Babylon

PoliceWestminster: A Wakefield Valley Golf and Conference Center employee told police Friday that someone used a shovel to dig holes in the greens. Damage was estimated at more than $5,000.Westminster: A resident of Carroll Street told police Friday that property was stolen from his vehicle. The loss was estimated at $718.FiresWestminster: Firefighters from Westminster, Pleasant Valley, Reese and Union Bridge responded at 6: 16 p.m. Sunday to a kitchen fire in the 400 block of Babylon Court.

PoliceWestminster: A resident of Stacey Lee Drive reported Saturday that someone entered her unlocked vehicle and removed a cordless phone. The loss is estimated at $130.Westminster: An employee of Lone Star Steak House reported Sunday that someone removed cash from the restaurant. The loss is estimated at $178.44.Westminster: A resident of Shamrock Circle reported Monday the theft of his gold Honda Civic from the rear of Crossroads Shopping Center. The loss is estimated at $3,000.Westminster: A resident of Babylon Court reported Monday that a German shepherd puppy was taken from a pen in the back yard between 10: 30 p.m. and 11: 30 p.m. Saturday.

25 years ago: Maryland Transportation Secretary Harry R. Hughes says Maryland is planning a state-operated program to increase the number of commuter carpools in the Baltimore metropolitan region. Mr. Hughes says intensive planning for the program is a "direct response not only to the energy crisis but also to the need for improving air quality and for relieving traffic congestion in the Baltimore area." -- the Carroll Record, Nov. 29, 1973.75 years ago: The outcome of the state vs. Hampstead Fire Company was tied up before a jury in the Circuit Court on Wednesday.

Here is road work being done in Carroll through Sept. 13.Deep milling and patching:140 Village Road: East Main Street to the shopping center entrance.Monroe Street: Englar Road to the Westminster city line.Bennett Road: Route 32 to Oklahoma Road.Gaither Road: Obrecht Road to the Howard County line.Paving:Cable Drive: Ridge Road to Melstone Valley Way.Morgan Road: Hoods Mill Road to the Howard County line.Back Woods Road: Deep Run Road east to Bixler Church Road.Patching:Brown Road: Old Westminster Pike to Lawndale Road.

BABYLON, Iraq -- In broad daylight, thieves broke into the Nebuchadnezzar Museum by the ancient ruins of Babylon and made off with two of the 14 main exhibits.They took five large foundation cylinders bearing cuneiform writings from the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II, the famous Babylonian king who rebuilt this city in the sixth century B.C., and 37 other small flat cuneiform tablets from different Mesopotamian periods."I believe foreigners are encouraging thieves to steal the relics of Iraq," charged Wahbi Abdul Razak, director of Babylon's ruins, blaming United Nations sanctions against President Saddam Hussein's regime for a surge in antiquities thefts across the country.

PoliceWestminster: Valley Cab Inc. of Pikesville told police that a passenger left without paying a $20.50 fare at 7: 53 p.m. Thursday.FireWestminster: Firefighters responded at 10: 23 a.m. Monday to burning electrical wires in the first block of Pennsylvania Avenue. Units were out 14 minutes.Pleasant Valley: Firefighters responded at 8: 18 p.m. Monday to an illegal burning at Babylon Road and Zeiglers Outlet Road. Units were out one hour and 16 minutes.Pub Date: 6/05/96

The Kingdom of Babylon Shall Not Come Against You, by George Garrett Harcourt Brace & Co. 334 pages. $24In this irreverent, amusing tale, George Garret, author of 14 novels and more than a dozen other works, pokes fun at America while offering a wonderfully intelligent investigation of the nature of "reality," "perception," "truth."The time is the present and the past, specifically the events surrounding April 4, 1968. Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered that Thursday in Memphis. In Paradise Springs, a small central Florida town, a traveling evangelist and a local girl were murdered, and a minister was found dead from a suicide.

Westminster police say Halloween trick or treating for children under age 12 should be restricted to the hours between dusk and 9 p.m. Oct. 31 in the city.Residents who wish to participate should put on their outside lights and children should only go to these houses.It is recommended that children go trick or treating in their own neighborhoods and wear light clothing, so they are visible after dark.PoliceWestminster: An employee of The Wall store at Cranberry Mall reported that someone stole items valued at $18 from the store Wednesday.

POLICE* New Windsor: A resident of the 1200 block of Western Chapel Road told state police someone broke a rear sliding glass door and damaged the front door of her home in an apparent attempt to gain entry Thursday. The damage is estimated at $350.* Taneytown: A resident of the 5200 block of Babylon Road reported to state police someone cut a lock on his gasoline pump and stole about 62 gallons of gas.NTC

A 19-year-old Westminster man, who allegedly attacked two city officers with a knife after slashing his wrist, was arrested Friday and later released by a District Court commissioner on $5,000 unsecured bond on assault and related charges.Douglas Ernest Cross of Babylon Court was admitted to Carroll County General Hospital on Feb. 9 for treatment of a self-inflicted wound. He was arrested Friday after police obtained a warrant.Police said when they were summoned to a house on Babylon Court about 9:30 p.m. Feb. 9, they found Mr. Cross in the house bleeding from the wrist wound and holding a double-edged knife with a 9-inch blade.

