Quality Of Life

Quality of life is a cliched buzzword that has become the secular equivalent of "hallowed," the incontrovertible cathexis of modern living. It's easy to misuse in public debate, a rhetorical shield against hard fact and rational policy.Fortunately, the quality of life argument did not hold sway with a majority of the Harford County Council Tuesday night as it voted down a proposal to close a small stretch of Old Fallston Road at the busy intersection with Route 152.In doing so, the council avoided setting a perilous precedent, a foothold for political maneuvering by any community to close its public road for safety reasons or to preserve the tranquillity (i.e.

The overview of the Plan Howard 2030 General Plan states: "The purpose is to articulate policies and actions to move us to further sustainability while enhancing the quality of life. " The question is: What is Howard County's true vision? I ask because as comprehensive rezoning has taken place to date, it appears the vision is to merely grow, grow, and develop, regardless of inadequate infrastructure. Refer to Section 8 of Plan Howard 2030 — "Public Facilities and Services" as infrastructure comprises not only roads and schools, but other categories such as transportation, police, fire, health services, water and sewer, solid waste, etc. The Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance should be expanded to include all these categories to achieve accountability.

IMAGINE the public hue and cry that would greet efforts to reduce education spending in Maryland to levels below the national average. Educating Maryland's children is a vital element of our state's quality of life. Usually measures that threaten our quality of life come under fire.Interestingly, some regulators, managed-care companies and politicians are backing a plan that endangers another key element of our quality of life -- hospitals. The state body that sets hospital rates has proposed requiring Maryland hospitals to reduce costs for a hospital stay to 3 percent below the national average over the next two years.

Recently, my neighborhood convened to discuss whether to host a weekly, open-air farmers market for producers from within 50 miles of our Central Pennsylvania town. After ironing out concerns about traffic, zoning and location, we decided to give it a go. I'm proud of my community for committing to its support for local farmers and promoting food that travels fewer miles to reach our plates. I'm also aware of how lucky we are to have this option for easily obtaining fresh, nutritious food.

JOYCE HLASS says that her son, Charlie, had a positive influence on many people during his 21 years of life. One year after Charlie's death from leukemia, Hlass is working to continue her son's legacy of brightening other people's lives through a foundation she started in his memory, Through Charlie's Eyes. The foundation was set up during the spring to raise money for enhancing the quality of life for patients ages 18-30 undergoing bone marrow and stem cell transplants. During Charlie's 16-month battle with acute myeloid leukemia, he underwent four stem cell transplants from his younger sister, Jennifer, now a junior at Towson University.

A year ago, when western Howard Republican Councilman Charles C. Feaga announced that his former campaign manager, Gail H. Bates, would be running for his seat, it seemed as if Bates was the heir apparent.Bates, 52, had been active within the local Republican Party since 1980, serving on the central committee, teaching a campaign school for Republicans, working for campaigns, raising money and registering voters.She has been an assistant to Republican County Executive Charles I. Ecker since 1991.

The Freedom area may be the fastest growing part of the county, but it is still a lovely place to live, a group of residents told Carroll planners this week.And they want to keep it that way.One of their goals, shared at a planning workshop Monday, is "to improve what [they] have with no significant additions" to the population.Monday's workshop was the first of three in which planners are seeking community comment to help update a growth-management plan for the Freedom area. The second is set for 7 p.m. today at Wesley Freedom United Methodist Church in Eldersburg.

Salary: $62,000 Age: 32 Years on the job: 10 How she got started:: After graduating from Towson University with a bachelor's degree in psychology and sociology, Allen went to work as director of admissions for a Baltimore-area long-term nursing care and rehabilitation center. She came to Levindale in 1999 as a guest relations specialist. Two years later she became director of guest relations, and in 2006 she started as a "neighborhood" leader. Typical day:: The day starts early for Allen, who said she's usually in by about 6 a.m. One day a week, she arrives by 10 a.m. and stays through dinner service in an effort to keep in contact with all three shifts of employees.

Going from four partners working out of Rajiv Jain's Columbia townhouse to 18 full- and part-time employees working across the country, a2z Inc. is a business built in Howard County. The company, which was established in 1998 and develops Web-based software to manage and market trade shows and events, is one of 7,426 businesses in the county enjoying a healthy economic environment and a nice place to call home. "We start with an excellent, if not unparalleled, geographic location," said Richard W. Story, chief executive officer of the Howard County Economic Development Authority.

