The 234 Apartment

As Towson University students prepare to head back to campus this week, university officials say complaints of loud, unruly gatherings near the campus are down by as much as 50 percent in some neighborhoods since the Baltimore County Council passed an ordinance to deter problem behavior . After numerous neighborhood complaints of public urination, property damage and excessive noise in residential neighborhoods, the council passed the Social Host–Unruly Social Gatherings ordinance in January 2016 to target problem landlords and renters through their pocketbooks. The two-year pilot, which was introduced by County Councilman David Marks , will expire in January. With a full school year having passed since the enactment of the ordinance, neighbors, Towson University officials and county police officials say it is working to curb problem behavior . Marks said he will seek reauthorization of the legislation. "I think it's having the effect we wanted and it's had, mor...

My three-year-old cat spends most of her time lounging by the window. It faces the high branches of the tree outside our apartment, and she stares intently out at the rusty- red wood thrushes and brown house sparrows that perch there; her eyes dilating when the occasional squirrel rustles the branches.  She’s a seventh-floor housecat who longs for the outdoors. But even if there was a feasible way of letting her go outside, I wouldn’t let her loose on native wildlife on her own (if you’re not familiar with the war being waged between cats and birds, my colleague Rachel Gross has chronicled it in all its gory detail here). So, as a compromise, last year I bought her a leash. After some initial hiccups, we have settled into a rhythm where I buckle her into her harness, scoop her up and carry her down to the soft grass adjacent to a nearby duck pond . There, I let her down, and her whims dictate our path. Often, people stare. Sometimes, they’re walking their dogs: big ones, small one...