Balcony

An Odenton man was arrested on drug charges Thursday after marijuana was found in his car and in his pockets, police said.An officer on patrol saw the car on Stepney's Lane shortly after 3:30 a.m. As the officer approached, the car pulled into a clearing and stopped beside another car, police said.Officers approached the first car and talked to the driver, who said the other driver was looking for a quiet place to talk, police said.While the second driver was being questioned, an officer saw a )

When Gunther and Linda Than moved into their one-bedroom unit in Canton's Anchorage Tower condominiums, they really downsized. The Thans moved from their larger unit in the Anchorage to one of the smallest at less than 1,000 square feet of living space, which includes the outdoor balcony. The entire front of the condo (living room, dining area, master bedroom and balcony), like every unit in the Anchorage Tower, has a water view, as well as a view of the city skyline and beyond. "Every unit here has a great view [so]

Improperly discarded smoking material is blamed for a fire that damaged the exterior of a condo building in Bel Air late Monday night, according to fire investigators. The fire in the 1300 block of Scottsdale Drive did an estimated $25,000 damage to the exterior of the building, according a notice of investigation from the Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office. The fire on the balcony of the four-story building was discovered by a neighbor shortly after 11:45 p.m., according to the state fire marshal's office, which said it took 20 firefighters about five minutes to bring the fire under control.

A fire broke out on a third-story balcony of an apartment building on Sunday morning, Baltimore City fire officials said. Firefighters were dispatched at 10:03 a.m., to a working fire on a rear exterior balcony at 1010 W. Baltimore St., which is listed online as the Hollins House. The fire was cleared at 11:13 a.m. There were no known injuries, and no one was evacuated during the incident. The cause of the fire is under investigation, fire officials said. Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts

A 23-month-old Laurel girl was in critical but stable condition after falling off a fourth-story apartment balcony early yesterday morning, police said.The parents of Rene Saulsbury told police they awoke at about 4 a.m. yesterday to the sounds of a child crying. The parents, whose names were not available, said they searched the apartment in the 100 block of Charlotte Drive before realizing the sounds were coming from outside, police said.Checking the balcony, they said, they looked down and saw the girl lying in the grass below.

Four British men were hospitalized early today after falling two stories from an Ocean City apartment balcony and landing on the Boardwalk, police said.Ocean City police said the accident occurred about 2:40 a.m. when a balcony railing collapsed at an apartment above Trimper's Rides at the south end of the resort town.Andrew Ratcliffe and Martin Harrington, the two most seriously injured, were taken to Peninsula General Medical Center in Salisbury.Mr. Ratcliffe was listed in critical condition with a head injury.

A man in his 20s slipped from a balcony and plunged eight floors to his death last night at the George B. Murphy Homes housing project in West Baltimore, city police said.They said the man, whose identity police withheld because relatives had not been notified, was attempting to climb from an eighth-floor balcony to a ninth-floor balcony at approximately 9 p.m. when he apparently slipped and fell.He was taken to University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.The concrete balconies on the four 14-story high-rises were linked to another tragedy last year.

A 2-year-old Harford County girl was listed in stable condition last night after falling 20 feet from the balcony of her townhouse onto some concrete, said state police. Cpl. Daniel Fairburn said the child, whose name was not released, climbed onto a bicycle kept near the railing of a balcony at her home in the 1700 block of Fountain Rock Way in Edgewood. The girl's mother rushed to prevent her from falling, but the girl fell and landed on her head about 3:20 p.m. before the mother could reached her, he said.

A 19-month-old girl suffered head injuries yesterday in a fall from a balcony overlooking a swimming pool at Notre Dame Preparatory School near Towson, Baltimore County police said. The toddler was walking with a 12-year-old girl toward a soda machine above the pool at the school on Hampton Lane about 5:20 p.m. when the girl stopped to talk to a friend, police said. The toddler wandered away and somehow fell off the railed balcony, landing nearly 20 feet below on the tile floor next to the pool.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- A child's shriek startled Qinuo Van Dyk just as her husband leaped off their 15th-floor Miami Beach hotel room balcony to his death. The stunned mother walked out to the balcony and looked down to see his body on the roof above the third-floor mezzanine -- right next to the pajama-clad bodies of her 4- and 8-year-old boys. That's when she started screaming. "It's so horrific; it's almost unbelievable," said Officer Bobby Hernandez, spokesman for Miami Beach police.

