The Amazing Meshkin

The amazing Brian Meshkin continues to do amazing things. After attending only three board meetings he has published a newsletter that lists some of his amazing achievements so far. These include the posting of online citizen committee reports, a new employee wellness plan and new policies for textbook review.

And just like in his campaign,  he enlists his kids again to help project the imagery of the concerned parent, just like you.

"At the end of the day, it's all about the kids. I am reminded of that everyday as I look into the eyes of my three young children in the HCPSS."

Amazing.

There’s more amazing stuff too. He has a new website HoCoInnovations. The objective of the site is to create an amazing online community “where parents, students, educators, administrators, and every taxpayer can submit ideas, vote on ideas, and comment on ideas about how to improve our school system.”

So far it’s a small online community with some familiar names like David Thalheimer and Julie Reybold. I guess he doesn't think Allen and Cindys forum is amazing enough.

He also wants his people to know that he is also updating his campaign site. The amazing Meshkin has big plans, big plans indeed.

Safe Haven

In development of an office building, the developer and their architect pay as much attention to the lobby design as they do to the exterior design, sometimes more. The object of the exterior design is something we call curb appeal that is intended to draw you in. The object of a good lobby design is to make a statement.

In our Emerson office project we chose to make our statement with local art. We commissioned Tilghman and Will Hemsley, a father-son artistic team from Kent Island, to craft something specifically for the building.  This is the same team that sculpted the Maryland Waterman’s Monument on Kent Island.

After two years of working with sketches and models, the result is a piece entitled “Safe Haven” which consists of three bronze geese in various stages of flight as they come to rest on a body of water, in this case a fountain in the middle of the two story lobby.

Tilghman, who also happens to captain a charter fishing boat called the Breezin’ Thru, explains that geese only land where they know it to be safe. Since EmersonOne features several construction upgrades that protect the buildings occupants in the event of a terrorist attack, this sculpture helps us reinforce that message to prospective tenants.

The geese were cast at the New Arts Foundry in Baltimore.

CA Hires HoCo Blog Lady

The cofounder of hocoblogs, Jessie Newburn has been hired as a Community Engagement Strategist for The Columbia Association. This is a newly created position that reports directly to the association president, Phil Nelson. Though Jessie has been an enthusiastic proponent of using social media to build and nurture community she resisted using that label to describe her new role.

“It’s so much more than that,” she tried explaining to me. We had a brief phone conversation this evening as she headed off to the latest HoCo Blogtail party in Savage.

I was simply looking for some sort of reference point. I’ve never seen a job description for a Community Engagement Strategist before, but then again perhaps I wasn’t looking hard enough.

Maybe instead I should have asked her if she was going to be working with that Web 2.0 ecosystem thing.

Another New HoCo Blog

Last night I received an email from Tim in Elkridge informing me of his new HoCo blog called “I Want to be a HoCo Blogger.” Since he’s already put up eleven posts I’d just have to say “Tim, you is a HoCo blogger!”

Welcome.

Bean Sprouts, Record Breaking, & Sex

If you happen to have a package of locally packaged bean sprouts in your fridge you might want to give them a toss. According to this story by Liz F. Kay in The Sun, Woodbine based Vegi-Pak Farm was shut down by state inspectors that “found equipment coated in food waste and a fly infestation inside the facility in September. In addition, workers were not adequately washing and cleaning the soybeans, and reported they were instructed by the company president to fabricate disinfection records, according to the complaint.”

BWI Thurgood Marshall International Airport continues to rack up passenger traffic growth records. According to Dr. Gridlock in The Washington Post, the airport had a record year last year. “More than 21.9 million commercial passengers flew through the airport last year. That's an increase of 4.7 percent over 2009 and eclipses the previous record of just over 21 million set in 2007.”

I received a tip from a commenter this weekend that the woman who brought down Representative Chris "Craigslist"  Lee last week is a HoCo resident. Yesha Callahan, who also went public last week, lives in Columbia. This reminded me of another former Columbia resident that found herself in the middle of a national political sex scandal, Linda Tripp. 

Temple of Commerce

Back in 1995, a local photographer named Arvil Daniels enlisted me to help him find space for a studio. He was hoping I could find him something that was a little different than your run of the mill suburban office building. He was also looking for space that could act as an interesting backdrop for some of his portraits. That’s how I came to know Charles Wagandt.

Charles Wagandt runs the Oella Company out of a converted church in Oella, just across the Patapsco from downtown Ellicott City. At one time his great grandfather, William J. Dickey, owned the W.J. Dickey Company Mill which owned most of Oella. After the mill closed in 1972, Charles purchased all the companies land holdings except the actual mill. Those holdings included this church which he converted to office space.

Arvil liked it so much he stayed for sixteen years and now he’s decided to wind down his business and forgo the cost of maintaining a studio. He plans to vacate his church office at the end of this month.

Charles gave me a call the other day and asked if I might help him find another tenant. Last Friday I drove up the hill from Ellicott City to see him.

There have been lots of changes to Oella since I last sat down with him, most notably being the former mill which overlooks the river. It has been converted into 147 luxury apartments .

It’s wired too. Charles told his church building has both Comcast and FIOS. This is quite a change from the mid seventies when residents of Oella were still waiting for public water and sewer.

