Bus contractor ends operations in Baltimore area
TOWSON -- As many as 30 schools in Baltimore County were affected by a delay in school bus service yesterday after a local transportation contractor announced that it would shut down its Baltimore operations.
Laidlaw Inc. told employees Monday that it would end its operations based in Baltimore. Five or six drivers employed by Laidlaw did not report for work with the schools yesterday. Other drivers had to cover those routes, mostly in the southwest county, and they will do so until the school year ends Friday, said Rita Fromm, schools transportation director.
Fromm said she will hire drivers and locate extra buses to cover the Laidlaw routes by the time school starts in the fall.
Man seriously injured in tractor-trailer accident
MARYLAND LINE -- A man was seriously injured early yesterday morning in an accident involving four tractor-trailers in the southbound lanes of Interstate 83 near the Maryland-Pennsylvania border, according to state police.
Police had temporarily shut down southbound traffic on I-83 because of construction when a rig owned and driven by Dennis Eugene Summers, 50, of Morgantown, W. Va., hit a line of tractor-trailers that were stopped. Trooper Ryan Orner said Summers was going 63 mph and never tried to brake before he hit the back of a tractor-trailer, causing a chain reaction and forcing the closing of the highway until 6:30 am.
Summers was in serious condition last night at Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, state police Sgt. Steve Seipp said. No one else was injured.
6-week bridge closing set on Dulaney Valley Road
The two-lane Fitzhugh Run Bridge on Dulaney Valley Road near Loch Raven Reservoir will be closed to traffic for six weeks, beginning Monday, for a $380,000 replacement project, the Baltimore Department of Public Works has announced.
The bridge is 600 feet east of Dulaney Valley Road and Jarrettsville Pike.
The Dulaney Valley Road Bridge, which crosses the reservoir, will not be affected. Nor will southbound traffic on Jarrettsville Pike or northbound traffic on Dulaney Valley Road toward Jarrettsville Pike. For access to Dulaney Valley Road east of Jarrettsville Pike, motorists should use Loch Raven Drive.
Summer solstice picnic in park planned Sunday
PROVIDENCE -- Earthome Inc., a nonprofit environmental education group, will hold a summer solstice celebration from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Sunday at Cromwell Valley Park.
The event will feature a picnic dinner and fresh strawberries. A donation of $5 per person, plus a dish of food to share, is requested.
The park is at 2002 Cromwell Bridge Road. Information: Louisa Thompson, 410-707-2550.
In Baltimore City
Farmers' market open downtown on Sundays
The Baltimore Farmers' Market, in its 24th year, will open at 8 a.m. through sellout (usually noon) Sundays through Dec. 23 at Holliday and Saratoga streets under the Jones Falls Expressway downtown.
The market offers fresh fruit and vegetables, flowers and meat.
This year, Kalabash, specializing in Nigerian cuisine, and Curry Shack, featuring Caribbean food, will be among the vendors. Information: 1-888-BALTIMORE.
Conference on Friday will focus on fatherhood
The Governor's Fatherhood Advisory Council will sponsor a free Baltimore Metro Area Regional Conference from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday at the Baltimore Convention Center.
National, state and local experts on fatherhood will talk about their practices and strategies.
Information: 410-767-4982.
