Student Art, Route 175 Gets Some Work Done and a Community Rallies Together

The aroma of coffee beans and syrup-flavoring lingered on my clothes almost all of last week, as I spent countless hours in Starbucks and Panera keeping tabs on all the news going down in Severn.

It began like any other week, with for others and the to more than 500 different students in the area for schooling. Students at Old Mill sought to use their to raise money for Japan relief, and the AACPS website, somewhat questionably, received an for its website. 

However, all that normalcy changed Monday afternoon when we got word of a certain group of protesters who were coming to our front door. 

After getting press releases from Bob Mosier, the spokesman for Anne Arundel County Public Schools, and from the church itself, we of the Westboro demonstrators and their intentions to picket outside of Meade High and Meade Middle schools. 

Raising Awareness

While reporting on updates and preparing for the demonstration, Patch readers brought forth a remarkable level of initiative and engagement with one another about raising awareness about the protesters. 

Our MomsTalk broke down how local parents handle with their children and, as the date approached, our Twitter feed was flooded with community members looking to gather counter-protesters for Thursday morning's event. 

Shut It Down

In preparation for the Westboro Baptist Church members and the anticipated counter-protesters, where it met Route 175, near the CVS. Morning commuters were forced to find a new way to work Thursday morning. 

Despite the inconvenience, things seemed to move pretty smoothly on the day of the demonstration. 

School buses were re-routed to minimize children's exposure to the Westboro picketers and while the were boisterous to say the least, no violence occurred and things remained peaceful. 

Route 175 Gets a Face Lift

While much of our coverage of BRAC has highlighted the need for an increase in infrastructure, Anne Arundel County recently struck a deal with local businessman, Joe Rutter, who will finance the widening of Route 175 to become a . 

The project will take some time, but the deal is a huge relief to residents, especially because there was no money in the government's budget for such a large undertaking. 

We've Got an App

In case you missed it, we ran a very Apple-like "commercial" for the brand new , available for free on the App Store. Haven't watched it yet?

Recently released for the iPhone, the app enables community members to be connected to their neighborhood, 24/7, all in the convenience of your pocket. The app is actually quite fresh looking, and I'd encourage any of you with iPhones to give it a go.