane heaters at least five feet away from typical temporary structures, like the tents erected by restaurants. The code talks about both the tent material and the heaters, ensuring another catastrophe doesn’t occur.

Part of the problem is suspended registration and permitting for these kinds of structures.聽 On a safety flyer, the county said, 鈥渁 formal permit will not be required,鈥� and businesses only had to submit a form. If they , Montgomery County Department of Permitting Services has said they will still do an inspection.

The normal process seems to have been left behind from the start of the Bethesda Streetery for the sake of expediency though. The problem there is when the Streetery was established, Montgomery County agreed with Bethesda Urban Partnership to suspend a number of permitting requirements.

Susan Parker, a manager with Bethesda Urban Partnership, said, 鈥淏ecause we were partnering with the county, and they鈥檙e county streets, the blocks that are closed were approved by the county. They took care of the road closure for us and our job was to provide the tables and chairs and take care of the disinfecting of the tables and chairs after folks eat and promote the Streetery.鈥�

In our investigation, none of those public right-of-way permits existed. Bethesda Urban Partnership is an organization established by the county to act as a management, development, and marketing arm for downtown Bethesda. They worked with the county council to open the Streetery, closing five different portions of a public street for restaurants to use.

According to Jeff Burton, the Executive Director of Bethesda Urban Partnership, 鈥渂ecause the areas are in the public right-of-way, the County really wanted to make these areas kind of more like a parklet area,鈥� where tables and chairs would be open to the public and used by restaurants.

In practice though, the vast majority of tables in the Woodmont Avenue Streetery are owned by the restaurants themselves. Walking along Woodmont Avenue, 最新蜜桃影像 noticed each restaurant used their tables and chairs in the same way they would use any private seating. The expectation was that the tables were for customers. Counter to the open public gathering place, the tents had designated entrances and exits meant for guests. Tables crowed the sidewalk enough that trying to pass by meant getting close enough to reach out and touch someone’s recently arrived plate of food.

Trying to ride a bike from one end of the block to the other is nearly impossible, much less the ability to park a fire truck in the event of an emergency. The required minimum of three feet for pedestrian pathways doesn鈥檛 exist in a number of places. One restaurant has even gone so far as to erect small greenhouses to offer a private dining space.

The restaurants also didn鈥檛 seem aware of any permit requirements or public right-of-way requirements, only acknowledging that the street had been provided for them to use as part of their business temporarily. Montgomery County officials were willing to discuss the issues. Linda Kobylski, Chief of Land Development is Montgomery County’s Department of Permitting Services. “It was our roll to ensure things were installed safely,” when discussing the Streetery. “Propane should not be inside the tents,” she said. “That would be something I told them as well, when I meet with the businesses out there on Woodmont Avenue.” She stressed that only an electric heater could be used close to or under the tents.

But, Bethesda Urban Partnership seemed to have given back their responsibilities to the county of managing the Streetery itself. 鈥淭here are a few individual restaurants that have some tents out on the sidewalks or within their own current outdoor dining areas. We as an organization haven鈥檛 put any tents out on street,鈥� Parker said. 鈥淪o they did have to work with Montgomery County to put those structures up.鈥� When asked about the county’s lack of permit requirement, she said that restaurants still had to get approvals to erect tents.

Along Woodmont Avenue, the Streetery is a great experience. Now though, the requirements like fire department access, distance of tents or temporary structures from buildings, and many other points of safety seem to have been abandoned.

Despite a lack of enforcement, the county seems aware of the safety issues. They wrote a legal hold harmless agreement into their informal permitting . “The permittee agrees to save harmless the County from all liability arising from the use of the public right of way or installation of a tent for special outdoor restaurant seating” is written as the very first condition of the form.

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Carol Reeves, a Bethesda resident, said a main concern of the construction is the danger of bicyclists having to be on sidewalks. 鈥淭hey just go too fast for it to be safe. And it鈥檚 scary. But, I can鈥檛 blame them, I mean, the sign says they should be here, but it just feels dangerous,鈥� she said.

The cycling community echoes her concern. Narrow sidewalks force bikes and walkers to yield to one another while trying not to drop down into the active roadway beside them. Throughout Bethesda, the roadways have a number of bike lanes, but the construction across downtown has significantly disrupted many of those. The construction doesn鈥檛 seem to have an end in sight.

