County Public Library

County Executive Ken Ulman will conduct a brief remembrance ceremony to pay tribute to those who lost their lives Sept. 11, 2001. The event will be held in the Garden of Hope in Centennial Park, at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The garden was designed and dedicated five years ago on the first anniversary of the attacks. A brief processional ceremony will conclude with the laying of a wreath at the Garden of Hope stone monument, and a moment of silence. The Howard County Police and Fire Honor Guard will present colors.

Kathleen K. Bates, former manager of interlibrary loans for the Baltimore County Public Library and a longtime Stoneleigh resident, died Aug. 8 of complications from Alzheimer's disease at Holly Hill Manor nursing home. She was 82. Kathleen Yuile was born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland. With the coming of World War II, she was sent to a convent school in southern Ireland. She later attended high school at Methodist College in Belfast, Northern Ireland. After the German Luftwaffe bombed Belfast in 1941, she left school to work in the war office.

Harford County government offices will be open tomorrow on Columbus Day. The Harford County Waste Disposal Center and Waste to Energy also will be open. Harford County Public Library will be closed for a staff in-service day. Senior centers, public schools and Harford Transit will be open. Upper Crossroads meeting is Wednesday The Harford County Sheriff's Office will hold an Upper Crossroads community-awareness meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Fallston High School auditorium, 2301 Carrs Mill Road.

Panel to discuss security in Howard The League of Women Voters of Howard County and Howard County Public Library will present a panel discussion, "Homeland Security in Howard County," from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday at the Miller library, 9421 Frederick Road, Ellicott City. The program will focus on the status of security in Howard County. Panelists include Fire Chief Joseph A. Herr and representatives from the Howard County Police and Health departments, the American Red Cross, the Community Emergency Response Network (CERN)

"In memory of William Smithson, who departed this life January 17, 1809, aged 64 years." This is the inscription on the tombstone once located in a family graveyard along the southeast border of Bel Air between the Fulford and Homestead farms. One of the signers of the Bush Declaration - Harford County's "Declaration of Independence" - Smithson was born in 1745 and built the Fernandis Homestead in Bel Air. The 1774 home was considered to "compare favorably with the best of our modern dwellings," by Walter Preston in 1901.

29-year police veteran to run operations unit A 29-year veteran of the Baltimore County police has been promoted to the rank of colonel in charge of the operation's bureau. He will oversee the patrol and investigative divisions, officials said. Michael Kelly McCleese, previously a major overseeing the eastern patrol division, was tapped this week by Chief James W. Johnson, who held the position before he was named chief. McCleese, 50, a lifelong Dundalk resident, will oversee about 1,400 officers as head of the department's largest bureau.

Residents can offer budget priorities Howard County Executive Ken Ulman is inviting residents to share their priorities at his first residents' budget meeting for the fiscal year 2009 budget cycle. The meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 13 in the Banneker Room of the George Howard Building, 3430 Court House Drive, Ellicott City. Those who wish to testify must sign up individually and in person. Signup begins at 6:30 p.m. Testimony will be heard in the order in which residents have signed up. Testimony also can be presented via the Internet at www.howardcountymd.

Harford County government offices will be closed tomorrow for Veterans Day. The Harford County Waste Disposal Center will be closed, but Waste to Energy will be open. Harford transit will operate on a limited schedule. Harford County Public Library and senior centers are closed. Public schools are open.

MICHAEL W. FEDDER of Sykesville was recently named Teen-ager of the Year by the Capital District of Kiwanis International.He will be presented with a framed certificate and $1,000 at the Capital District Convention this month in Hunt Valley.Before this award, Fedder was named Student of the Year by the Kiwanis Club of Greater Westminster and was then entered in the local 11-club competition. He was named Teen-ager of the Year by those local clubs and was awarded an engraved plaque.In naming him Teen-ager of the Year, Kiwanis International recognized Fedder for his outstanding academic performance at South Carroll High School, where he achieved a 3.97 grade point average and had perfect attendance during all four years of school.

SINCE WE MOVED to northwest Carroll several years ago, the library has become our favorite place to escape whenever we need to get out of the house and break the monotony of routine.It's where we go to stock up on cookbooks, picture books, novels and magazines (sometimes dozens at a time) before a storm hits and we anticipate a few days of hunkering down. It's where we run into neighbors to catch up on the local gossip or read the bulletin boards for local events. We've made many wonderful discoveries, from art work by area students to continuing education classes offered around the region.

