IN BRIEF

To enroll through the county, call 410-313-6318 or visit http://www.howardcountymd.gov. Prospective renters also may apply through the rental communities.

Moderate Income Housing Unit enrollments are held quarterly. The next lottery will be in mid-August.

County Building Inspectors Return From Flooded Iowa

Four building inspectors returned from flood-stricken Iowa last week after nine days assessing damage caused by flood waters in Louisa County, just south of Cedar Rapids. Sean Kelly, Ed Ackerman, Kenneth Brown and Dave Baer were the only Marylanders to respond to Iowa's call for help through a state-to-state Emergency Management Assistance Compact.

Louisa County Sheriff Curt Braby e-mailed Howard County Executive Ken Ulman (D) with thanks, saying: "Your guys left us yesterday after doing a job that we could not have done by ourselves. . . . Other than the fact that they didn't know what a grain elevator was, they got along very well. . . . They are all definitely invited back to our next disaster, and we appreciate Howard County letting them come out to visit."

The Maryland Emergency Management Agency will reimburse Howard County for all costs associated with the trip.

Craft Vendors Sought For Juried Exhibition

Town Center Community Association invites crafters to participate in a juried craft fair 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 22 at Historic Oakland, 5430 Vantage Point Rd., Columbia. Contact Patricia Loeber, 410-730-4744 or tcstaff@columbiavillages.org.

Nonprofit Literary Society Elects Board Members

The Howard County Poetry and Literature Society elected Susan Thornton Hobby and Padraic Kennedy to the board at its annual meeting last month. Hobby is an editor and journalist. Kennedy, a former president of the Columbia Association, is also the husband of the society's founder, Ellen Conroy Kennedy.

Virginia Pausch, Patty Rouse, David Barrett, Catherine McLoughlin-Hayes, Kathleen Larson and Timothy Singleton were reelected.

The nonprofit society, also known as HoCoPoLitSo, was founded in 1974 with a mission to expand the county's audience for contemporary poetry and literature.

Restaurant Weeks Offer Wining, Dining Options

More than 20 Howard County restaurants will offer a three-course dinner menu for $30.08 or a two-course lunch menu for $20.08, plus tax, through Aug. 3 as part of the county's first Restaurant Weeks promotion.

The event, organized by Howard County Tourism, is a response to a culinary tourism report by the Travel Industry Association, which says that 17 percent of American leisure travelers participated in culinary or wine-related events in the past three years.

The following restaurants are participating: Aida Bistro & Wine Bar, Columbia; Cafe de Paris, Columbia; Clyde's of Columbia; Crab Shanty, Ellicott City; Elkridge Furnace Inn, Elkridge; Greystone Grill, Columbia; Iron Bridge Wine Company, Columbia; Jordan's Steakhouse, Historic Ellicott City; Kelsey's Restaurant, Ellicott City; King's Contrivance, Columbia; the Melting Pot, Columbia; O.Z. Chophouse, Maple Lawn; Rams Head Tavern, Historic Savage Mill; Ranazul, Maple Lawn; the Rumor Mill, Historic Ellicott City; Tersiguel's French Country Restaurant, Historic Ellicott City; Trapeze, Maple Lawn; Alexandra's at Turf Valley Resort, Ellicott City; Victoria Gastro Pub, Columbia; Waterside at the Sheraton Columbia Town Center Hotel, Columbia; and Waverly Grill, Marriottsville. Reservations are encouraged.

Howard County Tourism will give a $100 gas card to one diner who can prove he or she has eaten at the most number of participating restaurants. To enter the contest, submit photos of yourself eating at the restaurants, which must be identifiable in the photos. E-mail photos, with the contact details, to hcrestaurantweeks@gmail.

-- Compiled by CARRIE DONOVAN