Cop now writes crime books
After serving four years as a Marine, 25 years as a Baltimore City police officer, and 18 years as manager of an insurance fraud unit, Dick Ellwood took to retirement armed not with golf clubs or travel plans, but with pen and paper.Originally intending to tell the story of the four generations of his family in the police department — his grandfather, father and son have also served ... READ MORE
Cop’s third career: TV star
“In my adult life, everybody either hated me or was afraid of me or both,” said Joe Kenda of his 19 years as a Colorado homicide detective. But that reaction has turned on its head.Kenda is now the star of a true-crime drama series on the Investigation Discovery (ID) network. In the show, which runs in 163 countries and is translated into 100 languages, he narrates... READ MORE
Crime novel set in Columbia
“[Jim] Rouse was a good man…Yet Columbia, Maryland, the egalitarian experiment that he probably considered his greatest legacy, began in deceit.”That’s what Luisa “Lu” Brant, the newly elected state’s attorney for Howard County, has to say about how Rouse stealthily acquired the land for his “new town” utopia, parcel by parcel, to keep ... READ MORE
Helping to save sea creatures
When an undernourished baby porpoise was found stranded in North Carolina several years ago, volunteers from the National Aquarium’s Animal Rescue Program brought it to the Aquarium’s offsite facility in Fell’s Point. The porpoise apparently hadn’t been weaned from its mother because it didn’t even know how to eat fish.“The poor little animal... READ MORE
Where creative ideas can incubate
America’s Founding Fathers waged one kind of revolution 240 years ago. Today, at a Washington, D.C. company called 1776, a 21st century revolution is underway, helping foster innovative business start-ups in areas like education, healthcare and energy.In a sprawling loft space on the 12th floor of a downtown office building, millennials bend over laptops at communal tables, sitting in ... READ MORE
You, too, can be a judge for a day
Come Nov. 8, some 1,000 Howard County residents will be working in the 100 area polling places where voters will cast ballots for Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump and whoever else becomes a bona-fide candidate for the White House, as well as for their senator, congressman, school board members and circuit court judge.Known as “election judges,” these volunteers will be paid from... READ MORE
Bloggers share their stories
Tina Collins shares her thoughts about caring for her mother, who has dementia, as well as her own mental illness, in two blogs. Bloggers write about what resonates with them — from gardening to grandparenting — and then post it online. You can create a simple blog at no cost on several sites.Photo courtesy of Tina Collins“There was a time when people sat around a campfire ... READ MORE
Doing their part for democracy
On Maryland’s primary election day in April, Thomas Mann got to his polling place a little before 6 a.m. — and didn’t leave until around 10 o’clock that evening.No, he didn’t spend 16 hours waffling between congressional candidates or figuring out Maryland’s new paper ballots. Rather, Mann serves as a chief election judge at his precinct in Bethesda.Mann... READ MORE
Making the world a better place
In the 1970s and ‘80s, Dave Dittman helped settle refugees from the Vietnam War and the Cambodia genocide into new lives in Howard County and around the U.S.In the 1990s, he started repairing houses in Baltimore’s inner city. And since 2005, he has made numerous trips to Mississippi to help rebuild Hurricane Katrina-ravaged homes. That volunteer work — and more... READ MORE
A fruitful hobby blossoms
Before Rose Wolford even moved the first piece of furniture into her new apartment at Charlestown retirement community, she was getting her hands dirty in her new garden.“I actually obtained my garden before I moved in,” said Wolford. “I brought over a few plants from my house, including some annuals and two low-growing woody plants.”Wolford and other residents of... READ MORE
Cover Stories 2024
