Village Green/Town²

  Who/what is “a regular person”? For that matter, who isn’t a regular person? What is the difference? How could you tell? Why do I ask? Well… So, I'm doing something a little crazy - I started a podcast about what it would take for a regular person to run for president. It's called Why Not Me? 2028. If you have 20 minutes, I'd love for you to check it out - and if you like it, share it . - - Shana Bynon  I was encouraged by a friend to listen to the most recent episode of Why Not Me? 2028, a podcast created and hosted by HoCoLocal Shana Bynon. It’s an interesting question: what if a regular person ran for President? What kind of a regular person would you ask? Where would you find them? The podcast began a year ago and has released fifteen episodes so far. While it starts with a focus on the presidency, it soon expands its reach of inquiry into other avenues of public service. And then it even gets local. I mean - - it makes sense that you’d be able to find regular people...

  A year ago today I had surgery to repair an umbilical hernia. So far the fix has held up well, although it somehow managed to cause our bedroom ceiling to collapse.* It’s not surprising that I woke up with a mix of those memories swirling around in my mind today. It’s a Saturday and there are plenty of things to do. I’m just not plugged into that mood this morning - - my apologies. Three things: 1. Interesting house for sale in Brookeville which is somehow Howard County. I don’t quite understand how that works. Shouldn’t Brookeville be Montgomery County? It’s interesting to see a style that I remember being so new and challenging the status quo now looking so…dated? humbled? I can’t quite explain it. What do you think? ***** 2. I’m still troubled by a Thursday post on Facebook by the Howard County Historical Society. Here it is.  The Historical Center & Archives will be closed tomorrow Friday, June 19th, 2026 in observance of Juneteenth. We apologize for any inconvenienc...

  Today is Juneteenth. Freedom Day. JUNETEENTH FREEDOM DAY We commemorate Juneteenth, on June 19, 1865, when enslaved peoples of African descent in Texas finally gained their freedom. We remember them. We honor their memory. We celebrate freedom for all. What kind of freedom? We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness . - - Thomas Jefferson, from the Declaration of Independence  Is this freedom? Mississippi officer put on leave after killing baby in car outside Walmart , Marina Dunbar, The Guardian Is this freedom? Trump facing pressure to condemn UFC fighter for disparaging Michelle Obama , David Smith, The Guardian Is this freedom? Pete Hegseth removes all women and some Black service members from navy promotion list , Richard Luscombe, Joseph Gedeon and Aram Roston What kind of freedom is that?  Hold ...

  Things I didn’t know: The Restore is closing. My initial response: oh, that’s sad. The Restore, an initiative of Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake, supports their mission of providing safe, affordable homes for those who are in need of stable housing. The Restore also helps reduce waste by keeping otherwise usable home furnishings out of landfills. Learn more here: Restore A friend posted that this week is their last week. I checked out their website and found - - whew! - - that it’s not as final as all that. They are moving, so will be closed for a while. I believe this is their second move. Didn’t they used to be around the corner? In the meantime,  they are having a big sale!  Columbia, Maryland Restore  You know what else I didn’t know? I had no idea that the Dancel Y in Ellicott City has an enormous outdoor pool. Did you? No? That’s because they don’t. I went to their website to double-check. But they are running multiple adverts right now that would def...

Everybody smiles for the cameras. A ribbon is cut, the story runs across multiple media outlets. Some people heave a sigh of relief or say, begrudgingly, “It’s about time!”  I am sad.  Columbia police open new satellite office at the Mall in Columbia after fatal shootings, WBAL  TV 11 Our community has been ablaze with hateful and unsubstantiated rumours about a project to create a community center for young people. But everybody smiles about more police at the Mall.  Why?  I’d smile if they were opening a special hub for teens at the Mall. Let me know when they do that. This is how we spend our money. This is how we think we can address complicated problems. What are we calling it these days? Crime prevention? Rapid response? Investment in public safety? Crime prevention is meeting the unmet needs that cause suffering and put people into a continuous cycle of crisis and failure. Rapid response is truly paying attention, in real time, to vulnerable and distres...

Yesterday was a rare, low-humidity day in June - - shocking! I took this as a sign. After several days of false starts I managed to get myself into the car and head over to St. John Baptist Church for early voting. I don’t know if you remember, but there was a bit of an uproar when St. John Baptist built their new church on the corner of Tamar and 175. Some people seemed to suggest that James Rouse had forbidden church buildings as a part of the Columbia Plan. Since then I’ve observed so many ways that this congregation has connected with the community and opened its doors to educate and to serve. I wonder if the naysayers have noticed? A few things. Something yellow caught my eye in the parking lot. What office is the duck running for? I’m serious. That’s a duck. Apparently it’s associated with Linfeng Chen, whose enormous sign you can see in the center of the photo. I don’t know if there are any electioneering rules which expressly forbid duck signs. But what would happen if every c...