🍦Pet cemetery or gas station?

Good morning, Columbia. Apparently the high temperature on Saturday is supposed to be 78º. Just think of that when today’s high is barely above freezing.

In today’s Columbia Scoop:

Let’s get to it.

— Michelle Sinclair

While your college age kids might ask you for money over the phone, the sheriff never will. And even if they did, they certainly wouldn’t demand payment with prepaid Visa cards. Sheriff Marcus Harris said there’s a scam going around where someone is pretending to be from the sheriff’s office – sometimes even using Sheriff Harris’ name – and telling people there’s a warrant for their arrest for missing grand jury duty. According to the caller, you pay the fine (using prepaid Visa cards) and everything’s all good. Don’t fall for it. Tell them your friends at the Scoop told you to tell them to pound sand.

This might be the oddest story you read all week. A real estate developer is seeking to rezone Elkridge’s Rosa Bonheur Memorial Park to build a Sheetz and a car wash. The park was founded in 1935 as a pet cemetery and houses some famous animals – like the Baltimore Zoo’s first elephant. It also allowed humans to be buried alongside their pets, about 100 of which are still there.

The gas station/car wash would require relocating 2,000 of the 10,000 graves from the front two acres of the cemetery. The proposal does include a mausoleum for the 2,000 graves in question but understandably, folks with pets buried there aren’t thrilled. Howard County’s zoning board will have a report within two months after which it will hold a public hearing and issue an official decision within two months of getting the report. ($)

In case you missed it, Howard County revoked permits for a planned ICE detention center in Elkridge last month and swiftly enacted legislation to prevent such projects in the county. But nobody likes paying for something they don’t use. The Baltimore Sun noticed in a government contracting database that it appears the building will now be used as the Baltimore field office. The Department of Homeland Security refused to confirm the office location, citing thousand percent increases in death threats and assaults against ICE personnel. ($)

The Board of Education adopted its requested operating and capital budgets for next year at Thursday’s meeting. Notably, the board added back several positions Superintendent Bill Barnes cut in his original recommendation. The grand total is $1.285 billion for the operating budget and $116.6 million for the capital budget.

Next steps: The requested budget goes to County Executive Calvin Ball as he prepares his FY2027 countywide budget. He has warned the school board that the purse strings will be tightened this year. Once he makes his recommendation in April, the County Council will deliberate in April and May before its final decision on May 20.

Read more: HCPSS’ official FY27 budget page

So far, HoCo’s had five snow days and four late openings this year. But the calendar was only designed for three snow days. So the board of ed made some changes at Thursday’s meeting.

Unless there’s more snow, the last day of school is June 18. View, download, and print the updated calendar here.

There was quite the outrage last week after the library announced it would be laying off 55 on-call staffers to ease a $300k budget deficit. On Friday, the county stepped in with $90k in one-time funding, allowing the library to keep the workers. Most workers shelve books and work a maximum of 10 hours per week as needed.

Plans for the main cost-cutting measure ($212k), discontinuing the teen HiTech STEM education program, have not changed however there were no layoffs associated with that as all three full-time staff moved to other positions in the library.

What cause the shortfall? The library recently made a new agreement with its union resulting in a 6% cost-of-living increase. ($)

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An up and coming Korean BBQ concept opened its third restaurant (but first in HoCo) last week. Chadol, which also has locations in Rockville and DC, offers a 90-minute all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ experience as well as a la carte options. Jong Han started Chadol in 2022 with the Rockville location. DC followed in 2024 featuring a unique conveyor belt that delivers some of the food.

Columbia’s Chadol is located at 5325 Village Center Drive in Wilde Lake Village Center in the previous home of the Melting Pot which closed about one month before the Covid pandemic hit.

🐮 Check out Chadol’s menu

Fun fact: Chadol gets its name from a popular Korean BBQ dish consisting of thinly sliced, unmarinated beef brisket called Chadolbaegi.

Nothing in this section is sponsored. They're just the things you need to know. I'll always let you know when something's sponsored.

Bingo, Trivia, Karaoke, & Open mic nights

Nothing in this section is sponsored. They're just the things you need to know. I'll always let you know when something's sponsored.

Transportation Open House | Learn about the planning, design, operations, and maintenance of HoCo’s transportation systems | March 3, 4:30–7:30 PM at HCLS Miller Branch (9421 Frederick Road, Ellicott City, MD 21042)

Meadowbrook Athletic Center Expansion Project | Hear a presentation for an expansion that includes an indoor ice rink, more restrooms, and additional amenities | March 4, 6:30 PM in the cafeteria at Ellicott Mills Middle (4445 Montgomery Road, Ellicott City, MD 21043)

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33 🌡️ 29 | 🌨️ | 58% | 💨 E 6 mph

39 🌡️ 36 | 🌧️ | 55% | 💨 SE 3 mph

55 🌡️ 43 | 🌦️ | 43% | 💨 SSE 3 mph

Cured 1821 | Bronson Hoover | 6 PM
Judge's Bench | Tuesday Jazz Jams | 8 PM

Collective Encore | The Ricky Wise Trio | 7:30 PM | Tickets 
Cured 1821 | Gene Okonski | 6 PM

Thanks for reading Columbia Scoop today. If you found something useful, please share it with your favorite plumber and tell him I found a leak under my faucet last night.