You WILL Get Wet On This Ride: Harford’s Last Creek Crossing Still Has A Home On Tabernacle Road
April 22, 2008
Unless you were born and raised in the area, spent some time in the Boy Scouts or like to burn away your weekends cruising the twisting back roads of Harford County, chances are you’ve never heard of Tabernacle Road. It’s really not much of a road - just a winding gravely path through the woods near the Broad Creek Memorial Scout Reservation - but if you’ve ever tried to traverse it you’re not likely to forget the experience.
Tabernacle Road holds the last public ford in Harford County. That is to say, in order to travel across the county roadway from one end to the other requires crossing a body of open water. Rather than channel the bubbling creek under the roadway or building a bridge over the small waterway, the county has instead allowed Tabernacle Road to plunge right through the meandering flow.
Like the Jericho Covered Bridge in Joppa, the Tabernacle Road ford is a throwback to bygone era and something of a local landmark that you won’t find marked on many maps. It’s also become a rite of passage for many a Harford County high-schooler to test their mettle (and metal too, I suppose) by crossing the ford during periods of high-water - with varying levels of success. But could the ford soon become a distant memory?
MacPhail’s Road to Baseball Glory: From Harford County Roots to the Hall of Fame
March 29, 2008
Ten things I love about Andy MacPhail (President of baseball operations for the Orioles)…
- Troy Patton
- Luke Scott
- Mike Costanzo
- Dennis Sarfate
- Matt Albers
Bah-bye Miggy…(Miguel Tejada- Houston Astros)
- Adam Jones
- Chris Tillman
- George Sherrill
- Anthony Butler
- Kameron Mickolio
Bedard-Gone…(Erik, you hurt me- but I am so over it…now a Seattle Mariner)
At first glance, it might appear that MacPhail is inflicting destruction within an already fragile Orioles lineup, what with getting rid of a 4-time All Star in Tejada and the ace of the pitching staff in Bedard. But make no mistake, MacPhail has come to play. And win. Continue reading MacPhail’s Road to Baseball Glory: From Harford County Roots to the Hall of Fame
Harford County’s Hotel Tax Tanked by State Senate; Identity of the Bill’s Assassin Remains Unknown
March 27, 2008
This news was passed along this morning by Delegate Dan Riley:
“Hotel tax, for Harford County, killed in the Senate.
It is with great disappointment I’ve learned the hotel tax for Aberdeen was killed in the Senate.
The bill was doing well until someone offered an amendment. The amendment was accepted and became part of the bill thus killing Aberdeen’s chances of getting the hotel tax this year. I do not know what Senator was behind the amendment, I can only guess…maybe a friend of Hess?
I will bring the bill back next year, and the next year, and the next year…until it passes or the opposition, in the Senate, to the bill is retired by the voters.” Continue reading Harford County’s Hotel Tax Tanked by State Senate; Identity of the Bill’s Assassin Remains Unknown
State Senate Amends Legislation And Paves The Way For A Partially-Elected Board of Education In Harford County
March 11, 2008
UPDATE: The Harford County delegation voted UNANIMOUSLY to support the amendments creating a blended school board. Del. Dan Riley, who had abstained from voting on the all-elected board, voted in favor of the amendements. Del. Mary-Dulany James was absent from the vote.
An amended version of Senate Bill 306 passed by the state senate today (Tuesday) would establish a nine-member Board of Education in Harford County with three members appointed by the governor and the remaining six members elected in-district.
The amended elected school board bill, SB 306, received a favorable report from the Senate’s Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee on Friday and received local courtesy today in the state senate, passing on second read.
There were no questions in the senate, and no further amendments in Tuesday’s action. A third reading of the bill is scheduled for Thursday.
With the first hurdle of senate approval out of the way, Sen. Barry Glassman cautioned today, “Still have my work cut out on House side.”
Looking For An Adrenaline Rush…And Maybe Some Bruises?: Harford Dodgeball Picks Off The Competition
March 5, 2008
Remember when you were in elementary school gym class and your teacher would unleash you with a bunch of rubber balls in the middle of the gymnasium?
You’d beeline to those balls, make your way back to the start position and the carnage would begin. You’d dip, dive, dance and hurl like a complete lunatic. It was survival of the fittest and, oh, what a pure adrenaline rush it was!
These days we don’t have to live on just memories. The Harford County Dodgeball League has it all worked out.
