County Courthouse

In the Baltimore County courthouse campaigns, the most hotly contested races were for some of the most obscure jobs, while higher profile positions -- including state's attorney -- went unchallenged in the primary.In the race for register of wills -- a little-known, $75,000-a-year job being vacated by Peter J. Basilone after 20 years -- Democrat Grace G. Connolly defeated Bonnie Lou Leisure 71 percent to 29 percent. Connolly had resigned as chief judge of the Orphans' Court to run.On the Republican side, Patrick L. McDonough, a former state legislator, defeated William J. Withers Jr., an accountant and employee in the Baltimore City court clerk's office, 79 percent to 21 percent.

At least in theory, the Harford County Council is supposed to be the county's part time citizen legislature, responsible for responding to the needs of the voters when the executive branch fails to do so. Supposedly, the council also should be acting as a check on potential largesse in the county executive's budget. And it is also supposed to, from time to time, draft and enact new legislation to deal with local problems. In recent years, the council has generally failed when it comes to drafting and enacting new legislation.

EASTON - The lawn of the county courthouse boasts a monument to Vietnam veterans and a statue honoring "The Talbot Boys," heroes of the Confederacy. Now, sponsors of a memorial to the county's most illustrious native, the abolitionist Frederick Douglass, have been told that he does not qualify for a similar honor - because he was not a soldier. Supporters in the Colonial capital of the Eastern Shore see the courthouse, a political hub since before Douglass was born nearby in 1818, as the only worthy site for his tribute.

A Baltimore County union representing about 800 public employees filed an unfair labor practices complaint against the county Thursday, asking for an independent investigation after working for five months without a contract. Members of Local 921 of the American Federation of State, Municipal and County Employees have been without a contract since July and say the county administration has not negotiated in good faith to reach an agreement. The union's members include heavy-equipment operators, truck and snowplow drivers, and sewage workers.

The bride -- one of them, at least -- wore a scoop-necked, full-skirted wedding gown, a pearl tiara and dainty glass slippers. And, over everything, a T-shirt with red gothic lettering that spelled the word trouble. She was Nancy F. Fischer, a 23-year-old from Dundalk. She stood in the crowded Baltimore County courthouse hallway as her betrothed, a 25-year-old volunteer firefighter from Dundalk named Jimmy E. Dennison, paid $25 for the ceremony and put their names on a list. She soon got rid of the T-shirt -- to look more the part, she said -- and waited.

A 28-year-old Ellicott City woman who was arrested June 6 and accused of making bomb threats at the Carroll County Courthouse has been released from the county jail.Carroll Circuit Judge Luke K. Burns Jr. lifted the $10,000 bail on which Debra Jane Thurman had been held since her arrest and ordered the woman released on her own recognizance Tuesday, court records show.Ms. Thurman of the 9700 block of Hillsmere Road was charged with two counts of making bomb threats and two counts of telephone misuse, all misdemeanors.

About a dozen Baltimore County firefighters, two fire engines and a ladder truck were called to the county courthouse yesterday when smoke alarms in the 130-year-old stone building went off.The culprit?"

IN BALTIMORE COUNTY Italian Festival slated for tomorrow and Sunday The Baltimore County Italian Festival is scheduled for this weekend. The free festival will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. tomorrow and from noon to 6 p.m. Sunday in and around the Towson Courthouse Plaza, which stretches out from the county courthouse at 401 Bosley Ave. The event will include art and craft exhibits, food vendors and entertainment. Proceeds from the festival will support a college scholarship fund and other charitable endeavors of the Towson Dulaney Lodge of the Sons of Italy.

25 Years Ago (Week of Jan. 5-11, 1969):* In the same weekend, two flags were stolen from the Howard County Courthouse. A Maryland flag was taken from the county commissioners' hearing room, and the American flag, which was flown from the flagpole outside the courthouse, was also taken.50 Years Ago (week of Jan. 9-15, 1944):* Two Howard County brothers serving in the Army met in Australia for the first time in more than three years. The two brothers, Pvt. Edward Affeldt and Sgt. John Affeldt, hailed from the Pine Orchard area.

Howard County's official flag flew for the first time 37 years ago this month. The flag, designed by Jean O. Hannon, "is quartered by the red cross of Lord Baltimore; in the upper left-hand quarter is a yellow shock of wheat representing Howard County of the past," according to a Sun article at the time. "In the lower right quadrant is a green map of the countys industrial future." The flag was lofted officially at the county courthouse in Ellicott City on Sept. 19, 1968 -- although the occasion was less than dramatic.

