20070208 Eldersburg mall gets new chance at life

Carrolltown Center in Eldersburg gets new chance at life

Kelsey Volkmann, The Examiner, February 8^th, 2007

(Editor’s note: Hyperlinks for additional information - The Carrolltown Center is owned by Black Oak Associates. The upcoming meeting will be with the Freedom Area Citizens’ Council.)

Hat Tip: Eldersburg Today - from farms to suburbia: “Eldersburg mall gets new chance at life.”

Eldersburg, Md. –

A developer plans to convert Eldersburg’s half-empty mall into a shopping center that mimics traditional downtowns.

“I envision a great place for the people of Eldersburg to gather, shop, eat and work,” said Dixon Harvey, an Owings Mill developer who owns Carrolltown Center on Liberty Road.

[…]

“All the time, I get questions about ‘What’s happening with Carrolltown mall?’ ” said Nicole Musgrave-Burdette, president of Freedom Area Citizens’ Council, a South Carroll residents’ group.

[…]

Harvey, who is president of Black Oak Associates, wants to convert the 330,000-square-foot mall into an open-air lifestyle center with retail, restaurants, entertainment and offices to give Eldersburg — an unincorporated community of 30,000 that lacks a Main Street — a town center.

Redevelopment is slated for 2008-09, according to Black Oak’s Web site, but Harvey said no timeline has been finalized because he is negotiating with Kmart, the mall’s anchor.

[…]

Harvey will speak at this month’s Freedom Area Citizens’ Council meeting.

IF YOU GO

What: Carrolltown Center discussion

When: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 22

Where: Freedom Christian Church, Carrolltown Center

kvolkmann@baltimoreexaminer.com

Examiner

Read the entire article here: Carrolltown Center in Eldersburg gets new chance at life

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20070104 1870s Dead Horse inspires intrigue and curiosity

1870s Dead Horse inspires intrigue and curiosity

January 5, 2007

(AP Photo/Sheboygan County Historical Research Center) This photo provided by the Sheboygan County Historical Research Center shows a man sitting on a dead horse. The picture taken in Sheboygan sometime between 1876 and 1884 has sparked curiosity, speculation and jokes from people throughout the country, thanks to some newspaper publicity, the Internet and blogging. No one knows who the gentleman is, his occupation, or the exact circumstances surrounding it, said Beth Dipple, director of the Center. "It is a great picture and every time I see it I just laugh," she said. "But this time the novelty is everybody else is seeing it for the first time. The whole world is seeing it now."

The Examiner is carrying an Associated Press story about an historic photo, the subject of which is “a stovepipe-hatted man sitting on a dead horse in the middle of a dusty, deserted street.”

The photo was originally published as part of “a 2007 (newspaper) calendar with the scene. A response from readers prompted the newspaper to report about it. From there, it took off on the Internet and blogging.”

“After writing two stories about the picture, The Sheboygan Press has received more than 50 calls and e-mails about it…”

“No one knows who the gentleman is, exactly what year the picture was taken or the circumstances surrounding it, said Beth Dipple, director of the Sheboygan County Historical Research Center, which has had the picture in its collection for at least 20 years.”

“Dipple said about all that's known about the picture is it was taken (in Sheboygan, Wisconsin,) at South Eighth Street and Indiana Avenue between 1876 and 1884 - based on the bridge over the Sheboygan River in the background and the lack of railroad tracks that were installed in 1884.

“The city had laws on the books that required people to stay with their dead horses until they were picked up and disposed of, Dipple said.”

Of course, anyone who has read newspapers from the 1800s knows that folks had perhaps an even better sense of humor back then than folks do today.

Then again, in our contemporary age when everything is over-thought, over-analysed and overwrought, the explanation for the picture may be mundane or even documentary in purpose; who knows.

I love to tell the story about an art show I had in Baltimore in the mid-1980s, in which quite a number of my mixed media constructions incorporated a great deal of orange paint.

As I hung back relatively incognito during a portion of the show’s opening, a young lady had gathered a group of folks around her as she explained the deep psychological meaning of my use of orange paint.

It was complex – and it was intense. It was foreboding…

It was a load of crap. I used the orange paint because a friend of mine, who owned a hardware store, had several gallons of orange paint returned and he sold it to me a greatly reduced cost…

Whatever.

Sometimes “a stovepipe-hatted man sitting on a dead horse’ is just a man sitting on a dead horse.

But the picture is kinda neat - - after of course, an animal lover like me gets past the fate of the horse…

Oh, anyway, for more reading on this story go to:

1870s photo of man on dead horse sparks national humor or

1870s Dead Horse Photo Sparks Mystery

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20061220 I’ll blog for food

“I’ll blog for food.”

Bloggers Must Disclose Sponsored Posts

The Examiner is carrying an Associated Press piece in today’s paper: Technology: “Bloggers Must Disclose Sponsored Posts.”

My initial reaction was, “Well Duh!” Good grief; of course a blogger must disclose for pity sake. This is a no-brainer. This kind of stuff in the blogosphere makes my head hurt.