The is a light rail project that Maryland hoped would connect Bethesda in Montgomery County to the town of New Carrollton in Prince George鈥檚 County. Much of the project is supposed to connect to main transportation options, with local buses, Amtrak and Metro Transit Authority supporting it. In the spring of 2016, the state chose a private-sector partner, Purple Line Transit Partners, to design and build, then operate and maintain the light rail system over the next 35 years. Just this year, PLTP left the project due to delay costs and other issues.

The reality in Bethesda is construction along the Purple Line route causes some significant pedestrian issues. Other construction projects also contribute, but the recent upheaval along the Purple Line corridor gives many Maryland residents cause for concern.

Jeff Lemieux is worried about how these frustrating delays will play out. He鈥檚 the husband of Laurie Lemieux, who owns Proteus Bicycles in College Park, Maryland. 鈥淲e鈥檙e huge Purple Line supporters, but we鈥檙e concerned that there鈥檚 gonna be delays,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really an exciting public transport project, but I just hope that it gets done right.鈥� Construction delays aren鈥檛 just a small concern either, 鈥淚f there鈥檚 a construction impediment for ten years, like, that would be a big problem!鈥�

The current plan for the Purple Line does include a number of pedestrian access options, but most of those options have little to do with current conditions. Riding along Capital Crescent Trail, it abruptly changes from a casual and comfortable trail for cyclists and pedestrians to busy downtown Bethesda, placed out on a roadway that鈥檚 currently under construction.

Weaving through open-air restaurants that have taken advantage of the closed road, you soon come to a residential street dissected by stop signs. That relatively calm street then gives way to some of Bethesda’s largest and busiest roadways, with directions for bicycles to use sidewalks to connect to the neighboring trail. The maneuver is interspersed with detours, closed roads, busy intersections, and redirecting one-way streets.

A to connect Capital Crescent Trail below Bethesda’s main heart would alleviate many of those problems. However, that tunnel isn鈥檛 scheduled to open until 2026 and delays continue to plague the project.

Every day that work isn鈥檛 being done on a contract, a litany of factors lose money. The initial cost estimates for the Purple line were near $2.4 billion. Using that number as a baseline, a conservative estimate for each day of delay since 2016 would cost $1 million. That cost isn鈥檛 just shouldered by Marylanders, as Metro Transit Authority asked the federal government for $900 million in funding. However, current project estimates sit at $5.6 billion.

Delays are coming from all different sources. The global pandemic caused delays, as did basic construction changes and concerns. The surprise delay was a lawsuit filed by Friends of Capital Crescent Trail. The organization鈥檚 main suit against the state caused a reported 266 days worth of delays and nearly $200 million in delay costs. This appears to be the final number for a legal campaign by Friends of Capital Crescent Trail. Those delay costs resulted in a federal judge ruling that there was nothing wrong with construction permits.

Prince George鈥檚 County Council Member Dannielle Glaros has been one of the more outspoken public officials on the project. Nine of the 11 stations for the Purple Line are in her district. Friends of Capital Crescent Trail were trying to 鈥渟tall and kill the project,鈥� she said in a statement recently.

The future of both the pedestrian trails and walkways and the Purple Line project itself is still up in the air. Council Member Glaros described it as 鈥�… more like a rollercoaster ride than the planned 16-mile light rail connecting Montgomery and Prince George鈥檚 counties. Almost as if the communities I represent and I are stuck upside down at the top of a loop.鈥�

最新蜜桃影像 contacted the Deputy Project Director for the Purple Line, both by phone and by email. We wanted to know what the current delay costs were across the project, where different costs may have come from, and the status of vehicle and pedestrian traffic detours since the state had taken over the project. We have not received any information.

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This morning at Nationals Park was windy and quite chilly. Election workers had already been in position for the past week. They鈥檝e had practice at their posts, helping voters through the process to ensure they鈥檙e accurately registered and their ballots were filled out.

The concourse had been made into a voting assembly line normally used by the PNC Diamond Club, a venue that costs $195 per game for front row seats on the field. The seats also must be purchased a year in advance. Today though, the club鈥檚 Edison bulb mood lighting gave voters just enough light to know what registration table they were being directed to.

As of 1 p.m., the count was only 314 voters though. According to Cheryl Tyler, the voting space opened at 7 a.m. expecting a larger crowd, the official in charge of the polling place. While a jump of adrenaline coursed through when the fire alarm went off in the first hour of voting, even that turned out to be a simple malfunction.

