what's up the pike: can't always get what you want (updated)

- A proposed school and office building on Route 108 would bring up to 150 jobs to Sandy Spring, but not everyone's excited about it. The three-story building "definitely does not preserve and enhance rural village character," says Michelle Layton of the Sandy Spring-Ashton Rural Preservation Consortium. Supporters say that Sandy Spring won't get the little shops and boutiques they want if people aren't there to shop in them.

- There may not be any funds to renovate the Old Blair Auditorium, much to the chagrin of the project's supporters. The forty-year-old hall, adjacent to the former Blair High School on Wayne Avenue, has sat empty since 1998; last year, Calverton-based architecture firm Grimm + Parker did a feasibility study to see how it could be re-used.

- But there is another new local blog: What's Up Wheaton, though there's some Kensington in there too, because that's where the couple who writes it now live. They've already delved into Big Issues like the financial troubles at DeJaBel Cafe and the new Montgomery Royal Theatres. It's strange they'd write about said cinema while tweeting that they're going to see a movie in Tysons Corner, but this can be forgiven. JUTP wishes them the best of luck!

- Speaking of Wheaton and Kensington: I'm convinced that this photo, yesterday's DCist photo of the day was taken somewhere in eastern Montgomery County, specifically around Wheaton or Kensington. Can anyone figure out where this is and prove it? (I also note that I like the shoes in the photo.)

UPDATE: the photographer informs us the photo was taken at the corner of East-West Highway and Grubb Road in west Silver Spring.

I knew I recognized the houses in the background, particularly the one with the grey-purple porch. I wonder if people who live on major streets or highways realize how famous their houses are.

- The ongoing budget crisis means the Connect-A-Ride D bus, which runs between Burtonsville and the Laurel Mall, will be discontinued at the end of the month. Central Maryland Regional Transit, which operates the twenty-year-old route, says cutting it will save them $100,000.