I don’t think he’ll have a hard time finding a new tenant. The 1,700 square foot space has wood floors, lots of windows and skylights and a enclosed choir loft office overlooking the rest of the building. Around these parts, spaces with this much character and all the modern conveniences are pretty rare.

The last guy stayed sixteen years.

The Pompatus of Love

Years ago my sister Pat asked me if I knew what the “pompatus of love” meant. She was referring to the line in Steve Millers song “The Joker” which was a big hit in 1973.

“Some people call me the space cowboy.

Yeah! Some call me the gangster of love.

Some people call me Maurice,

'Cause I speak of the pompatus of love.”

I remember doing a little research back then but I basically came up blank. Apparently Steve Miller even once told an interviewer it was a meaningless word.

That’s partly true. I now have new insight into this classic rock riddle. As it turns out “pompatus of love” is derived from the line “puppetutes of love” in a song called The Letter written by Vernon Green and performed by the Medallions in 1954. This musical mystery was first revealed by Cecil Adams in The Straight Dope on October 25, 1996 after talking to Jon Cryer, the producer of the movie “The Pompatus of Love.”

“Speculation about "pompatus" was a recurring motif in the script for The Pompatus of Love. While the movie was in postproduction Cryer heard about "The Letter." During a TV interview he said that the song had been written and sung by a member of the Medallions named Vernon Green. Green, still very much alive, was dozing in front of the tube when the mention of his name caught his attention. He immediately contacted Cryer.”

Vernon made up the word puppetutes. He told Jon Cryer that it means “a secret paper-doll fantasy figure who would be my everything and bear my children.”

Now you know what I know.

Happy Valentines Day!

Sex and Farts

Yesterday Mama Wordbones and I went to see the "What Makes Us Smile" exhibit at the American Visionary Arts Museum in Baltimore and we smiled, a lot. The exhibit was co-curated by Matt Groening (Simpsons), Gary Panter and Rebecca Hoffberger and included a bench covered in Whoopee cushions. I learned that the two most common themes in humor throughout world history are sex and farts.

“Ancient Greek playwrights, 14th century Japanese Buddhist monks, Queen Elizabeth I, and classic authors like Shakespeare, Chaucer, Blake and Swift all took well-documented delight in flatulence humor.”

Did you know that Benjamin Franklin wrote about them?

Of course the exhibit is not just about sex and farts either. There are lots of things that make us smile like the old metal lunch boxes you see when you first walk in. Behind the ticket counter is a giant frame made up entirely of vintage metal lunch boxes, at least 60 of them, each one different. Mama Wordbones said she had one of those. I asked which kind.

“I don’t know but I’m pretty sure it would have been a Barbie.”

There was a Barbie and a Davey Crockett too. That would have been more my style. The whole "what makes us smile" thing was already working and we hadn’t even paid admission yet.

The exhibit runs through September 4^th so there’s plenty of time to see it. Keep it as an option for one of those times you could really use a smile.

This is one of my favorite places in Baltimore. Even the gift shop is a blast. We spent as much time in there as we did some of the exhibits.

The AVAM  has a HoCo connection too.

This is actually Mama Wordbones' favorite building. She really digs the whirligigs. 

Story’s Ending

Until last Thursday night, Dick Story had served as the head of the Ho Co Economic Development Authority for the eighteen years. Thursday night at the Turf Valley Resort and Conference Center, County Executive Ken Ulman issued him a framed “Stop Work” order from the Department of Inspections, Licenses and Permits. It was one of many accolades he received at the retirement party that drew over 500 HoCo locos to celebrate his many years of service to the county. For eighteen years Dick has been the Master of Ceremonies of choice for just about every major HoCo event but Thursday night he finally got the opportunity to sit down and enjoy himself.

He received honors from NSA, the State of Maryland, the County Council, and the Boy Scouts. He was recognized by his regional economic development colleagues as well. Tom Sadowski from the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore commented that though he had worked with Dick for years, he “never saw his hair move.”

I can attest to that. I’ve known Dick since he first came to HoCo and I can honestly say that I've never seen a hair on his head out of a place. He's our own Mitt Romney.

It was a fun evening but it won’t the last. The Chamber is hosting a “Dick Story Celebrity Roast” on March 30^th at The Spear Center in Town Center. I suspect that the accolades foisted upon him that night will be a tad more irreverent.

Valentines Perspectives

While preparing for our show yesterday I happened to mention to Paul that since Valentines Day was Monday this should be our Valentines show. This led to a discussion of how this holiday is celebrated in the Skalny household.

“Cindy and I pretty much consider it to be a Hallmark holiday and consequently we really don’t do anything special.”

Our producer, Dave Bittner pretty much agreed. He said that he and Ilana think of it the same way and they don’t plan on doing anything special  on Monday either.

Of course this conversation was between three guys, the female perspective was notably absent.  When our guest, former State Senator Sandy Schrader, joined us that was somewhat rectified. Though she doesn’t expect her husband Dennis to go overboard she does think that a handwritten card and a simple gesture are appropriate. She see’s the holiday as a celebration of the “us.”

Sandy is now a lobbyist in Annapolis and she also happens to be a close friend of Diane Wilson. She was more than happy to share her perspective on the controversy. No sooner had the show gone up on the web we learned that the ethics complaint that Diane had filed against County Executive Ken Ulman and Council Chair Calvin Ball had been dismissed.

