Protect Those Garage Codes

Just catching up with this. From HoCo PD:

Howard County police have charged a Clarksville man for burglarizing his neighbors, and the investigation has led to the return of $25,000 worth of stolen jewelry to the victims. Police are working to identify possible additional victims.

Michael Edward Macon, 23, of 11819 Shepard’s Crossing in Clarksville, is charged with first-, third- and fourth-degree burglary and two theft charges. He was released Thursday on a $25,000 unsecured bond from Howard County Detention Center.

On Sept. 13, police responded to the 11800 block of Shepard’s Crossing in Clarksville for a burglary. The victims had been on vacation and returned home to find approximately $30,000 worth of jewelry missing. There were no signs of forced entry.

Through an investigative lead, investigators discovered high-end jewelry matching the description from the victims that Macon had pawned in Laurel and Prince George’s County. Police are continuing to try to locate the remaining $5,000 of stolen jewelry.

Police believe Macon may have known the code to enter the victims’ garage, then entered the home.

Additional charges are pending further investigation and the possible identification of other victims.

And It's All Yours For $99.9M

From the public schools:

$99.9M Sought for School Facilities Needs

The Board of Education got its first look at the Superintendent's proposed Capital Budget for fiscal year 2011 at the September 10 Board meeting. The $99.9M proposal includes a 100-seat addition to Bellows Spring Elementary, dance studio additions to Centennial and Hammond high schools, and a comprehensive renovation of Atholton High School. Other projects include a Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR) treatment facility for Triadelphia Ridge Elementary and Folly Quarter Middle, and a new 443-seat Northeastern Elementary School scheduled to open in August 2013.

FY11 funding is sought for several systemic projects as well, including a renovation/addition to the central administration building and renovations at Hammond Elementary/Middle, and Stevens Forest, Thunder Hill, Bollman Bridge, Longfellow, and Phelps Luck elementary schools.

The Board will hold a public hearing and work session on the capital budget at 7:30 pm on Thursday, September 24, before giving preliminary approval to the proposal.

No Tan For You

HoCo Exec Ken Ulman and his ever-creative Health Officer Peter Beilenson are proposing to ban teens from using tanning beds, according to a number of reports (here's a link to ExploreHoward).

The two plan a press conference Tuesday.

Brittany Lietz, a former Miss Maryland who believes her battle with skin cancer was caused by indoor tanning, also will speak at the event.

If the regulations are adopted, Howard County would become one of the first communities in the country to ban the use of the beds by minors.

Food, Water, Art: What More Do You Want?

The Flier has an account of the Columbia Association's presentation on what to do with Symphony Woods.

Under a plan presented Wednesday by association planners, a fountain-type water display and a small café surrounded by paved pathways would help transform the area into Symphony Woods Park. The woods’ dense canopy would be thinned in certain areas to provide for “pockets” of sunlight, according to planners.

The park also would have a more visible entry plaza off Little Patuxent Parkway, a woodland garden with crushed stone pathways, a children’s play area with sculptures, restrooms and a 150-space parking lot, according to plans presented by designers Cy Paumier and John Slater at a community meeting Wednesday night at Slayton House in Wilde Lake.

“It’s the magnet that brings the people.You’ve got the food; you’ve got the water; you’ve got the play equipment; you’ve got the art. This place comes alive and it will really be exciting,” Slater said. “It really is a marketing tool for the town and it’s a beautiful way to bring people in.”

Ravens Say Hi

Not the players apparently, but the supporting cast. We pass this on as a public service; we lean towards the Redskins in the great Ravens-Redskins divide.

At the mall:

Presented by M&T Bank, The Mall in Columbia will host a Baltimore Ravens Pep Rally on Friday, September 18 from 12noon-2pm. Visit the Nordstrom Court on the lower level to join in on the fun!

Poe, the official mascot of the Baltimore Ravens, as well as the Ravens Cheerleaders will be in attendance.

Plus,
# Meet Stash, the afternoon DJ of 98Rock
# Register to win prizes
# Pose for pictures with Poe and the Ravens Cheerleaders

Stabbing Was No Gang Rite

The Columbia Flier reports that the man who stabbed the jogger in Running Brook last spring has pleaded guilty to second degree assault.

Police caught up with Vernon Leroy Costley, 19, after his godmother alerted police that he and his knife had showed up at her doorstep.

There's always been a bit of a mystery about why someone would run up to a complete stranger and stab him.

During an Aug. 21 hearing, a police detective theorized in a video that the stabbing was a gang initiation rite. But that theory was refuted in a statement agreed upon by both prosecution and defense attorneys, and read by [Judge Lenore] Gelfman Tuesday.

Costley, a Wilde Lake High School graduate, told police that he was hanging out on the night of the stabbing with a male identified only as “Skino.” At one point, Skino yelled to Costley, “That’s the guy from the bar the other day. Grab him.”

Costley, who had been drinking alcohol, then approached the man from behind and stabbed him, according to the statement. The wound required one stitch.

State sentencing guidelines called for a two-year sentence.

Locked Out

We're blessed to live near our neighborhood high school. It is one of the reasons we chose to be move where we did. The first day we toured the house, the windows were open and we could hear the thonk of racket on ball at the tennis courts. Sold! Over the years, the school has been a refuge of sorts, a place to let the dog run, kick the ball, work on our serve, or take some grounders.

But more recently, the signs prohibiting this activity or that have been multiplying. The message seems to be "Keep Out." This weekend we discovered a new bit of fence and the baseball and field hockey fields completely locked up.

We fear what's next.

Is this really the way to encourage physical activity?

Does anyone remember when, in Columbia, we used to discourage fences?