Calvert

WESTMINSTER - For the third time in five months, Household Bank FSB has announced plans to close a branch in Carroll County.Household Bank said Friday that statewide, it will close three of its branches on Dec. 31 and eight of the nine formerly owned by Yorkridge-Calvert Federal Savings Association on Feb. 8.Among the eight Yorkridge-Calvert branches to be closed is this city's office at 526 Baltimore Blvd., Route 140.The shutdowns add to a string of recent bank-branch closings statewide.

A judge refused yesterday to grant bail to a Calvert County man accused of leading police on a 200-mile, high-speed pursuit and carjacking a woman's SUV in a Washington suburb and driving off with her two young children inside. Prosecutors described Carl E. Jones as an "extreme flight risk" with a long criminal record and told Montgomery County District Judge Patricia L. Mitchell that the children's mother, Marna Plaia, had pleaded that he be kept behind bars. "I have been in touch with" [Plaia]

When Severna Park's girls basketball team is functioning on all cylinders, it's a wonder to watch.Last night's 73-64 Class 4A, East Region semifinal victory over visiting and third seed Calvert (18-5) was a good example.Seven different players scored for the No. 2 seed Falcons (18-4), who were led by the hustle of sophomore Angela DeSalvo (21 points), the dominating inside play of 6-foot-2 sophomore center Jennifer Holmes (13 points, 17 rebounds), and the inside-outside shooting of junior Sandy Jenkin (19 points)

When Century forward Angela Flister looked at the scoreboard at halftime, she saw her team trailing by 20 points for the first time this season, in the state championship against defending champ Calvert. Still, the senior didn't flinch. "We always come out in the third quarter really strong, so I was hoping maybe we'll have a super strong third quarter this time," Flister said. "We were really positive coming out of the locker room at halftime, but their offense was just amazing.

A smoky four-alarm fire burned out a downtown office building across from Mercy Medical Center late yesterday afternoon, shutting down a major thoroughfare at the height of the evening rush hour.No injuries were reported, but two lawyers with Arthur M. Frank and Associates were trapped briefly on the top floor of the four-story Calvert Professional Building. They escaped by walking down a smoky stairway.The fire, which began about 5: 15 p.m. in the 300 block of N. Calvert St., started in a second-floor storage room and quickly spread to the third and fourth floors, said Inspector Michael Maybin, a Fire Department spokesman.

An 18-year-old Calvert County man died yesterday morning in Lothian after he lost control of his car and struck a utility pole, county police said.Police said Bruce Joseph Brown of Huntingtown died at the scene after his 1985 Chevy Camaro struck the utility pole just before 5: 15 a.m.Brown was northbound on Southern Maryland Boulevard north of Lower Pindell Road when his car veered to the left, police said.Police said he steered sharply to the right, lost control and struck the pole on the driver's side.

Firefighters rescued a man yesterday morning from a burning fourth-story apartment in Baltimore's Mid-Town Belvedere neighborhood, a department spokesman said, adding that the man suffered smoke inhalation but that his condition was not life threatening. Chief Kevin Cartwright, the spokesman, said the fire was reported about 6:15 a.m. in a brick rowhouse that had been converted to apartments in the 1000 block of N. Calvert St. Callers to 911 reported seeing a man in a window surrounded by smoke and flames.

Coming off a big win last week, No. 8 Calvert Hall was brought back to earth Friday, as visiting Georgetown Prep of Bethesda rolled to a 35-7 victory in a Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference game. The Cardinals (5-3 overall, 2-1 league), who upset then-No. 2 Gilman, 21-12, last Saturday, did not score against the Little Hoyas until Alex Carroll returned a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown with 3:44 left in the game. Bobby Gribbin rushed for two touchdowns for Georgetown Prep (4-2, 2-1)

In the past few years there has been a steady decline in the number of sanctioned league bowlers in the ABC and the WIBC, but not in the Calvert League at Fair Lanes Woodlawn.There has been a dramatic increase in the Calvert League over the past five years, the same years that saw a decline in ABC and WIBC membership.Today the Calvert League is one of the largest in Baltimore, filling more than half the 48-lane center -- with bowlers actually being turned away."We have 30 teams of five members each," said James Blue, the man behind the league.

One Calvert Plaza became the latest casualty of the city's Class B office market decline yesterday when lender Principal Mutual Life Insurance Co. took possession of the 16-story building at a foreclosure auction for $4.1 million.The auction price represents a 50 percent discount off the debt secured by the 201 E. Baltimore St. building, and it serves as a prime example of the re-evaluation of downtown's older properties.The 125,729-square-foot building also becomes the fourth major Class B property to fall to a lender, joining a list that includes the 10-story Equitable Building at 10 N. Calvert St. and the two-building Redwood Center.