You can listen to the 34^th episode of our podcast here.

Flier Building Going Dark

The Columbia Flier building in Columbia Town Center will soon be vacant. The white metal and glass building located next to Princeton Sports on Little Patuxent Parkway has served as the home of Columbia’s free weekly newspaper for over thirty years. Now the the current owner, the Tribune Company, is moving out of the building.

The Columbia Flier was started by Zeke Orlinsky, a Columbia attorney, back in 1969. In those initial years the paper was housed in a variety of spaces around the county. When I was in high school  in the early seventies my buddies and I used to earn spending money by hand collating the weekly advertiser in a storefront of a printing company Zeke also owned on Main Street in Ellicott City. By the time I graduated from college the paper had grown to well over a hundred pages a week and had established itself as the dominant local media in HoCo. By the late seventies it was outgrowing its editorial and advertising offices which by then were in the offices above the Bagel Bin in the Wilde Lake Village Center. In 1978 Orlinsky moved his media empire, now called Patuxent Publishing, into its own building, cementing its ties to the community.

The building design was controversial at the time. It was the first metal clad building in Columbia’s downtown and that was not initially embraced by The Rouse Company design gurus who held final design approval. Orlinsky and his architect, Bob Moon, persevered and finally convinced them to allow it.

Patuxent Publishing was sold to the Times Mirror Company in 1996 and the 35,000 square foot building was sold to the same group in 1998 for a little over $2.5 million. The Times Mirror Company was acquired by the Tribune Company in 2000.

The Diane Wilson Affair

By now the story of Diane Wilsons ill fated one week stint as the HoCo Chamber of Commerce legislative director is old news. For the past few weeks it has been one of the worse kept secrets in HoCo politico circles but it hadn’t been made public until the Cross Purposes blog wrote about it this past Monday.

I first became aware of the story almost a month ago when I received an anonymous email from someone who identified themselves as “disappointedinhoward” that said they were writing me “ because I’m really appalled about this and politics will not allow me to say anything on the record...I’m hoping one of you will look into this.” The email asserted that Diane Wilson was “far more qualified than any of the other candidates” for the legislative directors position. At the time Diane had been in the job for one full week and had not yet resigned. Tom Coale, Trevor Greene and Frank Hecker received the same email.

The writer made some pretty serious allegations about County Executive Ken Ulman and Councilperson Calvin Ball. They claimed that Ken “contacted a board member at home to express his concern and ask that the decision be changed” and that Dr. Ball “contacted the Chamber and demanded that her offer be rescinded.”

I now believe allegations in that email to be wildly overstated. Though Ken admits that he did contact a Chamber board member Mark Thompson about Diane and Calvin did speak with Pam Klahr, the Chamber President, I seriously doubt that either of them asked or demanded that Diane be fired. Was it inappropriate for them to express their displeasure with her hiring? Perhaps, but consider that the county government is also a chamber member and for many years has enjoyed a good working relationship with the HoCo loco business group despite some ideological differences. As chamber members they have the same right to weigh in on the organizations actions as any other member.

The night I received the email I also received a call from a member of the Chambers Government Affairs committee asking me if I was going to write about this. I told him that this would only be a story if the Chamber reversed course and let Diane go. As far as I was concerned, if the Chamber had determined that she was right person for the job after interviewing all the candidates there should not be a problem. I just naturally assumed that the Chamber had properly vetted her before making their decision.  Once that decision had been made the only proper thing to do is to stand by their choice and defend it but as we now know they didn't exactly do that.

I won’t pass judgment on Ms. Wilson’s qualifications for the job because I don’t know her but this whole episode certainly doesn’t speak well of the chambers decision making process.

Now that Diane has filed a formal complaint against Ken and Calvin with the Howard County Ethics Commission, this whole sad affair will get a full public hearing and I suspect that in the end there will be no winners.

An Impending Traffic Tsunami

The wave of new jobs coming into Fort Meade as a result of BRAC is a double edged sword. While the expansion of the mission at the fort is a an economic boon for the area it also threatens to overwhelm an already overburdened transportation network. According to this story by Ashley Halsey III in The Washington Post, “about $786 million in highway projects is needed to accommodate workers arriving at Fort Meade by September and the adjacent National Security Agency.”

Given a projected budget deficit of $1.3 billion, the state doesn’t exactly have a spare $800 million lying around. Maryland, along with Virginia, is looking to the Pentagon for an assist.

The article cites a congressionally mandated report by the National Academy of Sciences that found that the Department of Defense has “shirked responsibility to pay for hundreds of millions of dollars in transportation improvements…”

“Predicting a "near perfect storm of problems," the report chastises the Pentagon for focusing primarily on problems within its bases without sufficient regard for the effects of decisions on surrounding areas.”

This report could cause some workers who are being relocated from jobs in Northern Virginia to Fort Meade to rethink their commuting plans and consider moving to Maryland instead.

Wine Wars Three

Maryland’s Prohibition-era three tier alcoholic beverage distribution system has driven some otherwise law abiding citizens to a life of crime. In order to shirt the current state laws that prohibits residents from buying wine directly from out of state wineries and retailers, some Marylanders have wine delivered to their offices in Washington, D.C. or Virginia where the law allows it. According to this story by Ann E. Marimow in The Washington Post, “wine aficionados in the Maryland suburbs of Washington are routinely, and in many cases unknowingly, breaking state law to get around rules that restrict residents from having wine shipped to their homes.”