The efficiency of the voting place has overcome the expectation of the park staff as well. 鈥淭hey told us they were impressed by how quick we got through people,鈥� Tyler said about the one, and only, time a line has formed out of the building. It was one the first day of early voting, and it lasted about 15 minutes. Since then, media, campaign supporters and special interests generally outnumber the voters.

A spokesperson for the Nationals confirmed that all of the venue time had been donated in non-partisan support of voting in the District.

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D.C. voting centers are now open until 8 p.m. on Election Day. New this year are the voting super centers, including one sports complex filled with special memories. John Seward reports.

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Walking down Wisconsin Avenue, downtown doesn鈥檛 seem like a thriving metropolitan area. So many 鈥淔or Lease鈥� signs hang in windows and on buildings that it鈥檚 hard to go more than a block without seeing one. As you look into windows over leasing advertisements, you see large empty caverns of commercial space.

鈥淩ight now, with what’s going on with the COVID climate, the retail sector has taken a little bit of a punch in the nose, or a punch in the gut, so to speak, so you know we鈥檙e just going to have to be patient,鈥� said Matt O鈥機onnell, a Vice President with Donohoe Real Estate. They have interest from businesses in leasing one of their key locations along Wisconsin Avenue, but they鈥檙e trying to be particular in who fills the location. One of the companies they鈥檙e pursuing has put off finalizing a location for their business until after the New Year.

Businesses that have moved or closed downtown left behind vestiges of what they once sold. There are empty racks at Modell鈥檚 all pushed to the walls; promotional signs still attached. Villain and Saint鈥檚 outdoor seating is slowly succumbing to the elements.

Shopfront and commercial space are widely available in the area though, over 350,000 square feet of space is currently empty. That鈥檚 the size of a large shopping mall and is all within five blocks of the Bethesda Metro station. Those available spaces are just from CBRE, Donohoe Real Estate, and Brookfield Properties, the main commercial real estate competitors downtown.

The large sidewalks of downtown Bethesda have so few people that pedestrians seem to shrink against the towering building spaces. The entrances to the metro rail station lack the flow of pedestrians and fade into the background.

The pandemic spending trends haven鈥檛 helped businesses, with sharp drops and jumps from month-to-month, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Businesses are hard pressed to find consistent customers or other means to sustain their cash flow.

John Seleznev from Beer and Wine Co. saw just how hard the economy was impacted.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a shame. I feel like there definitely needs to be more relief in place. Right now we don鈥檛 really have a system that helps those people,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 unfortunate, but you know, there鈥檚 not much more you can do at this point.鈥�

That idea of relief being hard to find is exactly what Judy Stephenson works to help fix. 鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely a tough time for businesses, and you know, I have a feeling it鈥檚 going to be challenging for awhile,鈥� she said. She鈥檚 a small business advisor for the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce and shares many of the frustrations as business owners in dealing with the economic impact of the pandemic.

The challenge doesn鈥檛 seem to be the resources, but rather communication. Stephenson said it鈥檚 鈥渁n ongoing frustration鈥� that there isn鈥檛 a main list of businesses or a single point they can go to. 鈥淭he other big issue we have is communicating with businesses communities, because we don鈥檛 have a comprehensive list of businesses,鈥� she said.

鈥淔irst of all, any numbers are going to be lagging.鈥� she said. Economic numbers, especially at a local level, are hard to pin down. Stephenson pointed out that while storefront retailers have to register with Montgomery County Circuit Court, closure information could be behind by as much as a year.

There are also different rules for different types of business, with law firms or consulting businesses never going through the court, she said. These differences create frustration when local and county support, like the chambers of commerce, try to help.

Montgomery County offers different programs to help businesses, many of them grants instead of loans, made available to them to help lessen the financial burden. Their Chamber of Commerce also has loan forgiveness workshops and educational information to help businesses recover and navigate the bureaucracy after using federal resources.

It鈥檚 a delicate balance though. Stephenson pointed out that requiring businesses to register for purely informational purposes isn鈥檛 what the county wants to do, creating arbitrary hoops for entrepreneurs. However, without a main list of information, it鈥檚 hard to track the health of a local business economy and reach out to those that need assistance.

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Just a few blocks south of downtown Bethesda every year, after only a few inches of rain, flooding stops all traffic along some of the major roadways. River Road, Bradley Boulevard, and Little Falls Parkway are all blocked at least once a year by flooding. It鈥檚 a dangerous and consistent problem.

According to the National Weather Service, sections of Bethesda suburbs have had at least four flash flood warnings every year since 2008. Each one of those instances required water rescue crews from nearby fire stations.