In the interest of full disclosure, I only wish I had this problem, but I don’t.

I’ll disclose right here and right now, that my blogs, “Soundtrack Division of Old Silent Movies” and “Kevin Dayhoff.com” and the “New Bedford Herald” are all supported by wife making me step-away from the keyboard from time to time at which time she will feed me spaghetti, yogurt, or macaroni and cheese or we’ll go out to eat.

In other words, “I’ll blog for food” and be more than happy to disclose…

Cheese blintzes or potato latkes are always welcome. I’ll blog “Lady Chatterley’s Lover,” along with going on trial for writing it and defend myself against Kate Millet for steak and eggs and grits - - lots of grits. Throw in some southern sweet iced tea and I’ll keyboard in the rain to write “Rain” and only wish I got paid as well as Somerset Maugham. I’ll take my chances with “The Lottery” for a grilled cheese sandwich. I’ll write (and of course, disclose) most anything ya want for rice pudding. I’ll keyboard “Heart of Darkness” from experience for ice cream.

Yep folks, it is all about food. And yes I’ll disclose.

Oh, the Winchester Report is a blog for which I am paid by the Westminster Eagle, a Patuxent Publishing paper, which is owned by Tribune. A point of which I can only imagine is obvious since it is hosted on the paper’s web site…

I could not agree more with the comment by David Sifry, the founder Technorati. See it below.

Bloggers Must Disclose Sponsored Posts

http://www.examiner.com/a-467462~Bloggers_Must_Disclose_Sponsored_Posts.html

By ANICK JESDANUN, The Associated Press Dec 20, 2006 1:26 PM

NEW YORK - A company that helps advertisers connect with bloggers willing to write about their products for payment will now require disclosures amid criticism and a regulatory threat.

[…]

David Sifry, founder of the blog search site Technorati, praised PayPerPost's move.

"Overall, this is an encouraging and long-awaited change," he said. "I think that people have learned that without trust, all posts become suspect. ... By encouraging honesty and transparency in sponsored posts, PayPerPost adds (some) clarity to the waters they muddied when they launched six months ago."

[…]

Read the rest here.

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20061209 Is a new age of American Journalism by Mark Tapscott

Is a new age of American Journalism right around the corner?

December 9th, 2006

Tapscott's Copy Desk on Examiner.com
http://www.examiner.com/blogs/tapscotts_copy_desk

Mark Tapscott[1] is a fellow Carroll Countian and the editorial page editor for the Washington Examiner.

On Mr. Tapscott’s blog, “Tapscott’s Copy Desk,” he has quite an interesting post on the future of journalism, which makes for a worthwhile read:

Is a new golden age of American journalism right around the corner?

December 6, 5:36 PM

This may shock some but my answer to the question posed by the headline is an enthusiastic yes. The Internet has reduced the cost of publishing to virtually zero and made it possible for everybody with access to a computer to have their say on anything and everything.

When the creative energies of a bunch of people are given free rein - which by the way is essentially what the free market does on the economic side of life - good things happen. Innovative new products and services appear, problems are solved and opportunities created. There is no reason to think journalism is exempt from this process.

There are all kinds of fascinating new approaches to the gathering and reporting of news. Blogs, of course, represent the biggest expansion of publishing in the history of mankind and, while most of the estimated 55 million blogs now in existence are not devoted to the news, thousands of them are and the result is more news is being produced, sliced and diced and communicated than ever.

Read the rest here.

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[1] According to a brief bio on Mark Tapscott’s blog, “Tapscott’s Copy Desk,” “Mark Tapscott is editorial page editor of The Washington Examiner and tracks the internet revolution in media and government. He is a member of the National Freedom of Information Hall of Fame and a member of the Media Bloggers Association board of directors. He is also a founding member and host of NewsTrust.net, as well as a visiting journalism fellow at The Heritage Foundation think tank.”

20061201 Zimmer changes stance on personal assistants picks one

Commissioner-elect Zimmer changes stance on personal assistants, picks one

Kelsey Volkmann, The Examiner Read more by Kelsey Volkmann Dec 1, 2006

Carroll County - A Carroll commissioner-elect who criticized incumbents during his campaign for wasting taxpayers’ dollars on personal assistants has selected his own.

“If I were king of Carroll County, I’d design a different system, but I am starting in the middle of a process, so it’s not something I can wave my magic wand and change,” Michael Zimmer said Thursday. “Elected officials are entitled to select and craft a system, and I am willing ... to try it their way.”

Zimmer vowed in August at a Freedom Area Citizens’ Council forum to eliminate some positions, such as public relations and specials assistants. “We need conversations, not layers of government,” he said.

Zimmer tapped Amanda Boyd Miller, an assistant to Joseph Getty, policy director for Gov. Robert Ehrlich, for a 40-hour position with a yearly salary of $43,306.

[…]

Tim Feeser, Gouge’s assistant, works an additional 10 hours a week on the county government’s cable television station and makes $46,156 a year, while Dave Humbert, Minnich’s assistant, is paid $35,646, according to the human resources department.

