Citizen Services

Zoning agency offers Web subscriptions, Howard County Executive Ken Ulman has announced the launch of the Department of Planning and Zoning's Web subscription service - or RSS - through which subscribers receive updates on Howard County planning issues and events. The service is open to everyone. The technology is intended to ensure that local government is open and transparent and that residents stay involved. To subscribe, users may sign up at the Department of Planning and Zoning's Web page: http:--www.

Lois Mikkila, a 27-year Columbia resident and management consultant who is active in human services issues, has been named deputy director of Howard County's Department of Citizen Services by County Executive Ken Ulman. Mikkila, 52, who is also president of the board of directors of FIRN Inc., formerly known as the Foreign Born Information and Referral Network, fills a vacancy that had existed since August, when Sharon Dawson, then the deputy director, left. A private consultant, Mikkila has done strategic planning for citizen services programs and has spent most of her career working with nonprofit and government agencies, so Ulman said she is a natural fit for the post.

The Sykesville Police Department has noticed a recent increase in minor crimes. Officials encourage residents to secure their homes and vehicles, and report any suspicious activity, individuals or vehicles in their areas. Residents can call Sykesville Police at 410-795-0757, or 911 in an emergency. Cards made for `Wounded Warriors' Members of the Westminster Rotary Club recently provided Christmas cards for "Wounded Warriors," military personnel recovering from injuries at Walter Reed Army and Bethesda Naval medical centers.

Members of County Executive-elect Ken Ulman's transition team will hold a forum for those who wish to comment on a variety of topics at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Banneker Room of the George Howard Building, 3430 Court House Drive, Elliott City. A nine-member committee will use the forum to gain insight from the community in preparing a report for the new county executive. Each member of the transition team has been assigned to a subcommittee focused on county administration (Guy Guzzone)

Grants of $65 to help with utility bills are available for those ages 62 and older, and disabled people in Howard County, through the Community Action Council. People in those categories who are receiving money from the Maryland Energy Assistance Program automatically are being enrolled by Community Action Council staff . Those not receiving aid, but who are eligible for help under that program, will qualify for the supplemental $65 from Howard County, according to agency director James B. Smith.

Jan Flora is leaving the Carroll County Bureau of Aging, where she has worked for 24 years, to fill a newly created position with the Department of Citizen Services. But she is not leaving the seniors that she has guided and will still be a familiar face at the county's five senior centers. In the new job, she will coordinate projects, such as the county's new discount prescription card initiative and Carroll's Continuum of Care program. Flora, who has been bureau chief since 1991, will also handle the American With Disabilities Act program as well as craft citizen services' annual report and a summary of the department's performance outcome measures.

She had fled storms before, but as Jocelyn Richard prepared to leave Jefferson Parish, La., again - this time ahead of Hurricane Katrina - something felt different. "Baby, this is my last hurricane season," she told her husband. And, it may be. Jocelyn and her husband, Warren, along with their three children - Daniel, 7, Victoria, 5, and Valencia, 3 months - came to Columbia three weeks ago. They are living temporarily with their friends Denise and Emanuel Curry and they are thinking of staying.

Redistricting Committee to hold its first meeting Wednesday The Carroll County Commission Redistricting Committee will hold its first meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Westminster Senior Center's large meeting room at 125 Stoner Ave. The committee is charged with establishing five districts for the 2006 election, when a five-member Board of County Commissioners will be elected by district. Members of the committee are: Joseph M. Getty, Janet B. Jump, Thomas V. McCarron, Phillip R. Miller, David R. Peloquin, Martin Radinsky and Maurice E. Wheatley.