Reach Village

The chairman of the Long Reach Village Board has abruptly quit the panel that oversees Columbia's largest village. Henry F. Dagenais, who served on the board for six years and was chairman for five, declined to say yesterday why he stepped down. "It's a personal thing," said Dagenais, 70, a decorated Army colonel who served in Korea and Vietnam. "It's just time to go, time to move on." Dagenais said that in a resignation letter sent to village officials Wednesday, he "gave a little bit of a reason, but that's between me and the board and the village manager."

Lt. Governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend strolled through Columbia's Long Reach Village Center yesterday afternoon with county police officials and village residents as part of her tour of 36 proposed crime "hot spots" in Maryland.County Police Chief James Robey hopes to get Long Reach village designated as a "hot spot" -- a move that would bring a federal grant of between $35,000 and $200,000.The money would fund state troopers in assisting county police in the neighborhood, installation of better street lighting throughout the village and other crime-prevention programs, Robey said.

LAST ONE in ...!" will be heard at every outdoor pool in Columbia when they open this weekend.Pool managers have received their assignments. Be sure to say "Hi" and at the same timelearn the rules of the pools -- and remember to wear sun block.East Columbia pool managers are Lori Goode at Dasher Green, Owen Brown village; Marc Malchak at Dickinson, Kings Contrivance village; Marloe Apelman at Hopewell, Owen Brown village; Courtney Adams at Huntington, Kings Contrivance village; Kelly Viglione at Jeffers Hill, Long Reach village; James Kennedy at Kendall Ridge, Long Reach village; Richard Bueller at Locust Park, Long Reach village; Holly Stover at MacGills Common, Kings Contrivance village; Melissa Schnaar at Phelps Luck, Long Reach village; Jeffrey Six at Stevens Forest, Oakland Mills village; Deanne Lenehan at Talbott Springs, Oakland Mills village; Steve Schnaar at Thunder Hill, Oakland Mills village.

The losing candidate in last month's race for the Long Reach village seat on the Columbia Council has hit several hurdles in her efforts to unseat the winner.On Thursday, Howard County Circuit Judge Raymond J. Kane Jr. thwarted Deborah Tolson's attempt to remove incumbent Cecilia Januszkiewicz from the Columbia Council. He denied her an ex parte injunction -- or refused to remove Januszkiewicz without hearing the defendant's side of the story -- because of "insufficient evidence."Tolson had also requested a preliminary and permanent injunction, but Thomas M. Meachum, lawyer for the Long Reach Community Association, said Friday that she made errors that rendered her complaint invalid.

The Rouse Co. and Safeway Inc. recently agreed to expand the Safeway supermarket that anchors the Long Reach Village Center, the first step in what Rouse says could be the eventual upgrading of the struggling shopping center.The Safeway expansion -- and other plans for the 120,500-square-foot shopping center -- are in their early stages, said Cathy Lickteig, a spokeswoman for the Rouse subsidiary, Columbia Management Inc., that manages Columbia's village centers."At some point, the Safeway store will expand," said Ms. Lickteig, adding that Rouse also is considering other work at the Long Reach center, which opened in 1974.

Howard County police are investigating the attempted robbery of a man and the mugging of an elderly woman in Columbia's Long Reach village late Tuesday and early Wednesday.The victims were not seriously injured. Police do not believe the crimes are connected.In the Tuesday night incident, Michael M. Bittinger, 38, of Ellicott City had withdrawn money from a drive-through automated teller machine in the village center about 9: 15 p.m. when a man approached his car and demanded money, police said.

David Hlass says he is running for another two-year term on the Columbia Council, which also serves as the Columbia Association board, portraying himself as a crusader for residents' rights and open government. Hlass, 50, a controversial figure in his first two-year term, is being opposed by former Long Reach Village Board Chairman Henry F. "Hank" Dagenais, 73, who served from May 1997 through February 2002, when he resigned. Village elections are scheduled for April 30. Dagenais said he is running to restore amicable relations with other council members and to stop the disputes swirling around Hlass, who does not see it that way. "We do pay fees to the Columbia Association to live in Columbia, and I want to strive to get the best for each and every dollar we pay," Hlass said.

A group of 15 to 20 men assaulted four Columbia men early yesterday morning after chasing them from the Exxon station in Long Reach Village Center to a residence on Airy Brink Lane, Howard County police said. One of the victims, 22-year-old Justin Mariner, was stabbed twice in the back, police said. He was in serious but stable condition yesterday at Maryland Shock Trauma Center, according to a hospital spokeswoman. None of the other three Columbia men - Jacob Culbertson, 22; Peter Richardson, 30; and Diallo Walcott, 28 - was hospitalized, police said.

Long Reach village officials and merchants say they want improvements to make their partly vacant, 20-year-old village center more competitive with the newer Columbia village centers and strip shopping plazas nearby.Although some cosmetic and structural improvements have been made recently, an official from Columbia Management Inc., which manages the Long Reach center and other Columbia commercial developments, said other upgrades hinge on negotiations to expand the center's Safeway anchor store.

A Long Reach village board member said she opposes a proposal to build a "family fun center" at Dobbin Road and Tamar Drive because the site is near a rental housing community known for drug activity.But even though the board voted to oppose the proposal months ago, it is "not necessarily unanimous" on the issue, said Phil Blustein, board vice chairman.Building an amusement center at the 6.5-acre site next to Long Reach Park and near the village center could attract "bad influences," said board member Nancy D. Smith.