Howard County’s Department of Public Works’ Bureau of Environmental Services invites Howard County students, grades third through fifth, to participate in its annual Coloring Book Contest promoting the importance of the three R’s: “Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.”

Howard County Executive Calvin Ball today announced that efforts under the enhanced stream debris removal program, part of the Ellicott City Safe and Sound plan, were completed this week after Tropical Storm Ophelia swept through the region.

Howard County Department of Public Works’ Stormwater Management Division will hold a public meeting on Thursday, October 5th to hear community feedback on the South Meadow/Centennial Park North Ponds repair project. 

CSX Transportation will begin maintenance on the railroad crossing at Woodstock Road at the Howard/Baltimore County line in Woodstock, starting around 9:00 a.m. on Monday, October 16th. While the railroad crossing is closed, traffic will follow a clearly marked detour.

The Howard County Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Commission seeks nominations for annual “Living the Dream” award and student entrants for 2024 essay, oratory and poster contests. The deadline for award nominations and contest entrees is 5:00 p.m., Tuesday, October 31st.

Howard County Executive Calvin Ball, Cabinet members, and other Howard County government employees celebrated their 2023 Employee Awards Program honorees in a breakfast ceremony. For the annual program, employees nominated the best of their co-workers in several categories and a selection committee of fellow employees representing a range of county departments selected the final award recipients.

The victim was pronounced dead at the scene. 

Howard County Executive Calvin Ball and the Howard County Commission on Disabilities (CoD) celebrate the winners of the CoD’s 2023 Disability Awards. The event, held at the Harriet Tubman Cultural Center, honored outstanding efforts of individuals and organizations that advance full participation in community life for all people and promote the spirit and intent of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other disability rights laws.

Howard County’s Department of Public Works will begin emergency repair work to the Frederick Road bridge over the Hudson Branch, located between 8905 to 8899 Frederick Road in Ellicott City, starting around 7:00 a.m., Monday, October 23rd. While the work is being done, this section of Frederick Road will be closed to all traffic and for approximately eight weeks, traffic will follow a clearly marked detour using Frederick Road to St. Johns Lane, US 40 and Rogers Avenue. 

In Fiscal Year 2023, the program increased outreach to Route 1 property owners and allocated its max allowance of $250,000, helping transform five properties along the corridor.

One victim is deceased; two critical but stable

Columbia was named the safest city in Maryland by WalletHub in its recent “Safest Cities in America” report. WalletHub compared 182 cities — including the 150 most populated U.S. cities, plus at least two of the most populated cities in each state — across three criteria: home & community safety, natural-disaster risk, and financial safety.

Locations will be set-up in Ellicott City, Elkridge and Laurel, to offer residents more options for where they can securely shred vital documents.