Grocery Store Competition Heats Up

Ok, I like to eat as much as the next guy. In fact, it's long been my fantasy to be the fattest man on the planet, but only for one year. But how many grocery stores can one town sustain? The Sun reports today that a Wegman's has submitted plans to open a big store in Owen Brown off Snowden River Parkway and McGaw Road.

I dutifully shop at the Food Lion in Oakland Mills because that's my neighborhood grocery. But when it's time to "beverage up" for the kids' ballgames I head over to BJ's. The best deals on the dog treats my Sophie likes is at Target (where I might pick up some fancy water). Or Wal-Mart. For my healthy stuff I like Mom's, or My Organic Market over in Jessup. It's David's Natural Market and Produce Galore when I'm on the "other" side of the road.

The competition, though, is bound to take its toll. I find I don't go to the Owen Brown Giant much anymore, which is probably why that chain is struggling a bit these days. My wife has joined Costco, which means we will soon be choosing between it and BJ's. And we're curious about the arrival of Trader Joe's.

How about you? If life was fair, who should the winners and losers be?

Tech in The Elementary Schools

From WBAL comes a report on plans by the school system to hire technology teachers for elementary schools. It's impossible from this story to tell exactly what these teachers will do: Teach Word and Excel? Help classroom teachers integrate technology into their lessons?

Here's how the school system's budget described their role, saying the money...

"Adds 53 technology support teachers in elementary
schools to provide job-embedded professional
development for teachers on the integration of
technology into instruction. Addition of technology
support teachers—along with completion of
elementary media assistant staffing—will also
provide additional planning time for elementary
school teachers."

40 Seconds of Fame For a Meeting Room

Here's a curious article: the Sun profiles the Spear Center, a meeting room in the General Growth Properties building (or is it the old Rouse building?). The piece recounts many happy memories from the days when it was one of the chief gathering places in town, a fact Columbia Talk can attest to having played bartender to a function or two :)

Apparently Rouse shut down the room to community groups in 1998 and General Properties is beginning to open the place up to select nonprofit types again.

It's also a General Properties vice president, Barbara Nicklas, who is leading the event committee for Columbia's 40th birthday celebration

Are we seeing the stirrings of General Properties getting the old band back together?

Community Chroniclers

WaPo's Sunday Source profiles some local bloggers around the region who focus on neighborhood news---"an ever evolving mix of journaling and journalism." None of the subjects comes from our neck of the woods, but one touts Tales of Two Cities as a blog he reads regularly.

The bloggers in the piece offer some advice---or is it challenges?--for the rest of us: For instance, Rick Wilson of Laurel Connections says "There's no way to amass enough readership to make it pay, so people have to do it as part of their daily life. My rule is it can't cost anything but my time."

Something New

The Columbia Talk blogging empire grows a suburb. Columbia Talk is starting "Behind Columbia Talk." Think of it as a look behind the scenes, or under the hood, or any other cliche you can image, of what this enterprise aspires to become. We're trying to be as transparent as possible to what we're up to. And we could use your help. We created this new Web site because it deals with stuff that isn't really about the news of the day. It's more about building an audience and whatever else we feel like talking about. You'll find the new Web site at behindcolumbiatalk.blogspot.com.

Shop If You Must

Columbia Talk plans to spend most of the day near a baseball diamond but the national pastime has nothing on America's true weekend passion---shopping! And we have new stores to go to--the Gateway Overlook shopping center opens today near Route 175 and I-95. Here's what's there according to the Sun:

"Though sections of the new Gateway Overlook shopping center still are dusty construction zones, several stores, including a Best Buy, Office Depot and Five Below, are scheduled to open today. An ULTA store is to open in mid-June.

"By the end of the year, the sprawling commercial development, on 123 acres at Routes 175 and 108, is expected to have a Trader Joe's, a Loehman's, a Lowe's, a Costco, two banks and several free-standing national chain restaurants, including Houlihan's, Mimi's Cafe and On the Border Mexican Grill.

"Robert Byrne, vice president of General Growth Properties, which is developing the site, said the finished shopping center will also have a 57,000- square-foot building with smaller tenants, including restaurants and a retail store called Golf Galaxy."

Bye Bye Mr. B

Today's WaPo has a piece on the mysterious disappearance of honeybees---they have vanished from my cul-de-sac, what about yours? We don't have much to add to the theories but we do have thoughts on another notable departure, the retirement of 42-year media center veteran "Mr. B" Tom Brzezinski.

Ok, pardon the lame segue, but Columbia Talk has lots of fond memories of Mr. B. He was one of the folks who left an impression in the early days of this new town, who brought people together with his after-school screenings of "Flash Gordon" and "The Love Bug" and his lakefront movie nights---a tradition that continues today. The Flier has a nice story on his career. Our favorite memory is an afternoon at Bryant Woods Elementary when he read aloud from "A Wrinkle in Time" and we were absolutely transfixed.

Thanks Tom.

P.S. The summer Friday movie series at Lake Kittamaqundi starts June 22 with "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." (right after Dancin' Under the People Tree) Among the films to come: "North by Northwest," "The Devil Wears Prada," "Plan 9 From Outer Space," and "The Goonies." The films typically start around 8:30p, or when its dark enough.

Oh, and Mr. B is still the host.