Bel Air

Editor: What a great idea! The banner idea, no doubt will be a heart-warming experience for both veterans and their families, as well as the public. However, there will be very deserving men and women who will not be on a banner, because a relative, mother and father, son or daughter, cannot afford to pay the $200. This letter is to thank those veterans. They know what they did, and maybe next year someone will find a way to get all of their names flying in the wind over Main Street in Bel Air. Robert M. Dillow Baldwin

The Harford County Department of Public Works has announced the extension of Cedarday Drive to Cedar Lane near the regional park entrance is open to traffic. The road extension project has been in the works for several years and was once strongly opposed by many residents of the Cedarday community, who said extending the main street through their community would cause Cedarday Drive to become a cut through for people using Wheel Road to get to Cedar Lane Regional Park. Despite that opposition, the county pushed ahead with the extension project last year.

Harford County is hardly Tinsel Town. The closest places to Bel Air named Hollywood are in St. Mary's County on Maryland's very lower Western Shore and in Carbon County, Pa., not too far from Scranton, backdrop for the hit TV series "The Office. " Yet Bel Air, for the third year in a row, will be the scene of a film festival come the weekend of Oct. 21-23, and it will feature fare found at the Sundance Film Festival and other venues that specialize in celluloid offerings of a more cerebral timbre than the typical summer smashes and seasonal blockbusters.

Many of you no doubt saw the popular feature Top Maryland Athletes in Sun History that has appeared on http://www.baltimoresun.com since April. The list was compiled by veteran Sun sportswriter Mike Klingaman in conjunction with The Sun's 175th on May 17. The main criteria for selection was that the man or woman either came from Maryland or a significant portion of his or her career took place in Maryland. The list counted down from 175 to 1 over a period of about six weeks.

Even though we know better, it's still hard for those of us who have lived in Harford County any amount of time to accept that Bel Air is no longer a safe, sleepy, small town. Those of us who have lived here a long time wonder what how our quiet county became so dangerous. How dangerous? Anyone going to or from Upper Chesapeake Medical Center in Bel Air Saturday night, who decided to stop for gas at the adjacent Exxon station, could have been subjected to random gunfire. As could anyone driving on Route 24. Granted, the shooting happened at about 11 on a weekend night when few people would ordinarily be going in and out of the medical complex, but that's not the point.

The circumstances that led to the arrest of Robert Richardson III on charges of killing his father were tragic ("No bail for Bel Air teen accused of patricide," Jan. 12). Although many details have yet to be revealed, this clearly was a family struggling with a multitude of social issues in addition to the tragic loss of a mother and wife. As an educator, what I find the most perplexing and disturbing is the fact that the Harford County Sheriff's Department were called to this residence 12 times in recent years, and not one report was made to Child Protective Services.

Bel Air voters have five very good candidates to choose from when they go to the polls Tuesday, Nov. 8, to pick three people to serve on the town board for the next four years. These are the people who will be making decisions about such things as trash collection, street paving, parking, police and public safety administration and property tax rates, to name a few. Their actions have a real and substantial impact on the roughly 10,000 people who live in the Bel Air town limits.

Editor: I wanted to take an opportunity to provide some comments in summary of the recent Town of Bel Air election. First, I must express my gratitude once again to the voters of Bel Air. This campaign was yet another rewarding experience for me as a candidate. I always enjoy knocking on doors and hearing feedback from voters; this truly is a great town in which we live. I am pleased to see two outstanding incumbents remain in office and am delighted that a very well qualified challenger is joining the board.

Editor: I find it very disturbing that the Town of Bel Air is paying nearly $1.3 million to create 33-metered parking spaces [Bel Air Building Passing into History, The Aegis Jan. 11, 2012]. That is the cost for purchasing and subsequently demolishing the old BB&T Building that abuts the Harford County Sheriff's Office in Bel Air. In total, this amounts to just under $38,900 per parking spot. How many years does the lot have to be in use to even break even? Will the meters be in use 24/7 or will this result in free nighttime parking for those establishments adjacent to the property?

BEL AIR -- An Edgewood man, who Harford drug agents say is the head of a drug ring operating in the county, was being held without bond yesterday after his arrest during an overnight raid by the county's Narcotics Task Force. Jason E. Easter, 25, of the 1400 block of Charlestown Drive in Edgewood was arrested early Monday by task force officers after they discovered cash and 21 ounces of cocaine in his vehicle, said Harford Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Ginger Rigney. Police also arrested five others on a variety of drug and weapons charges after serving warrants at several homes, Rigney said.