“Lawyers, government consultants, high-tech workers and even members of the General Assembly - all typically law-abiding residents - have developed an indirect route for smuggling their favorite vino. They have wine delivered to offices in the District or to the homes of friends in Virginia - two of the 38 jurisdictions nationwide that allow vineyards to ship wine directly to consumers.”

When these folks bring that wine home they are committing a misdemeanor that could result in a fine of up to $10,000 and up to five years in prison.

And while it appears that the General Assembly may finally pass a law allowing direct shipping in the Free State this year, the powerful state liquor lobby looks like it will succeed in stopping the state from allowing direct shipping from out of state retailers.

“There are signs that the industry is willing to compromise after years of opposition. J. Steven Wise, who represents retailers, said the industry is willing to back another planned version of the legislation that would allow shipments from wineries but not from out-of-state retailers.”

I suspect that this already a done deal. Recently I asked Delegate Guy Guzzone about the prospects for a direct shipping bill this year. Guy told me that he thought it pass. When I asked him if the final bill would include direct shipping from out of state retailers he told me that was unlikely. The fact that he told me this near the beginning of this years session suggests to me that it was already wired for the liquor lobby from the git go.

I shouldn’t be surprised. You may recall that in last years General Assembly, Guy teamed up with Republican Delegate Warren Miller to try and limit the number of liquor stores in HoCo and thereby stifling competition. Fortunately consumers got lucky and that effort failed to gain enough traction making it one of the few times that the liquor lobby didn’t get its way.

I don’t think we’ll be as lucky this time around.

Meltdown Monday

Count me as one of those who would rather see the Super Bowl on a Saturday night than Sunday night. All day today I feel like I’ve been operating on a half tank. I feel worse for those who hosted Super Bowl parties. Those folks would be lucky if they got to bed by midnight last night.

The weather today was a nice little tease. With temperatures rising to the mid forties one could easily be lulled into thoughts of an early spring. Tomorrow’s weather should crush that fantasy as the big chill returns with a vengeance. We’re not likely to see the mid forties again until Sunday. Sigh.

Still, it was nice to see the snow cover receding across HoCo.

Wine Wars Two

In the Local Opinions section of The Washington Post, David White weighed in on the issue of allowing wine sales in Maryland from out of state retailers. David issues a call to arms of wine enthusiasts against any compromise in the direct shipping bill that would eliminate the provision allowing for direct shipping from out of state retailers. He points out that doing so would “prohibit residents from ordering wine from Internet retailers, joining wine-of-the-month clubs and taking part in out-of-state wine auctions.”

                                            

“Such a compromise should be offensive to wine snobs and beer swillers alike. Maryland residents must fight for this bill as it’s written.”

On one side are the consumers, on the other are the entrenched and well heeled interests that support the states antiquated three tier liquor distribution system that was originally put in place following the repeal of prohibition.

“The wholesaling industry is quite generous to politicians. Between 2000 and 2006, according to the Specialty Wine Retailers Association, which opposes restrictions on wine sales across state borders, wholesalers contributed nearly $50 million to state campaigns. These donations make perfect sense, since politicians keep the wholesalers in business by protecting the middle tier.”

David White is the editor of the daily wine blog, Terroirist.

Super Sunday

Last night at dinner Mama Wordbones asked me who I was rooting for in the Super Bowl today. I didn't have a ready answer.

After the Ravens were knocked out of contention by their arch rivals I begrudgingly resigned myself to root for the Steelers. They are the AFC champions after all and that is our division.

I even told the hostess of our neighborhood Super Bowl Party that I would cheer for them this year. Danielle is Pittsburgh native and a diehard fan. She even offered to lend me a jersey to wear for the game. I told her that wouldn't be necessary. My support for her team is lukewarm at best and by game time today it may evaporate completely.

I don’t particularly like the Steelers but I really dislike their quarterback. When Haloti Ngata broke his nose back in December, I cheered. I realize that this is a completely juvenile reaction but frankly I don’t care.

Mama Wordbones told me that in her travels around Baltimore this week she had pretty much heard the same thing. For Ravens fans, rooting for the Steelers is akin to rooting for the Redskins. It’s just  not done.

So when the game gets underway this evening I won’t be wearing a Terrible Towel or a cheese head. I will simply be enjoying the company of my neighbors and hoping for a good game of football.

Wine Wars

It now appears that the Maryland General Assembly will pass some sort of bill allowing residents to buy wine online this year. In its current form the legislation would allow consumers to purchase wine directly from out of state wineries and retailers. Though the powerful state liquor lobby is beginning to come to terms with the concept of direct shipping from wineries, the prospect of Marylanders being able to also buy direct from out of state retailers is where they draw the battle line.

I decided to ask a HoCo loco wine merchant about this so I checked in with Dave Carney at The Wine Bin in Ellicott City.

“I’m all for it,” he told me.

Did that mean direct shipping from retailers too?

He told me he didn’t support that. When I asked him why he explained that some out of state retailers have an unfair pricing advantage over a retailer like him because of the volume of business they do.

“They can sell some wines cheaper than what I pay for it,” he explained.

