Source of the Spring

Easy Like Sunday Brunch is expanding to downtown Silver Spring, with plans to open on the ground floor of the Central Apartments building at the intersection of Fenton Street and Wayne Avenue in the coming months. The eatery has signed a lease for the 3,606-square-foot former home of El Sapo Cuban Social Club, which closed in late 2024 after its sister restaurant, Urban Butcher, hit the “pause button” on operations in 2020 and has not reopened.

Catalyst Hot Dogs is expanding its mission of “Bringing the Jersey Dog to the DMV” by planning to open its first brick-and-mortar restaurant. Owner Chris Van Jura launched the Silver Spring-based food truck in 2020 and draws inspiration from the iconic culinary traditions of New Jersey’s greatest hot dog joints, offering a menu centered on premium, dry-aged Roseda Farm black Angus beef hot dogs, paired with a selection of house-made toppings prepared on-site.

Imagine it’s June and the winter ice storm is a distant memory. It’s early evening, and the setting sun is casting a soft glow over the baseball field at Blair High School. There’s a pitch, the smack of a bat against a ball, and fans jump to their feet as the home team scores another run.

As the sun emerges from behind the clouds above a former farm in Germantown, Maryland, rows of solar panels begin to hum. The soft buzz is barely audible over the sounds of children and coaches shouting on soccer fields in the distance. Nestled in a grassy valley at the Maryland SoccerPlex, the nearly 6-acre solar field helps provide power and energy to dozens of Montgomery Parks facilities.

Independence Now will host the inclusive fashion show FashionAble: Couture for a Cause on April 25. The White Oak-based nonprofit Center for Independent Living, which celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2024, provides peer support, advocacy, independent living skills training, and information and referral services to help people with disabilities live independently and fully participate in community life.

Attracting 8 million annual visitors to its popular beach and bustling boardwalk, Ocean City, Maryland, is a cornerstone of the state’s culture and economy — but the view from the beach will change if the state government has its way. Instead of looking out at just the sky and waves, visitors could one day see tiny toothpick-like structures — windmills, actually — on the horizon.

Silver Spring rapper and songwriter Sheun “She-unO” Ogunsunlade is among the nine finalists in this year’s Strathmore Bernard/Ebb Songwriting Awards. Now in their tenth year, the awards recognize exceptional composers and lyricists from the DMV region by showcasing local songwriting talent through an annual competition established in honor of Broadway lyricist Fred Ebb.

The Guardian apartment building, a newly-opened 167-unit office-to-residential conversion in downtown Silver Spring, is set for a foreclosure auction later this month. Atlantic Union Bank, the note holder on a $36.25 million loan originated in 2022, initiated the foreclosure auction scheduled for February 26. The Guardian was completed and began leasing last year, according to Bisnow, which first reported the impending auction on Wednesday afternoon.

Tato’s and Sweeteria Dessert Café, two eateries that originated in downtown Silver Spring, are hosting grand openings at their new Bethesda locations this week. The Thai street food-inspired Sweeteria will hold its grand opening today at 7525 Old Georgetown Road. Founded in 2020 by Ditlada Wichaidit and her husband, Soranan Karikarn, Sweeteria is a popular spot for sweet toasts and steamed breads featuring flavors such as matcha, peanut butter, and Thai tea.

The world is making progress against climate change even though the U.S. government has left the fight. Renewable energy usage has surged over the past decade, accounting for more than $2 trillion in global investment and totalling about 90% of all new energy capacity installed worldwide in 2024. There’s also a big increase in public and private spending aimed at mitigating the effects of climate change or helping communities adapt, which reached almost $2 trillion as of 2023.