For example, this past September 10, Montgomery County Fire and Rescue received numerous emergency calls related to the flooding. Spokesperson Pete Piringer said, 鈥淲e handled about 150 calls for service, totally, in about three hours, from 12:45 to 3:45, and then about a couple dozen water rescues, bonafide water rescues, people stuck in high water.鈥�

Update Montgomery County flooding

— Pete Piringer (@mcfrsPIO)

Later that day, Mr. Piringer refined those couple dozen to nearly 60 calls for water rescues.

A number of those Bethesda area calls were supported by the Cabin John Fire and Rescue stations. That鈥檚 because the Cabin John is one of the few crews with boat equipment in Montgomery County.

鈥淪wift water is a little unique,鈥� said Harry Fones, a volunteer communications manager for Cabin John Fire and Rescue. 鈥淚f we think there鈥檚 going to be an increased amount [of calls], we make sure we have enough coverage.鈥�

While all the county鈥檚 stations are prepared for rescue operations, the situations that happen during flash floods are uniquely difficult. Swift-water rescue requires four to five years of training to certify for and extra equipment to ensure safety.

I cant say it enough!! TURN AROUND DON'T DROWN!!! This is Beach Dr.

— Doug Kammerer (@dougkammerer)

最新蜜桃影像 noticed there are no warning signs in the areas that frequently flood. That prompted a series of calls to each of the roadway owners near Little Falls Watershed聽 in hopes of learning about mitigation and safety plans for the area.

The appropriate sign is available. The U.S. Department of Transportation includes a yellow diamond with the words, 鈥淩oad May Flood鈥�, as a weather hazard sign for use on public roads. There鈥檚 also a high water gage sign that鈥檚 on the approved list.

Little Falls Parkway is owned by Montgomery County, but the entire roadway falls under the Montgomery County Parks division. Melissa Chotiner, the media relations manager, acknowledged that, 鈥淭he park system is in a floodplain, so [flooding] is a consistent issue.鈥� She did not reply to 最新蜜桃影像鈥檚 question if Montgomery County Parks had plans for flood warning signs but promised to get in touch with a division that is responsible for roadway signage.

River Road and Bradley Boulevard are maintained by the Maryland Department of Transportation. 最新蜜桃影像 also contacted that agency and inquired if any plans were in place for flood mitigation or signage installation, but hasn鈥檛 received any response.

While this issue persists, community partners do encourage people to be vigilant when driving in the rain. Montgomery County Fire and Rescue, and the Department of Transportation, all reiterated that when it comes to driving in wet weather, there鈥檚 a significant danger anywhere flooding may occur.

Cabin John鈥檚 Harry Fones said when it rains, 鈥淲e expect to run those calls,鈥� but stressed the importance of being aware of your surroundings when you drive.

鈥淲e have the slogan on all our trucks 鈥楾urn around, don鈥檛 drown.鈥欌��

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Combined military and county police made announcements reminding the crowd that while the main street was public, the gate was on federal land. The officers created a barrier of caution tape and cones. They blocked all vehicle and pedestrian traffic for the east side of Rockville Pike just in front of the facility.

Michael Patrick, a Bethesda local who routinely runs in the area of Walter Reed, described the scene as surreal. “I mean, something like this is happening, curiosity strikes you, you want to see what’s going on,” he said.” “It’s a weird combination; obviously, it’s a big event, but at the same time, running through the area, you wouldn’t know anything is going on unless you’re in this intersection. Down the block nothings really happening, that way nothings really happening.”

Initial reports suggest that the President’s condition demonstrates a fever, chills, nasal congestion, and a cough. from the White House said the President had received a single eight-gram dose of Regeneron, an antibody cocktail. It also said the President has been taking a list of daily vitamins before this.

“I’m going to Walter Reed hospital. I think I’m doing very well, but we’re going to make sure that things work out,” the President said in a video tweet moments before boarding Marine One, thanking the public for their support.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)

Cyclists, dog-walkers, students from many local universities, locals from the Bethesda area, and military service members on their way home from other facilities gawked at the site of a helicopter landing in the middle of D.C.

News crews from all around the world also scrambled to cover the event and set up on the western side of Rockville Parkway, with much of the curb crowded with news vans and specially customized SUVs. Teams typed furiously away on laptops as anchors squinted into their lighting. The metro station parking lot had been overrun and closed off long before the President landed.

