Village Green/Town²

  There’s the good news and the bad news. The bad news? A Howard County school bus went the wrong way. Students intervened . Jess Nocera, Baltimore Banner  After Tuesday’s dismissal, a bus carrying Glenwood Middle School students ended up going on an unexpected journey to get home. Instead of taking the usual route, their bus driver brought them across county lines into neighboring Carroll County on Route 97. That’s alarming.  The good news?  There’s no stupid-ass comments on this story at the Banner website. Yet. Having been on field trips with a bus load of preschoolers - - when you realize the bus driver is either lost or just plain going to the wrong place - - I know that creepy feeling in the pit of one’s stomach as the minutes tick on. Do I say anything? Is this an alternate route I’m not aware of? Will the bus driver bite my head off if I attempt to intervene? Now imagine you’re not an adult.  I have seen comments elsewhere that this is a good argument in...

  September 11th is still so close to us that we remember what we were doing that day, who we were with and what we were thinking. Every year we relieve that litany of feelings and events.  Twenty five years ago I was watching children play on the playground. It was a beautiful, sunny day. Then another teacher came over and said, "did you hear?" - - Time Will Dim , Village Green/Town²  I woke up this morning and realized that the students I was with on the playground that day are thirty years old now.  Wow.  In my mind they have never aged. When I was thirty I was newly divorced with a three year old child and beginning my teaching career. I wonder what my former students are doing? Who have they become? What impact did that day - -  and all that followed - - have on their lives? ***** I don’t ever want to pretend I can speak from anyone else’s perspective than my own. I can’t possibly fathom the horror of that day twenty-five years ago for those who were ...

  Her Instagram account is called Sarah Sundae . She likes BTS, is a natural at using social media, plays the guitar, and loves iced coffee. Oh, and one more thing she’d like you to know: I can’t afford a wheelchair van for my son. Sarah’s son young Rowan experienced a life-threatening illness at the age of two which triggered a series of seizures causing profound and lasting damage.  Today, Rowan needs complete and total assistance to walk, talk, and eat. The seizures left extensive damage to all parts of his brain including the brain steam and myelin sheath. A wheelchair-accessible van would enable her to transport her son more easily and safely as he grows. Rowan is seven now, and he absolutely is growing. The cost for these vehicles is in the neighborhood of 60,000 dollars.  Here’s a link to her Go Fund Me account to learn more: Help Rowan gain mobility with a wheelchair van,  Sarah’s Instagram account details her day-by-day journey to raise the funds to buy the ...

  And one more thing… We’re going to have a big shake-up on the County Council come November. It looks like outgoing members may be tying up some loose ends before they go. Exhibit A: Howard Republican to push for solar pause at Tuesday legislative session,   April Santana, Baltimore Sun I don’t have much to say about this because the article doesn’t contain the information necessary to evaluate Council member David Yungmann’s request.  “Solar sounds great to a lot of folks, but all of the negative impacts are falling on the rural west,” Yungmann said. “The residents of the rural west are receiving virtually none of the benefits.” Here’s what I need to know: Solar sounds great to a lot of folks.       Why does solar sound great to a lot of folks? Elaborate. All of the negative impacts are falling on the rural west.        What are the negative impacts of solar that are falling on the rural west? Please list. The residents of the rur...

  Today’s the day! Howard County welcomes Flash transportation services connecting HoCo to MoCo.  Flash is not simply some cute name made up by a marketing department in Montgomery County. A Flash bus is a particular kind of bus that does specific things and meets specific community needs. Here’s an introductory video that lays it out for you. And there’s more on their website . Flash Bus Rapid Transit Overview  - - Montgomery County Department of Transportation  As described by MC DOT: The Flash is a fast and frequent Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) network that functions similarly to a light rail system on rubber tires. It’s a relatively new approach to public transit. In Montgomery County the Flash is operating two lines: But wait - - there’s more!  Check out the last sentence in this paragraph: Montgomery County's Flash Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) ® service will be extended into Howard County along the US 29 corridor on September 8, 2026. This pilot program will be use...

  This year’s Labor Day post is for the people you don’t meet until you need them. They do things you wouldn’t have imagined you would ever need. The people who shepherd a frightened family member through a traumatic trip to the ER. The people who help you coordinate home care when you know absolutely nothing about what to do and what you need. The people who deliver and set up the hospital bed. Physical therapists. Occupational therapists. The people whose job is it to keep taking X-rays while trying not to cause pain. And, most of all: the carers. You definitely aren’t going to meet them under ordinary circumstances. You are so exhausted that you have contemplated walking out into traffic just to end the continual fear that you are doing something wrong. You desperately need help and you are afraid that sharing the load is shirking your responsibility or means that you don’t care as much as your ought to. Our culture treats this kind of care work as something quite low - - unskil...

  It only takes one variable to change your day. I needed to pick up a few things that my own Walgreens did not have in stock so I put in an order at the one on Route 40 in Catonsville. I entered the destination into my GPS and headed out. I soon found myself lost, more or less, in what I would call The Wilds of Dunloggin. It is not a terrifying thing to be aimlessly drifting through Dunloggin but it was unexpected. A little checking revealed that my GPS was inexplicably set to “avoid highways.” So I was not lost. I was taking the scenic route. Since I spend so much time inside the Columbia Bubble it’s honestly educational for me to visit neighborhoods that deviate from my expected norms. I took in the differences in architectural style, how the lots were laid out, and I wondered what it was like to live on these streets when they were new.  I felt like I had pretty much gotten the hang of where I was going when a vision off to my right startled me. It looked rather like a chi...