Christopher Brown's family and other supporters gathered in Towson again to protest what they believe are weak charges brought against the police officer charged in the teen's death. The crowd gathered outside the Baltimore County Circuit courthouse Monday - exactly two months after Brown's death - to lobby the state's attorney's office to consider murder charges against James D. Laboard. The Baltimore County officer faces manslaughter charges. The family's attorney, Russell Neverdon, said he believes Laboard could have received a stricter second-degree murder charge given that Laboard chased Brown before the teen died from asphyxiation.

If the smoking ban on Harford County government properties applies to parks and recreation ball fields, there's no reason why it can't apply to the County Courthouse, official excuses notwithstanding. Beginning Jan. 1, smoking on county property was banned, a move that came as welcome news for anyone - government employees and members of the general public alike - who has been subjected to secondhand smoke while trying to run the siege line of smokers standing outside various county government buildings.

Baltimore County Councilman David Marks, a Perry Hall Republican, now holds regular office hours at the Seven Oaks Senior Center every first and third Friday of the month. The senior center hours, which began Nov. 18, allow residents to meet with him on issues of their choosing. Councilman Marks is available from 1 to 3 p.m. every first and third Friday of the month at the center. The Seven Oaks Senior Center is located at 9210 Seven Courts Drive, in Perry Hall. Marks expressed his thanks to the senior center for allowing him to meet constituents at the facility.

Back in the summer, plans were made for Howard County Courthouse offices and operations to temporarily relocate while the 170-year-old building was renovated. They were supposed to move around Labor Day. But nobody has budged yet. Telephone and security issues had delayed the Circuit Court's change of venue, but now all that remains is to work out the switch of telephone service to the temporary site in Columbia, officials said. A new date for the move has not been set, but county officials said they expect it will take place within a few months.

Volunteer lawyers will provide up to a half-hour of free legal advice for three afternoons this week in the county's law library. People can come into the law library between noon and 5 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to talk with a lawyer about a civil legal issue, said law librarian Joan M. Bellistri. No appointment is required. Advice will not be given on criminal matters. The law library is located on the third floor of the Anne Arundel County Court House on Church Circle, Annapolis.

When he first heard that the Howard County Circuit Court was moving into temporary headquarters while the 170-year old courthouse in Ellicott City was being refurbished, Maj. George Voll scoured the Internet looking for similar relocations. He couldn't find any. "Most counties just get new courthouses," said Voll, who has worked for the county sheriff's department for 25 years. When the renovation was first approved two years ago, there was a brief discussion about whether the courthouse could be renovated at night, on weekends or while court was in session, or whether another suitable locale would have to be found.

A hearing on a bill that would set zoning restrictions for future adult bookstores has been scheduled for 6 p.m. April 7 in the County Council Chambers, Level A of the County Courthouse on Main Street in Bel Air.The bill, introduced last week by Councilman Philip J. Barker, D-Havre de Grace, would exempt the four existing county adult bookstores. Three of the four bookstores are on U.S. 40; one is on U.S. 1 in Fallston.Under the proposal, new adult bookstores would have to operate atleast 1,000 feet from a school, church, day-care center, park or residential area.

A security guard who left his keys hanging from a door in the countycourthouse lock-up, allowing a prisoner to escape Tuesday, has been suspended for five days without pay, the county sheriff said yesterday.David Reece, who has worked as a civilian security guard at thecounty Circuit Court building in Annapolis for about two months, wasalso placed on six months' probation and ordered to undergo trainingfor being "negligent in the performance of his duties," Sheriff Robert G. Pepersack said.

Electronics ban in county courthouse New restrictions on the use of communication devices in the county courthouse will take effect Friday, the Harford County Sheriff's Office has announced. The rules, issued by Administrative Judge William Carr, will ban all communication devices, including cell phones, laptop computers, pagers and PDAs, from the circuit courthouse in Bel Air. Also banned are electronic games, radios, audio-receiving or transmitting equipment, photo equipment, tape recorders and other recording devices.

From a desk full of monitors in the basement of the Baltimore County courthouse, Lt. Tony Chambers watched one recent morning as lawyers argued a case, people got on and off the elevators, and an incarcerated defendant preened and danced in a holding cell. Then, using a device similar to a video game joystick, he panned across several blocks in Towson that surround the courthouse, zooming in on buildings and license plates of individual cars. "It's an amazing system," Chambers said of the security surveillance cameras recently installed in the five-story Circuit Court building.