Rockville residents Tom Moore and Dana Tofig recently launched MoCo Beat, a podcast about “the news, the politics, and the life of Montgomery County.” Moore is an attorney with the Federal Elections Commission and recently concluded four years of service on the Rockville City Council. Tofig works in the research arm of the US Department of Education was formerly the Public Information Officer with Montgomery County Public Schools.  Their first episode looks at the Rockville Pike Plan, the recently adopted Montgomery County budget, places to buy beer, and new restaurants in downtown Rockville.  The first podcast is just short of 40 minutes and looks like it might be a weekly production.

With the demise of the Gazette newspaper and spartan coverage by the Washington Post, it is difficult to locate news about Rockville but here are the ones I know:

• City of Rockville regularly posts news about the City, from recreation programs to proclamations to Council decisions.  Don’t expect any analysis or opinions, but you can sign up for alerts to know when the Farmers Market opens or the latest recreation guide is available.
• The Montgomery County Sentinel is a weekly tabloid that seems to be only available in a print version at City Hall, so the website is not only more convenient but more up to date. It emphasizes local sports with occasional news coverage, with its politics leaning towards Mayor Bridget Newton.
• For many years, Helen Triolo has reshaped Rockville Living to “provide information and resources to promote a vibrant economic and environmentally sustainable future in and around Rockville.” It currently features a calendar of events ranging from performances, exhibits, theater, concerts, and school programs.
• Rockville Nights by Robert Dyer is the “first website dedicated to what you’re doing tonight in Rockville” although for the past year or so it’s also been covering news with posts several times a week. Its political leanings are towards Mayor Bridget Newton.
• Cindy Cotte Griffiths launched Rockville View in August 2015 with daily posts “providing the most comprehensive Rockville, MD community news.”  Griffiths was formerly editor and co-owner of the popular Rockville Central.   Its political leanings are away from Mayor Bridget Newton.
• Aaron Kraut at Bethesda Beat, which is part of Bethesda Magazine, has been the up-and-coming news source for deeper stories about major issues on nearly a daily basis.
• Rockville Patch is an inconsistent source of information, often recycling stories from other versions of Patch, such as Gaithersburg, Bethesda-Chevy Chase, or even Annapolis.  Most are soft stories or breaking crime alerts, with very little news.
• A few neighborhood or civic associations, such as East Rockville and West End, include news on their websites but it’s rare or infrequent.  Check out the association for your neighborhood or the one next door to see what’s available, and while they should stay politically neutral, they can lean one way or the other.

If you know of other consistent and reliable sources for local news, please share them in the comments below.