Columbia

I harbor high hopes that Columbia can blossom to the next level in creating a "go to" environment that supports and nurtures art and artists. Recently the Columbia Association has stepped up offering public forums on this and Jane Dembner of the Association has been doing a wonderful job. But Columbia needs just a little bit more than just the enthusiasm. We need more residents to spread the support around. Redevelopment is helping this with new residences downtown. I have sat in Barbara Kellner's "Columbia Archives" and watched old grainy films of James Rouse lecturing a group of urban architects at a conference in the '70s - saying he full well expected Columbia's population to be around 300,000 residents by the late 1990s.

Car wash Boy Scout Troop 649 sponsors a car wash fundraiser beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday, May 11, at the Wilde Lake Interfaith Center, 10431 Twin Rivers Road. Information: 410-730-7920. Spring event The Columbia Foundation will host its New Beginnings Spring Party at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, May 14, at Howard Community College's Horowitz Visual and Performing Arts Center, 10901 Little Patuxent Parkway. Tickets are $100 each. Tickets and information: 410-730-7840. Master gardening series "Gardening for Seniors" will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 14, at Historic Oakland, 5430 Vantage Point Road.

Here is a list of the 10 Columbia Council representatives, who on May 9 will vote each other on to the Columbia Association Board of Directors. Dorsey's Search: Tom Coale — elected to a two-year term in 2013. Harper's Choice: Cynthia Coyle — elected to a two-year term in 2012. Hickory Ridge: Gregg Schwind — elected to a one-year term in 2013. Kings Contrivance: Brian Dunn — elected to a two-year term in 2013. Long Reach: Russ Swatek –—elected to a two-year term in 2013.

The first troops showed up on a Saturday morning at the four-bedroom house in Columbia heavily armed: saws, hammers, crowbars, drills. They've returned three times since and are expected back again next week in hopes of making repairs upstairs and down, inside and out. The noise these volunteers made was ... well, homeowner Ryan Condillac first called it "manageable. " Then he thought a moment and said, "I want to use another adjective: awesome. " The hammering, sanding and whining of electric saws was, in the end, the sound of charitable effort.

The following is compiled from Howard County police reports. East Columbia Gerwing Lane, 9600 block, 11:53 a.m. April 24. Witness stated that as a mother and child were approaching the business an elderly white man, who was sitting at a picnic table, exposed himself. West Columbia Thistle Brook Court, 11000 block, between 11:45 p.m. April 25 and 6:45 a.m. April 26. Entry gained to an open garage. Cash, credit cards, computer equipment and a GPS unit stolen from an unlocked vehicle.

Columbia Pro Cantare thematically goes abroad for its concert of "Music of Spain and Latin America" on Saturday, May 4, at 8 p.m. at the Jim Rouse Theater at Wilde Lake. Not only will some of this music be unfamiliar to many listeners, but it's also new for the chorus. "It's a complex program," says Columbia Pro Cantare music director Frances Motyca Dawson of a concert that includes pieces from Spain, Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela and Cuba. Although Dawson's Howard County-based chorus did a Latin American program in 2008, she says the upcoming concert promises to be even "more inclusive.

Running Holt victorious in Half Marathon in Columbia Bridget Holt , 34, of Gambrills won the second annual Athleta Iron Girl Columbia Half Marathon in Columbia in 1 hour, 21 minutes, 22 seconds. Tyler Brannen , 41, of New Hampshire took the 5K in 19:43. More than 2,000 runners competed in the event, which raised more than $25,000 for the Claudia Mayer Cancer Resource Center at Howard County General Hospital. Nike Women Half Marathon: Samia Akbar , a Washington-area native and resident and 2003 All-American at American, won the Washington race in 1:19:32.

The Johns Hopkins University has named Robert C. Lieberman, an interim dean at Columbia University and an expert on American politics, to its No. 2 academic spot: provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. He will take the post July 1, succeeding Lloyd B. Minor, who left last year to become dean of Stanford University's School of Medicine. "Rob brings a scholarly record and leadership experience, clearly marked with the 'excellence gene,' that will make him a wonderful partner for me and the university's senior leadership team as we work to advance our mission," Hopkins' President Ronald J. Daniels said in a statement.

The Maryland Small Business and Technology Development Center, Central Region, is offering a three-hour course, Smart Start Your Business — Howard County, Thursday, May 2, from 8:30 a.m. to noon, at the Maryland Center for Entrepreneurship, 9250 Bendix Road North, in Columbia. The course is recommended for new start-up businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs. Presentations will be made by an attorney, an accountant, a banker and an insurance professional, covering topics such as business legal structure; registering business name; federal, state, county and local tax information; and how to obtain funds for investment.