25 Years Ago (week of Jan. 25-31, 1970)
* Howard County Executive Omar Jones reported that the new city of Columbia was already paying its share of the county's operating budget. At the time, Columbia had an assessable tax base of more than $61 million, which made up approximately 20 percent of the county's total assessable base.
50 Years Ago (Week of Jan. 28-Feb. 3, 1945):
* An annual report prepared by state inspectors named the Howard County Jail in Ellicott City as the worst in the state of Maryland. The report stated that conditions were far below average and sanitary conditions in particular were in need of attention. Howard County Commissioners responded that they believed the "picture drawn by the report [was] a whole lot worse than the actual conditions."