Snow Next Week? - Today in Howard County

A daily roundup of news, events and links.

1. Snow? Despite this week's balmy daytime temperatures, some area meteorologists are calling for snow around Wednesday next week (see above tweet). However, as of Thursday morning, the National Weather Service predicts Wednesday will be partly sunny with a high near 48 and a chance of precipitation around 40 percent. If the temp cools enough Wednesday night, then maybe, maybe, some flakes will fall.

Last year there was no measurable snowfall in the Baltimore area during November, according to NWS. The record snowfall is 9.7 inches, but that dates back to 1898.

2. Two Howard County Firefighters Headed to Liberia - Luke Lavoie of the Howard County Times has the story of two county firefighters, John Butler and Jose Sanchez, who will travel this month to Liberia in West Africa to train the country's firefighters. The two men are among a group of over 400 who are bringing things like sets of firefighter gear and a modern fire engine with them to train the country's firefighters.

"When you visit a place that has been at war, promises from foreigners fall on deaf ears," said Butler. "I cant wait to show them we are going to live up to ours." 

3. The Controversy Continues with 'Bloody' Under Armour Jerseys - The Baltimore sportswear company can't seem to get past the controversy it created by debuting what appear to be blood-splattered American flag uniforms for the Northwestern University football team. A spokesperson for the company told the sports website Deadspin.com in a statement, "The suggestion that these uniforms are depicting streaks of blood is completely false and uninformed." The spokesperson said the designs were inspired "by images of actual American flags that have been flown around the world in harsh conditions over extended periods of time."

4. Veterans Eat Free at Applebee's - Monday is Veteran's Day! Applebee's is getting in the spirit of the holiday by serving a free meal to veterans who dine-in at one of their chain restaurants. There's one in Howard County at 8335 Benson Drive in Columbia.

5. Marylander's Support Minimum Wage Hike - A new poll by Goucher College found that the majority of Marylanders would support raising the minimum wage to $10 an hour. The current minimum wage in the state is $7.25. Seventy percent of the 665 state residents polled responded that they would support raising the minimum wage.

Also interesting, the poll looked at the name recognition of gubernatorial candidates in the state and found that 62 percent of respondents recognized "Anthony Brown" while 58 percent recognized "Doug Gansler". Republican candidates such as David Craig and Charles Lollar were recognized by 31 percent and 22 percent of respondents, respectively.

6. ICMYI (In case you missed it) - The twin accused of killing his twin brother on a Columbia pathway in a 2007 homicide, who stood trial in 2012, was shot and killed in Georgia on Friday.