Harpers Choice

POLICE LOG* Harpers Choice: 5700 block of Cedar Lane: A $200 radar detector was stolen from a tan Toyota between Friday night and early Monday afternoon.

I was pleased to read in the latest Columbia Flier that Regina Clay was successful in including $75,000 in the new CA Budget Year for additional amenities for the Faulkner Ridge Pool. I have been a strong supporter of the Faulkner Ridge Pool and for 42 years have used it daily with my wife during the summer season. Last year I lobbied intensely to keep this pool open, and was pleased that the CA Board of Directors voted not to close it. Since I live in the Longfellow section of Harpers Choice, I am unable to vote for Ms. Clay.

Police logHarpers Choice: 12200 block of Little Patuxent Parkway: A black 1994 Yamaha FZR600R motorcycle with Illinois license plate 978101 was stolen sometime between June 16 and Thursday.Harpers Choice: 5400 Cedar Lane: A white 1991 Ford Econoline van with Maryland plate 13A778 was stolen Thursday between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m.Pub Date: 6/24/96

In a time-honored rite of passage, Sarah Klos received her diploma in the sweltering heat Thursday afternoon, along with many of the 905 eligible students in the largest graduating class in Howard Community College's 39-year history. But unlike students who knew their big day in black cap and gown was coming and were impatient waiting for it to arrive, she had good reason to wonder whether such a day was even possible. Klos, who lost her short-term memory as a child after two debilitating strokes and delicate brain surgery, waged a fierce battle for nine years to achieve an associate's degree in general studies typically earned in four semesters.

* Town Center: 10300 block of Little Patuxent Parkway: Someone stole a $10 black wallet, which contained $11 in cash and two credit cards from a purse Oct. 22.* Hickory Ridge:: 6500 block of Freetown Road: Someone sprayed red paint on the front of a 1989 Ford Probe on Tuesday.10800 block of Hickory Ridge: An undisclosed amount of money was stolen from a storeroom at the High's store Wednesday.* Harpers Choice: 12200 block ofreen Meadow Drive: Someone stole two tags from a 1986 Dodge Charger Tuesday or Wednesday.

* Harpers Choice: 11200 block of Crystal Run: Two males were seen driving off in a resident's 1992 Ford Taurus Tuesday night. Police found the stolen car and arrested a 16-year-old Columbia youth after a short chase. The youth was released into his parent's custody.* Town Center: 10300 block of Little Patuxent Parkway: Cash was stolen from a Popeye's restaurant in the Columbia Mall late Tuesday or early Wednesday after someone forced open a front sliding glass door, police said.

I was pleased to read in the latest Columbia Flier that Regina Clay was successful in including $75,000 in the new CA Budget Year for additional amenities for the Faulkner Ridge Pool. I have been a strong supporter of the Faulkner Ridge Pool and for 42 years have used it daily with my wife during the summer season. Last year I lobbied intensely to keep this pool open, and was pleased that the CA Board of Directors voted not to close it. Since I live in the Longfellow section of Harpers Choice, I am unable to vote for Ms. Clay.

As Barack Obama surveyed the pandemonium, he spied two familiar faces in the crowd. Striding toward the podium during a campaign rally at the Comcast Center in College Park in February, the Illinois senator paused before addressing his exuberant supporters to speak to his wife's aunt and uncle on the sidelines. "I know, I know - 'It's just Barack,' " he quipped to Carleton and Stanette Robinson of Columbia, guessing at what they were thinking and poking fun at himself. "What's the big deal, right?"

The trial for Monti Mantrice Fleming, a Columbia teenager being tried as an adult in the fatal shooting of another teen during a fight in 2006, is scheduled to begin tomorrow in Howard County Circuit Court. Fleming, 16, of the 6500 block of Overheart Lane in Owen Brown, is accused of shooting and killing Shawn Edward Powell, 18, of the 5400 block of Harpers Farm Road in Harper's Choice, during a fight in August 2006 at a Hickory Ridge apartment complex. He is charged with first- and second-degree murder, first- and second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and handgun violations, and is being held without bail at the Howard County Detention Center.

The Harper's Choice Community Association will sponsor a sale of hanging baskets from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at Kahler Hall, 5440 Old Tucker Row, in Harper's Choice Village Center. The baskets cost $13 each; two for $25. Information: 410-730-0770. Stress reduction program to be offered The Central library, 10375 Little Patuxent Parkway, is presenting "The New You," a three-part program with Marilyn Thorpe, life coach with NexPhase Transitions. A program on reducing stress is planned for 7 p.m. May 15, and a session on how not to procrastinate, for June 19. A session on managing time was held April 11. Registration is required.

Yinka Morakinyo, 13, an eighth-grader at Harper's Choice Middle School, normally wears T-shirts and jeans to school. But on Wednesdays, she makes an effort to look special - in part as a taste of the dress code she'll face one day in the working world. "It just makes you feel good," said Yinka, who was wearing a jean skirt and lightweight blue sweater. "You start off with a more positive attitude." That attitude is the goal behind a program called Dress for Success, started six years ago by the school's principal, C. Stephen Wallis.

"I think a big wasted resource in this county is senior citizens," says Bob Spongberg, 79, a retired engineer who lives in Columbia. That is why he has volunteered to work with pupils at Harper's Choice Middle School as part of a new collaboration between the school and the county's Office on Aging. The tutoring sessions pair seniors with pupils for an hour once a week. If the program goes well, other schools might add it. "This particular program is kind of a microcosm of what we envision," said Judi Bard, program specialist for the Howard County Office on Aging.

The Columbia Association's cable television program, Columbia Matters, will focus this month on the Harper's Choice village. The show is the second in a series on the features, history and people of Columbia's 10 villages. Barbara Kellner, manager of the Columbia Archives, is host. Her guests are Village Board Chair Phil Wright and Jackie Rose, chair of the Harper's Choice Elections Committee. The show airs on Howard Community College's station, channel 71, at 11 a.m., 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Mondays and 8:30 p.m. Saturdays.

Harper's Choice Middle School will hold a Scholastic Book Fair from March 14 to 18 to help raise money for new books for its media center and classroom collections. The fair will offer books and educational products, including children's classics, newly released titles, interactive software and bestsellers from more than 150 publishers. The fair will be open each day from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. A family event will be held from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. March 16 in conjunction with the music department's Sweet Serenades Concert.

Bail was set at $500,000 yesterday for a 22-year-old man charged with shooting a teenager last week outside an apartment complex in Columbia's Harper's Choice village, according to court documents. Sedrick "Rico" C. Legaspi of the 5900 block of Grand Banks Road, in Harper's Choice, is being held at the Howard County Detention Center, court documents show. He is accused of shooting the 17-year-old youth Aug. 31 in an ongoing dispute.