Closure

To say that I am disappointed to hear that Cardinal Gibbons School is closing is an understatement ("Disbelief, outrage in face of Gibbons' closing," Mar. 4). I am writing you this e-mail because I believe that the true Gibbons spirit and the quality of Catholic men that Gibbons produces are the very essence of what is at stake with Gibbons' closure. I believe that it is a moral wrong to deprive society of the types of men who would receive a Catholic education, specifically from Cardinal Gibbons.

Baltimore/Washington International Airport said on Thursday that scheduled airfield improvements will prompt closures on both of its primary commercial runways this weekend. Officials said that Runway 10 - 28 is scheduled to be closed from Friday at 11 p.m. to Sunday at 4 p.m. Runway 15R - 33L is scheduled to be closed on Saturday from 12:01 a.m. to 5 a.m., and on Sunday, from 12:01 a.m. to 5 a.m., officials said. During the short-term closures of the two runways, BWI Marshall will utilize Runway 4 - 22 for most commercial operations, officials said.

Defense contractor General Dynamics Corp. is warning state regulators that it will close an Aberdeen office over the summer and lay off 52 employees. The state Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation said it was notified by the company that the shutdown of an information-technology operation serving Aberdeen Proving Ground would begin July 15 and end by Sept. 15. General Dynamics said Monday that its contract to provide IT trainers to an Army school on base is ending as a result of the nationwide base realignment and closure effort.

A motorcade of police vehicles escorting wounded military service members from the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to New York City will cause roving lane closures on multiple area highways Wednesday morning, according to Baltimore Police. The motorcade will begin at Walter Reed in Bethesda at 7 a.m. and is expected to impact morning commutes in the Washington and Baltimore metropolitan area, police said. The motorcade will travel northbound along Interstate 495 and Interstate 95. krector@baltsun.com twitter.com/rectorsun

The federal government is considering closing dozens of rural court sites across the country, including one that serves Maryland's Eastern Shore — a move that would force people to drive up to 110 miles to the nearest courthouse to have their cases heard. "It would be a grave inconvenience to litigants to have them come to a federal court in either Baltimore or Greenbelt. It makes no sense," said Deborah K. Chasanow, chief judge of Maryland's U.S. District Courts. The potential closures, 60 of them spread throughout 29 states, are being considered as a cost-cutting measure within the federal judiciary.

Health care services company McKesson Corp. warned state regulators Monday that it would close its Landover facility this spring and lay off 106 employees. The state Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation said the San Francisco-based company, which specializes in areas such as pharmaceuticals distribution and health care IT, expected the closure to happen April 20. The pharmaceuticals division, which delivers medicine to retailers, pharmacies and hospitals, provided the warning notice.

A construction mishap led Saturday to prolonged closures of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway and the West Nursery Road business corridor near BWI, but state officials said the roads should reopen by rush hour Monday morning. The problem occurred as crews were carrying out a bridge replacement procedure that was being used for the first time in Maryland. To replace the two spans of the West Nursery Road overpass, they planned to wheel away the old bridges — built in 1948 — and roll new ones in. But they had to halt their work about 12:45 a.m. because the existing bridge deck shifted while they attempted to remove it, according to Valerie Burnette Edgar, spokeswoman for the State Highway Administration.

Your recent stories last week about the closing of Sparrows Point and the Maryland Port Authority's purchase of new cranes from China were sad in many ways ("Gloom hangs over Sparrows Point mill," June 5). This state does not care about manufacturing, even though it could be the foundation of the region's economy. Maryland does little to encourage an industry that at one time helped this country lead the world. Instead, the state purchases $40 million worth of equipment from China, a country that really should give us the cranes, since they will be used primarily to unload cheap Chinese consumer goods and to load raw materials we are exporting to China.

North Charles Street will be closed between Saratoga and Mulberry streets for much of the weekend. Motorists are encouraged to avoid the area and take alternate routes. The two-block closure will last from 3 a.m. Saturday through about 6 p.m. Sunday to accommodate a crane that will be working on a building, according to the city transportation department. Detours and parking restrictions will be in effect. sdance@baltsun.com twitter.com/ssdance

The city's Department of Transportation has extended the closure of Howard Street between Lombard and Conway Streets until next Thursday. City workers are rebuilding the intersection near where Interstate 395 ends at the Camden Yards baseball stadium. Officials are encouraging motorists to use Sharp Street before the closure of Howard Street or take Lombard Street to southbound Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard as an alternative to I-395.

