Melanie Dzwonchyk

Laurel Leader editor Melanie Dzwonchyk announces her retirement, effective Dec. 29, 2017.

Laurel Volunteer Fire Department will hold its annual Fire Prevention Open House Oct. 22, 2017.

Laurel Board of Trade hosts a forum for City Council candidates Oct. 18 at the Laurel Municipal Center.

The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 11, a union representing the Laurel Police Department, invited candidates for Laurel City Council to an endorsement forum Sept. 28.

Members of the Friends of the Laurel Library will be collecting donations for the group's Giant Book Sale scheduled for September.

Laurel Mayor Craig Moe plans to throw his hat into the ring for the 2018 county council race.

As the Laurel Leader approaches its 120th year this September, one editor was at the helm for a good third of its life. Gertrude Poe, who died July 13 at the incredible age of 101, is widely recognized as a pioneering woman in journalism who guided her weekly broadsheet as four decades of American life was filtered through the little mill town on the Patuxent and reported on the pages of the Leader.

Police found Dustin Khoury, of Sparrow Point, around 8:25 p.m. Tuesday when officers were called to the area of Contee and Larchdale roads. Police said Khoury was found in a car with a gunshot wound, and died later at a hospital.

Gertrude Poe, who guided the Laurel Leader for 41 years as editor before retiring in 1980, died Thursday, July 13 at her home in Ashton.

Laurel police arrested Barry Linn Richardson Jr. July 7 and charged him with armed robbery, robbery, first and second degree assault, use of a firearm in the commission of a violent crime and theft. Laurel police said Richardson entered the store with a handgun May 29 and demanded money.

The Laurel Volunteer Fire Department won the Most Outstanding award at theh 39th annual Fourth of July parade on Saturday, July 1.

Water service has been restored at Bryant Woods Elementary today after a water main break near the school cut off the water supply early this morning, schools spokesman John White said.

After a flood of turnout during early voting, Laurel residents head to polls today for the final day of voting in the presidential election.

In a reversal of a Library Trustee Board decision made in 2014, the new Laurel library will maintain the building's original name that reflects the contribution of 19th-century Laurel statesman Charles Stanley, who fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War.

On Aug. 25, Cortney Jordan was hired by the Howard County Public School System to teach fourth grade at Bollman Bridge Elementary in Jessup. The next day she caught a flight to Houston, first stop on her way to swim in the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro as a member of the US Paralympics team.

The Laurel Volunteer Fire Department is inviting the community to participate in a flag placement at the station this weekend.

Some roads in Laurel will be temporarily closed for the annual Independence Day celebration July 2, and city offices will close and trash collections will change for the July 4 holiday on Monday.

Residents of a rooming house off Main Street have been given notice to move out by ARK Real Estate Management Group as the building is being sold to the city of Laurel's Community Redevelopment Association.

While Laurel continues to recover from the weekend's blizzard, which dumped 27 inches of snow over most of the area, Monday will offer most residents another day free of work and school.

Laurel woke up to a winter wonderland Saturday, with close to 14 inches of snow already on the ground and more snow blowing and falling toward what the National Weather Service predicts will be an additional 11 inches of accumulation for the day.

There are plenty of reasons to dine out in Howard County, but for a week in mid-winter and mid-summer, Howard County Tourism and Promotion offers a very good reason to make a reservation.

Laurel Historical Society member and Holiday House Tour Chairman Clayton Cooper Jr. helped broker a collaboration between this year's house tour and another local group he has membership with, the Laurel Arts District Committee, which promotes local artists and the establishment of the arts district in the Main Street neighborhood. In a joint effort, an empty home has been turned into an art gallery tour stop, The Gallery at 515.

Laurel election officials released an updated tally of votes from this week's city elections, with no changes to their earlier, unofficial list of winners.

With absentee and provisional ballots still not counted, city officials said Tuesday that all incumbent Laurel City Council members and the mayor were unofficially re-elected in citywide elections.

Laurel residents go to the polls Tuesday, Nov. 3 to vote for City Council members and mayor. Early voting will be held on Saturday, Oct. 31 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Laurel Municipal Center for all residents in both Ward 1 and Ward 2.

Voters can hear from candidates in the city's upcoming elections at the Laurel Board of Trade's candidate forum, Thursday, Oct. 22 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Laurel Municipal Center, 8103 Sandy Spring Road.

