Aberdeen

Since the city of Aberdeen celebrates its 100th anniversary this weekend, how about a tour?Founded in 1882, the town took its name from the local train station, which got its name from a resident raised in Aberdeen, Scotland. The whistle-stop town was well placed for commerce, located between Philadelphia and Baltimore.Visitors always begin their tour at the Ordnance Museum at Aberdeen Proving Ground, the largest collection of vintage armored vehicles in the East. There's "Anzio Annie," the huge cannon the Nazis used to pin down American soldiers on the Anzio beaches in World War II. Some 200,000 folks a year visit the collection, although of course that's not the reason for the proving ground, a research and training base with 15,000 employees that's growing even as the military shrinks.

HAVRE DE GRACE -- Some cheering was reported in Prince George's County police circles last week when the news of Terrence Johnson's death arrived, and who can wonder why?Terrence Johnson was a cop-killer who had been twice saved from the full consequences of his actions. He was saved first by his youth, next by his intelligence and charm. A factor each time was the patronizing idea so pervasive in the courts of our day that because he was black, he deserved leniency and assorted second chances.

Using a tenacious defense, including a full-court press, the Aberdeen Braves took a 72-48 championship victory Monday over the JoppatownePistons in the Harford Boys Summer Basketball League.Although the Braves held a narrow 29-26 lead at halftime in the game at Havre deGrace High School, the second half was all Aberdeen.Joppatowne's Germaine Head scored 14 second-half points, including two three-pointers, but it wasn't enough to match the hot shooting of Demont Blackmon. He scored four three-pointers and a game-high 23 points for the Braves.

Last week, Edgewood coach Bob Slagle was talking about his 14-man squad and the fact he did not know which player would step up at any given time to help win a game.Wednesday night, it was reserve Roderick Harrison with a 17-foot shot to beat C. Milton Wright, 43-41. Yesterday afternoon, on the road for a second straight game, it was starting guard Alfred McAllister with a shot from almost the same spot that thwarted Aberdeen, 59-57.Edgewood (7-3, 3-0) dominated play yesterday for long stretches, but wound up in position to let it get away at the end. This was in contrast to the Wright game, where the Rams had led twice, briefly, until the final shot.

The bald eagle hunkered in its tree-top nest, not pleased at the sight and sound of an Army helicopter slapping the air nearby.But the mechanical bird was friendly. Its mission was to help get an accurate tally of nesting pairs of bald eagles at Aberdeen Proving Ground, the woodsy, 72,000-acre reservation northeast of Baltimore.Since World War II, the national symbol has needed any institutional friend it could find, as the pesticide DDT and loss of habitat pushed the species to the edge of extinction in the continental United States.

Aberdeen won its seventh straight Harford County Wrestling Championship last night at Fallston High School with a decisive victory over Edgewood, 189-130.The Eagles, three-time state Class 1A-2A champions, qualified seven wrestlers for the finals and took five individual titles.Matt Slutzky, son of Eagles coach Dick Slutzky and a two-time defending county, regional and state champion, pinned all three of his opponents to take the 135-pound title. In the county final, the junior, 25-1 and ranked No. 1 by the Maryland State Wrestling Association, pinned Edgewood's Bill Carr in one minutes, 9 seconds.

For C. Milton Wright's young wrestling team, it was a learning experience. For unbeaten Aberdeen, it was business as usual.The visiting Eagles (11-0) lost three of the first four matches but took the remaining nine pairings for a 46-13 victory yesterday.The superiority of coach Dick Slutzky's team was especially noticeable in the middle and upper weights. From Frank Johnson at 135 and Dwayne Whitley at 145 through Kit Doran, Chad Gurrera, Mike Grant and Chris Allen there were three pins, a technical fall and two major decisions.

A teacher at Aberdeen Middle School has decided to quit his job after 27 years rather than stand trial on charges that he had improperly touched three of his female students, his lawyer said Thursday.Edward Graham Thomson, 51, of Churchville agreed to sign a letter of resignation Monday, the same day prosecutors agreed to drop the charges, said Thomas Morrow, Mr. Thomson's Towson attorney.Mr. Thomson did not return telephone calls.He had been on administrative leave with pay since March 16, 1994, when charges involving three 11-year-old female students were made.

The battle between the mayor and city council of Aberdeen continues next month, with tests in the court and at the polls.The city council election May 4 poses a clear choice for partisans in the fray. The mano a mano legal combat is scheduled two weeks later. Councilman DeWayne Curry is charged with assault by Mayor Ruth Elliott. She claims he shot a clenched fist near her face during a closed council session. Mr. Curry denies it; others add that Mrs. Elliott tossed candy wrappers at him.It's the kind of childish spat that can give even government a bad name.

On a breezy September afternoon, Jerry Queen invited some friends over for a cookout on his front lawn, which overlooks a golf course that the city of Aberdeen wants to annex to help make way for more than 1,000 homes. After throwing some hot dogs on the grill, he pulled his pickup truck onto the grass and opened the hood - to maximize the sound of his horn when he blared it into a golfer's backswing. He decided against actually laying on the horn, on the advice of his attorney, but the golf course owner who is pushing the development likely got the message anyway: All the attendees at his party were wearing red shirts, the uniform of those opposed to the proposed annexation that has riven this Harford County community.