A disabled vehicle on Interstate 95 South prior to the White Marsh Boulevard exit in Baltimore County has now forced closure of three southbound lanes on Tuesday morning, according to the state Department of Transportation. Two of four southbound traffic lanes and one of two southbound shoulders were closed at 7:07 a.m., DOT said. Earlier, two lanes had been closed due to the obstruction. The Maryland Transit Administration reported minor delays on the Metro subway and light rail at 8:11 a.m. Also, the Baltimore City Department of Transportation said that new traffic patterns were implemented along a portion of Charles Street on Monday as the city undergoes the Phase I Detour of its Charles Street Reconstruction Project.

Roads at Mount Vernon Place in and around this weekend's FlowerMart event will be closed from Thursday at 3 p.m. to Saturday at 11 p.m., FlowerMart officials said on their website. The event is held at Mount Vernon Place, at the Washington Monument, and at the four adjoining blocks in each direction. Traffic will be closed on all four sides of the Washington Monument. Madison Street and Monument Street (both westbound) will be closed where they intersect St. Paul Street and Cathedral Street (both southbound)

Five air traffic control towers in Maryland that had been scheduled to shut down in June as a result of federal budget cuts are now expected to remain open, lawmakers said Wednesday — easing fears that the closures could back up flights at BWI Marshall Airport. A provision tucked into a high-profile bill approved by Congress last week to end furloughs of air traffic controllers — and the flight delays they caused — also leaves more than $30 million available for towers at 149 small airports nationwide, lawmakers said.

Maryland is moving to toughen regulations on the fast-growing medspa industry - a move designed to narrow a "loophole" and prevent deaths such as one last year following a liposuction treatment at a Timonium facility. Regulations being discussed by state officials would bar plastic surgeons from performing liposuction and other procedures in medspas and medical offices unless the facilities are inspected by the government or third-party accrediting bodies, Maryland Secretary of Health Joshua Sharfstein said.

Baltimore County police are warning residents about several road closures expected for the Maryland Hunt Cup Steeplechase on Saturday. Beginning at 2 p.m., eastbound traffic will be diverted from Tufton Avenue onto southbound Dover Road. The following roads will be closed from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., according to police: Worthington Avenue and Tufton Avenue; Belmont Avenue and Butler Road; Mantua Mill Road and Geist Road; Tufton Avenue and Falls Road; Dover Road and Tufton Ridge Road. Police say traffic is expected to return to normal by 6 p.m.

A portion of Broening Highway will be closed this weekend for utility construction work and motorists are urged to use alternate routes, the city transportation department said. The closure to through traffic will begin at 7 p.m. Friday, between Holabird Avenue and Dunhill Road with detours in effect. The roadway will reopen at 5 a.m. Monday. Local traffic will be allowed access to area businesses. The $27.1 million project, which will conclude in fall 2014, includes new lighting and upgraded traffic signals, repaving and reconfiguring the Keith Avenue ramp to accommodate two-way traffic.

As of 4:15 p.m., no significant delays were reported on area roadways or public transit. Due to an incident on Maryland Route 7 at Old Joppa Road, all northbound lanes closed. For the most up-to-date traffic information,  visit The Baltimore Sun's traffic map .

BOSTON -- I don't remember when the words first began to echo in the hollow aftermath of loss. But now it seems that every public or private death, every moment of mourning is followed by a call for ''healing,'' a cry for ''closure.''In November, driving home in my car just 24 hours after three Kentucky students were shot to death in a school prayer meeting, I heard a Paducah minister talk about ''healing.'' The three teen-agers had yet to be buried, and he said it was time to begin the healing process, as if there were an antibiotic to be applied at the first sign of pain among the survivors.

Three incidents on Baltimore-area highways, including a three-vehicle collision in Anne Arundel County that closed all westbound lanes on MD 100 at 8:33 a.m., disrupted Monday morning's rush hour, according to the state Department of Transportation. The collision in Anne Arundel County occurred on MD 100 West at Harmans Road, DOT said. In Baltimore City, a two-vehicle collision on Interstate 95 South at the 55.7 mile marker (toll plaza) has closed one of 12 southbound toll lanes at 8:32 a.m., DOT said.

Because of budget cuts mandated by the federal sequestration, the Smithsonian Institution will begin closing galleries in some art museums to the public. Smithsonian Secretary Wayne Clough said Tuesday in a news release that the temporary closings would begin May 1 and would continue through Sept. 30, the end of the current fiscal year. He said that the closings are necessary because a hiring freeze has reduced the number of security guards available to patrol galleries. The Smithsonian is losing 5 percent of its federal budget from March through September, or about $41 million.