I can certainly understand that. An out of state retailer isn’t likely to support community causes like The Wine Bin does either.

On the other hand, not all out of state retailers are high volume operations either. Some offer wine of the month clubs or selections of otherwise hard to find wines.

I also believe that there will always be bargain shoppers who will go out of their way to save a buck or two on a bottle wine. Some of these folks already make illegal forays across state lines to restock their wine cellars and most of them aren’t visiting wineries when they do.  

In the end I suspect the General Assembly will succumb to the pressure from the licensed beverage dealers and remove the provision for direct sales from out of state retailers in the final bill, regardless of popular support.

Grasping at Straws

Back in November I received a late night phone call from Marc Norman, the lead protagonist in the attempts to derail the Town Square at Turf Valley development. Marc had called me to discuss what he considered to be defamatory statements in a post I had written. I should note that, initially at least, our conversation was cordial.

Our little talk eventually returned to his beef with the Mangione family and the shopping center they are building in the Turf Valley community. The site is a little over a mile as the crow flies from his home.

“I can hear the bulldozers from my home,” he informed me somewhat indignantly.

“I’ll bet you can also hear the cars whizzing by on I-70,” I replied, noting that the highway is actually is closer to his home than the shopping center site, "and that noise is constant."

He acknowledged that this was true but insisted that this was different.

I thought about this conversation after I read this story by Larry Carson in The Sun. On Tuesday, the Howard County Board of Appeals rejected Normans appeal of the Planning Board approval of the shopping center project. Jim Walsh, the Chairman of the Board of Appeals was quoted as saying that “Residents' fears "are not enough to overcome the presumption of correctness given the Planning Board.”

The issue this time wasn’t about noise, it was about the potential traffic on Turf Valley Road. Marc and his supporters now claim that the shopping center will dramatically increase the traffic on the community road endangering children, small animals and perhaps even world peace. In fact, the only people likely to use Turf Valley Road to get to the shopping center are Marc and his neighbors. The majority of shoppers visiting the new center will come in off of Marriottsville Road which is adjacent to the site.

“Walsh argued that Norman's own traffic consultant never raised issues about Turf Valley Road, and the board may reverse the Planning Board only if they find a decision was arbitrary or capricious, or was clearly erroneous. "You may not like the Planning Board decision, but you cannot say it is clearly erroneous," he said.”

It’s just like his noise complaint. The opponents continue to grasp at straws in their attempts to derail this project and the food workers union is more than happy to continue to finance their efforts. The union sees any delay in the opening of another non union grocer in HoCo as a victory.

Though this decision was certainly another setback in their efforts it is not the end of the saga. Both sides are awaiting the final ruling from the Court of Special Appeals on the rejection of the petition effort to put this zoning issue up to a referendum. 

Tone Deaf

I had to pick Peanut up early from school today for a Doctors appointment. While I waited for her by the guidance office I thought back to when I was in 7^th grade and my mother would come get me at school. Those rare occasions were usually for something that was less pleasant than being in school. I'm certain Peanut feels the same way.

As we pulled away from Ellicott Mills Middle School I asked her how they let her know that I was there.

“The teacher gets a phone call.”

“On her mobile phone?”

“No, she has a regular phone on her desk.”

More or less just wanting to keep the conversation going, I asked her about the ring tone on the teachers desk phone.

“I can’t remember but it’s not as crazy as some of the kids.”

“The kids have mobile phones on them?”

“Yeah, a lot of them do but they’re not supposed to use them in school. When a kids phone rings in class he usually gets yelled at and told to turn it off. Sometimes the teacher even takes the phone away.”

“Have you ever seen a teacher take a phone away from a kid?”

“Yeah, it happened once in sixth grade to Ben.”

In the interest of protecting the minor’s identity I will simply refer to him as Ben because Peanut tells me his head is in the shape of a football.

Apparently Ben’s mobile phone went off right in the middle of quiet reading time.

“He had a really funny ring tone,” she told me. “The whole class laughed.”

“What did it sound like?”

“It went dada dada dada da, dada dada dada da…”

"It's called the chicken dance song" I told her. I was admittedly surprised by Ben's musical taste. Then it occurred to me that this might be a tone assigned to a particular person.

 “Did you ever find out who called him?”

“It was his aunt.”

I immediately conjured up a vision of Ben's aunt.

And This Was the Warm Day!

Most of the people I encountered today made some remark about how warm it was, or was supposed to be anyway. In a post on his blog this morning Tom Coale wrote that he had just “heard Marty Bass say the temperatures may get up to 50 degrees today!  That would be a pleasant surprise (although the vast majority of us will be overheating under winter garb).”

I decided not to wear my wool overcoat.

On the radio while driving to work Storm Center 4 meteorologist Tom Kierein informed me that the temperature could climb into the “low fifties” today.

At the Starbucks on Dobbin Road the baristas Robert and Alex were almost giddy at the prospect of a warmer day.

At work my colleague Bill Harrison remarked that it was nice outside.

I beg to differ with all of them. It was still cold in my book. In fact, I don’t think it got any warmer than 45 today.

I realize that some of this weather optimism is based on the fact that we seemingly dodged the Groundhog Day blizzard that hit over a third of the country. Compared to Chicago it was downright balmy in HoCo…for some anyway, not for me.

