No Lance Event

From Sun/Flier's ExporeHoward blog:

This weekend's noncompetitive cycling event to benefit the Lance Armstrong Foundation and, locally, the Ulman Cancer Fund has been canceled because of the heavy rain and high winds expected from tropical storm Hanna. The event, called 24 Hours of Booty, had been scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.

...
For information about possible refunds, go to info@24hoursofbooty.org. If a refund is not desired, the $45 registration fee will be used as a donation.

Catching Up: Gunplay In Kings Contrivance

We've been away for the Labor Day holiday but thought this was worth noting. From HoCo PD:

Howard County Police have charged an 18-year-old Columbia man in the non-fatal shooting of a 15-year-old yesterday in Columbia.

Dominique Davon McDonald, of 9761 Clock Tower Lane, was charged today with attempted murder, assault, armed robbery and reckless endangerment. He is currently in the Howard County Detention Center on no bond.

Police were called to Howard County General Hospital around 10 p.m. for a report that a male teen was being treated for a non-life threatening gunshot wound to the head. The teen, who will not be identified, told police he had been shot during a robbery in the area of Clock Tower Lane in Columbia around 1 a.m. Aug. 27. The teen fled, but did not immediately report the incident. He later called a family member who took him to the hospital.

Through investigation, detectives identified McDonald as a suspect. Police served a search warrant at McDonald’s residence early this morning and arrested him without incident. Detectives cannot release specific details about the information or evidence obtained, as the investigation is ongoing.

Rollin' And Recylin'

Those rolling recycling bins are coming, according to the Sun. The county is buying about 71,000 bins and will notify neighborhoods about one week before they begin distributing them:

...the bins, which come in three sizes: 64 gallons for detached homes, 35 gallons for townhouses with garages and 18 gallons for townhouses without garages. The county conducted a pilot project on one trash route in the Elkridge area last year and said recycling increased 25 percent as a result.

HoCo SAT Scores Up

With one member of the Talk Team wrapping up his high school experience, we're thinking a lot about colleges these days...so this comes as welcome news..

From HoCo schools:

Students in Howard County's Class of 2008 significantly outperformed their counterparts in Maryland and across the nation, according to SAT data released today by the College Board. The average scores for Howard County's 2008 graduates increased in all tested areas, while state and national scores showed very little change from 2007.

Howard's average score in Critical Reading increased three points from 537 to 540. In mathematics, the increase was one point, from 556 to 557. The highest jump was in writing, where Howard's average score increased by 7 points, from 537 to 544.

"We have become accustomed to our students scoring above state and national levels, but that does not mean we become complacent," says Superintendent Sydney Cousin. "Even though our scores are 38 to 50 points higher than the national scores, what is most impressive is we continue to see our scores increase. That is remarkable."

Nationally, scores remained constant at 502 for critical reading, 515 for math and 494 for writing.

Here's a WaPo link to results from other local systems.

And links to stories in the Sun and WaPo.

Sticking It To The Boys

Back in the day, there was quite a fuss at our old high school when a girl wanted to play on the boys soccer team. There was no soccer team for girls at Wilde Lake or any county school at the time. We even had a cameo on one of the newscasts saying we supported her right to try out for the team. Our memory is now hazy whether school officials banned her from play or whether she simply didn't make the squad, but she was tough and determined, no doubt about it.

Now we read in the Sun that a boy at River Hill wants to at least practice with the girls field hockey team. Luke Chopper had already resigned himself to not being able to play in games, but he signed on a manager in hopes he could at least swing a stick in practice.

Apparently, that's a problem, too.

Mike Williams, the coordinator of athletics for Howard County Public Schools, said TitleIX, the federal statute that prohibits sex discrimination in federally funded education programs, was an issue.

"When we looked at what we're trying to do to comply with TitleIX, it was a situation that would have definitely led us toward noncompliance. That was just one issue. There are safety issues along with it," Williams said.

Chopper, 14, said he just wants to play.

"I've been playing since I was about 6, and I kind of want to keep it going. I've been playing for so long, and not being allowed to play makes no sense," said Chopper, who learned the sport at the Mater Amoris Montessori School in Ashton and will play for a boys team at the U.S. Field Hockey Association's national tournament Thanksgiving weekend in California.

Ned Sparks, executive director of the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association, said the decision whether to allow boys to play on a girls team is left up to officials in each county, but boys cannot play in regional and state field hockey playoffs.

The state policy was contested in federal court in 1990 by a boy who wanted to play field hockey in Cecil County, and the court sided with the MPSSAA, Sparks said.

Mom told the Sun she is considering legal action.

DuVall's Final Season

Way back when we were in high school, in the mid-70s, Doug DuVall was only starting to build a football program that would become the envy of the county. But you could tell from the way he carried himself, and his players responded, that he was something special.

In the Sun today, we learn that Coach DuVall says this, his 36th season, will be his last with Wilde Lake's Wildecats.

"I remember, when I started coaching, I just wanted to win my first game," he said yesterday, between classes at the school where he began his career in 1972. "Then I wanted to win 100, then 200, now 300. But you should never spend your whole career in one place."

That thought and others first came to him when his friend, the late Dunbar coach Ben Eaton, died suddenly in August 2007.

"Ben sent a pretty clear message," DuVall said. "Everything has a rhythm and a time. I need to enjoy my life. Spend time with Jan [his wife] and our family. Coaching is a consuming lifestyle. Coaching football is a 12-month, eight-hour-a-day job. I'm looking to do something a little less demanding."

More Commuter Spaces On The Way

From the State Highway Dept....

(August 15, 2008) – To meet the demand for commuting options in Howard County, the Maryland Department of Transportation’s State Highway Administration (SHA) will begin a $170,000 project to improve the MD 175/Snowden River Parkway ridesharing lot in Columbia. As part of the resurfacing project, SHA will increase the capacity of the 210-space park-and-ride lot by adding 27 parking spaces. SHA will complete the project by the end of August, weather permitting.

To complete this work - beginning Monday, August 18 - SHA will close the park-and-ride lot nightly between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m., Sunday through Thursday. Vehicles parked in the lot after 8 p.m. will be towed. Information on towed vehicles will be available at the Maryland State Police Waterloo Barrack by calling 410-799-2101. Additional ridesharing lots in Howard County include MD 32/Broken Land Parkway and

MD 100/Long Gate Parkway. Variable message signs are in place to alert motorists of the upcoming work.

SHA awarded the contract to R. F. Kline, Inc. of Frederick. Citizens who have questions about traffic operations along MD 175, or other State numbered routes in Howard County, may call SHA’s District 7 Office at 301-624-8100 or toll free at

1-800-635-5119. For additional ridesharing locations, log onto www.marylandroads.com