Laurel Parks and Recreation's annual Laurel Dog Show provided a chance for some local pups and their owners to enter the show ring and compete for ribbons and prizes. Laurel Parks and Recreation's annual Laurel Dog Show provided a chance for some local pups and their owners to enter the show ring and compete for ribbons and prizes.

The last 100 years have taken former Leader editor Gertrude Poe, who celebrates her 100th birthday Sept. 21, from humble beginnings to law school graduate and a 41-year newspaper editor career that spanned a world war, civil rights, space race and Laurel's emergence as a suburban, commuter community. Along the way, the "Lady Editor," as Poe calls herself, developed a deep love for the community her newspaper covered.

The five sitting City Council members announced this week that they will run for re-election as Team Laurel in the city's Nov. 3 council and mayoral elections.

The King family, of Woodbine, are among 4-H families that camp out at the Howard County Fair, getting up early to tend to their livestock and spending the day busy with grooming animals (and themselves) for competitions and enjoying some of the fair entertainment on the midway, before getting the animals ready for the night.

The board of Dimensions Healthcare System, owners of Laurel Regional Hospital, voted to replace Laurel Regional with a new, $24 million ambulatory care center by 2018, Dimensions officials said Friday.

As part of the county's effort to integrate mental health and addiction treatment services into an overall behavioral health umbrella, the Howard County Mental Health Authority July 14 will move its offices to be near the Howard County Health Department.

The Laurel Fourth of July Committee sponsored the city's parade, field games and fireworks on Saturday, July 4. American Legion Post 60 was named Most Outstanding Overall

As part of its series of programs based on the current exhibit at the Laurel Museum, the Laurel Historical Society is sponsoring a talk by Laurel blogger Richard Friend on how the 1982 murder investigation of Stefanie Watson in Laurel was finally closed.

The owners of Laurel Park, who plan to build a transit-oriented development with retail and residential space near the racetrack, have requested the state Department of Transportation move the commuter train stop in Laurel closer to the track and the development, according to Laurel City Council President Ed Ricks.

Laurel Department of Parks and Recreation, together with the Laurel Police Department, will host the city's annual bike decorating, parade and ice cream social next month.

Jeanette Mitchell, of Upper Marlboro, was sentenced to 18 months in jail for repeatedly stabbing her son-in-law with a letter-opener during an assault at his North Laurel home last summer.

An 18-month restoration project to protect and repair 18th-century Montpelier Mansion in South Laurel has won the Stewardship Award from Preservation Maryland.

The Laurel Historical Society is planning a program recalling the May 15,1972 assassination attempt on presidential candidate George Wallace that took place in the parking lot of Laurel Shopping center.

City officials closed Emancipation Community Park last week as Prince George's County begins demolition of the current library building on Seventh Street adjacent to the park.

The Howard County Times won 14 awards, including two Best in Shows, in the 2014 editorial contest results announced Friday by the Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association.

A sobriety checkpoint scheduled to begin Friday, May 1 on Route 1 has been canceled, city officials said today, because of the Laurel Police Department's focus on helping with the unrest in Baltimore.

A recent Howard County Police Department test of liquor stores, which involved an 18-year-old HC DrugFree volunteer attempting to buy alcohol, resulted in one store cited for sales to an underage customer and six others lauded for following sales laws.

Nearly two decades ago, the Festival of Herbs, Teas and the Arts at Montpelier Mansion replaced the long-running Montpelier Spring Festival, shifting the focus from informational booths and live performances of local music and dance groups to a more arts and history-focused event. The revamped festival also offered plants for sale and an opportunity to take tea inside the historic mansion

A barricade situation in Laurel that began Saturday night after police said shots were fired has ended early Sunday after a man and his grandfather surrendered to police, Laurel city spokeswoman Audrey Barnes said.

Laurel police are on the scene of an apparent barricade in the 900 block of Eighth Street near Montrose Avenue, after shots were reported fired there around 8:15 p.m. tonight, according to city spokeswoman Audrey Barnes.

Laurel police have launched an enforcement this month to make the roads safer by stopping drivers who are distracted by using handheld cellphones to talk or text.

As part of the annual Howard County Housing Fair, held this year at Wilde Lake High School, Howard County Housing drew one lottery winner from pre-registered applicants looking for a chance on a Howard Square three-bedroom, three bath garage townhome.

City officials will begin a new season of the outdoor City Hall in the Park public meetings this month, the first of five planned through September.