Luke Lavoie

Howard County police are investigating recent reports of a telephone scam where callers claim to be holding family members hostage.

A father and son have been arrested and charged in what Howard County police are calling a driveway paving scam that involved four North Laurel residences.

When Howard County Police Chief Gary Gardner took over the department last summer, he quickly identified enhancements in community policing as an area of focus.Last month, Gardner announced a series of initiatives aimed at intensifying that focus within the department's current ranks, a list that includes creating a community outreach division (previously it was just a section), sanctioning a pathway patrol program and placing full-time officers as liaisons to different segments of the community

Two Washington, D.C. men have been charged in three armed robberies of fast food restaurants in Howard County, according to police.

Howard County police are seeking the public's help in locating a missing Columbia man last seen Monday afternoon.

A Baltimore man was sentenced to 40 years in prison Monday for his role in what prosecutors say is a drug-related home invasion in Columbia last spring.

A Howard County police cruiser was struck by a driver under the influence of alcohol last weekend, the second such incident reported by police in the past two weeks.

Two Howard County liquor stores, one in North Laurel and one in Ellicott City, have been cited by police for selling alcohol to underage customers.

Howard County residents are bracing for a snowstorm threatening to hit the region overnight Wednesday and continue through Thursday.

Laurel Deputy Police Chief Jimmy Brooks retired last month, capping a law enforcement career spanning four decades that included many posts inside the city's department.

Now her daughter has grown up a bit, she's 11-years-old, Segal is ready to get back to work. In January, Segal's business dream took one step closer toward reality when she scooped up ownership of the Double Dipper Ice Cream Parlor and Cafe in Laurel.

And nearly three years after hiring Couch, it would appear the Board of Directors decision has paid off as the organization is poised to host potentially the largest event in its 23-year history with the upcoming Money Matters Fair, to be held March 14 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Long Reach High School.

A residence with historical significance to Columbia and Howard County burned in a two-alarm fire late on March 2, according to Howard County's Department of Fire and Rescue Services.

Laurel TV has won a Telly Award for a series of promos featuring iconic landmarks and local residents and leaders.

A Laurel woman was arrested this week on an assault charged stemming from an arrest warrant issued Nov. 12, the Prince George's County Sheriff's Department announced Monday.

An unoccupied Howard County police patrol car parked on the side of the road was struck by a drunk driver Saturday on Old Columbia Pike, police said.

Howard County Police are seeking the public¿s help in identifying a suspect wanted in connection with seven convenience store robberies in Elkridge, Laurel, and Ellicott City in recent months.

Columbia Cleanup Day is set for Saturday, March 21, with volunteers simultaneously picking up trash accumulated at open space locations in all 10 villages.

The Howard County Economic Development Authority will host the county's first Ignite event, which is advertised as a fast-paced evening of interaction and community building.

Dave Webb has been working at Maryland's Wholesale Seafood Market in Jessup since 1984. For two thirds of those three decades, he has been manning the state-run center's only retail outlet: Frank's Seafood.

Residential, commercial and street burglaries and thefts this week in Columbia

An owner of the Rams Head Group, which includes Rams Head Live! in Baltimore and several venues across the region, was charged with secretly videotaping women inside a bathroom at Savage restaurant last week, Howard County police said Monday.

A lawsuit filed by Merriweather Post Pavilion operator It's My Amphitheatre Inc. (I.M.A.) claiming competitor Live Nation has a national and regional monopoly over the promotion of live music events was dismissed by a Federal judge last week, prohibiting the lawsuit from going to trial.

One of the owners of the Ram's Head Group, which owns and operates several restaurants and concert venues in the region, was charged in Howard County with secretly recording video inside the women's bathroom of the group's Savage Mill restaurant last week, Howard County police said Monday.

Howard County firefighters battled a three-alarm fire in Columbia Thursday morning that ripped through a Columbia home and caused extensive damages.

