Nearby Elkridge will have a hand in this year's summer Olympics. Frank Collins, 43, is bound for Gloucester this week, where he will carry the Olympic torch on one leg of its journey across England before the start of the summer games, according to the Howard County Times. Collins lives in Elkridge and works for a subsidiary of the 2012 summer games' electricity supplier, which according to the article, selected 70 employees to bear torches based on peer recommendations. Between May 19 and July 27, when the games start, there will be 8,000 torchbearers passing the flame across the United …

Tucked away on 33 acres off of Route 40, at the border of Howard and Baltimore Cunty, there is a farm at the intersection of the past and present, with a lot to teach about the future. The land, which was purchased by Baltimore Public Schools in the 1950s, has been a special education school and a nature center, among other things over the years. Before it was owned by Baltimore city it was the Maryland Home for Friendless Colored Children, which was founded in 1899 in the city. It moved to Catonsville in 1912. Three years ago, then city food service director Tonry Geraci decided to start …

"I forgot about the red fingers," my mother said as a little boy rushed past us in elation, stained from smile to sneakers with sunny strawberry sweetness. "So did I," said our friend, looking down at her white T-shirt and khaki pants.  We all shrugged and continued through the leafy rows, looking for the perfect spot to begin. Picking your own strawberries is great fun, but there is a lot to keep track of. Some places charge to use their containers; others  prefer that you bring your own.  Hours, payment methods and microclimates ensure that you'll never have the same experience twice.  And…

As far as the federal government is concerned, CSX Transportation is eyeing four sites in central Maryland for its freight transfer station. But the company has now admitted it has purchased land near the proposed Hanover site and not near any of the other three locations. Since CSX will be using federal land, accepting federal funds and needing federal permits to build the station, the company is required by Washington to be transparent with citizens potentially affected by the project. After pressure from citizens who live near the proposed site at Hanover and Race Roads, CSX conceded in an…

Unless you're a cartophile like me—a map lover—you probably never noticed that the footprints of Howard County and South Carolina have a similar shape. What's more: Interstate 95 crosses both Howard County and South Carolina in approximately the same place. And Columbia,  the name of the largest city in each, is located in roughly the same position within them. I was studying a South Carolina map several months ago when I suddenly was struck by how familiar it seemed. It took a few minutes before I knew why. In addition their shapes, they both have towns named Florence, Simpsonville and …

Concern is mounting about the welfare of Baltimore native and UMBC graduate Matthew VanDyke, who vanished during civil upheaval in Libya a month ago. “He’s being held somewhere,” says his mother, Sharon, who last spoke with her only child on March 12. VanDyke, 31, graduated from UMBC with a degree in political science in 2002. In 2004 he received his graduate degree in security studies from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service with a concentration in the Middle East. A freelance writer who has contributed to Baltimore Examiner and other publications, in 2006 VanDyke began …