🍦Council ousts appeals board chair

Good morning, Columbia. Sunday’s NFL game between the Tennessee Titans and Philadelphia Eagles was so hot that players’ cleats were melting. This is why I watch ice hockey.

In today’s Columbia Scoop:

Let’s get to it.

— Michelle Sinclair

Starting a farm takes land, and land in Howard County costs more than. . . well, we’d rather not talk about it. Closing that gap is the whole point of the county's New & Beginning Farmer Program. And as of last week the program has a name over the door: the H. Mitchell "Mickey" Day New and Beginning Farm Complex.

It's 16 deer-fenced acres at West Friendship Park on Frederick Road, carved into 30 quarter-acre plots with water run out to every one. Farmers in the program get a plot, a shared greenhouse, shared equipment, and help building an actual business. The county also set aside $100,000 for a wash-and-pack station, so growers can rinse and box produce on site instead of hauling it home first. Still to come: a classroom and more shared equipment. A spot for 4-H'ers to keep honeybees is already staked out.

The program started last year with seven farmers. It's up to 10 now.

The name belongs to a guy who had a hand in most of it. Mickey Day was chief of the West Friendship Volunteer Fire Department for 25 years, sat on the Howard County Fair Board from 1983 on, and helped start the county's 4-H Beef Club. He died in January 2024 at 62. If you've walked the fair, you've probably walked through something he built.

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It’s time for our monthly housing checkup, and August cooled off a bit. Good for buyers, not so good for sellers.

🏘️ Howard County market report

Homes that closed in August sold for a median $640,000, about $35,000 below July.

🐍 Feeling the squeeze – The typical seller asked about $42,000 less than last August. And homes took a week longer to move. Prices got cut on 196 listings (aka 4 out of 10 listings), and just 288 new homes came on the market – the thinnest month for new inventory since February.

At the top of the market, a six-bedroom on Quarterfield Drive in Ellicott City sold for $1.595 million on August 26 after asking $1.7 million. It’s the one above with the pool house.

This Howard County market report is published monthly. Above is August data from realtor.com, with closed sale prices from Maryland REALTORS (Bright MLS).

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🎈= family-friendly events

🎈🎭 Summer: The Donna Summer Musical – Toby’s is running the Donna Summer jukebox musical through November 1. Dinner buffet and show, $67 to $96. Doors at 6 PM.

🧠 Tuesday Trivia – Weekly trivia at Sapwood Cellars, free to play. 7 to 9 PM.

🚚 Food Truck Wednesdays in the Merriweather District – Rotating trucks at Merriweather Row Plaza, 11 AM to 2 PM. This week it’s Cousins Maine Lobster and Ello Delights.

🎈🐥 Mornings at the Farm – Storytime, sensory play, and farm animals for ages 0 to 4 at Mary’s Land Farm. 10 to 11:30 AM, $20.

🎈🍂 Fall Equinox Hike – A short hike to the campfire ring at the Howard County Conservancy in Woodstock for s’mores, equinox legends, and a sunset facing due west. 5 to 7 PM, $5 and free for kids under 10. Registration required.

🍺 Fall Beer Dinner: Cocktail Beers vs. Beer Cocktails – Four drinks and a beer-infused menu with Sapwood’s chef and founder. 6:30 to 8:30 PM, tickets required.

🎈🥮 Mid-Autumn Moon Festival – Traditional music and dance for the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival in Laurel. Free, 10 AM to noon.

🏘️ CA Board of Directors town hall – Bring your questions for the Columbia Association board at Slayton House. Free, 7 to 9 PM.

🎶 All Things Go Music Festival – Three days of music at Merriweather, Friday through Sunday. Gates at 3 PM Friday and 11 AM both weekend days. Saturday is close to sold out, so check what’s left before you plan around it.

🎈💎 The 61st Atlantic Coast Gem, Mineral, Jewelry and Fossil Show – Vendors, exhibits, hourly door prizes, and a kids’ mining sluice at the Howard County Fairgrounds. Saturday 10 AM to 6 PM and Sunday 10 AM to 5 PM. Adults $6, kids free.

🎈🌽 Corn Fest at Manor Hill – Free farm festival with two stages of live music, food trucks, beer, and kids’ activities. Saturday from noon.

🏒 The Old Ellicott Cup – Bubble hockey’s big charity bracket returns to Cushwa and Rad Pies on Dobbin Road. Saturday noon to 8 PM, $40 to enter.

🎈🍁 Wilde Lake Fall Festival – Fall games and seasonal stuff by the water at Wilde Lake Park. Saturday noon to 4 PM.

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🏛️ Board Shake-Up – Three county council members – Christiana Rigby, Deb Jung, and Liz Walsh – called a closed session on short notice Wednesday and voted to remove Board of Appeals chair Gene Ryan, effective immediately. Council Chair Opel Jones and David Yungmann say they didn’t even get enough notice to join. Two board members walked off the dais Thursday rather than hear cases without him. Ryan has hired a lawyer and plans to request a public hearing. ($)

🪨 Blast Radius – The county has closed the book on Savage Stone quarry in Jessup. Forty-one neighbors complained in April that weekly blasting cracked their houses and coated their yards in dust. The planning department's September 4 report found the quarry is operating within its 1997 agreement and state law, so no enforcement is coming. Dust complaints go to the state now, and the county says property damage is a private civil matter. ($)

📋 Mostly Happy Here – Nearly nine in 10 Howard County residents rate their quality of life as good or very good, according to a new University of Baltimore survey of 672 households. The catch is their budgets. Nearly 60% say the county is less affordable than other Maryland metro areas, 78.7% call the cost of housing a major or moderate challenge, and more than half are very concerned about federal actions hitting their own family. Full findings.

📣 Hearing Tonight – County Council takes public testimony at 7 PM tonight in Ellicott City, and the docket is heavy: a temporary hold on approvals for new solar energy projects, a rewrite of the property tax credits for day care providers, a wider credit for retired public safety officers, the BikeHoward master plan update, and $200 million in new county borrowing. Sign up to testify or send written comment.

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62 🌡️ 53 | ⛈️ | 86% ☔ | 💨 NE 14 mph

65 🌡️ 52 | 🌧️ | 65% ☔ | 💨 NE 14 mph

67 🌡️ 49 | ⛅ | 8% ☔ | 💨 NE 14 mph

Cured 1821 | Kevin Howard | 6–10 PM

Collective Encore | Dueling Pianos Featuring The Flying Ivories | 7 PM | Tickets
Cured 1821 | Donald Wolcott | 6–10 PM

Bare Bones | Dan Ingham | 7–10:30 PM
Collective Encore | Mamma Mania! A Tribute to ABBA | 7:30 PM | Tickets
Cured 1821 | Sara Jones | 5–10 PM
The Morgan Inn | Dwayne Wilson Acoustic Country | 6–9 PM

Thanks for reading Columbia Scoop today. If you found something useful, please share it with someone who’s heading to Farm Aid in Virginia Beach this weekend.