HoCoLocal Connections

Howard County has a television channel. Do you watch it?

Recently County Executive Calvin Ball highlighted the work of Howard County Government Television on social media, reminding the public of this resource.

GTV is accessible on Comcast Channel 99 and Verizon Channel 44. For a detailed program schedule and further information, please refer to our official page at: https://www.howardcountymd.gov/public-information/gtv-program-schedule.

I have a confession to make: I don’t watch it. It has been my understanding that it’s mostly there to broadcast County Council meetings. While I have watched some of those over the years, it’s not a regular commitment for me. They also have a running Bulletin Board for local information. That’s about it, right?

Is there something I am missing?

If you are an avid fan of the Howard County channel, please fill me in. I am just straight up revealing my ignorance here.

I can tell you that I’m a devotee of The Ball Bulletin, the e-newsletter that comes from the County Executive’s Office.

Ball has continued the tradition - - that he began as a member of the County Council - - of a comprehensive newsletter for constituents, chock full of local information. If you aren’t getting it, you should be. There is honestly someone for everyone in this thing. You can subscribe by going to this page on the hocogov website, scrolling to the bottom of the page, and filling out the necessary information.

In the newsletter this week, from the Office of Human Rights and Equity:

Hate Has No Place: Reporting Hate Crimes and Hate Bias Incidents

I invite all to join our Office of Human Rights and Equity (OHRE) and our Howard County Human Rights Commission this Wednesday, November 8th at 6:00 p.m. for a public forum on hate crimes and hate bias incidents (HBIs). Featuring a panel of subject matter experts, including U.S. Department of Justice Assistant U.S. Attorney Kim Phillips, Deputy for the Maryland Coordination and Analysis Center Deputy Major E. Greg Phillips, Howard County State’s Attorney Richard Gibson, Howard County Public School Systems Coordinator of School Culture and Climate Alyson Mitchel, HCPD Community Services Bureau Captain Phil Mullinix and OHRE Administrator Yolanda F. Sonnier, participants will learn how to report hate crimes and HBIs and how these reports are investigated by law enforcement.

To be a part of this important event, click HERE to register. Please NOTE, this event will now be held at The Meeting House, located at 5885 Robert Oliver Place in Columbia

The focus of the event is reporting hate crimes and hate bias incidents. I wonder if they’ll touch on finding helpful ways to cope with them. Even better - - how to foster a community that prevents them.

Hey, I wonder if this will be filmed for broadcast on HCGTV?

Village Green/Town² Comments

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...

Columbia Chance Connection

Last night, as my husband and I were about to sit down to dinner, our front door swung open and a cheery voice announced, “I’m ba—ack!” We weren’t expecting anyone. Clearly the only people who’d walk right in to our house would be one of our offspring. I had my reading glasses on so I wasn’t seeing too clearly. It seemed too tall for our youngest, but we knew our eldest was at work. I took off my glasses to see a friendly but confused face scanning our living room. When her gaze landed on us we all had a sudden realization. We didn’t know eachother. “Oh I’m so sorry! I’m in the wrong house! My daughter just moved in and she needed hooks for the kitchen so I ran out to get them.” She waved the package. “All these houses look the same and I don’t know the neighborhood yet. I thought this was my daughter’s house.” We were all getting a bit giggly. “That’s okay. For a quick second we thought you were our daughter,” said my husband. I told her our names and said she should defin...

Village Green/Town²

Search This Blog