In June 2010, I sat in the council chambers of City Hall, covering my first College Park council meeting. The members debated the need for a pedestrian-activated traffic light at the crossing on Paint Branch Parkway. Still a journalism graduate student at the time, I didn't realize this would be the first of many Tuesday nights I’d spend in those chambers—One year later, I would take up the reins as the editor of the College Park Patch. The traffic light is now installed, but other city news arose between June 2011-12: $8.8 million was allotted for the realignment of U.S. Route 1, …
Memorial Day: It's a day, first and foremost, to honor those who have bravely and selflessly served our country. But it also has become a day marked by backyard barbecuing, a long weekend, and picnics galore. In College Park, we're lucky to have a wide selection of picnic spots with open grass, tables and benches and playgrounds. I've picked out some of my favorite spots in the city for picnicking, or just to escape from the pace of life. Click on the picnic tables in the interactive map to learn about them. What hidden gems am I missing? What are your recommended picnic spots in College Park…
Last week, I had the opportunity to meet a wonderful 9-year-old girl named Ellen. While it’s easy for most of us to say we want the best for our community, this Holy Redeemer School fourth-grader knows what she would do to actually make it better. After putting pen to paper and recording her vision, Ellen was named a regional winner in an annual statewide essay contest that asks fourth graders what they would do for their community if they were mayor. Over my past year at Patch, stories about people, like Ellen, have become my favorite. This is especially so, because those individuals are …
Last week, I took the drastic step of turning in my iPhone (err ... accidentally dropping it in water) and replacing it with one of those old flip phones. You know, the kind of phone that takes two days to text a sentence. The kind of phone that you're pleasantly surprised to find actually takes pictures. The move to a phone without all the smartphone bells and whistles seems counterintuitive to my recent endeavor to strengthen the relationships in my life, some of which I've almost let slip away entirely. No longer do I carry email, Facebook and Twitter on my hip. And my mom and sister will …
Until this season, I never paid much attention to football. I enjoyed watching my college teams at Bloomsburg University and the University of Maryland, and watching the Super Bowl with my family and friends. There is even a photo floating around out there of me in a black and gold jersey, pretending to fit in with my Steelers-loving family. But it wasn't until this past fall that I made a date with my T.V. every Sunday, as I became a little more obsessed each week with Ray Rice, Terrell Suggs and University of Maryland graduate Torrey Smith. I had the pleasure of actually going to a game in …
Here we are, two days before the send-off of 2011, but surely we won't be leaving it behind. I don't know about you, but I tend to tag my years as "the year that X," and then file it away until something reminds me of why that time in my life was so great... or not so great. For me, there are a few ways I'll tag 2011. First, it's the year I finished my graduate education at the University of Maryland, and second, it's the year that I was adopted by the great City of College Park as the Patch editor. But what about College Park? What were the truly great, memorable or challenging moments …
Every College Park-ian should know that today is opening day in theatres for The Muppets. With Jim Henson, the creator of the Muppet characters having been an alumnus at the University of Maryland, it should be a point of pride for those of us in this area. In fact, I dare say we're obligated to support the Muppets as they strive to become stars again. It's the movie plot, but I also feel it could be parallel to reality. The Muppet Movie ("Turn left at the fork in the road."), Muppet Christmas Carol and the TV show Muppet Babies have engrained the Muppets into our hearts forever. But it's …
If you're a Star Wars fan, this costume is enough to melt your heart. I am not in fact a Star Wars fan, and I still think it's precious. Dress your baby up as an infant Yoda with this sweet costume at Halloween City for $19.99. Bonus: The costume includes a hood and a robe, and it looks mighty warm, an important feature since the forecast has Monday night temperatures dipping to below 40 degrees. If you dress your infant or child for Halloween, be sure to take a picture and contribute it to our contest for a chance to meet Heidi Klum and donate to a charity of your choice.
If you're looking to lose your head this weekend at a Halloween party, let me suggest this. Sorry. Cheesy pun. Couldn't resist. Today's Editor's Halloween Pick is sure to get people talking. A piece rests on the shoulders to appear like a severed neck, while a hole in the cape allows for a head to peak through. Gruesome? Yes. Clever? I think so. Pick up this costume at Halloween City for $34.99.
It's three days before Halloween, and chances are you have a costume party this weekend. And you have no idea what you're going wear. College Park-ians lucked out this fall when the superstore Halloween City moved into what was a furniture and mattress shop on U.S. Route 1. Now, the lack of a costume doesn't have to be so stressful. Row upon row of options is sure to inspire some creativity, especially when you come across a piece like this, today's Editor's Halloween pick: a $14.99 gold and black eye mask accessorized with feathers and dangling beads. What you become when you put this on, I'…
This Editor's Pick is for two groups of people: (1) those who like to reminisce about childhood, and (2) those searching for a last minute costume. Because let's face it — If you have a game closet, you probably have Twister. This costume at Halloween City comes with the dress and the hat, but I love the idea of accessorizing with some bright colored bangles and earrings. Apparently, it's not just me that's taken a liking to this costume. According to the shopping search engine SortPrice, the Twister costume is one of the top 10 costumes for children this Halloween, based on online …
If you haven't noticed yet, I enjoy Halloween. I also have to admit that I left out some of the best getups in yesterday's costume story. I'm saving them for six days of Editor's Favorites, beginning today. Here's the first: It's a flapper costume I fell in love with while perusing Halloween City. There's a photo of the dress, wig and purse in the gallery, and here's the price breakdown: Dress: $39.99 for the black sequin dress pictured. Purse: $5.99 for the matching sequin purse. Wig: $19.99 for the short, black bob. Cigarette Holder: $2.99 for the coolest one there (I think). Garter…
The visionary, the dreamer, the co-founder of Apple, Steve Jobs died Wednesday night. He suffered from pancreatic cancer, underwent a liver transplant in 2009, and had a medical leave this past January. Even though he lived in California and spent more than 11 years as Apple CEO, his life and death have apparently touched many. Twitter went crazy Wednesday night with constant updates marked by the hashtag #ThankYouSteve. In an effort to understand Jobs' impact on those of us here, take the poll. I'm curious how many of us own at least one Apple product. But it should be noted that it wasn't …
Almost exactly one year ago, I arrived in town as the new editor of the College Park Patch. We've come a long way since that first day, when I sat, terrified, at my first council meeting, wondering where East Campus was and why Councilman Perry kept talking about "magic money." (I still wonder that, actually.) A lot has happened since then: There's been some serious news—a stabbing outside of the Thirsty Turtle, the death of a University of Maryland student—but we've had some fun times, too. I will always look back with fondness on my foray down Route 1 on a bike (never again!), co-producing…
We've launched our new blogging platform, but that doesn't mean we've stopped recruiting bloggers. Do you have a personal blog that needs some exposure? Have you long toyed with the idea of starting a blog, but need a little extra urging? Just want to share your favorite gardening tips? Look no further. Click here to read our full call-out. Interested parties can contact me, Lauren Evans, at laurene@patch.com
Beginning in May, College Park Patch will be making room for local bloggers on the site. We're looking for bloggers who can riff on various topics, share their personality and engage our readers in discussions. Patch is more than a news site, it's an online conversation about your community. Are you an expert craftsman or hobbyist who can share do-it-yourself tips? Do you have strong opinions about local government? Can you just make us all laugh? Can you write compellingly? Then, we want to hear from you. This isn't a reporting job. It's blogging. You write what you want to say when you want…