You see I’ve forgotten what  a 50 degree day feels like. I yearn for a complete day of sunshine. I’m rooting for Punxsutawney Phil, not Maryland Murray.

Tonight, while making dinner, Tom Tasselmyer on WBAL gave me no hope for any immediate relief from winters chill. The next seven days are going to be a mix of cold and wet.

And so this was the warm day and it looks like I missed it .

In This Months Business Monthly

Though it has been almost two months since Greg Hamm was let go from the Howard Hughes Corporation, it still doesn’t feel like we’ve had closure on this chapter in the redevelopment of Columbia’s Town Center. After three years of marshalling the redevelopment process in the face of his own company’s bankruptcy and a cadre of local activists determined to stop him, we got to know Greg pretty well. His sudden firing took many, except perhaps the senior management of Howard Hughes, by surprise. Suddenly the go to guy was gone.

I like Greg, he is a likeable fellow. I suspect that even his adversaries would admit to certain grudging respect for the guy. Whatever his perceived failings were inside his newly formed company, you’d have to acknowledge that he did a good job of getting the community on board with a new vision for Columbia’s downtown.

When he took the reins of the redevelopment effort three years ago, I wrote a column welcoming him to HoCo. It seemed appropriate to write another one marking his departure.

You can read this month’s column here.

The Groundhog Indicates an Early Spring

With forecasters calling for the mercury to rise above 50 degrees today for the first time in weeks, it appears that Punxsutawney Phil may be right. This morning, up in Gobblers Knob, the groundhog did not see his shadow which portends an early end to this long cold winter.

I realize that this science is right up there with tea leaves and astrology but sometimes this rodent has proven to be more accurate than the the so-called professionals.

Poku Wins One

Six years ago, Kwaku Atta Poku lost his Clary’s Forest townhome to foreclosure, well before the national foreclosure crisis began. Mr. Poku lost his home despite the fact that he never missed a mortgage payment.

Mr. Poku got screwed. Unbeknownst to him, when he refinanced his home in 2001 to take advantage of a lower interest rate, his new mortgage company failed to pay off his old mortgage company. To make matters worse, his original loan was with the now defunct Washington Mutual Bank and his new mortgage was with Washington Mutual Home Loan, essentially the same company. Somehow, somewhere in that chaotic company the money was never transferred from the one entity to the other. It took the bank almost five years to discover this and when they did they assumed that the homeowner was at fault, not them. By the time Mr. Poku became aware of the problem it was already too late. The Pokus were evicted in August 2006.

Despite almost five years of unsuccessful attempts to seek redress in the courts, the Ghanian native never gave up. Now, according to this story by Larry Carson in The Sun, “a federal judge's ruling has given new hope to Atta Poku,”

“U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett ruled Monday that Atta Poku, who lost his home to foreclosure in 2005 and was evicted the following August, is entitled to a trial. Atta Poku says in court papers that his first mortgage was not properly paid off by the bank that gave him the new loan.”

A trial is set for this summer.

Tech Council Hosts HoCo Loco Bloggers

Later this month, the Howard Technology Council will host a forum on HoCo loco new media. Entitled “Local Blogging: A New Media Voice in the Community” the forum will “cover the current state of local blogging, challenges of this dynamic content, the value this media provides to the community and what impact this has to local business community.”

The panel, which will be moderated by Dave Kile of Ease Technologies, will be made up of Jessie Newburn, Dave Bittner and yours truly.

 The best part is that it is free. The worst part is that it will be at 8:30 AM on a Wednesday morning which may not be ideal for some folks.

On the other hand , Dave did tell me that there would be donuts.

Go here to register and get all the other pertinent info.

Odds and Ends

Last Friday I attended an open house for the new Colliers International office in Columbia Gateway. The commercial brokerage division of this office is run by my colleague and long time friend, Rob Freedman. Rob and his crew put together a nice little ribbon cutting event with the county executive that featured the biggest pair of scissors I’d ever seen. It turns out these ribbon cutting scissors are the property of Bonnie Heneson Communications which makes sense since most companies only need a tool like this once.

As it turns out, I left the open house at the same time as Ken Ulman and I had the opportunity to chat with him outside for a minute. I know there is plenty of speculation as to Ken’s future political plans but he did let slip an interesting an tell tale comment. I asked him about his future plans for elective office and he responded that he enjoys “being an executive” as opposed to being a legislator, even though he had just finished putting in long hours dealing with the biggest snow emergency of the year…so far anyway.

And speaking of executives, there was a very funny column by Petula Dvorak in The Washington Post about the self importance of Washington area commuters and the recent snowstorm. Petula points out that forecasters “told us things were going to get ugly. The media warned folks for days that it was coming. We didn't listen.”

“Weather? Weather doesn't stop the work we do. We are Washington, and our subcommittee secondary group organizational mission-statement workshop cannot be stopped by snow!

The government urges "nonessential" employees to stay home. Ha! Who you calling nonessential? Admitting that the work you perform is not a vital, integral part of the fate of the world when you work in Washington is akin to admitting that you're not fabulous in L.A. or tan in Florida.”

The net result of this mindset was a ten hour ride home.

