Village Green/Town²

Good news for student representation in the Howard County Public Schools!  Appeals court upholds Howard County’s method of selecting student school board membe r, Jess Nocera, Baltimore Banner Before I get into the meat of this, let me first say that the photographer for the Banner, Ulysses Muñoz, has taken one of the most appealing photos of Central Office that I have ever seen. It makes the building look genuinely appealing.  Exterior of Howard County Department of Education, 2/27/2024. (Ulysses Muñoz/The Baltimore Banner) Now, let’s get serious. From the article: Howard County students will still have a say in the pupil who represents the district’s entire student body on the board of education, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled Wednesday. The court turned away a challenge to allowing public school students, but not those who attend private schools, to vote on their representative on the school board, saying the process does not violate the Constitution...

Here it comes. Another one of those Village Green/Town² weird juxtapositions. Perhaps that’s the whole point of the blog anyway: where Columbia and Howard County intersect. Isn’t that a weird juxtaposition to begin with? On the one hand: WalletHub has yet again named Columbia as one of the happiest cities in America. It comes in at number nine. If you’re a glass half full kind of person, you’ll see this as being in the top ten, hurray! If you’re a glass half empty type you’ll certainly note that we have scored higher in previous years. It’s up to you. Take your pick.  I read this piece from 92 Q radio and honestly my favorite part were the little reaction emojis. Let’s get a close up of that.  Maybe WalletHub should’ve just sent one of these to everyone in Columbia, eh?  To be fair, they do describe their methodology for assessing communities for happiness but they don’t ever explain how Columbia gets assessed in the category of Large Cities. We’re not even incorporate...

I’d like to thank all the folks who read yesterday’s blog and especially those who turned out to protest the M4L meeting at the library last night. The Baltimore Banner has a write up here .  Also in the Banner, an article about the ongoing search for a new CA President in which they correctly identify the exterior of the CA headquarters. Alert the media! (Wait, never mind.) Here’s the article: After tumult, Columbia Association ‘on track’ to hire new CEO, Jess Nocera, Baltimore Banner Here’s the photo: The Columbia Association moved to this building in 2015.  The Baltimore Sun continues to post photos of the old location. Yikes. That reminds me. I haven’t written my annual exhortation to run for your Villge Board or as your Village Rep for the CA Board. Something about last years’s CA Board “tumult” (did they mean turmoil?)  has taken away much of my enthusiasm for Columbia citizen engagement. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t care. I am just admitting temporary exha...

  Libraries are for everyone. Most of the time when I say those words they give me a very good feeling. Today? Not so much.  Tonight at 6:30 pm there will be a Moms For Liberty meeting at the Central Branch Library. Their guest speaker is a self-proclaimed expert in book banning based on their success in Carroll County. Additionally, this meeting serves as a kick-off event to challenge books in HCPSS libraries. Libraries are for everyone. That means that, if they offer spaces for local community groups to meet, they must be committed to be even-handed about it. The startling juxtaposition of a library having any association whatsoever with censorship and book banning is pretty painful to me. It just feels wrong.  But, libraries do more than talk the talk. I guess this is walking the walk. I have to hope that there are some limits on the library’s open door policy. If there were a diy make your own gun club for the purpose of, say, shooting people whose political views ar...

The other evening I found myself drawn in to a documentary film on public television entitled  “Finding Fellowship.”  It’s the story of a community in Maryland that doesn’t exist anymore, called Quince Orchard. From the film’s website: FINDING FELLOWSHIP, BUILDING COMMUNITY How can a community that evolved for more than 100 years only carry on in the memories of a few surviving members? This story is personal to us because we are descendants of this place – our family has lived here since the Civil War. But it’s relevant to you too, wherever you live. There are countless Quince Orchards all across the country. Communities that no longer exist on the map, not because of economic stagnation, but because of progress. As I watched the film I was reminded of the efforts of our own local historians of Ellicott City Black History. There’s something deeply poignant about the desire to unearth and protect the stories of people who have been traditionally forgotten or even mischaracter...

My husband has become a devoted Os fan, during the years he has lived in the States, but his heart belongs to the sports of his youth - - cricket, “the footy”, and darts. What’s “the footy”, you ask? Well, he’d call it football. You’d probably call it soccer. I have gotten used to his devotion and honestly I’d much rather have Manchester United playing on my television than American football. I was unaware until very recently that my husband wasn’t the only local fan of Premier League Football.  The above is a post on TwitterX from the Baltimore Toffees, a club who support the Everton football club. They’ve found a new home to watch those exciting contests from overseas, and it’s in Ellicott City. The time difference means that some of those games can start as early as 7:30 am. Here’s the place, HoCoBrewHive : The loyal Everton supporters will be gathering there this morning for a watch party. (I wonder if they’ll be serving a true fry-up .)  I’m sorry, is that a bird staring ...

