Construction Site

The sighting of a 12-foot-tall, black, mystery creature seen lurking in the dark of night near the Arundel Mills construction site sparked a media frenzy yesterday in the light of day. The report of the "strange sighting" was checked by police early Monday morning and quickly became a joke about the sighting of an imaginary Loch Ness Monster from the Severn River. State wildlife officials were called in to search the area yesterday, where the large, unidentified beast that walked upright had scared several construction workers.

Monroe G. Haines, the self-appointed protector of a Westminster stream, stopped a contractor yesterday from pumping muddy water from a construction site into the run.The 75-year-old environmental activist, who has made the cleanup of Longwell Run a personal crusade for 11 years, said he "got riled" when workers told him they were going to pump muddy water from a construction site into the stream, which flows along the northeast side of the site."

A Frederick-based construction company hired to widen parts of U.S. 50 near Interstate 97 was fined $15,000 yesterday by a district judge in Glen Burnie for improperly disposing of construction site debris.Judge Vincent A. Mulieri ordered Dewey Jordan Inc. to pay the fine for improperly burying lumber, corrugated pipe and other construction debris at the site. He also said the company would be on probation until it paid its fine. The payment deadline is Oct. 20.Elizabeth Beebe Volz, an assistant attorney for the state Department of the Environment, said the material should have been taken to a licensed dump.

U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service agents say it was an anonymous tip that led them to arrest 18 illegal immigrants from Mexico and Guatemala at an Edgewood construction site two weeks ago.INS agents started an investigation several weeks ago after they receiveda phone call that provided information about workers at The Gap warehouse site on Trimble Road, said Martin Renkiewicz, a spokesman for the INS office in Baltimore.Twelve INS agents arrived at the construction site at 7 a.m. May 29, initially arresting 20 men of the 50 workers at the site, Renkiewicz said.

A construction worker was killed when a road-making machine overturned and crushed him yesterday afternoon in Brooklyn Park, Anne Arundel County emergency rescue officials said.David Darrnall, 52, of Brooklyn, a worker at the construction site near Belle Grove and Camp Meade Roads, died instantly.He was apparently driving a heavy vibrating roller too close to the edge of a dirt road, rescue officials said.The equipment hit the edge, flipped over and skidded down an embankment."He was pinned underneath the machinery," said Chief John Scholz of the Anne Arundel County Fire Department.

The Junior League of Annapolis is accepting nominations for its Excellence in Volunteerism Award.The league will donate $500 to the group that nominates the winner and a silver bowl to the winner. Nominations, open to women who volunteer with nonprofit organizations, will be accepted through March 10.Nomination forms are available at county libraries, or call 224-8984.Materials stolen at construction siteThieves broke into a construction trailer and a building under construction along Jennifer Road during the weekend to steal machinery and supplies, county police said yesterday.

Two elementary school students were rescued Wednesday morning by city firefighters after they became stuck in a mound of mud at a construction site near their school, said a spokesman for the Fire Department. Because of their ages, their names were not released. About 8 a.m., the boy, 12, and the girl, 8, were walking along Sinclair Lane near Clareway on their way to classes at Sinclair Lane Elementary School when they entered a muddy area and became stuck several feet from dry land, said Chief Kevin Cartwright, the spokesman.

A group of Bollman Bridge Elementary School parents is asking Howard County school officials to reinstate school bus service because they say that nearby construction poses a danger to their children's safety.The parents are concerned about a walking route on the 9000 block of Vollmerhausen Road, where private contractors are clearing an area to build the future home of Bethel Assembly of God. Parents are afraid that trucks entering and leaving the site are an accident waiting to happen."They've taken a part of the children's walking path and turned it into a right of way for construction," said Denise Wolford, Bollman Bridge's PTA vice president.

STATESVILLE, N.C. -- Bob Beatty owes his life to determination and two eight-penny nails.The self-employed heavy machine operator nearly died when his 18-ton Caterpillar earth mover flipped, crushing his left leg.It took the north Iredell County, N.C., man two hours, using the 2 1/2 -inch nails, to free his leg. For almost an hour more, he dragged himself uphill toward help, quenching his thirst with water from puddles along the way."I thought I was going to die, and I remember looking at the watch to see what time I was going to die," Mr. Beatty said from his bed at Davis Community Hospital in Statesville.