what's up the pike: props where props are due

- Local photographer and friend of JUTP Chip Py sent us these breathtaking photos of a house fire on Crest Road in Wheaton this morning. To see more, check out his Flickr and Smugmug pages.

- If you're anywhere near a television later today, please check out Jessica from A Parent in Silver Spring on NBC 4 news at 5pm, where she'll be talking about fun things to do for local families. And if you're anywhere near a newspaper, check out article on the Rock Creek Planetarium in the Post. (Talk about media domination!)

- In case you missed it, check out Silver Spring resident John Haslinger's letter about last weekend's violence on Ellsworth Drive, hopefully the first in a series of local residents' responses to the incident - and also look at one Chevy Chase man's statements that blue-collar jobs don't exist in Bethesda.