You may have seen the Sunday Doonesbury strip that was withheld from all Gamnett newspapers last week.  Doonesbury by Gary Trudeau/Universal Press Syndicate/Andrews McMeel Syndication The strip takes an irreverent look at the perils of teaching the truth about history in the state of Florida. . No matter that the cartoonist, Garry Trudeau, the first comic strip artist to ever win* a Pulitzer, is considered the finest editorial cartoonist of his generation. Gannett decided that this topic was too risky to poke fun at in any of the newspapers it operates. You can’t teach the truth in Florida and you can’t tell the truth about it in a Gannett newspaper. In Oklahoma a sixteen year old nonbinary high school student was beaten in a bathroom and died the next day. Anti-trans policies passed at the state level have made life more difficult for LGBTQ+ students and hateful sentiment stirred up by online trolls such as Libs of TikTok have caused strife and discord in schools and the surround...

  Good news - - the library’s Evening in the Stacks library fundraiser has sold out! This year’s event, “A Flower-full Evening,”  will support HCLS’ early childhood initiatives. As a fan of all things early childhoood, I’m happy to see the library’s commitment to these kinds of programs. Bad news - - if you don’t have a ticket, you will need to find something else to do this weekend. Hmm. May I suggest More than Hope , a performance event celebrating diversity and the journeys of immigrants.  The event begins at 5 pm on Sunday, 2/25, at the Owen Brown Interfaith Center. Tickets are 15 dollars and all proceeds go to support the programs at Luminus. If the name Luminus doesn’t ring a bell, that’s probably because you know of them by their old name, FIRN (Foreign-Born Information and Referral Network.) The name change, the result of rebranding initiative, hasn’t changed their ongoing mission.  For more than 40 years, Luminus has empowered New Americans by offering lega...

There’s a story in my family about an elderly lady who was downsizing from an apartment to a room in a retirement  home. Friends helping her pack were amazed by her many years of accumulated possessions. The most memorable (after the enormous collection of ruby glass) was a large envelope, rather fat. It was neatly labeled:  Padded Bag of Padded Bags. People who lived through the Great Depression were prone to save things that might come in handy later. Waste not, want not. My mother was well known in our family for saving Really Good Boxes to store her tax records in. At Christmas time she’d carefully remove the contents and use them as gift boxes. This is why one was suddenly bemused by a gift labeled Tax Records, 1971. This was followed by my mother anxiously exclaiming, “you can’t keep that box. I need it back.” Padded bags. A Really Good Box. Whether our lives have been influenced by folks who lived through the Great Depression or by deep commitment to the environmental m...

  An issue that comes up every so often is the fact that some Board of Education members participate in meetings online and some in person. It is understandable that some folks, especially teachers, have a bone to pick with this as it was the Board that was insistent on returning teachers to face-to-face teaching in the classroom before the majority were able to be fully vaccinated against COVID. It is easy from that standpoint to see Board members’ actions as saying, “in person for thee but not for me.” But let’s zoom out to look at the practice of online/hybrid meetings as a whole. The pandemic was certainly the cause of their proliferation. But, several years on, I can see many good reasons for offering the option in a variety of settings. Why? Because it removes obstacles to participation.  Streaming public meetings and religious services (with replay available) opens a door to engagement not simply to the immunocompromised, but also addresses other challenges. For example...

  Why yes, I did Google today’s date.  According to Google, the top hit is a dog show at the Fairgrounds.  Maryland Kennel Club Dog Show Please join us on February 17-18, 2024 for our annual All-Breed AKC Dog Show at the Howard County Fairgrounds in West Friendship, Maryland. I was curious about this listing: Howard County Events Calendar View the complete listing of annual events in Howard County and search monthly events including: workshops, performances, seminars and more. I had to scroll down a bit to get past some top-posted events, but then - - TA DA! - - the mother lode of things happening today in Howard County. A few are slightly over the county line, but close enough. I had not imagined that there would be so many things to do on a Sunday afternoon in February. There’s a Breakfast Buffet at the Mount Airy Volunteer Fire Department, a Coffee and Cars event in Old Ellicott City, and even a Silent Reading Party at The Last Word bookstore in Savage Mill. The Crazy ...

Boy, do people love to talk about crime. They’re so excited about it that every day, when the police department posts a link to the daily crime report, someone then copies and pastes the entire report into the comments section to make sure no one misses it.  Crime is especially useful if you want to complain about something: Things aren’t what they were when I was growing up. This is all the county executive’s fault Those (insert racist dog whistle here) really bring the neighborhood down. I’m glad I moved to _____________. Ever since ___________, it’s all been downhill. Nobody likes crime and I think we would all agree that we’d like less of it in Columbia/HoCo. But I’m beginning to be creeped out by people who seem to get sincere enjoyment out of sensationalizing local crime. There’s a distinct difference between documenting and reporting crime as opposed to rolling around in it the way that dogs love to roll in decaying flesh and other foul smelling stuff.  Bonus: the exist...

