• In her People and Places column Patricia M. Murret writes, Gaithersburg son welcomed back:

    U.S. Army Sgt. Christopher F. Day of the 864th Engineering Battalion Combat Heavy returned to the U.S. on May 14 from a 15-month deployment in Eastern Afghanistan. This was his second tour. He is the son of Clark and Marie Day of Gaithersburg.

    To watch an video of this soldier’s return, visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lausvAScxk.

    Gaithersblog readers may recognize Clark’s name as a sometimes-commenter and frequent contributer of photographs to this blog. Great news for the Day family, and big thank you to Sgt. Chris Day for his service to the country!

  • Patricia M. Murret writes, Olde Towne earns ‘Enterprise Zone’ status from the governor:

    Gov. Martin M. O’Malley announced on Friday that Olde Towne Gaithersburg is the state’s 29th enterprise zone.

  • Meghan Tierney writes, ‘Survivalist’ produced explosives at home:

    Investigators say a ‘‘survivalist” with a stockpile of food and more than 30 weapons and 230 pounds of chemicals was ‘‘rolling along” in producing explosives in his Gaithersburg townhouse when he was arrested last week.

  • Sebastian Montes writes, Murder charge dropped in Latino’s beating death:

    A murder charge has been dropped against the Bethesda man accused in the February beating death of a 42-year-old Gaithersburg man outside his apartment behind Route 355.

    Detric Lewarren Thompson, 28, was charged with the murder of Aureliano Evelio Miranda-Fuentes after he was arrested at the same apartment complex for an alleged break-in.

  • Patricia M. Murret writes, As Gaithersburg grows, leaders grapple with density:

    As Gaithersburg’s population grows and its landscape changes, city leaders are grappling with the issue of density — and how to decide when enough is enough.