Continue reading Looking For An Adrenaline Rush…And Maybe Some Bruises?: Harford Dodgeball Picks Off The Competition
District 7 Dominoes: Baltimore/Harford Delegates Line Up for a Probable Political Promotion
February 21, 2008
One is too young and inexperienced. Another is too cantankerous and controversial. And the third says he doesn’t even want the job. But odds are, when Republican Andy Harris is elected to Congress this November, one of the three District 7 delegates will move up to fill his seat representing Baltimore and Harford counties in the state senate.
Harris’ surprising upset of nine-term incumbent Wayne Gilchrest in the Republican Primary Election a few weeks ago placed the state senator as the favorite to take over the First District Congressional seat - leaving a prized piece of political real estate vacant and ready for occupancy.
Tradition and law make it exceedingly likely the next Baltimore/Harford state senator will come from the trio of offbeat politicians currently comprising the District 7 delegation. Rick Impallaria, J.B. Jennings and Pat McDonough have stuck together since they were elected to the newly configured district in 2002, but Harris’ impending departure from the senate could change all that. Continue reading District 7 Dominoes: Baltimore/Harford Delegates Line Up for a Probable Political Promotion
“A Republic, If You Can Keep It” - Part II
February 11, 2008
You have to wonder what Del. Mary-Dulany James and Del. Dan Riley really think about the people they represent. Maybe we could get them on “Moment of Truth”, that new reality show where people are hooked up to a giant lie detector and then asked embarrassing questions such as:
Do you think your constituents are incapable of electing their own board of education?
That would be one way to get at the truth. Or we could just take a look at HB 806, the legislation James and Riley put together to thwart the elected school board bill being sponsored by the rest of the Harford County delegation. Continue reading “A Republic, If You Can Keep It” - Part II
Taking on Gangland: Using money and politics to get tough on Edgewood
February 8, 2008
Tired of watching the unstemmed blood flowing from Edgewood? So too are a contingent of elected officials who let loose this week with a flood of proposed legislation, millions of dollars in federal funding and renewed resolve to wash Edgewood and Harford County clean of its gang infestation.
But can this latest attempt to flush out Edgewood’s growing number of Bloods and Crips, of which the state now says there are more than 300 members in Harford County, succeed where so many others have failed (see: Harford County Sheriff’s Office Southern Precinct, Guardian Angels patrol, Community Watch program, State Police Activity League Center, etc)?
A series of eight separate bills introduced within the last week by state Sen. Nancy Jacobs aim to hit gangs where it hurts - seizing their property, charging their young members as adults rather than juveniles and stretching out the sentences of gang members convicted of crimes - while a new Gang Elimination Task Force, created with nearly $3 million in federal funding, was also announced this week. Continue reading Taking on Gangland: Using money and politics to get tough on Edgewood
The Assembly Line - Checking the Political Pulse in Annapolis
January 11, 2008
For political junkies, it’s the most wonderful time of the year.
The 188 state representatives - 47 senators and 141 delegates - comprising the Maryland General Assembly convened Wednesday for the start of the state’s 425th legislative session - a 90-day affair that is set to adjourn on April 7.
To ring in the new legislative year, The Dagger brings you The Assembly Line - a unique feature that collects locally-sponsored legislation and presents it in a way that lets readers easily access and digest the information. Thanks to the work of our resident wizard Steve, The Assembly Line conveniently scrolls across the The Dagger’s front page and offers a place for supporters, critics and other interested readers to comment and discuss the bills and resolutions with one another.
The Assembly Line is updated several times a day with the newest legislation and the latest information on the status of the bills and resolutions. This is a chance to keep tabs on the local delegates and senators you sent to Annapolis and make sure they are working for you. Have fun while letting them have it!
Now back to Annapolis. Continue reading The Assembly Line - Checking the Political Pulse in Annapolis
“A Republic, If You Can Keep It” - Part I
January 3, 2008
In a self-serving act of eyebrow-raising proportions, the Harford County Board of Education is seeking to thwart school board elections as part of its legislative platform for the upcoming General Assembly session.
Despite the fact that most school board members in Maryland and 95% of boards across the country are elected, the Harford school board is fighting to remain one of the few appointed by the governor and thus insulated from the public it serves. The board contends that elections would inject politics into the process. So elections are political, but political appointments are not political? Please.
Then what do you call it when unknown supporters give a quiet nod to select individuals who are granted power to set public policy and dispense public funds without the approval of the public? Continue reading “A Republic, If You Can Keep It” - Part I
