Waterloo

WASHINGTON -- Abraham Lincoln, as usual, put it best. Even in the face of impending civil war, he described the ties that bound Americans as "the mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land. . . ."At no other time do these "mystic chords of memory" resonate more fully than on Memorial Day.But as the demographic makeup of America changes from a population that traces its descent to Europe to those whose roots are in Africa, Asia and the Hispanic world, nativist fears are expressed that America is being pushed toward a Balkanized society.

One-hundred state troopers reported for work yesterday at the realigned Special Operations Division in Waterloo -- a "one-stop shop" police officials say will provide quick response to large-scale crimes, emergencies or disasters anywhere in Maryland.The centrally located barracks in Howard County will be headquarters for a strike force, a police dog unit, the commando-like Special Tactical Assault Team Element (STATE), a motorcycle unit and soon, a crash investigative team.Before the realignment, some of the units were part time, scattered around the state.

Parents at Stevens Forest Elementary School remain suspicious and worried about a school department plan to transfer severely emotionally disturbed children to their school this fall as part of a countywide program that helps such children.During a contentious, 2 1/2 -hour meeting Thursday, parents accused school officials of ignoring their concerns and of having already made up their minds."The meeting was a disappointment," parent Ann Geddes said yesterday. "We felt they were giving us the run-around a bit, and that made us angry."

Waterloo Elementary School won't forget the school redistricting battle of 1995 anytime soon.Three weeks ago, the Howard County school board rejected a plan to reduce the size of Waterloo's program for students classified as seriously emotionally disturbed by placing half of the pupils in a nearby elementary school.Today, Waterloo parents, teachers, administrators and even national special education experts still are shocked and disappointed at how the debate distorted the program and its students.

Mothers of Waterloo Elementary School's students are invited to have breakfast at the PTA-sponsored "Muffins for Moms" at the school, 5940 Waterloo Road and Route 108, at 8:15 a.m. April 25.Information: 313-5014.*Sisters United Now will hold its first meeting at 6 p.m. April 20 at the Other Barn, Oakland Mills Shopping Center.The nonprofit group of black businesswomen was organized to nurture business relationships and foster positive energy and growth with common values, interests and concerns.

The parents of emotionally troubled students in Howard County must feel they've gotten a raw deal. The county Board of Education last week rejected a proposal to split a program for seriously emotionally disturbed pupils between Waterloo and Stevens Forest elementary schools. Officials were pushing the proposal as a way to lessen the strain of having all the students attend Waterloo, where the program has been housed for 20 years.But parents at Stevens Forest objected vehemently, the board folded and, in the process, the families of emotionally disturbed children have been shortchanged.

Parents of students at Stevens Forest Elementary School packed the Howard County Department of Education building last night and urged the school board not to transfer seriously emotionally disturbed children to their school next year."

For those who toil in the media, having an occasional door slammed in one's face comes with the territory. But being shut out of a meeting that is supposed to be open to the public or being barred from a public building isn't likely to put a halt to media scrutiny. In fact, it often spurs the opposite reaction. That's happening in Howard County, where school officials have refused to allow a reporter from The Sun to observe classes in a program for emotionlly disturbed students.The reporter, following standard procedure, asked to visit the program at Waterloo Elementary, but was denied permission by Principal Karen Moore-Roby.

One of the wonderful things about the public school system is that it rarely turns away a child.Unlike private institutions, which can expel a student for falling below certain standards for academics and behavior, the public schools have a take-all approach. The result is a true reflection of American ideals about inclusion and opportunity.But that same quality is also what makes the public school system so frustrating at times.So many personalities, so many ideas, so many styles -- all crammed together in a volatile mix of competing needs.

Waterloo Elementary School's program for severely emotionally disturbed students would be scaled back next school year under a proposal to transfer half of those pupils to Stevens Forest Elementary School.The proposal, part of a school system redistricting plan, caps a yearlong battle by the parents of some Waterloo students who claimed that the school's emotionally disturbed pupils are disruptive and depress the school's test scores.Waterloo, which for 20 years has been the location of the county's central program for elementary school students with severe emotional problems, now has about 20 such students, down from 40 last school year.

Matilda B. Wolfe, a retired secretary and former Dundalk resident, died July 9 of gangrene at a nursing and rehabilitation center in Waterloo, Iowa. She was 89. Matilda Belton was born in Baltimore and raised in Highlandtown. She was a 1936 graduate of Eastern High School. Mrs. Wolfe, who moved to Waterloo in 1992, had worked for more than a decade as a secretary at what is now DLA Piper. Earlier, she had been a secretary in the labor relations department at the old National Brewing Co. plant in Highlandtown.