And finally, we should be thankful that for most of us in HoCo, our public utility is BGE. Two days after last Wednesday s storm, BGE reported about 20,000 customers were still without power, including about 2,200 homes in HoCo. Pepco, which covers most of the metropolitan area to our south, had over 100,000 people without power as late as Friday, including 70,000 in MoCo.

That sorry performance got them a trip to the woodshed with the governor.

Park Closed

We decided to take a short hike this afternoon. After discussing the various alternatives and the conditions of the loco trails we settled on a walk around Centennial Park. We figured that by now the county parks department would’ve cleared the popular 2.5 mile loop around the lake.

We figured that part correctly. What we didn’t figure on was that the park would be closed.

No matter. We soon discovered that we could easily park right along Centennial Lane and walk into the park from there. We were not alone. At two o’clock this afternoon there was a steady stream of people and dogs going in and out of this side entrance.

I still can’t figure out why the park was closed three days after the storm. On the other hand, there were significantly fewer people walking the path today than would be found on a typical Sunday in January which was kind of nice. It was just us and our fellow scofflaws. 

You Say Sarah, I Say Sarah…

With gay marriage and civil unions being a hot topic in the Maryland General Assembly this year we thought it would be interesting to have a guest from the LGBT community on our podcast to discuss the issue. We reached out to the HoCo chapter of PFLAG and found Steve Charing who agreed to come on the show and share his thoughts and perspective about gay marriage. As it turns out Steve has been married to his partner for over thirty years and his marriage, which was performed in Massachusetts, is actually now recognized in Maryland, even though we don't have gay marriage in Maryland.

Public policy doesn't always make sense.

The Hoco loco news stories we dissected included the snow story, Ken Ulmans State of the County address, the continuing deliberations over the new Town Center Design guidelines, the Reservoir High School community meeting, Martin O’Malley’s bad driver initaitive and the proposed elimination of the compulsory high school test for social studies.

Paul and I also discussed the Wine Summit with Doug Miller and I was able to give a shout out to fellow HoCo bloggers, Sarah Husain and Tom Coale.

You can listen to the latest podcast here.

Scene This Week In…

It was before last Christmas since I updated my STW pics at the top of the right hand column. The truth of the matter is that it’s not every week that something catches my eye in both Ellicott City and Columbia. Sometimes I’ll see something post worthy in one locale but not the other.

On Thursday, with Peanut home from school because of the snowstorm, I decided to focus on this. It was also a way to get us both out of the house to see what Mother Nature had wrought.

We decided to go for a walk outside of the neighborhood so I drove over  to Meadowbrook Park. It was closed. We drove to Centennial Park. It was closed. Then we headed down through Running Brook to Wilde Lake Park. Not only was it open, CA crews were out plowing the pathways. I know I have been a harsh critic of the Columbia Association in the past so I wanted to make sure that I also give them accolades when they do good. In this case, they done good. We took a nice walk along the lake taking pictures and throwing snowballs out onto to ice.

It was a perfect way to capture winters beauty.

And speaking of snowballs, on Thursday night, as the storm was raging, I received an email from Kimberly Kepnes inviting me to a friendly community snowball fight in the courtyard in front of The Little French Market in downtown Ellicott City. I was intriqued by the idea of a massive snowball fight so I headed down the hill at high noon to check it out.

I suppose these things take time to develop. There were only about ten people on the field of battle. No matter, those who did show up seemed to be enjoying themselves. It was even covered by Nikki Gamer in Ellicott City Patch.

And yes, I did toss a snowball and received return fire.

Road Closed

We had pretty much dug ourselves by 9:00 this morning and were inside enjoying breakfast when the county plow arrived. Though we were happy to see him it was a mixed blessing. We now had a new barrier of snow blocking our drive and it was much heavier than the stuff we cleared earlier.

Earlier I navigated through the unplowed street to get a cup of coffee at my neighborhood Dunkin Donuts. It turned out that our street was the exception and most other streets in our little corner of HoCo were fairly clear.

At the same time there were roads in HoCo where snow on the road was only part of the problem. The heavy snow took a toll on trees and power lines like this scene on New Cut Road in Ellicott City.

It could take awhile to clean all this up.

Showdown @ Noon in EC

Unless you feel comfortable with your snowball throwing skills you’d be advised to avoid Parking Lot D in Ellicott City tomorrow around noon. The Empress of EC, Kimberly Kepnes has issued a call to arms for a “friendly” snowball battle.

“Bring your hats, gloves, your best humor and all of your friends and family! Oh, you might want to bring some money, too, 'cause we have hot drinks including great Coffee and Espresso, creamy Chai Tea and rich Hot Chocolate, Savory Soup and delicious Pastries and French Country Bread!  Perfect for the after-fight celebration!”

Think of it as a flash mob with weapons.

For those who prefer non impact snow activities, The Little French Market is also hosting a snowman building contest starting at one, presumably at the cessation of hostilities.

Hunkering Down

By all indications we’re in for a significant snow event this evening. Already we’re getting a mix of freezing rain and snow on our hill in Ellicott City. About twenty minutes ago we experienced thunder and lightning.

It’s good to be home.

Even better, the whole clan is home, safe under one roof.

Around three o’clock this afternoon I stopped by the Centre Park Giant. I thought I’d grab one of their rotisserie chickens for our dinner. It was a busy place. I was almost too late, there were only three left. I felt like I won the lottery.

