Access Road

An article in yesterday's Maryland section about Union Memorial Hospital seeking to put a helipad on its roof should have said that the access road to its current helipad at Lake Montebello can still be used. However, because hospital officials must make advance arrangements to have the road opened, they say its use is limited in emergencies.

Throw the bums out. If not now, in January. Bring in the Prince of Darkness, Joe Steffen, to clean house at the Department of Natural Resources. If he's busy, pick another hatchet man and give him a fistful of pink slips. Any DNR official involved in creating the conflict between hunters and an upscale private resort at Savage River State Forest in Western Maryland should be on notice. Taxpaying citizens should never have to beg their government to ensure access to public land. The story is this: The owner of the Savage River Lodge in eastern Garrett County pulled strings and got DNR to post bright yellow signs prohibiting hunting in the portion of Savage River State Forest that abuts his property and the access road leading to it. Mike Dreisbach, who opened the lodge about six years ago, says some of his guests have become frightened when they encounter hunters while hiking or cross-country skiing.

The River Hill High School drama department will present the Michael Frayn comedy Noises Off at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 15, 16, 17 and 18; 2 p.m. Nov. 18; and 3 p.m. Nov. 19 in the school auditorium. Drama teacher Pam Land will direct, with help from student directors Sheyda Alemzadeh, Allison Baker and Amanda Ogorzalek. Joe Blasko will direct construction of a set designed by students Mike Leon and Lauryn Fantano; a crew of more than 25 students will build the set and props. Tickets are $8 in advance; $10 at the door.

Four homes tucked behind my house are accessed by a long driveway/road that runs in between my house and the house next door to me. The driveway then breaks off into the four separate driveways of the four homes. I call them my backyard neighbors. Three of my four "backyard" neighbors recently indicated that their driveways were going to be redone by the builder because of water puddling and other issues (cracking, dips, etc.) and that the main access road (the main driveway) also is going to be resurfaced.

The New Windsor Fire and Hose Company No. 1 could move into its $4.5 million new fire station by the end of the summer, but how firetrucks and ambulances get to emergencies remains a problem. The state has pulled funding for the highway access road, which has been promised to the volunteer company, for at least another year. Although money for the access road has evaporated, state officials have promised an interim solution. The emergency vehicles will have a way to reach Routes 31 or 75, the main arteries that serve the town of about 1,400, state officials said.

In a death tentatively ruled a suicide, a 44-year-old Baltimore County man stepped into the path of traffic on the Jones Falls Expressway near Mount Washington late yesterday afternoon and was struck by a van, city police said. The incident occurred after the Rosedale man's pickup truck had crashed on an access road next to the light rail tracks near the Kelly Avenue bridge, disrupting rail operations and evening rush-hour expressway traffic. The man was driving his Dodge pickup truck south on the access road about 4:30 p.m. when the vehicle overturned, said police homicide Detective Al Marcus.

WASHINGTON - The Securities and Exchange Commission may revise its rules on initial stock offerings to modernize the 1930s-era guidelines, agency commissioners and staff said yesterday. The SEC staff is drafting changes to reduce restrictions on public comments when companies go public, an issue that almost derailed Google Inc.'s $3.47 billion offering last week when Playboy published an interview with the company's founders. The SEC rulemaking may also address road shows, sales meetings where small investors are often excluded, agency officials said.

The state is kicking off this week a $19 million, two-year project to improve five bridges and roadways near the interchange of the Baltimore Beltway and Interstate 83 in Baltimore County. The project is part of the state's continuing effort to improve highway safety and prepare for expansion of the northern section of the Beltway, according to the Maryland Department of Transportation's State Highway Administration. The following bridges and roads will be affected: The Joppa Road bridge over the Beltway will be replaced with a wider and higher bridge to allow for expansion of the highway below.

In a decision that appears to buttress existing homeowners' rights as developers continue to subdivide in Howard County and other suburbs, the Court of Special Appeals has ruled that a developer could not use a covenanted lot in an existing development to provide access to a new subdivision. The ruling "recognizes both the importance of residential restrictions on property and also recognizes the Circuit Court has the power to enforce covenants," said James M. Connolly, attorney for residents of Beaufort Park, a community off Reservoir Road in Fulton.

WHILE COMMUTING on Route 32 is nightmarish, living on it can be even worse. Will Geckle must deal with Route 32 whenever he leaves his home. "I read with interest your article today in the Baltimore Sun concerning Route 32 traffic congestion in Howard County between Interstate 70 and Route 26," he said in an e-mail. "To leave our house, we must enter Route 32. During rush hour it can take 10 minutes to enter 32 and even then it requires a bit of luck. A family was nearly wiped out about a year ago when their van was totaled trying to enter 32 at about 6 p.m."