Halloween Scaries Return!

It’s that time. The big day is Tuesday and the community is awash with Jack-o-lanterns and candy. Last year I had a little fun with some local “scary” stories using Halloween as my jumping off point.

Columbia/HoCo Halloween. And Horrorshow

Let’s look at this year’s top six:

The People Who Don’t Value Libraries.

Discussions around the planned Downtown Library at the Columbia Lakefront brought out quite a number of folks who have no use for libraries other than downloading novels. This one honestly keeps me up at night.

The Time They Suggested Cutting Down the Time for Resident Speakout at CA Meetings.

How could they? Sure, hearing from residents in a public meeting takes up time. Imagine how efficient they’d be if they could just toss that portion of the meeting in the bin.

The Dreaded Onslaught of Teen Customers at the Mall.

In which the Mall management adds multiple levels of policing to deter the only people who think being at the mall is actually fun.

Moms4Liberty Comes to HoCo.

By far the scariest story of the year, no jokes about it.

The Bus Company That Ruined Everything.

If you had a bone to pick with student transportation in years past, you could never have imagined how much worse it could get. As a recipe for catastrophe it even surpassed that time the Maryland State Comptroller wanted to control the school calendar.

The CA Board that Ate the CEO

Just as scary as it sounds, and - - don’t forget - - it’s a part of a long-running series of similar titles, including The CA Board that Ran the CEO Out of Town, among others.

So, that’s a sampling of the scariest stories in town. I must say that one of last year’s stories, The People Who Might Move Into Your Neighborhood, is still making the rounds in some circles.

What makes your list for the scariest local stories this year? Answers can be light-hearted or serious, just not mean-spirited.

Village Green/Town² Comments

Comments

Getting Fresh

One of my favorite days in the Spring comes when this year’s list of Farmer’s Markets is released. That happened this week. New this year are markets in Old Ellicott City and the “Merriweather Market” which, according to the address, will be located here . I mistakenly thought at first glance that it was in the new-construction part of the Merriweather District. I find the name confusing considering its actual location. I’m going to guess that this market is an initiative of the Howard Hughes Corporation because the name seems chosen more for branding purposes than anything else. Alas, the market in Maple Lawn is gone. The thread on the markets on the County Executive’s FB page will provide you with quite the education in who actually runs the Farmers Markets vs what people often think is going on. Short answer: they are not chosen nor run by the county. Each market is an independent entity, sometimes started by community volunteers, other times supported by local businesses...

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...

Village Green/Town²

Search This Blog