Cellular

PoliceWestminster: A person from SOS Loan Pawn Shop told police Friday that a cellular phone was stolen from a display case. The loss was estimated at $200.FireWestminster: Firefighters responded at 6: 49 a.m. Sunday to a water detail in the 100 block of Pennsylvania Ave. Units were out 35 minutes.Pub Date: 7/13/99

Harford County officials announced yesterday that the Americom Group will open a regional manufacturing and service center in Edgewood.The Americom Wireless Handset Processing Centers Inc. is scheduled to begin occupying a new 33,500-square-foot facility in Lakeside Business Park on July 1. Tom Sadowski, director of Harford's Office of Economic Development, said the company will bring 150 high-technology jobs to the county."

Police Blotter is a sampling of crimes in Baltimore City and Baltimore County.Baltimore CityCentral DistrictBad check/arrest: A man, 22, was arrested Saturday when he tried to cash a check made out for $561.77 at Mel's Corner, a store in the 400 block of W. Lexington St. The reason the check was not honored was not available.Robbery: A man, 38, was arguing with two men in an alley in the 400 block of Marion St. about 4 p.m. Saturday when they punched him and robbed him of cash, a cellular phone and a watch, all valued at nearly $300.

The wife of an unarmed man shot and killed Friday by a Baltimore police officer who apparently mistook a cellular phone for a gun is "outraged," according to the man's lawyer.Mardio House -- who turned 27 Friday -- was shot three times in the stomach at 11 a.m. after leading a Baltimore police officer and federal Drug Enforcement Administration officer on a foot chase in East Baltimore."There's a large level of shock, outrage, anger, confusion," said Harry McKnett, House's attorney.He said House's wife, Marletta, has asked him about representing her in possible legal action against the city.

An investigation of drug trafficking and gang violence at the maximum-security Maryland House of Correction has turned up a surprise -- inmates using cellular phones.Four cellular telephones and a watch with a pager attachment, apparently smuggled into the Jessup prison, were found in recent searches of areas used by convicts. Corrections officers found nearly 2 ounces of marijuana, a half-ounce of heroin and a third of an ounce of crack cocaine in the cell of one gang member, prison officials said.

Police Blotter is a sampling of crimes in Baltimore City and Baltimore County.Baltimore CitySoutheastern DistrictTheft from vehicle: A Hi-Point 9 mm semiautomatic handgun with serial No. 824463SM, a stun gun and a video camera, all valued at more than $1,100, were stolen Tuesday from a 1984 Oldsmobile Cutlass parked in the 2500 block of Fleet St.Central DistrictTheft: A New York woman was in the lobby of the Omni Inner Harbor Hotel in the 100 block of...

For septuagenarians Bea and Roland, the frequent drives to Johnson City, Tenn., to visit their son are long and a bit frightening, but a borrowed cellular phone will ease their minds on the next trip.The couple borrowed their phone from the Carroll County State's Attorney's Office. The office has 40 free "loaner" cell phones available for seniors who wish to feel secure when they travel."Driving along miles and miles of remote highway made me think about what would happen if we had some sort of problem," said Bea, 70, who lives in Carroll County.

Police Blotter is a sampling of crimes in Baltimore City and Baltimore County.Baltimore CityCentral DistrictStabbing/carjacking: Two men were sitting in a 1996 Jeep Cherokee in the 900 block of Cathedral St. about 2: 20 a.m. yesterday when two men with knives demanded their money. The victims resisted and during a struggle, the driver, 40, was stabbed twice in the chest. The victims were ordered out of the vehicle and the robbers drove off with the Jeep, which was recovered in the 800 block of W. Saratoga St. The driver was in stable condition at Maryland Shock Trauma Center.

BROOKLYN, Ohio -- The mayor of this Cleveland suburb can recall a time when people survived without driving automobiles or talking on telephones -- let alone both at once.So the town has banned cellular phone use by drivers.Mayor John Coyne, 82, says the law -- believed to be the first of its kind in the nation -- is just a matter of common sense."Things have gotten a little out of hand, don't you think?" said Coyne, noting that some cars now have computers, fax machines, even televisions.

Police Blotter is a sampling of crimes in Baltimore and Baltimore County.Southwestern DistrictRobbery: A man was in the first block of S. Pulaski St. about 1 a.m. Sunday when a gunman robbed him of $30.Theft/arrest: A man tried to leave the G. C. Murphy store at Westside Shopping Center in the 2400 block of Frederick Ave. on Sunday without paying for 25 wash cloths valued at $25 and was arrested.Theft from vehicle: Someone entered a 1992 Toyota Corolla parked in the 600 block of Mount Holly St. on Sunday after breaking a rear window and stole a suit, four pairs of shoes, two cosmetic bags, food, a briefcase, a diamond bracelet and two gold bracelets, all valued at nearly $2,800.