Summer can be a young mind's enemy. Not only are kids discouraged from tackling new concepts during lazy days of pool time and backyard play, but the long break from school, if not reinforced with summer learning, erodes knowledge gained from the previous school year. The Boston-based Family Education Network says that summer can be a "brain drain." It points to a University of Missouri study suggesting that when kids return to school after summer vacation, they've lost one month to three months of learning.

Dressed in purple T-shirts printed with "Express yourself," 11-year-old Victoria Oji and her sister Mercy, 13, manned a desk in the children's area of the White Marsh library. They helped children fill out applications for the library's popular reading program, suggested reading-related activities and demonstrated craft projects. "I like helping other kids be creative about reading," said Mercy, sporting a pipe-cleaner headband she had made. The sisters, who volunteer at their neighborhood library about four hours a week, are among more than 500 middle- and high-school students helping to make the annual Summer Reading Program at the Baltimore County Public Library a success.

Faced with a 10 percent cut in its operational budget, the Harford County Public Library Board of Trustees has recommended Sunday closings, staff and program reductions and a 20 percent decrease in new materials. All 11 branches in the system, which has seen a 9 percent growth in circulation this year, will remain open but each will eliminate four hours from their six-day schedules. The board had considered closing the Fallston Library, until the neighboring community expressed strong opposition.

Don't forget using the library to help save a little money Maryland libraries rank among the best in the country. You pay for them. Now get your money's worth. The movies you rent. The books you buy for $25 and $35 apiece. The video games costing $50 and more. Barney DVDs. They're often at the library, in most cases for free. The Baltimore County Public Library might be exaggerating when it estimates you can save $2,432 a year by using your library card instead of your VISA card. (It figures adults spend $450 a year just on books.

Holiday schedule Harford County government offices will be closed Thursday and Friday. . The Harford County Waste Disposal Center will be closed Thursday and Friday. Waste to Energy will be closed Thursday and open Friday. Harford transit will be closed Thursday and offer limited service on Friday. The Harford County Public Library will close at 5 p.m. Wednesday and be closed Thursday and Friday. Senior centers will be closed Thursday and Friday. Public schools will dismiss two hours early Wednesday and be closed Thursday and Friday.

Beginning this week, voters will have a chance to be briefed by experts on issues such as immigration, health care, terrorism and the economy, thanks to a partnership between the Baltimore County Public Library and the League of Women Voters of Baltimore County. The two organizations have scheduled a series of lectures on presidential campaign topics at the Towson library branch between Wednesday and Oct. 29. In addition, they are planning an election-night event. "We're taking a nonpartisan approach to this and focusing on information and not persuasion," said Jennifer Haire, the library's manager.

Government offices, libraries closed for holiday Harford County Government offices will be closed Friday for Independence Day. The Harford County Waste Disposal Center, Waste to Energy, senior centers, Harford Transit and Harford County Public Library all will be closed Friday. Visitation Day at farm bureau The Harford County Farm Bureau's annual Visitation Day is from 1 to 5 p.m. today at Jarrettsville Nurseries and North Harford High School. Both sites will offer visitors a look at farm animals and educational displays.

On May 7, 1904, the Aegis and Intelligencer announced that "the Bel Air Circulating Library is closing up its affairs, and all persons who have any of its books are requested to return the same to Miss Mollie Bateman within the next two weeks." The library was permanently closed July 31, 1904. The Bel Air Circulating Library opened in 1885 on Main Street near the Court House. A $5 membership fee, later reduced to $1, permitted users to take home one book at a time, or if residing "in the country," two books.

Accident Man killed, 3 injured as pickup truck flips A man was killed and three other men were injured yesterday when the truck in which they were riding went out of control on Route 140 near the Carroll County line and rolled over, county police said. The truck was hauling a trailer of mulch when the accident occurred shortly after 11 a.m. near Mitchell Drive, police said. One man was pronounced dead at the scene, said Cpl. Michael Hill, a police spokesman. Another man was taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center with serious injuries, Hill said.

Library to end dial-up Internet service June 30 The Baltimore County Public Library system will stop offering dial-up Internet service subscriptions at the end of June, a library spokesman said yesterday. Begun in 1995, the service offered inexpensive dial-up service to county residents and nonresidents and peaked at 9,000 customers. But as Internet users have moved from dial-up access to far faster broadband connections, the subscriber list has dwindled to about 2,000 accounts, said Bob Hughes, a library system spokesman.