Cable

Dissatisfied with ever-rising cable television bills, Carroll's cable committee is recommending the county and its municipalities consider opening the door for competition.The committee, made up of county and municipal representatives and citizens, voted unanimously to recommend seeking bids for a franchise agreement with a second cable television company."At this point, we're recommending the towns and the county let us proceed (with the bidding process)," said Howard "Buddy" Redman, the committee's chair.

There will be a contested election for CA Board of Directors in Oakland Mills this year, but there is only one candidate that fully understands the concerns of Oakland Mills residents and stands by them. Alex Hekimian has been a strong advocate for Oakland Mills in fighting for civility, and ensuring that the community's issues are addressed. Alex has stood by Oakland Mills residents dealing with Howard County Recs and Parks on Blandair Park issues. He has fought to address the lights, parking and amplified noise issue at Blandair Park.

Cable television companies that place "temporary" cables above ground after repairs or new installations now face civil fines if they don't return to bury the wires within 15 business days. The Howard County Council unanimously approved that bill, also backed by County Executive Ken Ulman, at a Monday night session. Action was postponed on two other bills to rezone Columbia's town center, and new council leaders were chosen for the next year. Ellicott City Democrat Courtney Watson was chosen by the four council Democrats to serve as chairwoman for the next year, replacing Mary Kay Sigaty, a West Columbia Democrat, who moves to vice chairwoman.

Dr. Ben Carson got a tough lesson in the past week on how quickly the angry and divisive world of cable TV can chew you up. The 61-year-old Baltimore County resident has been in the media spotlight as a darling of the right since early February, when he addressed the National Prayer Breakfast with what some interpreted as a lecture to President Barack Obama. But last week, Carson's TV image and the discussion about him shifted dramatically - for the worse. He became engaged in a TV discussion on race that included back-and-forth name calling - and he offered a critique on same-sex marriage that included such extreme rhetoric that he now has Johns Hopkins colleagues calling him out and medical students petitioning to have him removed as a graduation speaker in May. Most of it played out before millions on highly partisan Fox News, where he has recently been treated like a member of the home team.

The confusion of City Council President Mary Pat Clarke about how to increase cable television competition is indefensible but understandable. The development of technology has been so rapid in recent years that the very nature of the cable industry has changed. With wired and wireless telephone companies poised to become program distributors, cable television faces intense competition from all directions.None of this was predictable in the 1960s and 1970s, when what had started as community antenna television in Pennsylvania mountain hamlets to pull in faraway stations was introduced as an alternative for regular television broadcasting.

A proposal to tax cable television in Baltimore has been yanked by its sponsor after city attorneys determined that federal law would prohibit such a fee. Councilman James B. Kraft said he decided to shelve the bill and cancel a Thursday afternoon hearing after the city solicitor's office ruled that the city does not have the authority to impose the $4 monthly telecommunications tax on cable service. Kraft had estimated that the tax could generate as much as $10 million in revenue.

So patent application stories are always a bit dicey, no one knows if the company is actually going to follow through. But occasionally something so creepy comes along that the usual patent application caveats are thrown out the window. Verizon has filed a patent to that takes the tech behind the Xbox Kinect and others like it a skeevy step further. Instead of helping you rock out to that Zumba routine, the cameras and mics connected to this invention could record could what's happening in a living room and program ads accordingly.

If you are a TCI Cable customer in Baltimore City who was confused when you turned on your television yesterday morning, you're not alone.As of yesterday, TCI has rearranged its channels. No channels have been removed, however, said TCI customer service representative Dana Holt.The change is a step toward eliminating cable boxes and creating cable-ready television, Holt said.TCI customers were alerted to the changes through television commercials and inserts in their November cable bills, Holt said.

ON March 29, 2005, ALBERT R. CABLE, age 97, a WWII Veteran, beloved husband of the late Louise E. (nee Rost) Cable; uncle of Dolores Voosen of Canoga Park, CA, Gerard Wicklin of Maitland, FL, and Eugene Wicklin of Baltimore, MD. Friends may call at the family owned LEONARD J. RUCK INC., FUNERAL HOME, 5305 Harford Rd (at Echodale) Monday 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 P.M., where Funeral Services will be held Tuesday at 10 A.M. Interment Druid Ridge Cemetery.

THE INFORMATION superhighway may be the next objective in American technology, but the first major milestone in that long road was even harder to accomplish -- namely, the trans-Atlantic cable, successfully completed 128 years ago today.Perhaps no technological triumph contributed as much to the easing of diplomatic relations as well as the bridging of the North American and European continents.Unlike the cable between Britain and France, completed in 1845, the trans-Atlantic line illustrated innumerable snafus before its completion; most of all, it illustrated the cooperation of governments and businessmen on both sides of the Atlantic.