Tony Fein, an Iraq War veteran who was a member of the Ravens during the preseason, died Tuesday morning in Port Orchard, Wash., according to his agent. There were no immediate details about his death, said the agent, Milton D. Hobbs. "It's a very sad situation," Hobbs told The Baltimore Sun late Tuesday night. "I am still trying to figure out what happened." Fein, 27, was an undrafted rookie free-agent linebacker who was released by the Ravens in their final major cutdown Sept. 5. Although old for a rookie, Fein, at 6 feet 2, 245 pounds, caught the eyes of scouts at the University of Mississippi's Pro Day, where the school's football players audition for scouts before the NFL draft.

MILWAUKEE -- The Blast will happily give up some sleep if it means more results like this. Yesterday's 14-12 come-from-behind victory over the host Milwaukee Wave at U.S. Cellular Arena cemented a weekend sweep of home-and-home matches with Milwaukee. Blast@Storm Saturday, 2 p.m., 680 AM

The nation's four largest cell phone companies are expanding their brick-and-mortar retail operations as they fight to retain customers in the fiercely competitive wireless market. Carrier-owned retail outlets provide more opportunities to develop continuing relationships with customers and woo them into accessories, services and equipment upgrades of the latest and coolest gadgets, say wireless analysts and mobile phone executives. The retail storefront strategy has become increasingly important as the cellular market gets more saturated.

ATLANTA - A high school junior in a central Georgia military town was suspended from school this week after refusing to end a long-distance cell phone call from his mother, an Army sergeant serving in Iraq. Kevin Francois, a 17-year-old student at Spencer High School in Columbus, Ga., was in the school cafeteria Wednesday when his mother, Sgt. 1st Class Monique Bates, called to check in with him. When Francois went outside to get better reception, he was spotted by a teacher who - pointing to a district policy against cell phone use during school hours - told him to hang up. Francois refused and was subsequently suspended for 10 days for disorderly conduct.

Cell phones are the rule, not the exception. And their slew of services has made it possible to drop a traditional landline and go strictly wireless. The rationale is cost. The typical monthly bill for wireless service ranges from $40 to $60 and includes calls within the United States, voice mail, caller ID and call waiting (some plans include regional calls only). Taxes and fees are beginning to pile up on cellular plans in some states, but they tend to be less than surcharges levied on regular phone bills.

TO HIS COLLEAGUES within Verizon Wireless, associate engineer Gregory Booze is sometimes referred to as Test Man because of the work he does for the cellular-telephone business of the nation's largest telephone company. But you might want to call him the Can-You-Hear-Me-Now? guy. Like the Verizon Wireless technician in a widely broadcast commercial, Booze, 53, is a member of the Verizon Wireless test team, a nationwide group of about 50 men and women who drive hundreds of miles and make thousands of cellular-telephone calls each working day to test the company's wireless network.

Efforts by the Ehrlich administration and state lawmakers to toughen restrictions on teenage drivers moved closer to law yesterday, with action on proposals to ban cellular phone use by most motorists under 18 and toughen sanctions for drunken and drugged driving. After several days of debate, the Senate voted, 27-17, in favor of a bill by Montgomery County lawmakers to prohibit provisional-license drivers from driving while using a cellular phone. The House passed a similar version of the bill last week.

Karen Williams and her siblings want to surprise their mother with something wonderful for Christmas, so Williams went to a Target store on a recent weekday morning to snap a picture of a television with her cell phone. The 20-inch, flat-screen Magnavox with DVD and VCR included looked like something the family could agree on, Williams said, but just in case, she sent the picture to e-mail addresses around the Northeast. "We've had arguments about this in the past," said Williams. "This way, no one can say, `That's not the one we agreed on.' " This year, cell phones are the must-have for the smart (or cautious)

SPRINT Corp. is on the bubble. The No. 3 long-distance and cellular carrier is expected as early as today to announce a tentative deal to buy Nextel Communications, the No. 5 wireless phone outfit. But Verizon Communications is considering breaking up the match by bidding for Sprint, The Wall Street Journal said yesterday. Could Comcast Corp., Verizon's arch-enemy, also be eyeing Sprint? Analysts I spoke to yesterday doubted that the cable company is preparing a bid. But they said Sprint's fate holds significant implications for Comcast, which reportedly has been seeking a wireless partner, and the company is undoubtedly paying close attention.

Drops in pricing for two major Internet phone services signal the start of a price war as providers struggle to attract consumer attention, according to some analysts. The rate cuts raise the question of whether anyone will ever make money selling Internet-phone service, which is also known as voice over Internet protocol, or VoIP. But AT&T Corp. and Vonage Holdings Corp., the two providers who slashed monthly fees by $5, have differing takes on whether further cuts will be necessary. "We think it's probably pretty much bottomed out," AT&T spokesman Kerry Hibbs said.