Tuesday, April 23, 2013
The currently nameless heron appears on Maryland license plates.
Officials at the Chesapeake Bay Trust are looking for input to help name its blue heron mascot. The heron, which also currently adorns "Treasure the Chesapeake" Maryland license plates, is nameless at the moment. But from now through April 26, the organization is asking Marylanders to vote on its website for one of three finalists: Hattie the Heron, Seemore D. Bay and Wade. More than 550 names were submitted to the organization's contest, according to a press release. "Submissions ranged from names that rhymed with heron, to ones that represented famous Marylanders, to others that held a personal story or connection the submitter had with the bay," Molly Alton Mullins, director of communications at the trust, said in the release. "It was …
Thursday, May 3, 2012
A new county program gives students the opportunity earn money while helping keep the Bay clean.
“What keeps you up at night?” That’s the question Cynthia Marshall and other members of People Acting Together in Howard County (PATH) ask each other in small group meetings as they decide what issues to tackle. PATH is a network of faith-based organizations that helps Howard County residents organize and making changes in their communities and lives. Most recently, Marshall said, complaints have focused on the difficulty of finding summer work, particularly work that's career-oriented. "Working retail," she said, "doesn't help on your resume" if you want to something else after college. On Wednesday, Marshall joined more than two dozen members of PATH and Howard County Executive Ken Ulman at Bethany United Methodist Church for a press …
Friday, September 23, 2011
Experts say Howard County is one of many jurisdictions that will need to significantly decrease pollution going into local rivers and streams.
Early next month, Howard County Public Works officials will begin laying out the second phase of a Watershed Implementation Plan, which is a roadmap to cleaning the county's waterways and, in turn, the Chesapeake Bay. In December of 2010, the Environmental Protection Agency released a "diet" for the bay–a Total Maximum Daily Load–which calls for a decrease of nitrogen and phosphorous flowing into the bay and its tributaries. Howard Saltzman of the Howard County's Storm Water Management Division says the state of Maryland asked counties to carry out plans to reduce the loads of nutrients that deplete resources in the bay. "The [Watershed Implementation Plan] is going to require us to do a whole lot more than we're doing today," said …
Friday, April 8, 2011
Patuxent Riverkeeper Fred Tutman says he wants an explanation from Howard County about pollution in Little Patuxent River.
A local river advocate says the Little Patuxent River continues to be at risk for pollution from industrial waste and an inadequate water treatment facility. Industry and county officials say improvements have already been made. At a Savage Community Association meeting this week, Patuxent Riverkeeper Fred Tutman told members that the local wastewater treatment plant in Savage is “a leaky system.” He also said that Maryland and Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative Association agreed two years ago to make changes to its wastewater discharge practices at its North Laurel factory but the river remains at risk. Tutman said that river water is leaking into the wastewater treatment pipes carrying raw sewage from the dairy plant. He believes this …
Friday, March 4, 2011
A Clarksville high school is helping to start an environmental “rain garden” movement.
Anytime it snows or rains, the mud gets tracked through an entrance at River Hill High School in Clarksville, creating not only a mess but contributing to a problem of water runoff. With the help of a non-profit group, architects and landscapers, a group of student volunteers is determined to clean it up. The project at the blue ribbon school involves the development of a “rain garden” and could serve as a model for other schools in the area. In late February, teenagers from Howard County met with professional architects and engineers from the Green Building Institute (GBI), based in Jessup, and drew up plans for the rain garden at River Hill that will soak up the water and filter it naturally, before it enters the ground water table and …
39.15737
-76.77888
7761 Waterloo Rd, Jessup, MD
Youth ECo is ramping up its rain garden efforts with the Green Building Institute
/articles/how-does-your-rain-garden-grow-with-the-dedication-of-student-environmentalists
/locations/3577075
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Participating in the Great American Can Roundup teaches students about the environment.
Patuxent Valley Middle School is partnering with the Can Manufacturers Institute for the Great American Can Roundup to raise money to build a rain garden, wherein rainwater runoff from the roof, concrete and other impervious surfaces surrounding the school will be collected. In an effort to foster education about sustainability and recycling, students are collecting aluminum cans from the community from now until April in a wooden bin built by the Green Club. Beverage cans from student and teacher consumption will comprise the other half of the collections. Patuxent Valley teachers hope the Roundup will encourage students to protect the environment in the future, according to science teacher Anne Fichter, head of the program. "It's …
39.14777
-76.82881
9151 Vollmerhausen Rd, Jessup, MD
Patuxent Valley Middle School
/articles/patuxent-valley-middle-schools-recycling-initiative-gets-underway
/locations/2672947
Monday, November 15, 2010
A war (of words) is brewing over civility in Howard.
New blogger Hoco Matt made a splash Monday with a dual-intentioned post about order and civility in Howard County, and more specifically, how efforts to restore the Chesapeake Bay may mean less putting-green-like neighborhood lawns. Matt opens with a reflection of his experience in New Mexico and how the pure lack of water requires constant restrictions, and then he goes on to tie in the Chesapeake Bay as a similar (but less dry) resource prone to exploitation. I find this post particularly appealing because this past summer I was part of the News21 reporting team at the University of Maryland that covered every aspect of issues involving the Chesapeake–from the algae, to the sewage, to the watermen. Having a meta-Maryland experience like …
Brian Hooks
9:38 pm on Sunday, September 25, 2011
Thanks for this! more ›