Thursday, May 23, 2013
Don't have plans for Memorial Day? Try one of these activities to help keep you and your family entertained.
Go Fishing! The weather Memorial Day weekend is expected to float around the mid-70s, meaning great fishing weather. The Patapsco River in Ellicott City is home mostly to sunfish, smallmouth bass, and rainbow trout, according to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR). DNR also recommends Centennial Lake on the Columbia/ Ellicott City line, which includes species such as largemouth bass, channel catfish, trout and the rare tiger muskie. DNR reports tiger muskies have been in stocked in the lake since 1995 and there are some now over 36 inches that “provide an explosive fight for anglers who hook into one.” Remember, don’t forget to obtain a fishing license, if you’re older than 16. Maryland FM Hamfest at the Howard County …
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
The state's spending and advocacy for cyclists earned it a high ranking from the League of American Bicyclists.
Maryland is one of the best states in the region to bike, according to new rankings from the League of American Bicyclists. A combination of citizen advocacy for safe bike routes, dedicated state funding and a "Share the Road" campaign helped the state earn No. 11, behind places like Washington state, Colorado, Oregon and Massachusetts. Neighboring states also fared well on the rankings list: Delaware was 5, Pennsylvania was 15 and Virgina was 16. The League created a list of 10 signs that show progress on bikeability for states, including more than 1 percent of the commuters using bikes, bike education for police and congestion mitigation, none of which the organization noted positively for Maryland. "As the scores clearly highlight, …
Sunday, May 19, 2013
A special Orioles package will allow you and your father to do just that.
Sunday, April 28, 2013
A new Gallup poll contains a surprise: We’re not as stressed as we think.
Maryland is among the top 10 least stressed states in the nation, according a new Gallup poll released this month. The data shows that Maryland is the ninth least stressed state in the country, with 38.8 percent of Maryland residents responding to a survey in 2012 saying they felt stress in the previous day. Nationally, 40.6 percent of Americans said they felt stressed the previous day, according to the survey results, which included more than 350,000 interviews conducted from January through December of 2012. Hawaii residents are the least stressed nationally, with 32.1 percent reporting feeling stress the previous day; West Virginia residents were the most stressed, according to the survey, with 47.1 percent reporting feeling stressed …
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Here are some of Patch's top Local Voices posts across Maryland this week.
Bevins Critical of Proposal to Tighten County Car Rules: Baltimore County Councilwoman Cathy Bevins said a colleague is only calling for the changes because he was questioned by a reporter for breaking a campaign promise not to take a county vehicle if elected. Sequestration to Have Serious Local Impact: Baltimore City Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young talks about what the impact of the sequestration's mandated federal budget cuts would be on city services. State of the River Address: The South River Report Card is discussed in this blog that details the health of one of the local waterways in Anne Arundel County. Anne Arundel 'School Hours Study' - Answers to the Questions: Blog reacts to a recent study as part of the ongoing …
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
A school cancellation could delay Maryland state testing that began on Tuesday.
The impending snowstorm poised to dump more than five inches on Howard County may have commuters worried, but Howard County Public Schools will wait to see how serious it is. The school system will make a decision whether to delay or cancel schools on Wednesday morning, sometime before 5:30 a.m., according to school spokepserson Rebecca Amani-Dove. Take our poll: Should school be canceled Wednesday? Who wants a snow day? And who doesn't? On Tuesday, Howard County schools started the math test for the Maryland State Assessment (MSA). Students are scheduled to finish the math portion of the MSA on Wednesday. If school is canceled or delayed on Wednesday, students will finish the math portion of the test on Thursday, said Amani-Dove. Also, if…
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Automatic cuts at the federal level could impact counties.
Howard County Budget director Ray Wacks told the County Council on Monday that if the federal government's AAA bond rating is downgraded due to federal budget problems, the county's bond rating could be downgraded as well, according to an Explore Howard report. Wacks told the council that Moody's believes jurisdictions with significant exposure to the federal government, such as through federal jobs, cannot have a higher bond rating than the federal government, reported Explore Howard. Howard County has kept a AAA bond rating, the highest possible rating, since the mid-1990s, an achievement Howard County Executive Ken Ulman touted in his recent State of the County address. The bond rating helps the county access lower interest rates on …
Thursday, February 7, 2013
The National Weather Service has issued the following statement.
The National Weather Service issued a hazardous weather outlook Thursday for Howard County and much of central and western Maryland warning residents to expect a wintry mix with possible freezing rain Thursday night into Friday morning. NWS is predicting less than a half an inch of sleet and snow accumulation possible overnight as well as a morning fog. Freezing rain is expected to stop by 4 a.m., although rain is likely to continue up until 4 p.m. Friday, according to NWS. However, the winter weather in this area pales in comparison to what is being predicted for the Northeast. Currently, the National Weather Service is predicting about one to two feet of snow to fall between Friday and Saturday for much of Southern New England, …
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Police provided a more detailed outline in court documents of what they said happened at Wilde Lake High School earlier this week.
The 14-year-old female who accused a fellow student of raping her at Wilde Lake High School told police the incident happened Monday inside a choir room, according to the statement of probable cause filed in court documents. Police said that the school provided evidence that shows the girl and DeShawn Rasheed Jones, 17, entering and leaving the choir room, as well as the 14-year-old taking one of her friends to the restroom after it happened, according to the documents. Jones is currently being held on $500,000 bond, according to court officials. He is being charged as an adult with second-degree rape, second-degree assault and false imprisonment. Patch contacted a woman who said she was Jones' mother on Wednesday. The woman said she …
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Wendy Webster, store manager of Wegmans Columbia discussed the store's first months of business.
Howard County Executive Ken Ulman announced during his State of the County address last week that the Wegmans in Columbia was breaking store records in its sushi department. The sushi counter at the grocery superstore is often crowded, but was the store really breaking Wegmans records, and, if so, would the private company, that does not release an annual financial report, be willing to talk about business? "We're exceeding expectations for our Columbia store," said Wendy Webster, store manager of Wegmans in Columbia, on Monday. "The store has broken a lot of records." As for what records, Webster wouldn't elaborate. She said that although the store has been doing very well, especially its sushi section, she didn't want to diminish what …
Mary Ellen Cote
8:33 am on Wednesday, May 22, 2013
And being the 11th most friendly bike state is important, why????????????????? With all the problems affecting Maryland, I can't even imagine that this matters at all. Will this mean that more bike people will move to Maryland and clog up the small back roads. Yikes. more ›