Carroll County Commissioner Primary Election Results

The 2014 primary election was held this week and the Carroll County Commission will look a little different next year.

In District 1, it appears as if our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ did not want Robin Bartlett Frazier to win reelection.  The now lame-duck commissioner made headlines by praying to Jesus before every meeting, which to me makes it sound like she hates Jews and other non-Christians.  Robin Jesus Frazier was defeated by Steve Wantz.

District 2 saw Richard Weaver win the primary in a race to replace Haven Shoemaker, who sought a seat in the Maryland House of Delegates.

In District 3 voters learned that incumbent Commissioner and Board President David Roush lost to challenger Dennis Frazier.  District 3 encompasses the Westminster area.

District 4 saw Richard Rothschild get re-elected.  Many moderates considered Rothschild to be in cahoots with Robin Lord and Savior Bartlett Frazier in pushing extreme conservative issues, such as reducing the size of the government, with no regard to the impact on services provided by the county.  County parks?  Screw them!  Sewer and water distribution - not important! No taxes?  Ahem, Amen!

In District 5 incumbent Doug Howard easily won over the suspected Frazier and Rothschild-funded right-wing challenger Cathey Allison, who billed herself as a true conservative, which many take to mean one that prays to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ before meetings and wants to eliminate the government entirely.

Are you satisfied with the results of the County Commissioner primary elections?

Memorial Day Parade Salute

This is one of those 'better late than never posts'.  My daughter got the opportunity to walk in the Westminster Memorial Day parade this year.  My other kids were out and about with better things to do, so I sat by myself in front of the Edward Jones office on Main Street, while my wife walked with my daughter.  Unfortunately, I forgot my real camera, so I had to take pictures with my iPhone.  I was fortunate to be downwind of every smoker in Westminster.

For the novice parade watcher, you need to understand that a true Memorial Day parade is when politicians ride in cars and wave their name in your face and tell you to vote for them.  Oh, and then we salute the soldiers.  But best of all, there are fire trucks.

The parade was led by Westminster's finest, a 2005 Ford Interceptor.



I think most people in Carroll County know Haven Shoemaker.  He's currently one of the commissions for the County Council.  He's running for state delegate in a crowded District 5 against Carmen Amedori, incumbent Donald Elliott, incumbent Susan Krebs, incumbent Justin Ready, 21 year old Joshua Stonko, and Kevin Utz.  There are some Democrats running, but Martin O'Malley condensed all of the Republicans into as few districts as possible, so the odds of a Democrat winning are about as good as me winning a belly dancing competition.  This is God's country.  And God likes Republicans.  Or so Robin Frazier tells us.

Note that Commissioner Shoemaker is looking away from me.

Nothing says you love your country more than painting the American flag on your car.

If I had my Nikon, I would have been able to get more details, but I cannot zoom in too much to read the details of this antique fire truck.  Anyone know what it is?

I think this fire truck is even cooler.  There are nothing but ladders on this long truck.

Did I mention the military?  These fine soldiers represent the 29th company of the Maryland National Guard.

Here is delegate Justin Ready.  Note that he is looking away from me.  I've met him and he's a really nice guy.

Here is current state delegate Susan Krebs.  Note that she is also looking away from me.  Krebs is our current state delegate, but with O'Malley's new map, she'll be mashed up in District 5.  Eric Bouchat with the rumored tumultuous past is the leading candidate to pretend to represent this end of South Carroll.

I think this was the only modern fire truck in the parade.  This is Pleasant Valley's 1991 Spartan Saulsbury.

And last, but not least, is Commissioner Robin Frazier.  Note that she actually looked at me.  She then told me to pray to Jesus.

Mezcal Mexican Restaurant & Bar

Mezcal Mexican Restaurant & Bar
9958 Reisterstown Road
Owings Mills, MD 21117
(410) 205-7150

I noticed this restaurant in the former China Best site in the St. Thomas Plaza in Owings Mills.  I decided to try it out as the exterior looked inviting.

The interior was just as inviting and I find it amazing that this is in fact the same place as China Best, which seemed as if it hadn't been updated since Carter administration.  The side wall is stone, the ceiling is dark, and I remember a lot of reds.  My friend and I were quickly seated next to the lengthy bar.  And what's a restaurant without an array of flat screen televisions piping in the latest mid-day sports news about nothing.

Our server gave us a basket of tortilla chips and salsa, very similar in taste and style to Don Pablo's.  Mezcal offers a lunch menu with items under $9 or so.  I got a platter where you get 3 main items and one side.  I got a hard taco with beef, an enchilada with spinach, and a soft taco with chicken.  My side dish was an avocado salad, which was basically avocado over lettuce with a wedge of tomato.

