Balto

Paul Lang's piece on the selection of Mays Chapel for an elementary school was very much on the mark ("Mays Chapel Park wrong site for school" Feb 14). Instead of providing a comparative analysis of any substance, the Board of Education offers anecdotes, hyperbole and a "preliminary assessment" so cursory and flawed that it does not recognize the presence of public utilities at the other site it says it evaluated. It is an assessment so incomplete that it does not address costs to mitigate traffic issues, the costs of razing seven acres of mature trees or the comparative value to the local communities of the open space that will be lost.

A man believed to be homeless is wanted in connection with the drowning death of an Edgemere man, according to Baltimore County Police. Officers responding to reports of a possible drowning victim discovered the body of 43-year-old Donald Edward Russell at Lynch Point Community Park in Sparrows Point on Aug. 2 at about 11:16 p.m. Russell, whose last known address was in the 6700 block of North Point Road in Edgemere, was pronounced dead at the...

A 58-year-old man was killed when his motorcycle collided with a Toyota 4Runner in Baltimore County Saturday morning, according to the Baltimore County Police Department. Police on Tuesday identified the motorcyclist who died as John William Moschetto of the 700 block of Hollen Road in Baltimore. The accident occurred on Shawan Road near Beaver Dam Road. According to county police, police and fire officers responded to a call about the accident at 7:57 a.m. When they arrived at the scene, they determined that a motorcycle had a head-on collision with a Toyota 4Runner.

Baltimore police have arrested a 35-year-old man in connection with a fire that destroyed an automobile repair and tire shop and cast a cloud of thick black smoke over Northwest Baltimore last Monday afternoon, police said. Police said Sunday that they had arrested the suspect, identified as Jason Hicks, on Friday and charged him with first-degree arson in the three-alarm fire in the 4100 block of W. Belvedere Ave. According to news reports and a Baltimore City firefighters' union website, the fire broke out around 4 p.m. Sept.

Baltimore County police are investigating a "possible bias incident" after a rock was thrown through a window of a Muslim community center in the southwest neighborhood of Riverview. Police spokeswoman Detective Cathy Batton said a rear window was reported broken at the Bab E Mustafa Community Center on Hollins Ferry Road between Monday evening and noon Tuesday. The cost to repair the damage was put at $100, she said. She said police were looking into the possibility of bias as a motive chiefly because no other buildings in the area were damaged, and because the person making the complaint said that in the past, young people have shouted slurs at the building during prayer sessions.

Baltimore County has maintained its top bond ratings from the major rating agencies, county officials said Friday. The county received AAA bond ratings from Fitch, Moody's and Standard & Poor's. The agencies pointed to factors including the county's manageable debt burden, conservative fiscal practices and a large, diverse tax base. Less than 1 percent of counties in the country have AAA bond ratings from all three major rating agencies, county officials said. Favorable ratings help the county save money when it borrows.

There should be no question that the Baltimore County School Board should be more accountable to the citizens and elected officials of Baltimore County. This is not the case with a board appointed by the governor. Recent revelations of management issues which raise considerable questions about the judgment and accountability of the superintendent and the school board further underscore the need for reform now ("Hairston aide got no-bid contract," Feb. 9). The Baltimore County School Board should consist of four members appointed at large, seven members appointed representing each legislative district in the county and one student member appointed at large.

Now that the General Assembly session is about to begin, the Baltimore County political delegation should turn their focus to securing funding to sustain the Baltimore County Public Schools' (BCPS) decade-long success in raising achievement for all students, regardless of their zip code. BCPS continues to be ranked one of the best in the nation among large, diverse, urban school systems. A good example of this is Millbrook Elementary School's recent national recognition for progress in closing the achievement gap. As demonstrated in BCPS' Blueprint for Progress, the focus should always be about the students and making sure more students do well in math, reading and language arts.

A Circuit Court judge has ruled against a contractor who claimed Baltimore County owed the company $1.4 million in a dispute over construction of the County Detention Center. Judge Judith C. Ensor rejected the appeal from George Moehrle Masonry Inc., a company based in Frederick, and affirmed the decision of a county hearing officer, who had awarded the company $72,603. According to a statement from the county, Moehrle had a $3 million contract for work to be performed in 2004 and 2005.

Two local residents have died in separate house fires this week, including an elderly man in a two-alarm blaze in the Jacksonville-area Thursday morning. According to the Baltimore County Fire department, the fire occurred just after midnight in a single-family home at the 5600 block of Sweet Air Road. Baltimore and Harford county fire officials responded to the heavy fire, and officials said that because there were no hydrants in the area extra crews were called to assist with water, which was shuttled from a nearby natural water source.