Second Annual Quiz Show

With apologies to Peter Sagal and NPR, this is:

"Spit it Out!!"

the VG/T² Columbia/Howard County current events quiz.

Questions are taken from the week's hyperlocal happenings. Winners of today's quiz will receive a selfie with Colonel Gateway, a postcard from the Schlossini Voyage, and Tom Coale's voice on their home answering machine.*

1. Nature and history lovers were united in sadness this week at the news that:

a) the new staircase in Ellicott City paved over an ancient nesting site.

b) the old elm at Belmont must be removed due to Dutch Elm disease.

c) The Howard County Conservancy announced plans for a modern, high-rise parking structure.

2. A showdown between the County Executive and the County Council continues over:

a) the Nutritional Standards bill.

b) noise levels at Merriweather

c) where to locate new, state-of-the-art water fountains.

3. A party in Columbia came to abrupt end this week when:

a) neighbors reported the party noise to the police.

b) strangers wandered up from the nearby pathway and crashed the party.

c) the deck fell off the house.

3. Parents at Glenwood Middle School expressed a lack of confidence in the School System's:

a) excessive use of high-stakes testing.

b) handling of mold issues in the school.

c) sexist enforcement of the dress code.

4. Local bloggers assembled at Portalli's Wednesday night to:

a) say farewell to blogger UK Desperate Housewife.

b) test out Ellicott City's new free wifi.

c) announce a slate of candidates for the next County Council race.

5. New Horizons is the name of:

a) the new retirement housing complex to be built above Clyde's on the shores of Lake Kittamaqundi.

b) a new, tell-all biography of former County Executuve Ken Ulman.

c) NASA's mission to Pluto with a Howard County/Johns Hopkins APL connection.

6. An article in the Howard County Times featured:

a) back-to-college advice from Duncan the Dragon of HCC.

b) HoCo blogger and small-business owner Scott Ewart.

c) diet and fitness tips from the County Executive.

7. Howard County residents can enjoy for a limited time:

a) Howard County Restaurant Weeks special menus.

b) free admission to Toby's "Into the Woods" with proof of a hiking visit to one of Howard County's nature trails.

c) the sounds of music emanating from Merriweather Post Pavillion.

This week's fill-in-the-blank limerick:

Proclaiming the "homeowner's voice",

Obsessed that "our woods have got noise!"

Ethics lapses won't slow him,

The rules? He don't know 'em!

Where does he live? In Harper's ______________.

I hope you enjoyed playing along at home. Stay tuned for future episodes of "Spit It Out" on the VG/T² network.

*completely false. Just made that bit up.

Comments

Teacher Gifts

Today is the last day of school before the Winter Break. It’s a good time to remember the far-reaching nature of our public school system. You may not have children. You may have sent your children to independent schools. It matters not. You will be impacted one way or another. Yesterday I read a long thread on Facebook about several waves of illness in the schools right now. There’s influenza A and norovirus, I believe. And of course there’s COVID. Apparently in some individual schools the rate of illness is high enough for school admin to notify parents. When I was little the acceptable holiday gift for a teacher was one of those lovely floral handkerchief squares. (I don’t know what it was for male teachers. They were rare in my elementary years.) These days the range of teacher gifts is wider and I have fond memories of Target gift cards which I have written about before. I think it’s safe to say that giving one’s teacher Influenza, norovirus, or COVID is not the ideal holiday...

They Can Wait

This is not a typical Saturday post. That’s because, in my community, it’s not a typical Saturday. Oakland Mills High School, after years of deferred repair, needs massive renovation. It’s pretty simple: when you don’t fix a problem it gets bigger. The school system itself said the the OMHS school building was "no longer conducive to learning" back in 2018. 2018 . But Thursday the Boad of Education voted to push it out of the lineup of important projects which will be given the go-ahead to proceed soonest. In my opinion it’s a terrible decision and sets a dangerous precedent. To explain, here’s the advocacy letter I sent in support of Oakland Mills High School. I was rather proud of it. I am writing to ask you to proceed with needed renovation at Oakland Mills High School in the most timely and comprehensive manner humanly possible. I have read the letter sent to you by the Oakland Mills Community Association and I am in complete agreement. You are extremel...

Separate and Unequal

Remember “Separate but equal”? Remember how that really meant that Black schools languished in broken-down buildings without adequate heat or toilet facilities, with cast-off, ragged learning materials, underfunded and largely ignored? The Supreme Court struck that down in 1954. The evidence was clear that separate was not equal. Plessy v Ferguson had led to - - no, endorsed - - deeply unequal schooling and opportunities. We tend to think of Brown v Board as being purely about racial integration. It was not. It was about the logical consequences of segregation. And they were not, not, not equal. The ruling in 1954 didn’t transform public education for non-whites into a land of milk and honey by any means. But it articulated some essential truths in a way that made including everyone a legal precedent which could be relied upon and built upon. It was better than what came before it but it rested upon unsteady ground. It did not necessarily change the hearts or minds ...

Village Green/Town²

Search This Blog