Monique E. Spagna, of Bel Air, announces the engagement of her daughter, Danielle Maria Spagna, also the daughter of Louis Spagna and his wife, Mary, of Rogers, Ark., to David Strazzire, the son of Joe and Debbie Strazzire, of Street. A September wedding is planned.

No. 8-ranked Patterson Mill outscored No. 14 Harford Tech 8-1 through the first four innings, cruising to a 15-4 victory Tuesday in the second round of the Class 2A East baseball playoffs. The visiting Huskies outhit the Cobras 17-7 and scored six runs in the last two innings. Matt Golczewski went 5-for-6 with four RBIs, five runs and three doubles. Patterson Mill faces Rising Sun or Fallston in the quarterfinals. Archbishop Curley 3, Gilman 1: The Friars took a 2-1 lead in the first inning and would not look back, defeating the host No. 1-seed Greyhounds in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference playoffs.

An alcoholic once said to a friend: "You should share your drink with me, because the Bible says 'do unto others as you would have them do unto you.'" What's missing here? The situational context. An abstract ethical principle requires thoughtful application if it is to be a legitimate basis for action. Our rhetorically-skilled president needs to explain how he sees Jesus' words apply to the historically unprecedented situation of redefining marriage to include same-sex unions.

Harford County and the Baltimore Metropolitan Council are celebrating May as Clean Commute Month and May 18 as Bike to Work Day. County Executive David Craig urges everyone to bike to work or try biking for fun, fitness or transportation. The growing event has launched a new website and has now opened online registration. Participating cyclists should register at http://www.Bike2WorkCentralMD.com. The Bike to Work Day Rally will be held, rain or shine, from 7 to 9 a.m. at the Harford County Government Administration Building at 220 S. Main St. in Bel Air. The rally, hosted by Harford County Government, promotes riding a bicycle as a fun, viable, low-cost commuting option.

The season didn't start the way Bel Air baseball coach John Swanson hoped. But maybe it will end more to his liking. By the time the Bobcats could catch their collective breath this season they were a 3-8 team. But what Swanson has discovered is that he has capable leaders in senior captains Zack Stout and Tyler Riedal and junior Tyler Norcross. They showed their character by leading their teammates through the building process. Now, Bel Air is 9-11 heading into the Class 3A postseason, which begins this weekend (MPSSAA brackets are expected to be unveiled Wednesday)

Harford County sheriff's deputies were called to investigate an attempted break-in Friday morning at a home near C. Milton Wright High School in Bel Air. An occupant of the home on Chester Way, in the Villages of Thomas Run, called 911 sometime around 10 a.m. after hearing glass breaking and observing subjects running away, sheriff's office spokesman Capt. Jim Eyler said. "Patrol officers responded and are handling it," Eyler said. "At this point, they aren't sure if anyone actually entered the home.

A woman was rescued from her vehicle after it ran off the road and turned over in Bel Air Monday afternoon. Shortly before 1:30 p.m., fire and EMS rescue crews were called to the scene on Route 22 in front of John Carroll High School. The vehicle, an SUV or minivan, had left the roadway, hit a curb and rolled over on its side, trapping the unidentified driver inside, according to rescue personnel at the scene. No one else was in the vehicle, nor were any other vehicles involved in the accident, rescue personnel said.

The Harford County Department of Public Works has announced the extension of Cedarday Drive to Cedar Lane near the regional park entrance is open to traffic. The road extension project has been in the works for several years and was once strongly opposed by many residents of the Cedarday community, who said extending the main street through their community would cause Cedarday Drive to become a cut through for people using Wheel Road to get to Cedar Lane Regional Park. Despite that opposition, the county pushed ahead with the extension project last year.

The North Harford Hawks closed their Chesapeake (upper) Division schedule Wednesday with a five-inning victory, 10-0, over the visiting C. Milton Wright Mustangs (9-6 overall, 8-4 Chesapeake). With the win, North Harford, which clinched the upper division title Monday with a victory over Patterson Mill, improved to 15-1 overall and 11-1 in Chesapeake play. Wednesday's game was halted after five innings by the 10-run mercy rule. Cody Brittain tossed a one-hitter for the Hawks, striking out five in the complete-game shutout.

Cellular Sales, the nation's largest Verizon premium wireless retailer, recently announced the grand opening of a new store at 1435 Rock Spring Road in Bel Air. "Cellular Sales is pleased to open our newest store on Rock Spring Road," Kory White, regional director of Cellular Sales, said in a press release. "We want our store to be a resource for customers to get all their wireless services needs met with outstanding service by our experts. " Cellular Sales was founded in Knoxville, Tenn., 19 years ago and has, for the past four years, been named by Inc. Magazine one of the nation's fastest growing privately-owned retailers operating 500 stores with nearly 4,000 employees.