The Family Support Committee of the Howard County Base Realignment and Closure Task Force is seeking military families who have moved or are moving to Howard County to join focus groups. The groups will be asked to discuss the needs and concerns of military families, why they chose to move Howard County, support services they use, and services they would like to have. The groups will meet from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Waterloo Elementary School, 5940 Waterloo Road, Elkridge; 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. May 14 at Pointers Run Elementary School, 6600 Trotter Road, Clarksville; and 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. May 15 at Forest Ridge Elementary School, 9550 Gorman Road, North Laurel.

The owners of two eastern Howard County liquor outlets received stiff fines for serving underage patrons and ignoring other board rules. The county's Alcoholic Beverage Hearing Board imposed a $3,000 fine on Barbara Parkinson, John Curtis and Michael Halkos, licensees of the Wild Buffalo Grill in the 10000 block of Washington Blvd. in North Laurel. A $1,500 fine was imposed on Grace Chong and Mary Soon Kim, license holders of Waterloo Liquors in the 6500 block of Old Waterloo Road in Elkridge.

George Washington apparently was no stranger to Howard County -- though his travels through the area were not always without incident, if the historical marker on U.S. 1 near the Waterloo Barracks of the State Police in any indication. The marker notes that Thomas Spurrier's tavern once stood at a nearby crossroads connecting two important overland routes during the Colonial era. "George Washington stopped at least 25 times between 1789 and 1798," the marker states. "His diary noted July 18, 1795; 'Dined and lodged at Spurrier's where my sick horse died.

When David L. MacPherson opened Waterloo Elementary School as its first principal in 1964, he encountered some obstacles as he tried to accommodate about 600 pupils and 22 teachers. "It was a challenge," the retired MacPherson said during a telephone interview from his home in Ellicott City. "The students came from various districts. They were all bused to the school, and we had to do some melding." At that time, Howard County schools were in the beginning stages of desegregation - 10 years after the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court decision that ended school segregation throughout the country.

The Howard County Board of Education reopened the elementary school redistricting process last night when three of the five members voted to hold a public hearing to discuss additional options. "I feel as if we made a mistake," in boundary lines drawn for the coming school year, said Sandra H. French, the board's chairman. New enrollment projections contradict older data the board used in setting boundaries. The latest numbers suggest Jeffers Hill and Bellows Spring elementary schools will be crowded by the 2004-2005 school year, and Waterloo Elementary will be severely under-enrolled.

Developers planning subdivisions in eastern Howard County or projects that require conditional-use permission must meet with neighbors before submitting plans to the county. The next meetings are: Monday at 6:30 p.m. at 5100 Dorsey Hall Drive, Ellicott City, about a conditional-use request by Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church, 12580 Clarksville Pike. Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at the model home at 5825 Rockburn Woods Way, Elkridge, about a proposal for nine units on 2.66 acres on the Ferguson/Dasher properties, 6232-6236 Waterloo Road.

A couple seeking a liquor license for a business in Elkridge were denied their request based on a lack of public need, according to a ruling this week by the Howard County Alcoholic Beverage Hearing Board. The board decided that the proposed location, 6590B Old Waterloo Road in Lark Brown Village Center, is too close to an established store, Waterloo Liquors, which is a quarter-mile away. Five other liquor stores are within a three-mile radius, according to testimony. Dipti and Neelesh Vaidya, who operate a convenience store in the shopping center, sought the liquor license to expand their business.

The State Board of Education has ruled that the Howard County school district's most recent boundary-line revisions will stand unaffected this fall. Barry Budish, parent of a Waterloo Elementary pupil, appealed a decision in March to redistrict a Columbia neighborhood from one elementary school to two others in an effort to relieve crowding. Budish said the school district did not follow proper procedures when it decided to move 94 children from Waterloo to Jeffers Hill Elementary and 50 to Phelps Luck Elementary.

In our last edition, we asked you what song the bat boy plays before Mr. LaRue hits his home run, as described in the book "The Bat Boy & His Violin." Prarthana Vasudevan, a fourth-grader at Waterloo Elementary, answered, "Reginald played the song 'Swan Lake' before Mr. LaRue hit the ball out of the park."