Baltimore Beltway

So misunderstood is the historical context of the War of 1812 that Piotr Ilich Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture has become something of a standard at American concerts of patriotic music. Actually, it was written by the Russian composer in honor of his people having turned back Napoleon's army in the winter of 1812, which is why a few hurried bars of the French anthem, "La Marseillaise," can be heard in the lead-up to the part that was written for accompaniment by cannon, but goes so well with fireworks.

As of 9 a.m. Monday, state highway officials reported a multiple vehicle accident on the outer loop of the Baltimore Beltway at exit 17, Security Boulevard. State highway officials also reported a lane closure at Interstate 95 northbound in Harford County, before exit 85 to Churchville Road. MTA reported no major delays to MARC service.

Among the 84 calls the Arbutus Volunteer Fire Department received for medical and fire-rescue service during the period Dec. 30-Jan. 6 were the following: Frederick Road, 6300 block, 11:42 a.m. Jan. 5. Crews from the Arbutus volunteer station and Catonsville, Halethorpe, Westview and Woodlawn career stations responded to the report of a fire in a building in Catonsville. No fire was found, but smoke was cleared from the building. Langford Road, 1600 block, 6:43 a.m. Jan. 5. Crews from the Arbutus volunteer station and Catonsville, Westview and Woodlawn career stations responded to the report of a residential fire in Westview.

It is most amusing to see the controversy surrounding speed cameras and the revenue they generate ("Speeding drivers get the blame," Sept. 13). I wonder what we tell our children sitting in the back seat. When they say, "Daddy, why are you speeding?" do we explain that "Daddy doesn't have to obey the laws," or do we say "Because almost everybody else is doing it too?" We claim to be a democratic country, and as such we elect officials to administer highway construction and safety enforcement on the public streets.

SHA closing Beltway ramp to Frederick Road for a month The Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) closed the ramp from I-695 South (Beltway outer loop) to Route 144 (Frederick Road) on Sept. 9.  The temporary ramp closure is expected to last approximately one month and is part of SHA's $16.5 million project to replace the Frederick Road bridge over the Baltimore Beltway and improve safety and traffic operations at the interchange. The new bridge will be slightly taller, to accommodate truck traffic, and that requires the ramp to be raised slightly.  The ramp will re-open in mid- October, weather permitting.

Ann L. Rector, a homemaker and longtime volunteer, died Wednesday of congestive heart failure at her Towson condominium. She was 93. The daughter of an Internal Revenue Service agent and a homemaker, the former Ann Lorraine Armiger was born in Baltimore and raised on Dorchester Road. A 1936 graduate of Seton High School, Mrs. Rector briefly attended nursing school before going to work for Bendix Radio Corp. in Towson and later the Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Co. In 1942, she married Robert D. Rector, who was then an officer in the Army Signal Corps.

Traffic is likely to be impacted in Baltimore and Anne Arundel counties today by the funeral procession for Forrest "Dino" Taylor, a veteran Baltimore City police officer who died Aug. 29, according to Maryland State Police. Taylor, 44, of Annapolis, was injured in the line of duty in a crash at a stoplight in Mount Vernon on Feb. 18. He died after complications from surgery stemming from the injuries he sustained in the crash, police said. Taylor was a 17-year veteran of the Baltimore Police Department, and is survived by his wife and two children.

Wilkens Avenue at the Baltimore Beltway will be subject to overnight lane closures and shutdowns this week as construction crews erect steel girders for a new interchange bridge, the State Highway Administration said. The state is spending $13 million to replace the obsolete Beltway Inner Loop bridge over Wilkens Avenue, which was built in 1956 and widened in 1963. The project also includes upgrading roadway lighting and installing lighting beneath the bridge; building new sidewalks, curbs and gutters; and widening a small portion of Wilkens Avenue for bicycle traffic.

Maryland's top transportation priorities should include widening the Baltimore Beltway, making Route 295 six lanes near BWI Marshall Airport and building the city's Red Line light rail, a national transportation group said Wednesday. The recommendations were part of a 40-item wish list compiled by TRIP, a nonprofit research organization sponsored by the construction industry, insurance companies and unions. "These are game-changing projects," said Frank Moretti, TRIP's director of policy and research.

Dear Joe Flacco, It's been a bizarre week, hasn't it? You're one win away from playing in the Super Bowl, and I think I've read approximately 11 million articles -- written primarily by people living outside the Baltimore metro area -- that seem eager to inform me just how truly terrible you are at playing quarterback in the NFL. Seriously, if I hadn't actually watched you play football the past four years, if I'd been locked in someone's windowless...