A 22-year-old Howard County resident's gold medal winning figure skating performance at the Pennsylvania Special Olympics has given him the tools to pull off his most difficult trick yet: landing a meaningful job. More than 70 percent of adults with disabilities are unemployed.

Residential, commercial and street burglaries and thefts this week in Columbia

Laurel police say they have towed 29 vehicles and ticketed dozens more parked in snow emergency routes following Monday's snowfall.

A Parkville man has been sentenced to 34 years in prison for the robbery of an Elkridge massage parlor in 2013.

The Clarksville man who claimed he planted a bomb inside a Howard County police station last May was sentenced to probation and time served last week, according to State's Attorney spokesman Wayne Kirwan.

The Mall in Columbia announced plans Thursday to add three new retailers and to remodel several others.

Residential, commercial and street burglaries and thefts this week in Columbia

Howard County Government offices, courts, senior centers and the animal shelter will be closed in observance of the Presidents¿ Day Monday, Feb. 16

Howard County Police Chief Gary Gardner Wednesday announced initiatives to improve the department's community policing efforts, headlined by the creation of a pathway patrol program, a representative mix of community liaisons and the need for trust between police and the public.

The Columbia Association Board of Directors is scheduled to vote on a series of amendments to its fiscal year 2016 budget this week.

The exhibit will run through Dec. 20 at the Laurel Museum, 817 Main Street in Laurel. It is divided into sections that focus on different types of news: the Firehouse Beat, the Disaster Beat, the National News Desk, the Police Blotter, the Bad News Beat and on the Lighter Side.

Shameful, disappointing, and dysfunctional were were used by residents Monday evening to describe the Columbia Association Board of Directors' decision to close a meeting to investigate an ethics charge against one of its directors.

A 21-year-old Bethesda man died Wednesday morning after his 2013 Scion FR-S struck a tree off of Snowden River Parkway in Columbia, according to Howard County police.

Three men face assault, armed robbery and felony gun charges in connection with the robbery of a man who was held at gunpoint inside the bathroom of a Columbia restaurant.

A Howard County police officer shot and killed a dog that police say escaped its Ellicott City yard and was terrorizing the neighborhood.

The 90-year-old's account includes storming Utah Beach in Normandy on D-Day, fighting in the Battle of the Bulge, helping liberate Paris, discovering a subcamp of Dachau, a high-profile Nazi concentration camp, and uncovering a cave full of stole artwork and treasure hidden in the woods of Germany.

A lot has changed in the years since Warren cut his first head of hair. But Warren's barbershop, which was started in 1945 in Jessup, has remained, making it the oldest traditionally African-American barbershop in the county.

Huntington Deli and Market in Columbia is seeking a liquor license to sell beer and wine, a move that has given some community members, including the deli's neighbor, the Columbia Association, pause.

Dean Lee Benner, 47, of the 5700 block of Brook Lane, was convicted on 21 counts of child abuse and sex offense occurring in three separate locations in the county involving a young boy from Baltimore city, according to State's Attorney spokesman Wayne Kirwan.

A woman was killed on Route 1 in Elkridge early Wednesday morning after being struck by two cars, one of which fled the scene, according to Howard County police.

The Elkridge man facing murder charges in the death of his sister-in-law in January was extradited back to Howard County from Florida Tuesday, according to Howard County police.

Howard County General Hospital has hired Elizabeth Edsall Kromm as Senior Director of Population Health and Community Relations, the hospital announced last week.

AT&T opened an interactive, speciality retail store – dubbed the "Store of the Future" by the company – last weekend inside Towne Centre at Laurel, bringing the number of speciality stores in Maryland to three.

Two months ago, Farrar and Posin, 33, opened their third Soldierfit location in Columbia, their first two locations opened in Gaithersburg and Frederick weeks apart in 2013. Located on Oakland Mills Road off of Snowden River Parkway, the duo believe the Columbia location will be its most successful to-date.