Bissett expected to quit liquor board for executive's...

Bissett expected to quit liquor board for executive's race

Former Del. Phillip D. Bissett is expected to resign from the county liquor board tonight, a move that could clear the way for the Mayo Republican to run for county executive.

Bissett, appointed in May to a second two-year term on the Board of License Commissioners, has said that to avoid ethics conflicts he would leave the liquor board if he decided to run for an elected office. He is expected to tender his letter of resignation to board Chairman Richard C. Bittner and make brief comments at a board meeting.

Bissett, who served two terms as a state delegate and was elected chairman of the county's General Assembly delegation four years in a row, has been meeting with supporters to form campaign strategies. He held a cigar dinner fund-raiser last month. His fund-raising goal is $500,000. County Executive Janet S. Owens, a Democrat, has set a similar goal.

Bissett might not have a monopoly on the GOP nomination for county executive. Several others have been mentioned as possible candidates next year, including former County Council legal counsel Atwood "Barry" Tate, Del. John R. Leopold, Circuit Court Clerk Robert P. Duckworth and former County Councilman Bert L. Rice.

Academy center, 6 houses are evacuated for gas leak

Six townhouses and a child development center at the Naval Academy were evacuated for more than an hour yesterday afternoon while utility crews repaired a gas leak, authorities said.

About 11:30 a.m., a private vehicle ran over a meter valve box that controls the pressure and distribution of gas, said academy spokesman Mike Andrews. The houses and the child car center were evacuated as a precaution, he said.

Fire cause smoke damage to Taco Bell restaurant

An early-morning fire caused extensive smoke damage yesterday to a Taco Bell restaurant in Linthicum, Anne Arundel County fire officials said.

The fire started about 7:15 a.m. in a rear storeroom before the restaurant opened, said Division Chief John M. Scholz. About 30 firefighters from the county and nearby Baltimore-Washington International Airport extinguished the fire at the restaurant, in the 5100 block of Raynor Ave., near Nursery Road, Scholz said.

The cause was under investigation yesterday, Scholz said.