Completion

The Randallstown Library has undergone a nearly $500,000 renovation that includes upgrades to the entrance and lobby, the addition of three tutoring rooms and a new elevator to improve access to the building at 8604 Liberty Road. The project was completed for $60,000 under its $510,000 estimated budget. The state will reimburse about $255,000 of the cost. Officials will mark the renovation at a ceremonial ribbon cutting at 11a.m. on Feb. 14.

In Johns Hopkins' 33-14 rout of Moravian on Sept. 20, senior quarterback Braden Anderson posted career highs in passing yards (218) and completion percentage (73.5). It took Anderson only one week to surpass those totals, throwing for 359 yards and connecting on 76.3 percent of his passes in Saturday's 42-26 victory over Centennial Conference foe Muhlenberg. Add a career-best four touchdowns, and it's easy to see why Blue Jays coach Jim Margraff called Anderson's performance the best of his career.

As has been documented, Joe Flacco ranks 31 st in the NFL in completion percentage with a 49.3 success rate, and the Ravens' signal caller is just one of four quarterbacks with at least two starts who has completed less than half of his passes. (Sam Bradford of the St. Louis Rams, Blaine Gabbert of the Jacksonville Jaguars and Kerry Collins of the Indianapolis Colts are the others.) But if Flacco is supposed to be concerned about his off-target passes, he's not airing those worries, especially after he was asked during his weekly briefing with the media Wednesday on how he could improve his completion percentage.

The sweet smell of celebration -- an odorous combination of champagne and beer -- still lingered inside the home clubhouse of Camden Yards one day after the Orioles wrapped up the American League East title. Backed by a two-homer game from Steve Pearce, there was no hangover Wednesday night as the Orioles swept the second-place Toronto Blue Jays with a 6-1 victory in front of an announced 37,537 giving the club its 10th win in the last 11 games. “That's what we do,” Pearce said of returning strong the day after clinching the division.

Owings Mills has reason to celebrate as the new library is nearing completion at the Metro Center. Tentatively slated to open in the spring of 2013, this will be the largest branch in Baltimore County. A joint use facility, the library shares space with the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC). The library will occupy the first two floors, and CCBC has the fourth through sixth floor. The third floor is a quiet study area, which will be shared by the library and the college. There will also be other common areas as well.

The construction of a bridge on Singer Road has been delayed by poor weather conditions, according to the Harford County Construction Management Bureau. The bridge was originally scheduled to open by Dec. 25. A new date for completion will be determined at a progress meeting Jan. 20. The bridge deck has been poured, but completion of the project, including paving the road, is dependent on good weather.

Nearly five months after a portion of East Monument Street collapsed in a gaping sinkhole, city officials reopened the street Wednesday afternoon, completing one of the city's largest underground utility repairs ever. "It's been a long and tough journey for the residents and business in this area," said Public Works Director Alfred H. Foxx, standing on freshly poured asphalt at a podium at the corner of Patterson Park Avenue, where officials unveiled an "Open for Business" sign on a lamppost.

Bellows Spring Elementary School: Scheduled completion by end of summer • 100 new seats, four new classrooms • New P.E., music and art rooms • Expanded cafeteria • COMAR-approved health suite • New administrative suite • About 80 additional parking spaces Bollman Bridge Elementary School: Scheduled completion by summer 2012 • 100 new seats • LEED certification • Hybrid, geothermal...

The list for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award for the nation's top college senior quarterback has been narrowed to five. The remaining candidates for the 2010 Golden Arm Award are: • Andy Dalton, TCU, who has led the Horned Frogs to an 11-0 record, passing for 23 touchdowns and amassing nearly 2,500 yards while compiling a QB efficiency rating of 163.9; • Colin Kaepernick, Nevada, who has completed 166 of 247 passes for...

Joe Flacco's accuracy was scrutinized throughout the 2011 season, from his 15-for-32 passing performance in a Week 2 loss to the Tennessee Titans to the AFC divisional round win over the Houston Texans, in which Flacco connected with receivers on just 14 of his 27 attempts. His 57.6 completion percentage was a career-low and also the first time it had dipped below 60 percent. Looking at his splits, there wasn't much fluctuation in his completion percentage; it didn't seem to matter if he was indoors or outside, at home or on the road, or winning or losing at the time.

Robert Council's final numbers in Morgan State's 28-3 rout of visiting Bowie State might suggest that the redshirt senior quarterback fared poorly in that game. But that's not how Council or his coach saw it. Council threw just 10 passes, completed two, and gained 18 yards. But with redshirt sophomore running back Herb Walker Jr. carrying the ball 20 times for 180 yards and two touchdowns, the Bears (1-2) didn't really need to rely on Council to lead the offense through the air. “We could've thrown the ball,” said Council, who added 12 rushes for 73 yards and two touchdowns.

