Crimson Coward Nashville Hot Chicken opened its first Maryland location on June 3 in Columbia at 7090A Deepage Drive.

Nabil Asad is the franchisee for this new location and also operates Crimson Coward Nashville Hot Chicken restaurants in Woodbridge and Stafford, Va.

Read more at The Business Monthly.

The Howard County Council unanimously approved County Executive Ball’s $2.4 billion fiscal year 2025 Operating Budget on May 22.

The council also voted to approve Ball’s $413 million fiscal 2025 Capital Budget, which includes investments in schools, community centers, stormwater management, multimodal transportation and other infrastructure projects.

Budget highlights include the following:

Education

The approved $1.15 billion HCPSS fiscal 2025 budget exceeds the State-mandated Maintenance of Effort funding by $52 million. It includes $9 million to fully fund the Blueprint, expanding full day pre-K for eligible four-year-olds, increasing student technology investment, and expanding National Board Certification pay for educators.

Read more at The Business Monthly.

Andy Stack will be a record-holder for a long time. After serving 44 years on either the Owen Brown Village Board or the Columbia Association Board, he’s the longest-serving board member of any village in Columbia. Now he’s ready to hand the baton to the next generation.

He actually got his board start in Oakland Mills, not Owen Brown. “I moved to Columbia in 1977 and rented an apartment across from the Oakland Mills Village Center,” he said. “I volunteered at the Other Barn — the Oakland Mills community center.”

There, he got to know the members of the Oakland Mills Village Board and, in 1978, ran for a board post himself after most of the board decided to step down to pursue other activities. “I enjoyed being on the Oakland Mills Village Board,” he said. “In 1980, I purchased a duplex in Owen Brown and, since I enjoyed being on the Oakland Mills Village Board, I ran for the Owen Brown Village Board and was elected.” 

All these years, he has been inspired by Jim Rouse’s vision for Columbia, and he has wanted to be a part of making the vision happen.

Read more at The Business Monthly.

The Maryland Board of Public Works has approved an agreement to transfer ownership of Pimlico Race Course from The Stronach Group to the State of Maryland as of July 1. The May 15 approval guarantees that the Preakness Stakes will stay in Baltimore, establishes Pimlico as the year-round home of thoroughbred racing in Maryland, and creates a year-round hub of economic activity in Baltimore’s Park Heights community.

“When it comes to projects with generational impact, our administration has made it clear that we aren’t just focused on closing a deal – we’re focused on driving economic development in all of our communities,” said Gov. Wes Moore.

Under the master agreement, ownership of Pimlico will transfer from The Stronach Group to the Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority for one dollar as of July 1. The state will lease Laurel Park racetrack for three years as of Jan. 1, 2025, at a cost of one dollar per year, where races will be held while construction is underway at Pimlico, although the 150th Preakness is expected to be held at Pimlico next year.

Read more at Business Monthly.

The movie theater at Snowden Square in Columbia, which closed July 26, reopened with a new name in August, just days after a report of its supposedly permanent closure.

The Cinemark Columbia Snowden and ScreenX opened at 9161 Commerce Center Drive, at the former Regal United Artists Snowden Square. Regal closed the Columbia location as part of its parent company’s plan in Chapter 11 bankruptcy to close 130 American theaters in 2023. Regal also closed theaters in Bowie, Rockville and Bel Air, as well as in Washington.

Though one online news report in July said that the theater would close its doors “forever,” the newly-branded Cinemark theater opened August 1. A red banner with the Cinemark name now covers the United Artists Theatres sign outside the building.

The Cinemark location offers reclining seats in every theater. On Saturday it showed films such as Oppenheimer, Barbie and Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One. Vehicles were parked outside the theater. Moviegoers walked in. The scent of freshly popped and flavored popcorn hung in the air.

Read more at The Business Monthly.