Locals Irked by News Story Placement

It was the spat heard 'round the world--a banal domestic squabble played out at Walmart.

The Jerry Springer-quality antics, combined with the novel use of cleaning liquids as weapons and innocent bystanders overcome by fumes, produced a potent buzz-worthy news item.

A woman's at the Walmart at 3601 Washington Boulevard in Lansdowne put this area in the national spotlight, getting play at the Washington Post, Gawker, Fark and numerous media and web sites. Theresa Jefferson has been charged in the incident.

Some residents are displeased with how the story was covered, erroneously reporting the location of the Walmart as Halethorpe or Arbutus.

"That's not Arbutus," said Nikki Marlatt-Young, president of Arbutus Improvement Association, who has contacted several news outlets to point out the incorrect reporting.

"We are working hard to maintain the appearance and reputation of the community," Marlatt-Young said.

According to Marlatt-Young, in response to her email WJZ-TV and Fox 45 corrected the location of the Walmart in online version of their stories, while WBAL has not.

Arbutus Patch initially located the store in Halethorpe based on information from police, which was corrected in updated versions of the story.

"We've worked very hard to keep up the image of Halethorpe," said Mike McAuliffe, president of the Halethorpe Improvement Association. "One headline can really ruin it."

The problem mainly arises from the fact that the post office serving the 21227 zip code--which serves the communities of Relay, Arbutus, Halethorpe, Lansdowne, Baltimore Highlands, Riverview, Bloomfield, Violetville and English Consul--is located in Halethorpe.

The composition of the area ranges from historic wooded properties to urbanized poor neighborhoods with subsidized housing and more violent crime. Yet crime that occurs anywhere in this corner of southwest Baltimore County is usually reported with the broad brush of Halethorpe.

"People hear of a shooting in Halethorpe and think it's a bad place, but that's not the case at all," said McAuliffe. "It's a nice little community."

The communities of Arbutus, Halethorpe and Lansdowne emerged along railroad lines, and each has defined boundaries, McAuliffe said. Lansdowne is within the I-695 Beltway, while Halethorpe is outside. Arbutus straddles the Beltway, for the most part west of Route 1.

So where is the Walmart located? In Lansdowne, at the Lansdowne Station shopping center. Except that a sign greeting customers at Walmart itself says, "Thank you for shopping your local Arbutus Walmart."

The geographic ambiguity of this area has been an issue in the past.

When President George W. Bush visited the Home Depot across the street from the Walmart in December of 2003, according to the Baltimore Sun the White House hedged by announcing the store's location as the Lansdowne Home Depot in Halethorpe.

Then-Gov. Robert Ehrlich, an Arbutus native who appeared with Bush at Home Depot, attempted to correct the record.

"We're in Arbutus," Ehrlich reportedly said.