The food was quite good.  I slammed down the spinach tamale.  I then ate the chicken soft taco, which was good, but the chicken pieces were quite a mouthful.  I then ventured to the hard taco.  By the time I got to it, the hard taco shell was mushy.  It was still tasty, but a bit flaccid.

The service was attentive.  My iced tea was refreshed without asking and they gave us an extra basket of tortillas and salsa.

Overall, I thought the place was good.  It is very similar to Don Pablo's, but on a much smaller scale.  It felt less commercial than the DP.

My only complaint was when we were leaving the manager-type guy asked how everything was.  I told him that the hard taco was laying on the avocado salad and by the time I ate it it was soggy.  It was a deer in the headlights moment.  Not a "thank you for telling us", just an awkward stare in silence.  And then we left.  I wasn't expecting a free meal or anything, just an acknowledgement.  Regardless, we'll definitely go there again.  You should check it out.

New to Randallstown - 7 Mart

I don't know about you,  but this seems like a blatant rip-off of 7-11.  This "store" opened in the little shop across the street from Ward's Chapel United Methodist Church.  Since we've lived in Eldersburg, this spot has been a wood furniture store, a fly-by-night mattress store, and an office for the Maryland Department of Transportation while they were building the road rage lanes at the intersection of Liberty Road and Ward's Chapel Road.  I understand from some of the older folks in town that this used to be a grocery store.

According to the Maryland Property Database, this structure was completed in 1947.  Oh, to go back in time.

Closed in Eldersburg: Glazed to Perfection

I noticed this last week.  The Glazed to Perfection store in Monroe Station has closed this location.  However I hear they have merged with Sykesville Potter and Art Center.

Remember when Glazed to Perfection moved from Peddler Square across the street to Monroe Station?

Do you remember when it was Curves?  I don't remember what it was prior to that.  This was before I started documenting every change in Eldersburg.

May - A Month in Review

NFL Draft - Cleveland drafts 8 quarterbacks.  Ravens displayed a slightly higher level of acumen and fortified their offensive line by drafting tight end, a running back, and another quarterback.

Nigeria girls kidnapped.

Russia announced that it was bailing out of the International Space Station.  Concerned scientist world-wide pleaded with the Russians to at least wait until another shuttle arrives to bring them back to Earth.

30 Rock star Alec Baldwin was arrested once again, this time for the intolerable crime of riding his bicycle the wrong way down a one-way street.  He was promptly beaten, humiliated, and placed in a holding cell with other criminals arrested for lesser crimes, such as murder, armed robbery, and embezzling.

WMAR Channel 2 became the news when a deranged mentally ill person crashed into the lobby of the station with a stolen stake-side truck.  When the police heard that a deranged man had crashed the truck into the station, police immediately suspected Maryland governor-apparent Anthony Brown.  Unfortunately, it was not the current Lieutenant Governor.

Longtime America's Top 40 radio disc jokey Casey Kasem went missing.  In one of the most bizarre stories of the year, the legendary radio icon may have been kidnapped by his current wife and fled to a foreign country or an Indian reservation because she was about to lose custody, so to speak, of the Kasem who is suffering from dementia.

American Idol contestant Clay Aiken ran for the 2nd Congressional seat in North Carolina.  When asked about his qualifications to work in the House of Representatives, he cited his hit song "Invisible".  People claimed that his pop song doesn't qualify him to be a national politician, to which the antagonists responded that he was just as qualified as Harry Reid.  Touche'.

Thailand is under martial law.  I find it interesting that a guy named Marshall is running a country that has basically been in a state of war or a harbinger of underage brothels for 50 years.

A school in Utah decided to shred the 1st Amendment and then got busted when they editing year book photos, though only girls' photos were edited.  The Wasatch School District blacked-out cleavage or covered exposed shoulders of the girls, but apparently left uglier girls' pictures untouched who exposed just as much skin.  When asked to comment, the school superintendent rambled on about how he would have gotten away with it if it weren't for those meddling kids.

Dr. Maya Angelou passed away at the age of 86.  The renowned writer, poet, singer, and Presidential Medal of Freedom winner inspired many.  She wrote seven autobiographies, because one is not enough.  The current generation of teens learned of her death on Instagram, though none of them read about her, because there are no articles on Instagram, just pictures.

The parents of the graduates of Baltimore County's Randallstown High School did their imitation of an episode of COPS when an all-out brawl broke out during the graduation ceremony at Towson University.  Randallstown prides itself on a tradition of excellence, but older graduates insist the school wasn't like this when they went there.

President Obama gave the biggest gift ever to people who hate Americans when he officially changed U.S. policy of not negotiating with terrorists.  Obama allowed 5 terrorists being held in Guantanamo Bay to be released in exchange for U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, whose members state was actually a deserter.  Political wonks now expect more Americans to be kidnapped so that terrorists can get all of their members out of Guantanamo.