Courage After the Navy Yard Shooting, Saying No to Drugs and New Life for an Old Mill Site: Best of Patch Bloggers

Here are the best of this week's Local Voices posts from our Patch sites all around Maryland. Want to share your thoughts on local politics, sports or entertainment? Scroll to the bottom of the page and click "Start a Blog" under "Post Something" on your Patch homepage. If you need help getting started, email community editors at susan@patch.com or lisa.rossi@patch.com.

Patch welcomes new Local Voices blogger Dr. Tania, an Annapolis-based chiropractor and blogger. She describes her blog as information of interest to women of all ages on a variety of topics. Check out her first posts on Patch: Off The Grid Mentality and Say No to Drugs?

After hearing about Republicans' stance on defunding health care reform and a possible government shutdown, a blogger on Patch posted his reaction. "I cannot understand this, unless it is becoming more and more obvious that Health Insurance prices are coming DOWN under Obamacare!" wrote David Arthur Liddle in his blog David The Silver Fox. "Even if they do go up, as Republicans claim, it will because of BETTER coverage." Read more in the blog post: Republicans vote to defund The Affordable Health Care Act (Obamacare).

Now is the time to get a hands-free device for your cell phone if you don't have one already. Local Voices blogger and Annapolis-based attorney Drew Cochran discusses distracted driving in his blog post: New Distracted Driving Laws Come Into Effect Oct. 1. "Nearly two-thirds of drivers say they talked on a handheld cell phone while driving in the last month, and one in three do it on a regular basis," he writes. Do you still hold your phone while driving? Tell us in the comments.

If you could write a letter --  right now –- to your child, what would you say? One Perry Hall Patch blogger, Julie Henn, wrote a touching letter to her 8-year-old daughter, urging her to do what she loves and embrace who she is. “You’re only eight, but your spirit could be move mountains,” she said.

For some, writes Ellicott City Patch blogger Veronica Salisbury, the abandoned site of the old Thistle Mill in Catonsville is a “dangerous eyesore.” For others, like herself, Salisbury said the site is a source of fascination. To see Salisbury's full post and several photos of the abandoned mill, click here.

Going to work, writes Owings Mills Patch Blogger Joni Reynolds, should not be an act of courage. Writing about the 13 people who died in the Monday shooting rampage at the Washington Navy Yard, she said:  “These people worked in what can be described as a secure environment, but sadly there are no safe places. We have seen movie theaters, churches, campaign meet and greets and even elementary schools turned into killing fields.”