I expect that it’s even busier now, but I wouldn't know because I'm not venturing back out there anytime soon. We’re hunkered down, with our larders full, all humans and animals accounted for. Bring on the storm.

Miller Time

HoCo Rising dubbed it the “Wine Summit” but I find that to be a little too formal. What it boiled down to was three new media types met up with an old media type and we shared a few drinks and laughs.

The purpose of the gathering was to see if Sarah, Tom and I could help Doug Miller to “get” the HoCo loco social media scene. Doug had written a column entitled "Facebook frenzy" in the Columbia Flier saying that he didn’t “get it.”

He doesn’t want to get it either. You see, Doug is a bit of a Luddite. He told us he doesn’t even own a cell phone. He told us his kids have them, but he doesn't, by choice. He uses and likes email but that’s pretty much where his technological curiosity ends.

I pointed out to him that HoCo was likely one of the most wired and connected communities in the entire U S of A making his aversion towards technology stand out all the more. He was well aware. Even so, Doug is not alone either as Sarah points out.

  

Doug Miller is good guy, I enjoyed meeting him. He was also a good sport about the whole thing. I’ll read his stuff with new interest from now on.

After Doug left, the three of us discussed the latest HoCo Blogtail party. Sarah was the only one who had attended.

“Jesse is after me to be a co-host.”

We all agreed that Jesse has done a good job keeping these gatherings going. They certainly have grown from the handful of people that attended when they were first started. 

It also occurred to me that I haven’t volunteered to co-host since the very first one. I told Sarah that I’d co-host with her…sometime this spring. 

Stay tuned...

Bad Coffee, Good Coffee

As I left my appointment in Towson this afternoon, I pulled into a drive thru Dunkin Donuts on Joppa Road to fuel up for the drive back to HoCo. I ordered a large coffee, no room. After paying for my purchase with paper money I slipped the unopened coffee into the cup holder and resumed my trek back south. At the intersection of Joppa and Loch Raven Boulevard my forward progress was interrupted by a red light. I decided to use the moment to savor a sip of my fresh hot coffee.

GAAAH!

Instead of a lovely cup of pure coffee flavor I encountered a cream laden sugary beverage that only remotely hinted of coffee. For me at least, this is undrinkable.

As I waited for the light I pondered my next move. Do I pull a u-turn and return to the scene of coffee miscommunication and demand some java justice?

Or do I simply suck it up and stew about it for the whole ride home?

I opted to stew. I opened the door, dumped out the offending beverage onto the asphalt and tossed the empty cup into the back seat.

As I came back into Columbia my stewing had subsided but I was determined to get a decent cup of joe before going into the office. I pulled into the Starbucks on Dobbin Road. There were two people in front of me in line.

“Can I use this to pay?” the first lady in line asked the cashier. She was holding an iPhone.

The barista assured her that she could and she then proceeded to complete her transaction by waving her phone in front of scanner. The money was deducted from her Starbucks Rewards account.

“Does that work with other smart phones?” I asked.

The second guy in line seemed knowledgeable about these things and he suggested that, by now, there was undoubtedly an Android version of the app as well,

Undoubtedly.

He then added. “Isn’t it funny that they once predicted we’d be driving flying cars by now but they never saw the smartphone thing coming!”

Personally I’m glad the flying car thing never took off.

Hasta la Vista HoCo Harley

In May of 2004, Harley Davidson of Maryland celebrated the grand opening of their new location in the Troy Hill Commerce Center in Elkridge. According to this story by Liz F. Kay in The Sun the festivities included “a parade of motorcycles, fire engines and public officials in SUVs celebrated the dealership's reopening - a symbol of the transformation that county officials hope will continue along U.S. 1”

“With County Executive James N. Robey adorned in an orange and black leather jacket for his remarks - and Steppenwolf's "Born To Be Wild" blasting from stereo speakers - the store opened to great fanfare in the Troy Hill Commerce Center, just north of Route 100.”

Those wild days are now over.  This week I received a mailer from my buddy Rob Freedman informing me that the property is for sale. According to this story by Frank Hazzard in Elkridge Patch the motorcycle dealership, “will close permanently on Feb. 28.”

“The business is closing, in part, due to the down economy,” said Tina Ice, 66, who has owned the Elkridge dealership for 20 years.”

Meanwhile, across town in Annapolis Junction, Bob Henig a BMW motorcycle dealer holds his own. Bob told Frank he’d been prudent.

“We had plans in January of ’09 to double the size of  [Bob's BMW] and triple the parking, but we put that on hold when we saw what was coming in terms of the economy. Good decision."

I was never much attracted to motorcycles. They just didn’t look like that much fun to me, which is probably a good thing.

A Deluge of Dunkins

The Beekman Group has announced plans to open eight new Dunkin Donuts in Columbia over the next six years. According to this report from Dealmakers.net, “The first location is slated to open this year. The company currently operates 9,000 locations nationwide and internationally.”

There are already four Dunkin Donuts stores in Columbia. That's a lot of donuts!

My Theme Song for 2011

Yesterday, while listening to This American Life on WAMU, I heard a song that immediately summed up my outlook for 2011.  The song was This Year by The Mountain Goats. Actually it was just the chorus in the song that resonated with me…“I’m gonna make it through this year if it kills me…”

I bought it on iTunes this afternoon.