Improperly discarded smoking material is blamed for a fire that damaged the exterior of a condo building in Bel Air late Monday night, according to fire investigators. The fire in the 1300 block of Scottsdale Drive did an estimated $25,000 damage to the exterior of the building, according a notice of investigation from the Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office. The fire on the balcony of the four-story building was discovered by a neighbor shortly after 11:45 p.m., according to the state fire marshal's office, which said it took 20 firefighters about five minutes to bring the fire under control.

A suspected Roland Park burglar plummeted to his death from a third floor balcony after being spotted by the owner of the home he was apparently robbing, police said. Police responded to a call for a burglary in progress on the 4500 block of Roland Avenue shortly after noon on Monday. Returning home, the resident had seen the man on the balcony at the back of his house, police said. The 55-year-old suspected burglar attempted to slide over the balcony and down the outside of the house, but lost his footing and fell 26 feet onto a concrete walkway, police said.

Some of my favorite haunts in old Baltimore occupied me over a recent Sunday afternoon. On the first day of the week, I was in two historic churches, St. Ignatius on North Calvert Street and St. Alphonsus on Saratoga, home of the Latin Mass and a very handsome set of newly restored 19th-century stained-glass windows. There was time for a quick run through the Walters Art Museum's Greek artifact show and the Hippodrome matinee of "Dreamgirls." It was a cool winter day, with the flattering natural lighting from a setting sun. Ancient downtown Baltimore appeared much restored, cleaned and painted, physically in far better shape than some sketchy years in the 1990s.

Hall of Famer and former Orioles pitcher Jim Palmer wanted something a bit different when he was looking for new digs in the city a couple of years ago. "It's a unique apartment. It's worked well for me," Palmer said of his two-level condo in the Canal Street Malt House at the edge of Little Italy. It put him a short walk from many of his favorite restaurants and near the O's, for whom he's been a color analyst. "It's very tranquil." The loft-style condo in the reborn structure - it was built in 1866 to store malt for the city's growing brewing industry - has a modified industrial look with exposed ductwork and huge windows.

Exactly 150 years after the "Washington and Jefferson Snowstorm" dropped a record 3 feet of snow on the region, a 28-inch snowfall brought Washington its worst weather disaster ever. On Jan. 28, 1922, the roof of the Knickerbocker Theatre fell beneath the weight of the snow and carried the balcony down with it. Ninety-eight moviegoers were killed and 158 were injured, some trapped for hours. News accounts said small boys crawled through the rubble to give the victims pain medication.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- A child's shriek startled Qinuo Van Dyk just as her husband leaped off their 15th-floor Miami Beach hotel room balcony to his death. The stunned mother walked out to the balcony and looked down to see his body on the roof above the third-floor mezzanine -- right next to the pajama-clad bodies of her 4- and 8-year-old boys. That's when she started screaming. "It's so horrific; it's almost unbelievable," said Officer Bobby Hernandez, spokesman for Miami Beach police.

Five Baltimore County police officers -- including one who saved a woman from jumping off her 21st-floor apartment balcony -- were honored for courage, dedication and community service last night at an awards ceremony in Towson.Officer Joseph E. Yeater of the Towson Precinct received the highest of the Baltimore County Police Foundation awards, the Medal of Honor, for grabbing a woman as she leapt over the edge of her balcony Feb. 8, 1995.He managed to hold on as the woman kicked and thrashed, about 200 feet above the street.

Theater `Golda's Balcony' Golda's Balcony, a one-woman show about Israeli Prime Minis ter Golda Meir, opens tonight at the Hippodrome, 12 N. Eutaw St. Set during the Yom Kippur War, the show features Valerie Harper portraying Meir as she faces questions whose answers helped mold the future of Israel. The show runs through May 21. Tickets are $24-$64. Call 410-547-SEAT.