BOSTON -- Left-hander Wei-Yin Chen once fell four outs away from throwing a perfect game while he was pitching in Japan, so it's not like Wednesday's brief flirtation with baseball history in the Orioles' 10-6 win at Fenway Park was unchartered territory. “It comes across your mind, but still a perfect game is very difficult to do,” Chen said through an interpreter after his perfect-game attempt was broken up with one out in the sixth. “I just tried to concentrate on each at-bat.

Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton took what the Ravens' depleted secondary gave him in the passing game for more than three quarters. When Cincinnati fell behind in the fourth quarter, he took advantage of that soft coverage for the game-winning blow. Dalton hit wide receiver A.J. Green for a 77-yard touchdown to give the Bengals a 23-16 lead, a play that placed an unfair spotlight on cornerback Chykie Brown and the Ravens' undermanned secondary, which spent the entire game trying to contain the Bengals' deep threats.

Although they'd never say it publicly, the Orioles knew heading into last week just how important it was to flex their muscles in an 11-game homestand against three clubs with losing records. With Thursday's 9-7 victory over the Cincinnati Reds before an announced 21,114 at Camden Yards, the Orioles posted their fourth sweep of three or more games this season. More impressive, the Orioles finished off their longest homestand of the year with a 9-2 record, outscoring the Tampa Bay Rays, Minnesota Twins and Reds by a combined 67-38.

The Baltimore County Department of Public Works is closing both southbound lanes along York Road north of Timonium Road near the entrance to the State Fairgrounds Thursday night beginning at 8 p.m. Officials said all southbound York Road traffic will be shifted into the center turn lane for a short distance as crews work to tie-in a water line. Northbound York Road traffic will not be affected. County officials said they anticipate opening both southbound lanes by 6 a.m., though they have indicated lane closures through the Friday morning rush hour are possible.

From a logistical standpoint, Orioles starter Miguel Gonzalez hasn't had a particularly stable season. He has dealt with one stint on the disabled list, pitched out of the bullpen once and twice was demoted to the minor leagues as part of the club's continual roster tweaks. If Gonzalez keeps pitching like he did Wednesday in a 6-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds, though, he'll ultimately end up with just one destination next month: The postseason. That's his ultimate goal after an elevator of a season.

The Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Educational Foundation announced today that it has narrowed the list of candidates for its annual award to five. The Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award is presented annually to a college senior quarterback. The top five quarterbacks still in contention for the award are: - Andy Dalton, TCU, who has led the Horned Frogs to an 11-0 record, passing for 23 touchdowns and amassing nearly 2,500 yards while compiling a QB efficiency rating of 163.9; - Colin Kaepernick, Nevada, who has completed 166 of 247 passes for 17 TDs and a 67.2 completion percentage; - Christian Ponder, Florida State, who has 16 touchdowns and 1,647 yards in just nine games for the Seminoles; - Ricky Stanzi, Iowa, who has posted an 18-4 record as a starting quarterback over past two seasons and ranks sixth in Hawkeye history in career passing yards (4,373)

As year's end approaches, what was shaping up to be a downtown Baltimore landscape dotted with hotel construction sites will be quieter than expected.Progress on each of the city's three proposed large downtown hotels -- the Grand Hyatt, the Wyndham and the Westin -- once slated for completion by 2002, has slowed.A ceremonial groundbreaking was held in June for the controversial 31-story Wyndham Inner Harbor East Hotel, but little has happened since."Due to unfortunate circumstances beyond the control of Patriot American, completing the financing for the project has taken longer than expected and construction is now expected to begin by year end," according to a statement released yesterday by Patriot American Hospitality Inc., which will own the property once it is completed.

The Orioles would like to have started their final month of the regular season with a better showing instead of missing a chance at a sweep and losing, 6-4, to the inferior Minnesota Twins on Monday afternoon. This club, though, has been about the big picture all season, and that's not going to stop now that September has arrived. The first-place Orioles (79-57) went 3-1 in consecutive four-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays and the Twins this past week and hold an 8 1/2-game lead over the New York Yankees in the American League East.

The Orioles' sweep by the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field last weekend raised all kinds of red flags. But four days back home against the Tampa Bay Rays allowed the Orioles to get back to one of the things that has carried them to the top of the American League East -- a lights-out bullpen. Relief pitchers Brad Brach , Andrew Miller, and Zach Britton combined for three scoreless innings in Thursday's 5-4 win at Camden Yards, and the bullpen completed a four-game series against the Rays without allowing an earned run in 14 1/3 innings.