Merriweather Makeover

The ExploreHoward blog says the folks over at Merriweather Post Pavilion spent $1 million sprucing up the place.

A new building that houses a concession stand and bathrooms was built to be energy-efficient, following the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards. The roof will include live grass that collects rainwater and helps avoid runoff.

Other green improvements include a biodiesel fueling station and the addition of several hundred trees, shrubs, flowers and grasses. The improvements include new sculptures and landscaping, such as a 15-foot-tall chicken made out of farm equipment, a grass maze and a 26-foot-tall boulder sculpture.

Visitors can also play rock-and-roll-themed pinball machines as part of a new “Music Pinball Hall of Fame Arcade.” Games cost a quarter and proceeds from the attraction will go towards establishing a National Pinball Museum in Maryland...

The revamped Merriweather will have three times as many bathrooms as it does now and is expanding its menu to include quesadillas, pitas, crab cakes and pizza

Turning Away Ambulances

WaPo reported in Sunday's paper on the problem of hospitals across the region diverting ambulances carrying all but the most critically ill and injured patients because of emergency room overcrowding.

The newspaper said the diversions force many less-critical patients to travel farther for care, increasing costs and potentially causing dangerous delays.

Here's what the paper said about HoCo General:

Different jurisdictions use different criteria about when to limit ambulance traffic. Maryland has two categories -- yellow alerts for when emergency rooms are too crowded to accommodate additional patients and red alerts for when emergency rooms lack beds for patients who require monitoring, such as those with cardiac problems.

Hospitals and local health authorities have tried to improve but have come up short.

Howard County General Hospital was on yellow alert 8 percent of the time in 2004 and 26 percent last year, The Post analysis found. It is the county's only hospital, so during those alerts, ambulance patients might be sent to Montgomery, Prince George's or Baltimore counties. Depending on where the patient is picked up, travel could take twice as long and tie up emergency medical service crews longer than authorities would like. Hospital officials said that despite the alerts, they rarely send patients to other hospitals but that those who are less critically ill face longer waits because of crowding.

Hospital officials in Howard said part of the problem can be attributed to population growth in the county, especially among elderly residents seeking care. This summer, Howard General will expand its emergency room for the second time in eight years, adding 18 beds. But that probably will not be enough with 5,500 new homes planned in Columbia and significant growth expected around Fort Meade because of military base realignment in the region. The issue has prompted the Howard County Citizens Association to form a task force to examine emergency care in the county.

"We're trying to make [the emergency room] as streamlined and efficient as possible to see the maximum number [of patients] we can see, but space continues to be a limitation," said Walter Atha, head of the hospital's emergency room.

HoCoMoJo's New Look

HoCoMoJo, the community news site, has a new look today. Check it out here.

What's HoCoMoJo? Here's what how they describe it...we're still waiting for our download.

HoCoMoJo is an independent 21st Century local news and information community that encourages thoughtful debate and discussion of issues concerning the citizens of Howard County, by using the most advanced MObile JOurnalism technologies.

It's sort of a cross between a newspaper, a blog, and Facebook.

But it's not Facebook. It's about our community, and the people here.

Making The Grade

Howard County school officials told the ExploreHoward blog that the state's new graduation requirements did not prevent a single student from collecting a diploma this year.

A small number of Howard County’s senior class — a little over a dozen pupils — did not graduate as planned, although none were held back solely because of the HSA [High School Assessment] requirement, as they had failed to meet other graduation criteria, school system spokeswoman Patti Caplan said.


This year's crop of seniors was the first to be face the new standards, which included exams in algebra, biology, 10th-grade English and government, ExploreHoward said.

In Howard, 3,261 students met the requirement by passing the four exams, while 307 earned a sufficient combined score. Sixty students completed “bridge” projects in one or more subjects to meet the requirement, and eight students were granted a waiver.

Police Offer Reward In Bank Heist

From HoCo PD:

The Howard County Police Department is seeking information about two suspects who robbed a BB&T Bank in the 8800 block of Columbia 100 Parkway today. Police are offering a reward up to $1,000 to anyone with information leading to an arrest.

Two black males wearing masks entered the bank around 9:30 a.m. The suspects displayed guns and demanded money. They fled on foot in an unknown direction with an undisclosed amount of cash.

There were four employees and one customer in the bank at the time of the incident. No one was injured.

The suspects are described as:

Suspect #1: Black male, approximately 6’0” with a stocky build, wearing all dark clothing

Suspect #2: Black male, approximately 6’0” with a stocky build, wearing a gray sweat suit.

Police are asking anyone with information to call police at 410-313-3200. Detectives do not have photos of the suspects for release. Callers may remain anonymous.

A Snowballing Post

We were first alerted to this HowChow post on ice cream and snowball stands by the Howard County Blog, which added its own faves, including one of our own -- Pete's at Oakland Mills and Montgomery roads.

Add your own to their list and pass it on...

Bringing The World Here

We're happy to pass on this request from a Columbia Talk correspondent:

I am a community coordinator for a very interesting program, PAX (Program of Academic Exchange), which brings high school students from over 40 different countries here for an exchange year. The students are chosen to participate in the program based on their academic ability, maturity level and English skills. They also come with monthly spending money, health insurance and an active coordinator (me!) who works closely with them to maximize their exchange experience.

Over the next month, I will be looking for people who are interested in hosting our great students coming to Howard County next year. This is an incredible opportunity to ‘bring the world in’ and be part of a culture that no trip could ever provide. Host families come in all shapes and sizes, and do not need to have children in the local high school.

I would greatly appreciate your assistance in spreading the word or talking up the program. I can provide more information or a brief blurb about the program to insert online. Similarly, if there are others you know of that you feel would already be interested in this type of opportunity, please feel free to forward my message.

Thank you for taking the time to read and respond to my message, and for your continued support of community activities and awareness in Howard County.

Sincerely,

Nicole Modeen Hark

Cluster Leader, Howard County, MD

PAX – Program of Academic Exchange

Nicole says you can reach her at nicolemodeenATgmail.com. Or call 803-479-0275.