From Speed Cameras to the Shiny New ICC: Patch Keeps a Close Eye on Your (Roads and) Government

Patch takes seriously the journalists’ credo to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. Read all about what your elected leaders are doing in the community, and how it affects you, in the Week in Regional Government.

Ethics Complaint Made Against School Board Member Allen Dyer
Accused of violating a policy banning board members from using “the prestige of their offices for their own private gain or that of another,” Howard County School Board member Allen Dyer is under investigation by the school system’s ethics panel. Learn more about the confidential hearing of Dyer's case on Columbia Patch.

Slow Down: Speed Cameras May Be Coming to Howard County
County Executive Ken Ulman and Howard County Police Chief William McMahon announced their intent to introduce legislation that would allow the use of mobile speed cameras which, if enacted, would mean two speed camera vans would patrol school zones to ticket and fine violators. Ellicott City Patch has the story.

You Said It! Speed Cameras In School Zones
What do you think of the possibility of police keeping a closer eye on your speedometer? Following up on the proposed legislation, local editor Brandie Jefferson takes to the streets to hear your thoughts on the future of road surveillance in Howard County with a video posted on Ellicott City Patch.

Paper or Plastic? Soon Either Might Cost You A Nickel
After reading a recent study by the Alice Ferguson Foundation that found 75 percent of Washington, D.C., residents said they had reduced their bag consumption after a 5-cent bag tax, Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett presented similar legislation this week. Details are on Colesville Patch.

HoCo Residents Voice Oppositions to MD DREAM Act
Several Howard County residents who attended the Feb. 23 delegation hearing in Ellicott City shared their reasons for opposing the bill, which would allow students to pay in-state college tuition regardless of their immigration status.Two weeks later, the Maryland DREAM Act took the floor in Annapolis. Hear about what happened by visiting Elkridge Patch.

Love At First Drive: The ICC is Shiny, it’s New and it Takes 7 Minutes
The highly anticipated Intercounty Connector is the first new highway in over a decade in Maryland--a state that is struggling with deteriorating roads and increasing commute times. With claims that the first section of the toll road will substantially cut the suburban Washington and Baltimore traffic, Patch editors Lisa Rossi and Brian Hooks gave the ICC a test run. Get a feel for the road with their video on Savage-Guilford Patch.