Crews

An accident involving one vehicle on the northbound side of Route 29 slowed traffic early Tuesday morning, as crews worked to clear the roadway near Route 32 in Howard County, according to the Maryland State Highway Administration. At least one ramp onto Route 32 remained closed. Maryland State Police said Howard County Police were handling the accident, but a duty officer said he had no information on the accident as of 6:45 a.m. Also Tuesday morning, one of four southbound bores of the Fort McHenry Tunnel in Baltimore was closed due to a disabled vehicle, the SHA reported about 7 a.m. krector@baltsun.com twitter.com/rectorsun

Water went shooting 50 feet into the air because of water main break in Parkville Saturday morning, officials said. The gout of water came after an 8-inch water main broke, leaving 80 homes without water, Baltimore Department of Public Works spokesman Kurt Kocher said. The break was expected to be repaired by about 11 p.m., Kocher said. Police went to the scene in the 8300 block of Tapu Ct. and the public works department sent a valve truck, which can be used to shut off the water, to the area, Kocher said.

Another fast-moving dusting of snow could snarl the Friday evening commute, with a dangerous chill still not expected to lift until early next week. The cold snap has already contributed to some deaths, state health officials said, though an exact count wasn't available. An inch of snow that fell Thursday morning caused widespread crashes, and state highway officials are preparing for a similar situation Friday afternoon, though cautioned there is only so much they can do on crowded roadways and given the frigid weather.

Early on an October morning, serial stickup man Evan Foreman and his partner got to work just minutes before the two check-cashing store employees in Baltimore's Old Goucher neighborhood. The two robbers waited by the door; then Foreman drew a gun and forced a woman to let them in as she opened up for the day. They wouldn't hurt her, Foreman told her, "as long as you don't do anything stupid. " With the store's safe opened and more than $21,000 in hand, the men fled in a black Pontiac Grand Am. The attack on Gold's Check Cashing was one in a string of commercial robberies by Foreman — a campaign of "urban terrorism" as a federal judge described it. Federal prosecutors say he started out robbing drug dealers but turned to easier prey after he severely beat one of his targets with a shotgun.

Police have reopened the 12900 block of Fork Road in Baldwin Tuesday morning after a several-hour closure caused by a car accident that brought down utility wires. Baltimore County Police Corporal John Wachter said Verizon repair crews are working between Cherry Hill Road and Abels Avenue, but traffic can now pass through. The motorist was driving on Fork Road at about 5:50 a.m. when he struck a utility pole, Wachter said. The motorist was not taken to the hospital, he said. No other cars were involved in the crash, Wachter said.

Eric Evers, a member of the Baltimore Ravens grounds crew, calls it "the dance of the paint guns," and after five playoff appearances in a row, they've got the steps down pat. The crew, headed by Don Follett, spray-painted the team's helmet logo on the grounds of the War Memorial in front of City Hall Tuesday morning - then did it again on the steep and windy side of Federal Hill overlooking the Inner Harbor - to celebrate the team's home playoff...

Gretchen Crews, a retired librarian, teacher and club manager, died Dec. 27 at the Maryland Shock Trauma Center of injuries sustained in a fall at her Towson home. She was 83. Born Gretchen Matthews in Baltimore and raised in Wyman Park, she was the daughter of Howard Matthews, a state auditor, and his wife Gretchen, a home economics teacher and homemaker. She attended Margaret Brent School in Charles Village and was a 1947 Eastern High School graduate. She earned an English degree at Goucher College and later received a library science degree at Towson University She taught English in the city public school system and later was a librarian, both in the school system and at the old Bay College at Howard and Centre streets.

A broken water main that had the potential to affect 2,600 homes and business in eastern Baltimore County has been repaired and water pressure was restored Wednesday morning, a city public works spokesman said. Crews discovered the break in the 12-inch water main on Simmons Avenue, along a water main leading to the Colgate Water Tank in the county, about 3 p.m. Tuesday, said Kurt Kocher, a public works spokesman. The affected homes were along Eastern Avenue in the Eastwood and Colgate areas.

On Nov. 16, Venture Crew 307, the co-ed Scouting unit chartered to Catonsville United Methodist Church, held a successful steak dinner and silent auction fundraiser. On behalf of the crew, I would like to thank the more than 200 people that came and supported this effort. Our silent auction was a success because of the many donations by local businesses and friends of the program. They are: A.W.O.L. Skate Shop, U.S. Barber, Sam's Bagels, Smyth Jewelers, Sarafino's, Phoenix Emporium, Roy's Restaurant and Play it Again Sports.

The final event of the 2012 season for the Maryland Saltwater Sportfishing Association (MSSA) attracted more than 800 anglers on 220 boats in pursuit of almost $80,000 in prize money. Fishing out of Solomons, Lee Tippett, captain of the Fin Finder II, along with Andrew Turner and his crew reeled in a 41.35 pound rockfish to win the first prize of $45,000 in the MSSA Fall Classic Rockfish Tournament, the country's largest rockfish tournament. The event was held Nov. 17 and 18 on the Chesapeake Bay from Sandy Point to Point Lookout.