May 16, 2009
Horseshoe manufacturer worker suffers hand injuries
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An employee at a Rosedale horseshoe manufacturer was seriously injured Friday morning after his hands were caught in a 60-ton press, according to a Baltimore County Fire Department spokeswoman. The man was taken to the Curtis National Hand Center at Union Memorial Hospital. His injuries were not considered life-threatening, said the spokeswoman, Elise Armacost. About 9 a.m., county fire crews were called to Victory Racing Plate Co. at 1200 Rosedale Ave. Using airbags and hydraulic tools, it took them about 25 minutes to free the worker's hands from the press, which is used to mold metal into horseshoes, Armacost said. Authorities were investigating what caused the accident.
- Liz F. Kay and the Associated Press
Acela train kills person on tracks south of BWI
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An Amtrak spokeswoman says tracks have reopened between Baltimore and Washington after an Acela train killed a person south of BWI-Marshall Airport. The medical examiner's office in Baltimore says an autopsy is expected Saturday. Forensic investigators are in Severn south of the BWI station, where the train hit and killed someone about 11:25 a.m. Friday. The train left Boston on Friday morning en route to Washington. Amtrak spokeswoman Karina Romero said there were 142 passengers on the train, but no one was injured. She said the train was authorized to travel 125 mph in the area of the accident and was likely going that fast when it hit the victim. Two of three tracks were closed while Amtrak police investigated.
- Associated Press
Misty descendant dies unexpectedly
As a direct descendant of Misty of Chincoteague, Nightmist was a celebrated visitor at the annual Eastern Shore pony swim immortalized by Marguerite Henry's 1947 novel. Nightmist died unexpectedly Thursday, his owner, Mike Pryor, said from his horse farm in Waynesboro, Pa. He said the pony was 11 and had shown signs of colic. "Nightmist just sat down and died, same way as his mother," Pryor said of Windy, who died after giving birth to Nightmist on July 9, 1998. Every July, about 150 wild ponies swim the 200-yard channel between Assateague Island and Chincoteague. The ponies are auctioned after each run to raise money for the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company, which cares for the Virginia herd.
- Associated Press
Astronauts continue repair work on Hubble
Astronauts floating outside the space shuttle Atlantis for more than seven hours Friday successfully installed three pairs of new gyroscopes and a new set of batteries for the Hubble Space Telescope. The work was slowed by nearly two hours when spacewalker Mike Good could not get one of the new gyro pairs to sit properly in its base plate. The faulty unit was finally discarded and replaced with a spare. Saturday, astronauts will try to install the new Cosmic Origins Spectrograph and attempt a difficult repair of the telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys, which broke down in 2007. More work is scheduled for Sunday and Monday.
- Frank Roylance
Swan missing from Carroll Humane Society pond
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Grumpy the swan is missing. The bird is usually seen swimming by himself at the Humane Society pond north of Westminster, or resting with the pond's geese. But since Monday, Grumpy - so named because his former owners said he couldn't get along with other swans - has been missing. Staff are afraid he was taken by someone looking for a friend for his own swan. Grumpy can't fly, and there was no sign of white feathers to lead them to think he was attacked by a predator. "They can sneak him back," said Nicky Ratliff, executive director of the Humane Society of Carroll County.
- Associated Press
Counties denied request to reduce education spending
Maryland officials denied Friday requests by Montgomery and Prince George's county governments to reduce their share of education spending, sending both counties scrambling to find alternatives to layoffs and furloughs as they revise their budgets in the midst of the recession. The state school board's decision blows a $79.5 million hole in Montgomery's plans for balancing the books and comes less than a week before the County Council is scheduled to take its final budget vote Thursday. Council members were already trying to close a projected shortfall of more than $550 million for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Prince George's is in a similar position and must now plug a $23.6 million gap in its budget. Both county governments had hoped to balance their budgets by cutting education funding below the state-mandated minimum, known as "maintenance of effort." But the state board rejected their arguments and a similar request from Wicomico County on the Eastern Shore, noting that 21 of Maryland's 24 jurisdictions had been able to pay their share for education despite the recession.
- The Washington Post