The CBS Sports Network does some drum beating for March Madness Monday night with " The Miracles : The 1988 Kansas Jayhawks," a documentary about how an underdog team won the national championship that year. Known as Danny and the Miracles, because of star Danny Manning, Kansas upset the Oklahoma Sooners for the championship. There are a couple of local angles worth noting in the film that marks the 25th anniversary of that championship. One of the producers is Tamiko Bullock, a graduate of Morgan State University.

CNN and Soledad O'Brien Thursday announced a new deal that will take her out of the morning weekday anchor chair and make her an independent producer of documentaries for the channel. The move by new CNN chief Jeff Zucker is a smooth one that keeps a talented journalist connected to the CNN brand while paving the way for the one-time executive producer of the "Today" show to launch a weekday morning show of his own design featuring Chris Cuomo and most likely Erin Burnett, who is now struggling in the ratings weeknights at 7 p.m. on CNN. The new deal gives O'Brien, an award-winning correspondent for her work on such CNN productions as "Black in America," a guaranteed income producing non-fiction programs for the channel through a production company she will form.

Midseason used to be a time for networks to put on series that weren't good enough to make the fall lineup. The thinking was: The money has been spent to make these episodes, so let's try to get something out of them by plugging them for shows that have bombed. But thanks to cable and huge changes in the way that people access and watch TV, midseason is in many ways now the best season for TV viewing. This is especially true when it comes to drama, the genre that network television has by and large abandoned to cable, PBS and now Web operations like Netflix because it has been deemed too expensive and risky for efficient (read: cheap)

Ray Lewis is expected to join ESPN after the Baltimore Ravens season ends, according to a Sports Illustrated report citing unnamed sources. Here's the core of what the report says: Multiple sources told SI.com the Ravens linebacker is close to signing a multi-year contract with the network. At ESPN, Lewis is expected to have a significant role on the network's Monday Night Countdown program. As with most ESPN NFL talent, Lewis would also be featured on multiple platforms, including ESPN Radio.

Cable network RLTV, based in Baltimore and geared toward over-50 adults, has entered into a content-sharing agreement with Next Avenue, a public television website out of Minnesota that also focuses on creating content for people in their sixth decade and beyond. The agreement allows RLTV to use Next Avenue's articles and blog entries on its own website. The partnership, which was announced Wednesday and already has taken effect, also makes room for Next Avenue to develop exclusive content for RLTV down the road.

So patent application stories are always a bit dicey, no one knows if the company is actually going to follow through. But occasionally something so creepy comes along that the usual patent application caveats are thrown out the window. Verizon has filed a patent to that takes the tech behind the Xbox Kinect and others like it a skeevy step further. Instead of helping you rock out to that Zumba routine, the cameras and mics connected to this invention could record could what's happening in a living room and program ads accordingly.

Here are some interesting numbers involving Baltimore's United Cable system:* By year's end, the company hopes to reach or at least come close to the 100,000-subscriber level. Yet by the end of 1991, that level is projected to grow just to 110,000. By the time the system reaches "maturity" in five years, the projection is for only 130,000 subscribers. (There are a little less than 300,000 residences in the city.)* Now, a little more than one in every three residences gaining access to cable subscribes.

Beginning today, Comcast will add two new channels - the Golf Channel and Bravo - to its expanded basic cable package in Baltimore City. To do this, Comcast is juggling its channels into what it calls "interest groupings for easier viewing." Some of those renumbered channels are ESPN, on 9, USA, on 11, and WBFF-45 (Fox), on 15. The Golf Channel is at 63 and Bravo is at 50. For other changes, consult listings channels, or see the new lineup at www.comcast.com.

Last week, on the eve of Jeff Zucker's appointment as president worldwide for CNN, I wrote about his potential to be a wise and winning choice for a very tough and important job. I had the chance Sunday to further discuss Zucker and what he means to the future of TV news with former NBC newsman Fred Francis, who worked for Zucker at the network, and Frank Sesno, the former Washington bureau chief for CNN who is now at George Washington University....

The following is compiled from local police reports. Our policy is to include descriptions when there is enough information to make identification possible. If you have any information about these crimes, call the Wilkens Police Station at 410-887-0872. Southwestern Boulevard, 4300 block, between Nov. 16, 6 p.m., and Nov. 17, 5 a.m. Copper cable stolen from Winkler's Welding. Rear siding pried off. Washington Boulevard, 3300 block, Nov. 17, 1:03 a.m. Man cut during altercation at Borderline Bar. Assailant arrested and charged with first-degree assault.