  I just learned that people can ACTUALLY HEAR SONGS IN THEIR HEAD. I burst into song randomly so that I can hear the song I am thinking of. You folks can actually HEAR music in your head? I thought that was just a figure of speech! What is worse… I am a musician and I had no idea this was real. #MindBlown - - Amy Collins on TwitterX Can you? Hear music in your head? I remember learning that some people can’t see people and things “in their mind’s eye” and I was shocked. I thought everyone could. When I read the tweet above it got me thinking all over again. What about hearing “in your mind’s ear?” For the record, I can. It’s not something I learned how to do consciously, I just can. I suspect it’s a kind of sensory memory. You can only draw on it if you have actually experienced it. Hmm…sensory memory. What about taste? Think of your favorite food. Can you taste it in your mind’s…tongue? Mouth? The flavor, the texture, whether it is warm or cold, sweet or salty or spicy….I can, b...

  Celebratory parades are such an all- American experience, don’t you think? Here’s the  story  of one from 2022. Bad Timing , Village Green/Town² 2022 On the Fourth of July parade-goers in Highland Park, Illinois were mowed down by gunfire from a lone gunman with far too much firepower.  Highland Park shooting: 6* dead at parade, suspect in custody , By Jake Sheridan, Katherine Rosenberg-Douglas, Gregory Pratt, Rosemary Sobol, Jeremy Gorner, Megan Crepeau, Annie Sweeney, Kinsey Crowley, Angie Leventis Lourgos and Gavin Good,  Baltimore Sun On the fifth of July Maryland Governor Larry Hogan directed the state police make it easier to carry a concealed weapon. Maryland Gov. Hogan calls on state police to suspend ‘good and substantial reason’ standard for carrying a concealed gun , Hannah Gaskill,  Baltimore Sun Mr. Hogan’s timing is appallingly bad. Perhaps he and his team had it all teed up - - ready to go right after the holiday weekend - - and didn’t...

As a former teacher of special needs preschoolers, I noticed this article right away: The Dish: Why a mother built a bakery to help her autistic daughter,  Matti Gelman, Baltimore Banner This piece is about parent Jennifer Goldszmidt, co-owner of Zoe's Just Dezzerts in Federal Hill. But it’s really about Zoe.  Jennifer unveiled Zoe’s Just Dezzerts at 828 S. Charles St. in November. The Federal Hill storefront, named in honor of the Z’s in Zoe’s name and her penchant for sweet treats, provided the now-22-year-old with gainful employment. The business has since hired six other neurodivergent workers and has become an “autism-friendly” haven for the community. In particular, this line made me smile: Singing is rampant. On occasion, Zoe will burst into an a capella rendition of “For the First Time in Forever” from Disney’s “Frozen.” Co-worker Kamani Bautista, who is also autistic, previously joined her for a duet, in some cases with music he has written. I smiled because I used to...

Yesterday got a bit worse before it got better. My return trip to Touché Touchet yielded the information that they are closed on Mondays. Blah. I still want a gingerbread heart. I’ll try again today, weather permitting. I’m serious about all things gingerbread. While running errands closer to home I noticed that new indie bookstore Queen Takes Book has a sign up. Yes, it’s a temporary sign, more like a banner, but it’s a great way to remind the public that a new business is coming to that space. The door was open and they were clearly working on preparing the interior. If you subscribe to their newsletter you’ve seen the current view. Question: what do you call a bookstore without any books? We're not sure either, but we DO know that Queen Takes Book is going through major transformations this week! Demo is finished. New flooring and fresh paint are coming over the next couple of days. Fixtures have started to arrive. You can subscribe to their newsletter by visiting the website. Q...

  This is shaping up to be the Mondayest of Mondays over here today. (Not a great night in the sleep department.) Here are a few things that are in my local file waiting to be written about: 1. Howard County’s new flag process  2. HoCo Health Department offering in-person Doula training in March  3. The Children’s Gift Foundation  4. What is Maryland's Mesonet system? 5. The Horizon Foundation announces changes What’s on your list? If I overcome my Monday malaise I may go back to Touché Touchet for a gingerbread heart. I stopped by on Saturday, post-soup, but they were slammed and I didn’t see any gingerbread in the bakery cases. Hope springs eternal. Village Green/Town² Comments

BEAUTIFUL Soup, so rich and green, Waiting in a hot tureen! Who for such dainties would not stoop? Soup of the evening, beautiful Soup! Soup of the evening, beautiful Soup! Beau- ootiful Soo-oop! Beau- ootiful Soo-oop! Soo- oop of the e- e- evening, Beautiful, beautiful Soup! Beautiful Soup! Who cares for fish, Game, or any other dish? Who would not give all else for two Pennyworth only of Beautiful Soup? Pennyworth only of beautiful Soup? Beau- ootiful Soo-oop! Beau- ootiful Soo-oop! Soo- oop of the e- e- evening, Beautiful, beauti- FUL SOUP! - - Lewis Carroll Well, it’s lucky for us it isn’t just “soup of the evening” at the Common Kitchen in Clarksville, but, all day as well. This weekend they are celebrating Souper Bowl Weekend and it is going on until 8 pm tonight. I went yesterday around lunchtime. First of all, I want to clarify something in case this reminds you of another longstanding HoCoLocal event.  This is not “Souper Sundae”, a charitable initiati...