Javaid Alin, who lives just a few blocks away, came for the spectacle and offered the President improved health. “I wish that he recovers,” Alin told 最新蜜桃影像.聽 He also noted a hint of frustration with Trump and the politics of the current pandemic. “I think he’s definitely mishandled the whole crisis, and I think, hopefully, this will give him something to think about, about the suffering that people have gone through and also the people that have lost their lives,” said Alin

Not long after Alin stopped talking, a large pickup truck revved by with a Trump support flag flying behind it. The passengers shouted, “Trump for President!” in an apparent effort to get the message recorded by the dozens of television cameras operating along the street.

As of this writing, the White House has said the First Lady has only shown symptoms of a mild cough and headache. The remainder of the Trump family has all tested negative.

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William B. Reynolds is a track and endurance sports athlete. He runs over 25 miles a week, acts as an ambassador for multiple veteran athlete programs, and runs his own consulting business.

He also has his left leg amputated above the knee.

In 2004 while he was in Baghdad, Iraq as an infantry officer, a command-detonated IED caused Reynolds catastrophic injuries. His wounds to his left arm and leg were severed. His left leg was eventually amputated in 2013.

Reynolds calls it naivety, but he says it never occurred to him to stop doing what he always had.

He acted as the team captain for the in 2016 and has continued to be a track and endurance-sport powerhouse in adaptive sports. This year has seen so many cancellations though, Reynolds said it鈥檚 been difficult even for him.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been frustrating,鈥� he said, especially noting the Boston Marathon; 鈥淭his was going to be the first year that Boston was going to have a para category and I know a couple of guys that were going to race that, so that was disappointing when it didn鈥檛 happen.鈥�

Mike Wardian is a professional athlete that holds the time record, or , for several Montgomery County trails. He runs ultra-races in places like the Sahara Desert, Mont Blanc, France, and even the North Pole. He holds the fastest marathon dressed as Spider-Man and as Elvis but also set the world record for a marathon on each continent, in seven days. That record included a marathon across the cold permafrost of Antarctica.

Even with such vast experience to pull from Mike Wardian is encountering some of the same challenges we鈥檙e all struggling with.

The pandemic has affected not only his race and project schedule but the way that he trains.

鈥淚 haven鈥檛 run with my training partners that I鈥檝e been training with for 20 years since March because it鈥檚 just a little too sketchy,鈥� Wardian said, 鈥淚 really miss the community.鈥�

鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing like having someone breathing down your neck in a race and pushing you in real life,鈥� said Wardian.

Athletes across the spectrum have been encountering that same thing; disappointment.

Bernard Kelly is a local runner and coach for the .

鈥淚 think the rolling cancellations hitting the traditional fall marathons have had a demoralizing effect,鈥� said Kelly, 鈥淭he result was a steady drip-drip-drip of one cancellation after another, which might have been more demoralizing than if the authorities had just said 鈥榥o more races until 2021.鈥欌��

He talked about runners in the community having to change the way they look at races and how they prepare, balancing high-mileage training with transitioning to more of a maintenance level to stay fit.

Tools for the 鈥淣ew Normal鈥�

Staying fit is a challenge all three of these athletes talked about meeting head on, discussing how they need to socially distance has forced runners to adapt.

Wardian has been impressed with how much the community has risen to the challenge of staying motivated while staying distanced.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 kinda been a pretty innovating time,鈥� he said, noting that he鈥檚 even gotten into the development himself with the virtual , a virtual foot race across the U.S., from New York to California.

Kelly helped the Montgomery Club create races with an actual course, as opposed to metrics only based runs. It lets participants upload their GPS files and compare their times with just that extra step of having run the same ground.

鈥淪ome running friends 鈥� put together a challenging (perhaps too challenging!) Virtual Boston course along the Rock Creek Trail that a bunch of us ran last weekend.鈥� he said. Kelly talked about it helping to motivate him that someone else was keeping track and knowing when he actually had finished the distance.

Reynolds has also capitalized on the virtual aspect of competition during these times. A small group of para-athletes he鈥檚 a part of are all planning to run the virtual Army 10-miler, in a show of support.

鈥淵ou have to find ways to make things work. We鈥檝e actually been doing afternoon sessions with my kids because they run track and do endurance sports, so that鈥檚 been good.鈥� Reynolds said.

Wardian agreed, 鈥淚t gives me more time to be with my family and connect with them.鈥�

The group echoes a theme that many local athletes have responded to and while the larger community might not be available in-person, finding community closer to home, or even just on the phone in your pocket, can make a world of difference.

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