The chief rabbi of the British Commonwealth, speaking this week at a seminar for Maryland physicians, agreed with a Roman Catholic ethicist that the value of human life must not be judged on the basis of its "quality."Lord Immanuel Jacobovits, who also heads a center on medical ethics in Israel, offered the example of an infant severely retarded because of a birth defect such as Down syndrome. Any consideration of "the quality of life" in such a case "has no bearing whatever on the value of human life.

As a resident of Baltimore County, I am opposed to CZMP Issue 5-019 filed by JC Bar (CVS). The issue is one of public safety and continued quality of life in Carney. The proposed CVS location is on Harford Road only slightly south of the intersection of Harford and Joppa roads. Having vehicles, both northbound and southbound on Harford Road, enter and exit from CVS at this point so close to the failing intersection of Joppa and Harford roads will be very unsafe. What the failing intersection does not need is another large commercial enterprise to disrupt the traffic flow at this critical point on Harford Road.

A lot of kids don't like to eat vegetables, even though vegetables are good for them. When it comes to a balanced approach to budgeting, some of Maryland's political leaders are acting like those kids. To promote job growth now, and invest in a prosperous future, Maryland has to make the necessary investments. Our state's highest priorities are to create jobs and build for the future. That means improving schools, fixing roads and bridges, expanding health care and keeping our communities safe.

Councilman David Marks has stood with the citizens of Carney in refusing to introduce a planned unit development (PUD) for the former Bill Bateman property located north of the Harford and Northwind roads intersection in Cub Hill. This is the last property south of the URDL (Urban Rural Demarction Line). This decision was an important one. Marks told me about the PUD and the meeting of the Northwind Townhomes Home Owners Association (HOA) and I attended the meeting with permission of HOA. The PUD proposed by Kirby as presented to the HOA board was to build 160 apartments on the site.

Last year, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake claimed that the upcoming Grand Prix auto race promised to be a "game-changer" that would "change the way the world sees Baltimore. " What, exactly, is this supposed to mean? Why would the city need a "game-changer" if it has had several decades of renaissance? How will a three-day auto race do what years of tourists and marketing failed to accomplish? How will changing "the way the world sees Baltimore" help with the problems actually experienced in Baltimore?

Turns out that loud moaning sound emanating from Ocean City last week was not a meteorological event (or even an early warning of the East Coast earthquake-to-come) but the collective sound of local elected officials at the Maryland Association of Counties annual meeting voicing their displeasure. They're unhappy with the O'Malley administration's latest efforts to encourage rational land use decisions and aren't shy about expressing their opposition. Of course, the MACO take on the Maryland Department of Planning's "PlanMaryland" program is slightly different from Gov. Martin O'Malley assertion that local government will retain the right to make bad choices no matter what.

Six months ago, when the earthquake hit Haiti, approximately 2 million people were living in the metropolitan area of the capital city of Port-au-Prince. (The country's total population is almost 10 million.) The capital city was overcrowded. Haitians have always moved from the outlying departments to Port-au-Prince because it's the only place in the country with jobs and most basic services. The biggest employer in Haiti, the Haitian government, has most of its offices in Port-au-Prince.

NEW YORK - Crystal Rivera had no idea she was on the front lines of New York City's battle to plug a multibillion-dollar budget deficit. But after the pregnant woman received a $50 fine recently for sitting on subway steps, she got the picture in a hurry. The police officer who cited her for briefly blocking a stairwell didn't seem to care that she was exhausted and reluctant to sit on a filthy subway bench, Rivera recalled. After a futile protest, the 18-year-old Brooklyn student joined the ranks of others here who have been fined for equally bizarre violations - and are angrily protesting them.

At the intersection of Old Joppa Road and Business U.S. 1 near Bel Air, plans for a pharmacy, convenience store and fast-food restaurant near county parkland have sparked angry residents to mount a neighbor-to-neighbor campaign to fight the proposals. Winters Run Preservation Association met late last week at a member's home, with maps spread across the coffee table and propped in front of the TV, plotting who they've reached - and where they need to go to be heard. They plan to address the County Council on March 16, and they've been meeting neighbors wherever they can, from morning walks to the polling place, urging them to come along.

An outside auditor will review "quality of life" arrests made by Baltimore police over the next three years as part of an $870,000 settlement between the city and the NAACP and ACLU that was approved today by the city Board of Estimates. A lawsuit filed in 2006 on behalf of 14 people alleged that their arrests indicated a broad pattern of abuse in which thousands of people were routinely arrested without probable cause. The suit also alleged that the so-called "zero tolerance" system was endorsed and enforced by city officials under the tenure of then-mayor Martin O'Malley.