Village Green/Town²

 It’s getting on my nerves again.  “Never saw a photo opp he didn’t like.” You know what I’m talking about, right? Some folks have nothing better to do than to show up on a local social media post and complain that the County Executive is in the photo. This happened on Reddit recently and I made the mistake of responding, in frustration, “I don’t think the original poster understands how this all works.” Then came the response, “How does it all work?” Sigh. I asked for that. The County Executive does not wake up on a Wednesday morning and decide to do some new HoCoGov thing and get his picture taken. He works with a team of county employees. They assess needs, establish priorities, enact policy. When you see Dr. Ball cutting a ribbon, speaking on a new initiative, or responding to a community concern he is there to serve the public as a representative of the work of Howard County Government as a whole. His face and his position are the most widely-recognized in HoCo and he is...

  First off: HCPSS is posting more diverse recruiting adverts than I had originally thought. See below. Not sure about their choice of what words should be the BIG words, though. Is there a secret message in here that I’m missing?  HCPSS VALUED ALONE HERE YOU FALL 2026 ***** Someone is having fun over on the Columbia Reddit. I’d love to know the backstory on this. Caption reads: Petition to replace Jim Rouse statue with giant mechanical supervillain spider. The advert placed directly below made me giggle. “Satisfying to watch. Satisfying to eat.” ***** A few days ago I titled a post “Places and Spaces.” A few days ago the Columbia Association posted a short video entitled “ Places and Spaces.” It’s possible I snagged their title without realizing I had seen it elsewhere. I don’t think it’s a crime but I feel pretty stupid, anyway. ***** Last night the Baltimore Sun put up this odd post on Facebook. It has since been revised to look more like their usual posts. Take a look. I...

Who do we appreciate? Teachers! Right? It’s Teacher Appreciation Week and I can’t help but notice that the Howard County School System is recruiting. Images from HCPSS advertisements on social media From the look of these particular adverts, they are largely looking for white women. But it’s altogether possible there are others ads in this series that I haven’t seen yet. If you see any, please send them my way. The ads focus on the theme “Supported Teachers Build Stronger Classrooms.” I don’t think anyone would argue with that. Here’s my question: Do we truly support teachers in Howard County to the degree that we can make it our selling point to potential recruits?  I just don’t know. I think we’d probably have to ask teachers .  Does anyone ever ask teachers? Yes, teachers should be supported. And appreciated. How about empowered, too? Empowered to be able to work only one job to survive. Empowered to have a learning-conducive classroom without spending their own money. E...

  Can we talk?  I thought we were done with this photograph and all its variations. Enough, already.  Image property of Baltimore Sun I really loathe this one. Image property of Baltimore Sun And yet the Sun has dragged it out yet again for this piece about the upcoming primary. In Howard County, only Democrats will get a vote in race for top spot , April Santana, Baltimore Sun First of all, the title of the article is all wrong. Is the core of the issue that “only Democrats will get a vote”? No. The point is that the Howard County Republican Party didn’t produce any candidates for County Executive.  That’s a big difference. The Sun’s title suggests something fishy is at work to give Democrats something that Republicans won’t get. It’s factually untrue and the framing is misleading. To be clear, the article itself lays out the issue far better than the title does. But: sheesh!  And, another thing: Interviewed for the article: Ken Ulman, Democrat. Trent Kittle...

  I seem to be collecting snippets of information about HoCo locations which are, so far, unknown to me. Here are a few. From Wilde Lake CARES: There’s a Rouse Rock? Where is it, exactly? From somewhere in Oakland Mills… I’m guessing this is located at one of the OM schools but I don’t know anything more than that. Owen Brown has a meadow? Apparently it does, in Hopewell. In Harper’s Choice there’s a place called Beech Forest Grove. At least, there is now. Harper's Choice CARES is establishing a community sanctuary garden by that name in Swansfield Park. And what about a potential park in Lawyers Hill, Elkridge? The County is inviting public input.   This image from HoCoGov shows the area in question. And a local writer elaborates on the potential of the natural space:  The Joy of Ptap, Joy Tsao Lawyers Hill Overlook When a wooded property in Elkridge was on the verge of development, Howard County purchased it, preserving it as public green space. So many places I haven’t...

  Yes, I was relieved when Biden was elected President. But I was also disappointed quite soon after he took office. Those memories came crashing back this week. The very first thing that Joe Biden should have done was to focus his efforts on voting rights. It was clear that they were under attack. When voting places in predominantly Black areas disappear and people must stand in line for hours and hours to vote - - that’s unacceptable. When it becomes illegal to offer those voters food or drink as they wait in line to exercise their right to vote - - that’s a violation of the democratic process. The very people who organized and showed up to get a Democratic president elected (and have done for years) were the very people who had to push every step of the way against this increasing tide of voter suppression. Politicians often talk about what they are going to do on Day One. Biden should been prepared on Day One to be relentless on doing everything in his power to protect Black v...