Blogging From Bangalore

HoCo Exec Ken Ulman has been blogging from Bangalore, we learned from the Flier. You can see it here. In one of his final posts, he boasts that he filed entirely from this Blackberry.

There are no dramatic revelations but you get a flavor for the trip. He seemed to get into it, as his postings got longer and longer.

That got us thinking. Back during the campaign, several contenders launched blogs etc, and some folks were real chatterboxes. But once the results were in, not so much.

We say if it's good for Bangalore, it's good for Howard. Why stop now?

The Cost Of Quality Care

We've had occasion to make several trips to HoCo General over the years, and we are grateful for the professionalism. But there's always a measure to sticker shock when the bills arrive.

Health care costs keep going up. Employers keep shifting more of the cost of insurance onto employees. And now here's another hit to the proverbial pocketbook.

From the county:

ELLICOTT CITY, MD – County Executive Ken Ulman recently announced a $4 million grant award to Howard County General Hospital, which was approved by the County Council to help with the large-scale capital project currently underway to renovate and expand the Johns Hopkins-owned facility. Per the agreement, Howard County General Hospital will receive the first installment of $3.5 million now with a follow-up payment of $.5 million in April.

“Since Howard County General Hospital first opened its doors thirty years ago, they have been providing the very best in quality health care to our community,” said Ulman. “As our population has grown, so has the demand for patient care, and that is not likely to change as the first wave of baby boomers turn 60. This new pavilion and parking garage will help the hospital meet those increasing health care needs.”

“The entire hospital family, including our 1,700+ employees, 800+ members of our medical staff and 1,000 volunteers are very grateful to County Executive Ulman and the five members of the County Council for this outstanding, and generous investment, which will allow us to expand and enhance our health care services, and transform how we care for the community,” said Vic Broccolino, President and CEO of Howard County General Hospital: A Member of Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Howard County General Hospital: A Member of Johns Hopkins Medicine is a private, not-for-profit community health care provider. First opened in 1973 with 59 beds, the hospital has evolved into a 219-bed comprehensive, acute-care medical center. Last year alone, the hospital had nearly 14,000 admissions; performed nearly 13,000 surgical procedures; delivered over 2,800 babies; and treated more than 75,000 patients in the Emergency Department

The hospital hopes to raise a total of $30 million in private donations to complete the project which is expected to cost a total of $105 million. The pavilion is scheduled for completion in late 2009. The entire project will be complete in 2011.

Teen Gets 13 Years For Fatal Brawl

From WaPo:

By Raymond McCaffrey
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 27, 2008; B03

The former 189-pound high school wrestling champ barely filled out his suit yesterday as he stood in a Howard County courtroom, searching for words to explain how a life of Scouting and athletics had brought him to a midnight brawl outside a school, where he fatally struck another teen with an aluminum baseball bat.

Kevin F. Klink, 19, briefly apologized to the friends and family of Robert Brazell Jr., the Ellicott City 18-year-old who died of injuries he suffered during a fight Feb. 24, 2007, involving about two dozen people outside Mount Hebron High School.

"I never intended or hoped for this to happen, and I'm very sorry," Klink said quietly moments before he was sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Klink, who graduated in 2006 from Oakland Mills High School in Columbia, pleaded guilty last month to voluntary manslaughter and carrying a dangerous weapon. According to a statement of facts attached to his plea agreement, one person saw Klink "use a full 'homerun' swing as the bat hit the back of Robert Brazell's head." Brazell was unarmed, and Klink was initially charged with first-degree murder.

Defense attorney Sam Truette said Klink, a former Boy Scout, never intended to kill Brazell at the confrontation, which authorities say was an arranged rematch of a fight involving young men mostly connected to Mount Hebron or to Hammond High School in Columbia. According to the statement of facts, Klink said he was defending a friend under attack from Brazell.

Robert Brazell, the victim's father, said after the sentencing that he opposed the plea agreement and thought Klink should stand trial.

"I can't say I accept it," he said. "I'm still going through the year of feeling the way I feel."

The elder Brazell said he also objected to the defense attorney's description of Klink. "They made Kevin Klink to be a Boy Scout and a wrestling champion," he said. "That doesn't mean nothing.

"He took a young man's life," he said. "At the end of the day, his parents are going to see him. We won't see Robby no more."

Circuit Court Judge Lenore R. Gelfman described the killing as "senseless" and "tragic" but called the outcome "a fair plea agreement."

Klink told police that he became involved in the fight when a friend "was being beaten by three males," and the statement said he "honestly, but unreasonably believed that the force that he used was necessary."

At the hearing, Assistant State's Attorney Danielle Duclaux read a statement on behalf the victim's mother, Leslie Brazell, who described her son as a "hero" whose donated organs helped save the lives of five people ranging in age from 7 months to 51 years old.

Inspiration

There are days when we wake up, it's chilly and damp out, the kids have a cold, mom is away, and we just grow weary thinking about the day ahead. And then we read another story about Rayna DuBose, the remarkable basketball star out of Oakland Mills who lost her limbs to bacterial meningitis while playing for Virginia Tech.

And she's smiling!

The Examiner has a special report on Rayna in today's paper (though for the life of us we cannot seem to find a link on its Web site. But you can see her Web site here. And the Sun has a nice photo gallery here. And here's one from WaPo.

