Belair Road

As of 9 a.m. Wednesday, traffic was slow on the inner loop of I-695 at Belair Road, due to an accident involving two vehicles. An accident was slowing traffic at Liberty Road and Old Liberty Road in Sykesville. There were no major delays reported on Baltimore area transit systems.

As of 9 a.m. Wednesday, traffic was slow on the outer loop of I-695 at Belair Road, due to an accident. Traffic was slow on I-95 northbound at the Delaware State Line toll plaza and on U.S. 50 westbound at Bay Dale Drive in Anne Arundel County. A disabled vehicle was blocking traffic on the outer loop of I-695 at Falls Road in Baltimore County. There were no major delays reported on Baltimore area transit systems.

Food for the Poor, a Christian international aid organization, has opened an office in White Marsh. The office, at 8019 Belair Road, is one of five U.S. offices of the nonprofit organization, which has headquarters in Deerfield Beach, Fla. Food for the Poor also has operations in Haiti, Jamaica and Central America.The organization was created to assist the indigent of the world, primarily in the Caribbean, through self-help projects and establishment of small businesses. Since 1982, it has distributed more than $433 million in food and medical, educational and other supplies to 27 countries in the Caribbean and Latin America.

A 17-year-old girl died and two other teenagers suffered critical injuries after a stolen car in which they were riding crashed into a tree Thursday night on Belair Road, according to Baltimore police. Lishinia Miller, 17, was one of four occupants in the 1991 four-door Lexus at the time of the crash, reported at 8:47 p.m. in the 1900 block of Belair Road, between East North Avenue and Sinclair Lane. She was taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital, where she was pronounced dead just before midnight, police spokesman Detective Kevin Brown said.

Plans to divide a section of Belair Road in Perry Hall with a median strip or barrier have been dropped, state highway officials announced yesterday. The decision by state Transportation Secretary Robert L. Flanagan yesterday followed a Monday night meeting in which about 150 residents and business owners in the Baltimore County community gathered to protest the plan to include a median strip in proposed road improvements to Belair Road between Cottington and Joppa roads and nearby India Avenue.

Police were looking for the man who robbed a Bank of America branch yesterday in Baltimore County. Police said a man entered the bank in the 7900 block of Belair Road in Fullerton about 10:20 a.m. and gave a teller a note demanding money. The man fled with an undisclosed sum and was last seen running south on Belair Road, police said. The robber is described as a white man in his early 20s, between 5 feet 5 inches and 5 feet 10 inches tall, with a slim build. He was wearing blue jeans, a black flight jacket and a "Ford" baseball-style cap, police said.

Drug enforcement officers from the Northeastern Police District raided a Belair Road apartment yesterday and arrested four people.The officers, acting on information from citizens concerned about drug trafficking along the Belair Road corridor, seized $28,000 worth of suspected cocaine, $35,000 cash in two gym bags and two firearms in the 4: 30 p.m. raid.Sgt. William Sekinger, head of the district's drug unit, said each of the four was charged with possession of narcotics with intent to distribute and illegal possession of firearms -- a .223 caliber rifle and a .22 caliber handgun.

OK. Baltimore Bluegrass has closed. That's disappointing to many customers, but the success of the store reflected the continued beauty of Belair Road in Northeast Baltimore and surrounding neighborhoods. Many people assume the worst when long-standing institutions such as Baltimore Bluegrass music store or Bo Brooks restaurant leave the area. It's a knee-jerk reaction resulting from media attention to the nasty and nefarious instead of the upbeat side of human nature. Add to this the ever-constant change of demographics, a process common to any area, and one might perceive decimation when change happens either inside or outside the beltway.

Charles Joseph "Chuck" Fowler Jr., who owned a Belair Road tavern and was host to monthly meetings of the Baltimore area's former National Football League players, died of complications from cancer Monday at St. Joseph Medical Center. He was 65 and lived above his Overlea business. Born in Baltimore and raised on Kenlea Avenue in Overlea, he attended St. Michael the Archangel Parochial School. He graduated in 1957 from Calvert Hall College High School, where he played ice hockey and football.

A Kingsville man was killed during the weekend when he was struck by a car on Belair Road near New Cut Road about a mile from his home, Baltimore County police said.Daniel Glen Carr, 38, of the 7700 block of Buckhill Road was walking south in the 12300 block of Belair Road about 8: 05 p.m. Saturday when he apparently stepped into the road and was struck by a southbound 1995 Pontiac Bonneville driven by a Woodlawn woman, who tried to avoid hitting him, police said.Police said Carr was pronounced dead at the scene by Fire Department medics and that pedestrian error contributed to the accident.