Unanswered Questions

In case you were wondering what sort of things pique my curiosity…here are today’s three things.

Why do people film tours of local elevators?

Tour of the elevators at TenM Flats & The Metropolitan in Columbia MD

Tour of the elevators at Howard Community College in Columbia MD

Strange Unknown Hydraulic Elevator, 5999 Harpers Farm Rd, Columbia, MD

My personal favorite is the “Strange Unknown Hydraulic Elevator.” It’s clearly not unknown. It’s in a building on Harper’s Farm Road.

Is filming elevators a TikTok trend? Part of training in elevator repair programs?

What is the origin of the logo of the Howard County Historical Society? It caught my eye this morning and I suddenly wondered if it had always been that way and what it is meant to represent.

Yes, I did a basic Google search. So far I have not looked under the right rock. If you are in possession of this knowledge, clue me in.

This last one might be hard for you to spot. It’s from an article in the Baltimore Sun about candidates in the County Council race. Hint: it’s in the section about James Handley.

James Handley

Handley said he served in the U.S. Army and has been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. He now works as an assistant attorney general with the Maryland Office of the Attorney General.

Handley said he served in the U.S. Army…

Okay, help me out here. Did Handley serve? The reporter doesn’t commit. Is that because they weren’t required to fact check for this piece? Did the reporter conduct interviews to prepare this piece or send out a survey or a call for candidate statements?

This feels very weird to me. Either Handley served or he didn’t and either the reporter checked out his claim or she didn’t. Leaving it like this is sloppy. Are we to believe that the reporter isn’t convinced/refuses to vouch for his words?

That’s bad. At the very least it makes this piece look unprofessional. At its worst it could suggest to readers that Handley is guilty of stolen valor which is a serious accusation. This does him a great disservice.

Why would a professional journalist open the door to that kind of misunderstanding? Isn’t this why we have professional journalists?

Sigh.

Do you have any HoCoLocal unanswered questions? Let me know.

Village Green/Town² Comments

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