8 finalists to design, build Station North bike racks
Judges have selected eight finalists, including three Maryland Institute College of Art students, to design and build eight one-of-a-kind bike racks to be installed by next spring in Baltimore's Station North district. The designs were submitted as part of the Station North Bike Rack Project, a competition held this fall to help raise the bike rack to an art form and make Baltimore a more bike-friendly city. A public display of the 79 designs will be held from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Dec. 12 at 20 W. North Ave. The winners will each receive $4,000 to execute their designs for locations to be determined. The finalists are: Sanjit Roy, Ethan Rochmis, Irina Dukhnevich, Chris Shea, Andrea Dombrowski, Daniel Raimond, Paul Capetola and Nick Trincia. Dombrowski, Dukhnevich and Capetola are MICA students.
Edward Gunts
Medevac use down notably in state since fatal crash
The number of Maryland medevac transports has dropped significantly since new protocols were put in place after a fatal crash, causing lawmakers to question yesterday how many helicopters are needed to replace the state's aging fleet. Donald DeVries, chairman of the State Emergency Medical Services Board, and Dr. Robert Bass, who is the director of the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems, briefed lawmakers on the Joint Committee on Health Care Delivery and Financing about an expert panel's findings. There have been only 396 requests for medevac flights in the seven weeks since the crash killed four of the five people aboard. Of those requests, about 57 percent resulted in helicopter flights, Bass said. That projects to about 1,679 transports a year, "significantly down from what our historical numbers are," he said. There were about 4,100 flights last year. Several lawmakers asked whether the downward trend would continue and how it would affect the state's need for new helicopters, at a time when Maryland is facing a serious budget crunch.
Associated Press
Pedestrian, 81, is struck by vehicles, killed on I-95
An 81-year-old pedestrian was fatally injured when he was hit by several vehicles on Interstate 95 in Southwest Baltimore on Monday night, and authorities were seeking help from witnesses and drivers in their investigation. Haywood Bass of Baltimore was struck by at least two vehicles and a tractor-trailer about 10:45 p.m. in the southbound lanes in the area of Caton Avenue, according to the Maryland Transportation Authority Police. All southbound lanes were closed as police investigated. Bass was pronounced dead at the scene. Witnesses and drivers who think they might have struck an object in the road are asked to call the agency's collision reconstruction unit at 443-324-8894.
