Five Schools Fall Short Of Fed Standards

The Sun reports on the state's annual report of school progress under the No Child Left Behind Act, saying about 84 percent of all schools met the federal targets. Statewide, Maryland put 169 of 1,129 elementary and middle schools on a list of schools that need improvement, compared with 176 the year before.

Here's what the Sun said about Howard:

Five schools in Howard County - two elementary and three middle - did not meet federal standards this year. The schools are: Bollman Bridge Elementary, Stevens Forest Elementary, Harpers Choice Middle, Patuxent Valley Middle and Oakland Mills Middle.

School system officials said that there are plans to redirect additional support to them. "There are forces in place with curriculum [department] to deal with the schools," said Portia White, Howard County's coordinator of testing. "This system has rallied around these schools and has put the [measures] in place to help them succeed next year."

Superintendent Sydney L. Cousin said there was no need for alarm.

"All of these schools have successfully met our local standard of having 70 percent or more of their students scoring at proficient or above in both reading and mathematics," Cousin said.


In a release, Howard school officials said 53 of 58 elementary and middle schools in Howard County met Adequate Yearly Progress standards, as defined under the federal law.

Rocky Run No More

Sad.

We saw this on the Howard County Maryland blog. Rocky Run Tab & Grill is closed.

And to think, we had yet to finish sampling all the hot sauces or exhaust our creativity with crayons!

How I Spent My Summer Va-Ca

If you are super agent Pat Hiban, you climb Africa's highest mountain:

Rites of Summer: Dog Days

Here's how we spent part of our summer vacation:

More Parking

Howard County General Hospital has opened a five-level 542-space parking garage, according to this story in the Examiner.

The garage is the first completed part of the hospital’s $105 million, 233,656-square-foot expansion and general renovation project.

The core project component now under construction is a new four-story, five-level patient tower that will include 90 private rooms in the surgical, cardiac/telemetry and medical/surgical units, according to hospital officials.

The hospital, now with 219 beds, will see a net gain of 42 beds when the project is finished.

The total project is expected to be completed by the fall of 2011, officials said.

Until then, we wonder if there's any spare spaces for carpooling commuters.

4th Arrest In Oakland Mills Shooting

Just as HoCo PD prepares to meet with Oakland Mills residents at 10 am on Saturday for a "gang awareness summit" at the Other Barn, comes this news from the Sun via AP:


A fourth arrest has been made in the murder of a 23-year-old Columbia man on May 17, Howard County police say.

Police say Kevin Jennings, 19, of Pikesville, drove the men involved in the shooting to Columbia's Stevens Forest Apartments, where the body of Jason Batts was found in a parking lot.

Jennings is charged with first-degree murder, hindering the investigation and conspiracy.

Ronald McConnell of Columbia was arrested in May, and Daymar Wimbish and Lamont Johnson, both from Owings Mills, were arrested last month.

Police said they believe Johnson fired the gun at the shooting scene.

Does Driving Less Make Us Feel Safer?

We'll refrain from making a joke about how this might be good for Dunkin Donuts:

From HoCo PD:

In an effort to cut back on fuel consumption due to rising costs, the police department is announcing mandatory conservation measures, effective Aug. 1.

“Reducing our use of fuel is the responsibility of all members who operate a county vehicle,” said Police Chief William McMahon. “Of course, this mandate is not intended to impact the performance of employees’ assigned duties.”

All employees were instructed to reduce their fuel consumption by five percent. A three-month baseline average was provided to each employee with an expectation that reductions would be evident by Sept. 1.

McMahon says he expects the reductions to come from less off-duty use, more fuel-conscious driving behavior and other common sense conservation methods.

“Service to our citizens is our absolute top priority,” McMahon said. “In no way will we allow these cost-cutting measures to negatively impact service.”
Employees who do not achieve the five percent reduction in any month will be required to explain why the goal was not met.

The chief also announced changes for employees who serve in certain on-call assignments, including a discontinuation of take-home cars for some out-of-county personnel. These programs will continue, but may no longer include take-home cars for all the people who staff them.

In this situation, employees who are called out will be paid the current mileage rate for the distance between their residences and police vehicles, as well as the return trips home.

Police will place limitations on assigning additional vehicles to employees who reside outside of Howard County, regardless of assignment. There also will be new restrictions placed on vehicle usage for police supervisors, such as sergeants and lieutenants.

Operators of shared patrol cars are expected to take part in the fuel reduction efforts by limiting idling time to operational needs, avoiding unnecessary driving and improving driving behaviors while operating in non-emergency modes.

These mandates are the first fuel saving measures being implemented by the police department. While further actions and restrictions may be necessary, the agency is committed to not sacrificing the service it provides to the public.