Skip to main content

Bigger than the Bubble


Today's recommended reading:

"Henrietta Lacks Immortalized with Street Dedications" by Marge Neal, East County Times.


Never heard of East County Times? From their website:


East County Times is your source for local news, events, coupons and more in eastern Baltimore County. Published weekly, the East County Times newspaper reaches tens of thousands of local residents throughout Essex, Middle River, Rosedale, White Marsh, Nottingham, Perry Hall, Kingsville, Edgemere and Dundalk.
The banner announces that this is their 20th anniversary.
From what I gather, East County Times is what the Columbia Flier used to be, back in the day: locally owned and operated. There's not a lot of that left anymore in the world of journalism. It's also a great reminder to me that there's life outside of Columbia and greater Howard County. 
Writer Marge Neal is a friend of the blog. A search (there's a search bar at the bottom of this post) tells me that this is her fifth appearance. I met her when she was the local editor for Columbia Patch. We've kept up with each other through social media and had a reunion of sorts this summer at Pub Dog.
She brought along a souvenir she'd happened upon that she thought I'd like.

Bigger than Columbia, bigger than the East County Times, is the story of Henrietta Lacks. Read the article to learn about her family's roots in the area. There's also a great book by Rebecca Skloot called The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, and a made for television film based on the book. Hers is a story with local beginnings and international reach. 




, events, coupons and more in eastern Baltimore County. Published weekly, the East County Times newspaper reaches tens of thousands of local residents throughout Essex, Middle River, Rosedale, White Marsh, Nottingham, Perry Hall, Kingsville, Edgemere and Dundalk.EasCounty Times is your source for local news, events, coupons and more in eastern Baltimore County. Published weekly, the East County Times newspaper reaches tens of thousands of local residents throughout Essex, Middle River, Rosedale, White Marsh, Nottingham, Perry Hall, Kingsville, Edgemere and Dundalk.



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

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...