Guy Graham Babylon, a Grammy Award-winning musician and former New Windsor resident, who was a keyboardist with Elton John's band for more than 20 years, died of arrhythmia Sept. 2 at Los Robles Hospital & Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, Calif. He was 52. Mr. Babylon, who had been a member of the North Baltimore Aquatic Club when in high school and still enjoyed competitive swimming, was stricken while swimming and was pronounced dead later at the nearby hospital. Elton John, who was unable to attend Mr. Babylon's funeral that was held Sept.

Catonsville's Shamika Williams is as adept at heaving a full-court pass to a teammate who has gotten behind the opponent's defense as she is at driving through a crowded lane for a layup. Williams' versatility was the difference in the ninth-ranked Comets' 53-28 victory over Dunbar yesterday in the 22nd annual Holly & Hoops Holiday Tournament at Mount de Sales. Williams scored a game-high 15 points with 10 rebounds and five steals to help the surging Comets improve to 6-0. "We stepped it up and calmed down a little bit," said Williams, who has committed to UMBC.

David S. Babylon, a retired accountant who had served for many years on the Westminster Common Council and was known for his detailed knowledge of the city, died of emphysema Tuesday at his home. He was 82. With Carroll County family roots dating back for generations, Mr. Babylon was born in Westminster. He remained in his boyhood home on Willis Street until the end of his life. He was a 1941 graduate of Valley Forge Military Academy, and interrupted his studies at Gettysburg College to enlist in the Army during World War II. He attained the rank of captain.

Babylon and Other Stories Alix Ohlin Knopf / 288 pages / $23.00 Many writers, stalwarts like F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Cheever and Joyce Carol Oates among them, know the secret Alix Ohlin divines in her deft new collection, Babylon and Other Stories: The short story is tailor-made for the theme of alienation. Cheever, for example, defined the suburbs and their sometimes comic, mostly painful alienation; there may never be as perfect a short story about suburban life as The Country Husband.

The Women's Club of Westminster recently presented the Carroll County Agriculture Center with two Welch Allyn brand Automated External Defibrillators (AED). The AEDs are used to resuscitate victims who experience a cardiac arrest or other heart problems. The AEDs provide voice commands to the rescuer on the proper use of the machine. The Women's Club raised $3,000 from a basket bingo in April and received several donations to pay for the AEDs, which were given in time for this week's fair, said Etta Ray Griffin, a club member.

Thy sons that thou shalt beget, they shall be taken away and be eunuchs in the palace of the King of Babylon. Howl, ye, therefore." Howl, indeed. With opening lines like these, you can't help but be hooked on Belshazzar's Feast, a mighty work for baritone, chorus and orchestra by Sir William Walton that will be performed tomorrow at the Peabody Conservatory. It is one of two extraordinary choral works on tap this weekend. The other is Rossini's delectable Petite Messe Solennelle. Both will be conducted by Edward Polochick, who has quite a track record for igniting hot performances in our area.

When Alexander the Great stood at the gates of Babylon in 323 B.C., the story goes, a flight of ravens fell dead at his feet. It was a bad omen, according to the soothsayers. Within two weeks the conqueror of an empire that stretched from Greece to India was dead, at age 32, of a mysterious illness. Doctors and historians have speculated for centuries about the cause of this battle-hardened warrior's death. In 1998 two University of Maryland Medical Center physicians said he probably died of typhoid, which can cause the chills, fever, abdominal pain and delirium that Alexander suffered.

The Carroll commissioners authorized a $1 million short-term loan yesterday that will allow construction to begin as soon as possible on the $4.5 million Agriculture Center in Westminster. The 60,658-square-foot facility could be ready in time for the 4-H Fair next summer if the timetable is met, officials told the commissioners yesterday. The county has approved a public works agreement for the building and is reviewing the site plan. The project will be ready to go out to bid in the next few weeks.

THE 26TH Columbia Invitational Soccer Tournament, a Memorial Day weekend fixture and economic asset in this county that you really ought to experience, opens early Saturday, with finals May 28 at Fort Meade's Parade Grounds, not far off Route 175. The Soccer Association of Columbia/Howard County thinks its 270-team field is as competitively strong as it has been in recent years, said President Jim Carlan. He and others were - still are - worried about losing teams to a competing tournament run by the Potomac Soccer Club at the new Maryland SoccerPlex in Germantown.

The Baltimore Symphony has cooked up an expanded version of its annual Summer MusicFest. For the first time, outdoor activities will be held before each concert, not just afterward. "We're trying to make this a festival in the true sense of the word," says Greg Tucker, the BSO's director of public relations and community affairs. "There will be music, dancing, food and fun." With an eye toward grabbing the downtown, happy hour-seeking office crowd and other customers, the festival, which runs June 28-July 14, will crank up at 5:30 p.m. on concert nights at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall.