Right-to-Life Protesters Expected on Tuesday, July 24

As they have done for several consecutive summers, on Tuesday, July 24, 2018, a right-to-life group will be exercising their 1^st Amendment rights by displaying large, graphic signs on the sidewalk along northbound Connecticut Avenue from 4:00pm-6:30pm. Chief Fitzgerald and several Village officers will be on the scene keeping the peace and ensuring traffic and pedestrian safety.

The images on the signs can be upsetting to some, and young children may not understand them.  Also, traffic tends to back up on northbound Connecticut Avenue during the hours of the demonstration.  If you typically use northbound Connecticut Avenue in your travels, you may want to consider an alternative route on July 24 between 4:00pm and 6:30pm.

A Message from Montgomery County's Digital Communication Services

Montgomery County’s Office of Consumer Protection (OCP) is partnering with Representative Jaime Raskin and Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh to participate in a consumer protection forum on Tuesday, July 24, 2018, from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. at the Silver Spring Civic Building.

This first annual “ConsumerFest” will focus on identify theft prevention, internet safety, and online financial protection, and will included a Resource Fair in which county, state, and federal agencies will provide valuable information.

“Montgomery County’s Office of Consumer Protection has been ensuring integrity in our marketplace for more than four decades,” said OCP Director Eric Friedman. “We are honored to have an opportunity to collaborate with consumer champions like Representative Jaime Raskin and Attorney General Frosh, and to provide information regarding our rapidly changing marketplace.”
 
 
See flyer for more information:

• ConsumerFest2018.jpg
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RSVP: For tickets, visit http://bit.ly/ConsumerFest 

NEWS RELEASE

MDOT SHA TO BEGIN RESURFACING MAJOR ROADS IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY
 
Motorists Are Urged to Plan Extra Travel Time During Construction

(July 18, 2018) – The Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration (MDOT SHA) is preparing to begin three safety and resurfacing projects in Montgomery County. The projects, which total $6.7 million, will be complete fall 2019.

All of the resurfacing projects include milling (removal of the top layer of asphalt), paving and restriping. Other work includes repairing damaged concrete sidewalk, curbs and gutters and cleaning of drainage inlets and pipes.

The first project, which should be underway by next week, is in Chevy Chase on MD 185 (Connecticut Avenue) between north of MD 410 (East-West Highway) and Manor Road.
In MDOT SHA’s contractor, Congressional Contracting, Inc. of Potomac, are permitted to close single lanes Mondays through Fridays between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. and Sunday nights through Friday mornings between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m.

Crews will use barrels and cones to guide the nearly 66,000 vehicles that travel on this section of MD 185 through the work zone. This project also includes upgrades of the traffic signal at the MD 185/Dunlop Street intersection and installing concrete bus pads on MD 185.

Later in August, MDOT SHA will begin two additional resurfacing projects. In Rockville, MDOT SHA will resurface 1.1 miles of MD 355 (Rockville Pike) between MD 28 (Veirs Mill Road) and Mannakee Street and in Gaithersburg on 1.7 miles of MD 124 (Montgomery Village Avenue) between the spur to Christopher Avenue and Mid-County Highway.
F.O. Day Company, Inc. is MDOT SHA’s contractor for both projects.

The project on MD 355 in Rockville will be night work, Sunday nights through Friday mornings between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. Approximately 44,000 vehicles use this section of Rockville Pike each day, so motorist are encouraged to allow extra dive time during construction.

Motorists can expect single lane closures on MD 124 between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. Sunday nights through Friday mornings and occasionally Mondays through Fridays between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.  Crews will guide the nearly 25,000 vehicles that travel on MD 124 in this area using arrow boards, barrels and cones.

As of June 30, which was the end of the State’s 2018 fiscal year, MDOT SHA has resurfaced or treated half of all state highway lane miles since 2015. This milestone marks the improvement of nearly 8,500 lane miles, calculated by miles of highway multiplied by the number of lanes, improving safety and enhancing the customer experience for millions of drivers across the state.

While MDOT SHA and its transportation partners work hard to maintain safe traffic mobility in work zones, each driver needs to actively modify his or her driving style to help prevent crashes. Stay alert and look for reduced speed limits, narrow driving lanes and highway workers. Slow down and don’t follow too closely. Work Zone Safety is in Your Hands. For a list of all major MDOT SHA projects, click on Road Ready, MDOT SHA's electronic construction brochure. For a look at real-time commute conditions, log onto www.md511.org.

 
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Scammers Send Fake Speed Camera Violation
Notices by Email

Do NOT pay or reply; the Village mails speeding citation
notices via US Mail only

Last week, Bethesda Magazine published a story describing how some Montgomery County residents have received emails notifying them of purported speed camera or red light violations.  The emails included exorbitant fine amounts in excess of $500.  A copy of the story can be found at the following link:
 
http://www.bethesdamagazine.com/Bethesda-Beat/2018/Montgomery-County-Police-Are-Warning-Residents-About-a-Speed-Camera-Email-Scam/
 
Every agency in Maryland that has an automated photo enforcement program sends violation notices the same way: as hard copies via the US Postal Service.  Additionally, fines are statutorily limited at $40 for speeding violations and $75 for red light violations.  If you receive an email alerting you of an automated traffic violation, ignore it and delete it. 
 
To verify the legitimacy of a speed camera violation, or if you have any other questions or concerns about the Chevy Chase Village automated speed enforcement program, please call our customer service staff at 866-818-3844.  

Phony Extortion Letters Come Back
to the Village Once Again

Phishing scam urges recipients pay in Bitcoin to keep their ‘secret’ safe

In December, 2017 and again in April of this year, the Village Police Department sent out an email blast alerting residents about a scam involving a cryptic extortion letter sent directly to male residents using their correct name and address.  The letters seem to come in waves, and this week, at least three residents received the (rather obvious) phony letter.
 
The letters start off the same way:
 
Hello (first name of addressee), I’m going to cut to the chase….I know about the secret you are keeping from your wife and everyone else.  More importantly, I have evidence of what you have been hiding.  I won’t go into the specifics here in case your wife intercepts this, but you know what I am talking about.
 
The writer goes on to demand thousands of dollars as a ‘confidentiality fee’—payable in the cryptocurrency Bitcoin—to keep the ‘secret’ safe, or the writer will send the ‘evidence’ to the recipient’s wife, friends, family and neighbors.  The letter includes a page or two of instructions about how to pay in Bitcoin.  For those who haven’t heard of Bitcoin, it is a decentralized digital currency enabling those involved in transactions to remain anonymous.
 
Please realize that names and addresses of homeowners are easily available to the public using open source databases.  Do not be tricked into paying the thief merely because the letter may have been addressed in your name. 
 
Ignore these letters.  This is merely another way that thieves have found to make money.  If you receive such a letter, please call the Village Police Department and report it so that we can understand the scope of this scam.

New Email Extortion Scam Circulating; Ignore It

The email claims to have video of the victim as
he/she viewed adult websites

In this scam, the crook claims to have installed malware on a pornographic website, and once the victim visited that website, the malware enabled the scammer to record what the victim was watching, and to record what the victim was doing.  The scammer demands a ransom to be paid in Bitcoin, or the criminal will send the recorded video to everyone on the victim’s contact list.
 
A new twist in this phishing scam convinces some people to pay the ransom demanded by the crook:  the email contains an actual password that the victim uses or previously used.  Seeing one of their own passwords is enough for some people to pay the thief. 
Don’t do it.
 
In the article at the below link, the author explains that there have been many data breaches over the years, and a victim’s password—sometimes the password is up to 10 years old—is obtained that way.  While seeing one of your passwords in print may rattle you, don’t pay these thieves; they have not hacked your computer, but they want you to believe that they have.
 
Change your passwords regularly, and make sure each password is very different than the previous ones.
 
Article:  https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2018/07/13/sextortion-scam-knows-your-password-but-dont-fall-for-it/

Are You Prepared?

As we have experienced during various seasonal events, it is important to be prepared for local weather emergencies. In order the assist residents in their preparedness, the Village in partnership with the Montgomery County Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (OEMHS) offer a number of helpful tools, plans and free alerts to assist and keep you informed.

Village Website and Blast Email System – Have you signed up for the Village’s blast email system? This is primary electronic method of communication with you. The Village has 2 email lists you can sign-up for:

Urgent News Alert – include messages such as criminal activity, neighborhood disruptions such as water main breaks, power outages and road closures and major weather events.

General News Alerts – include messages about Board and committee meetings, community events, changes in public services such as refuse/recycling collection schedules and upcoming road closures.

To sign-up for the blast email system visit the Village website at www.chevychasevillagemd.gov and click on the tablet icon at the top of the Village’s homepage.
 

Alert Montgomery – Alert Montgomery is the office emergency communications service for Montgomery County, MD. During major crisis, emergency or severe weather events, Montgomery County officials will send event updates, warnings and instructions directly to you on any of your devices. To sign-up for Alert Montgomery please visit the OEMHS website www.montgomerycountymd.gov/oemhs and click on the “Alert Montgomery” link at the top of the page.

Family and Community Preparedness Information – Emergencies can take many form and occur with or without warning. By taking a few simple steps now, you can ensure that you, your family and your community are better prepared to handle emergencies. To assist in your family planning please visit the Village’s emergency preparedness page, www.chevychasevillagemd.gov/emergencyprep for helpful tools and links. Another important tool the Village has to assist you in your preparedness efforts is to always request a House Check when you are out town and ensure that your emergency contacts are up to date with the Village office.

For additional information please visit the Village’s website at www.chevychasevillagemd.gov and click on the “Are you prepared? – Emergency Preparedness Tips” link listed in the Quick Links on the homepage.

Emergency Contact Sheet

EMERGENCY - 911
 
Chevy Chase Village Police 
Non Emergency/24hrs - 301-654-7300

Montgomery County Police 
Non Emergency/24hrs - 301-279-8000

Bethesda - Chevy Chase Rescue Squad - 301-652-0077

Chevy Chase Fire Dept
(Opposite Columbia Country Club) - 240-773-4707

Bethesda Fire Dept
(Wisconsin Ave and Bradley Blvd) - 240-773-4706

National Capital Poison Center
(George Washington University Hospital) - 800-222-1222

Utilities
 

Potomac Electric Power Company (PEPCO)

Emergency-Live wires down, power failure - 877-737-2662

Customer Service - 202-833-7500

Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission

Emergency - 301-206-4002

Complaints, Leaks, Information - 301-206-4001

Washington Gas

Emergency - 703-750-1400

Information & Customer Service - 703-750-1000

Comcast - 800-934-6489

Verizon - 800-837-4966

**A cut out sheet is also located on page two of the January 2017 Crier.

You are receiving this email because you are subscribed to receive general news updates from Chevy Chase Village. Did you know the Village sends out urgent news updates as well, click here to sign-up.