[…]

This week, Chief of Staff Steven Powell appointed Cindy Parr, assistant to outgoing Commissioner Perry Jones Jr., to chief of administrative services, a new position. She will work on water resource management and environmental concerns in addition to retaining her cable television responsibilities.

She’ll make $53,000 a year, a salary made possible with the elimination of two other positions, said Vivian Laxton, county spokeswoman.

[…]

Read the entire article here: Commissioner-elect Zimmer changes stance on personal assistants, picks one

_____

In other news from the Baltimore Examiner:

O’Malley bringing CitiStat program to state operations

As leaders talk, no mention of canceled meeting

For the Fenty family, calm amid the storm

Montgomery County finance director gets top spot in Leggett administration

Freshman legislators get ethics primer

Senate president suggests O’Malley retain Republicans, Ehrlich appointees

Leaders’ meeting postponed hours after White House memo surfaces

U.S.: Baltic states show freedom can work in Iraq

O’Malley camp: Database mislabels contributions

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20060330 Always Dress better than expected

Always Dress better than expected

Thursday, March 30, 2006

Crosspost: Originally posted at - http://www.kevindayhoff.com/2006/03/20060329-always-dress-better-than_30.html I reworked it a bit when I brought it over to “Soundtrack.”

HAT TIP Wonkette

Examiner Watch

OMG - It would appear that there is a war of the wardrobe occurring in the pressroom these days. Since journalists have always been know to be such slaves to fashion, this blogger is simply aghast that such memos are even necessary.

Thank goodness, according to the mainstream media, all it would appear that I need to wear while slaving away at the keyboard is my pajamas.

It was noticed that the memo also addressed proper shoes…

And obviously, it goes without saying that the family values poster child, Britney Spears cannot work at the Washington Examiner.

Many thanks to Wonkette for keeping us up to date on such pressing matters.

DC Examiner Dress Code: Only Due Attention To Ones Self, Please

This just in from Wonkette:

http://www.wonkette.com/

March 29, 2006

What, you think working for a free paper is all loosey-goosey anything goes hippie bullshit? It's a business, dammit, you'll treat it as such! Here, for your perusal, are samples from the dress code at the DC Examiner (instututed, no doubt, after Vivienne Sosnowski showed up in torn denim mini-skit and studded collar) -- we note that it doesn't appear to have been written (or read) by a copy-editor.

From the "Appropriate" column:

Dresses (length cannot be more than three inches above the knee). ["more than"?]

Pants in business suitable fabrics. [Satin, leather, vinyl, etc.]

And the more fun "Inappropriate" column:

Any type of denim (including jean dresses, denim shirts, denim pants, denim skirts, etc.).

Any material resembling denim.

Khaki or Docker- style pants. [Harsh, but fair -- we have a similar rule against tucking your t-shirt into your jeans]

Stirrup pants and leggings. [That, along with their anti-sweatband and big sunglasses provision, explains their disappointing lack of hipster coverage]

Camouflage clothing [Despite this, they still manage to poach Wash Times staffers]

Clothing is not to be overly tight nor draw undue attention to ones self.

Full memo after the jump.

It is important for all employees to project a professional image of Washington Newspaper Publishing Company, LLC.

To create this image to our clients and /or visitors, WNP has implemented a dress-code policy. The following list is a guideline of what attire is appropriate and inappropriate. This list is not all inclusive but is a guide.

APPROPRIATE:

Dresses (length cannot be more than three inches above the knee).

Suits/pantsuits/ties.

Skirts (length cannot be more than three inches above the knee).

Blouses/shirts.

Blazers.

Vests.

Walking shorts/skorts in business suitable fabrics (length cannot be more than three inches above the knee).

Pants in business suitable fabrics.

Any type of business shoe (heels, flats, etc.).

INAPPROPRIATE:

Any type of denim (including jean dresses, denim shirts, denim pants, denim skirts, etc.).

Any material resembling denim.

Casual/sport T-shirts (including logo merchandise).

Casual shorts.

Khaki or Docker- style pants.

Stirrup pants and leggings.

Casual sandals, athletic or canvas shoes, casual boots, flip flops,

Flannel shirts.

Camouflage clothing

Bras, sport bras, tank tops, etc. (must be fully covered by clothing), short/crop tops. Mid drifts are not to be visible.

Employees dealing with and interacting with the public and clients are not to wear facial piercings.

Clothing is not to be overly tight nor draw undue attention to ones self.

Employees violating the code may be sent home, without pay, to change and may be subject to disciplinary actions up to and including termination.

Employees are also reminded that it is your responsibility to keep your work area clean. Papers are not to be stockpiled, work information is to be put away daily, excessive trash must be removed. If you see papers on the floor in your area or common areas, take the minute necessary to pick it up and throw it away or straighten it up. Employees are not to eat meals at desks or in work areas. All locations have break rooms! Do not keep food at your desk or store food in your work area.

Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster Maryland USA.

E-mail him at: kdayhoff@carr.org

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