Pure Barre Opens In Bethesda — Pure Barre, the ballet-based exercise studio, opened its Shoppes of Bethesda location (4930 Hampden Lane) on Jan. 20. The national franchise opened a location in Rockville earlier this month and will open a fifth area location in Alexandria next week. It’s the first new tenant in the Shoppes of Bethesda since a number of longtime stores packed up last year. [Washingtonian]

Congress Members Call On State Not To Pick Purple Line Bidder — Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) wrote a letter to Maryland Transportation Secretary James Smith this week asking for the agency to “reevaluate” the bid of Keolis, one of four consortiums up for the Purple Line private contract that has a majority owner (Societe Nationale des Chemins de Fer Francais) historians say was responsible for transporting Jews to Nazi death camps during World War II. [Washington Post]

Political Columnist: County Executive Race Won’t Inspire Change — Josh Kurtz, the veteran local political observer and Center Maryland columnist, says Isiah Leggett, Doug Duncan and Phil Andrews haven’t made a changing Montgomery County central to their campaigns, which means “a real conversation about the future of Maryland’s largest jurisdiction is going to be put off for another four years.” [Center Maryland]

‘Yes Man’ Watchmaker From Bethesda — Bethesda native Nathan Resnick felt constrained by his 9-to-5 workday, so he started a Kickstarter-backed watch brand called Yes Man Watches to make better use of his time. [The Gazette]

Flickr photo by jiroseG5