Credit Today, Gone Tomorrow

WaPo had a story over the weekend on folks who are not so happy to see banks renege on home equity lines of credit.

In one brief phone call, Nancy Corazzi's lender yanked away what was left of the $95,000 home equity line of credit that she and her husband took out five months ago.

The lender informed her that her Howard County home had plummeted in value and the company did not want the risk that she would owe more than the house was worth.

"I got off the phone and I was shaking," said Corazzi, who was using the money to pay preschool tuition for her twins ."I was near tears. We needed this credit line to get us through some tough times."

We can debate the wisdom of holding onto a line of credit that puts a home at risk. But this is just another example of the fallout we're seeing from the turmoil in the credit markets. Today, WaPo reports that local governments are coming up with a hole in their budget because the Fed's recent cuts in interest rates, intended to stimulate the economy, have sharply reduced the income localities receive from investments. Meanwhile, the Examiner reports that Howard County officials are considering whether to set up a trust fund to tackle the looming burden of funding future retiree benefits.

Establishing a trust fund would provide officials more flexibility to invest the money and ensure it couldn’t be spent when budget times are tight.

Later, the paper quotes Christopher Summers, president of the conservative Maryland Public Policy Institute, who says jurisdictions should consider cutting or renegotiating the benefit programs rather than just putting more money aside.

Grumble

Maybe it's the weather. We'd rather be out playing in the snow than schlepping to work. Whatever. We were just in a mood today.

* We take no position on the merits of economic development junkets. But....is it fair to say taxpayer money plays no role? Here's the Examiner's report on where the money is coming from to pay for HoCo Exec Ulman's trip to India.

The trip, which begins this evening, costs about $35,000 for the three officials and a reception, and is being paid for by the Howard County Economic Development Authority, Economic Development Authority CEO Dick Story told the paper.

Taxpayers are not footing the bill, he said, because the money comes from company investments in the authority. One hundred companies pay a total of $300,000 a year for the authority to promote economic growth in Howard.

The county also provides more than $1 million to the authority in annual grant funding.



* We love restaurants in Oakland Mills. But...the Flier has a story about the Fire Rock Grill closing and quotes folks saying things like: "It's one thing to go get your dry cleaning, but if you can get lunch while you're there then you get those synergies that we need." What about Lucky's? Vennari's? Bangkok Garden? Heck, even Sam's? We so want to read rhapsodies about these longtime pillars of the community in the mainstream press. We did our part to frequent Fire Rock but truth be told the menu didn't seem exactly right for a neighborhood family joint, service could be spotty, and ownership, at least from what we read, never really seemed all that accessible, given the troubles getting launched and now the sudden, no-warning closing. Fire Rock was not Last Chance in our humble assessment.

Bangalore Or Bust

HoCo exec Ken Ulman is jetting off to India. Bangalore to be specific, home to some of the world's big outsourcing giants. One of the "featured" meetings for traveling so far is to learn more about a radar built here in Howard by Johns Hopkins Applied Physics lab, according to his PR shop. The release also suggests cultural benefits, explaining that the largest proportion of the immigrant population here is from Asia, a place we imagine is just a wee bit bigger than India.

Anyways, here's the full release:

County Executive Ken Ulman will embark on an economic development mission to Bangalore, India, on Friday evening, February 22, 2008. The County Executive will arrive in India on Sunday, February 24, and begin three full days of site visits and meetings in India’s “Silicon Valley,” Bangalore. The trip is sponsored and funded by the Howard County Economic Development Authority.

India is the second fastest-growing major economy in the world, and several Howard County businesses now have offices in India. The largest proportion of immigrant population in Howard County is from Asia (54.5%).

One of the featured meetings is with leaders from the Indian Space Research Organization Leadership Satellite Center, where Executive Ulman will learn more about the Miniature Synthetic Aperture Radar (MiniSAR). The MiniSAR was built in Howard County by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and funded by NASA; it will be one of two US scientific instruments on board India’s first mission to the moon, the Chandrayaan-1.

In addition to meeting with targeted prospects, the objectives of the mission include promoting increased cross-investment between Howard County and India, providing firsthand market information and business contacts and developing and expanding strategic relationships with key Indian and U.S. organizations.

“Howard County is already on the international scene - we are visible to foreign governments, aerospace companies, universities, research centers, and many diverse commercial ventures,” said Ulman. “Bridging international cultures, developing relationships, and exploring mutual opportunities for this County are all part of this Administration’s goal of making a great County even better.”

“Executive Ulman’s visit to India is an excellent opportunity to help us highlight Howard County as a location for Indian businesses that want to expand in the U.S.," said Michael Galeone, Chairman of the Economic Development Authority. "Howard County is an attractive home for Indian companies because of our location, labor force, technology base and infrastructure, and we welcome the opportunity to expand our relationships with the Indian business community.”

Ulman will also meet and tour Prism Microsystems, Incorporated, in Bangalore. Prism is a leading integrated Information Technology solutions provider whose U.S. office is located in Columbia, Maryland. Ulman also has meetings scheduled with: Wipro Technologies, the third largest IT services company in India; US Commercial Service representatives; the Regional Director of the National Association of Software and Services Companies; and the IT Secretary for the Government of Karnataka.