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What It Means to Care: Chief F. Patrick Marlatt of the Station 5 Volunteer Fire Department

  Author’s Note: Thanks, Robert and Colleen (RoCo) for handing this one over. It has many special meanings to me. I’d never been so nervous to interview someone for rocoinhoco.com (as Robert and Colleen have allowed me to do many times now). I was sitting in my car a couple weeks ago, sweating—because it was August in Maryland…and because I was in the parking lot of the Station 5 Fire Volunteer Fire House, that one near the Giant in River Hill on Signal Bell Lane…about to go in. I’d be talking to F. Patrick Marlatt, the station’s Chief. I insist on showing … Read more

Why You Should Donate to The Park School of Baltimore NOW!

So often, when you visit a place you frequented as a child, you think, “It looks so small.” But The Park School of Baltimore, where I attended 9th through 12th grades, seemed bigger. It’s a big place where big things are happening. When I talked to each of the interview subjects for this article, I imagined myself as one of their students. I felt safe, validated, and like these people really cared–in every moment I was with them–that I get the most out of the experience. Our time was limited to thirty or so minutes, so it gained a heightened … Read more

Healthy People, Healthy World: Dr. Scott Berkowitz, M.D. on His Population Health Team at Johns Hopkins Medicine

Regular readers of this site will know, Colleen and I came to Howard County going on six years ago now. Like the person this article is about, Dr. Scott Berkowitz, M.D., we were drawn to it because it’s just an incredible place. So we decided to stay! Scott’s reasons were similar, but he had some practical issues in mind too. This Syracuse native came here for his Internal Medicine Residency, and like so many before them, he and his family made it their home. What struck me during the hour-plus Scott and I spent at Mad City Coffee was that … Read more

Dhruvak Mirani Candidate for Howard County Democratic Central Committee

Dhruvak Mirani has what we all want: thick hair. Well, that and energy, high ideals, and a compassionate spirit. But come on–thick hair is awesome! He also has something else we all want: youth. Well, I guess young people don’t want it…they have it. But as soon as you’re not young, you’re like, “What was I thinking–give me back my youth!” I don’t see that in Dhruvak’s future, though. I could tell instantly upon meeting him that he loves life and keeps moving forward. He looks at what he can help him create the world he envisions. But he’s not … Read more

Rise–and Shine Too!–With Alicia Altimirano for Howard County Circuit Court Judge!

Alicia Altimirano’s campaign launch event was just everything! It was at Busboys and Poets in Columbia. She said, “Colleen, I need you there.” It feels good for a Jewish mother to be wanted, I’m not gonna lie. I had told her I wouldn’t be able to make it because of a conflicting religious obligation. But when she said, “I need you there” my heart turned to mush. Alicia has that effect on me, because, as we say to each other “te amo siempre”. What an event! As I said, it was at Busboys and Poets in downtown Columbia, the new … Read more