Curb

A leaf-removal program has been discontinued after 25 years, saving Prince George's County $2 million. Some county residents say they raked their leaves to the curb as they had for years and expected they would be vacuumed up by the county. But they were surprised to learn the leaf-removal program had been cut. Susan Hubbard of the county's Department of Public Works and Transportation says a notice about the program being discontinued went out to community representatives over the summer.

With a new survey finding the Chesapeake Bay's crab population at its lowest level in five years after a poor spawn last year, Maryland officials announced Friday they would move to tighten catch limits on the region's iconic crustacean. The annual winter survey of Maryland and Virginia waters tallied 300 million crabs, the Department of Natural Resources reported. That's down nearly two-thirds from the number seen last year, when Gov. Martin O'Malley held a press conference at a crab house in Annapolis to declare crabs had rebounded from near-collapse in 2008 and were more plentiful than they'd been in nearly two decades.

AT THIS moment, I have to question the values of an entire generation. As I drive around the various neighborhoods, and take note of the school yards and the ballfields and, never to be minimized, the front steps and street corners, I do not see a ball in flight. A summer day, a clear sky -- and not a baseball, a sponge ball, an old-time pinkie or a tennis ball heaved toward someone holding a bat in hand. Where are all the kids? Hiding inside the house? Not a baseball game, not a stickball game, not a stepball game, not a curb ball game.

Using zoning laws to limit alcohol outlet density won't stop the heaviest drinkers from consuming alcoholic beverages ("Government should use zoning to limit liquor stores, Hopkins researchers say," April 11). Such a solution oversimplifies the problem of alcohol abuse. Just compare Maryland and Pennsylvania. Despite its smaller population, Maryland's private control of alcohol sales means it has roughly 1.5 times as many alcohol retail outlets as government-controlled Pennsylvania.

Westminster police are warning homeowners to beware of anyone leaving a leaflet or approaching residents offering to paint house numbers on the curb for $10.Police recommend that the house number appear in 4-inch numerals on or near the front door to aid emergency personnel, but the company leaving the leaflets, Community Painting Service, is not licensed to do such work in Carroll County or Westminster.Officers said the company does not have a trader's license or permit from the city to do curb painting.

A 73-year-old man sitting in a lawn chair was fatally injured yesterday afternoon when he was struck by an automobile than ran out of control and jumped a curb along Baltimore National Pike, city police said.The victim, Nathaniel Ashe of the 5100 block of Greenwich Ave., was sitting outside an apartment building there when the accident occurred about 12: 15 p.m. He was pronounced dead at 2: 19 p.m. at Maryland Shock Trauma Center.Police said the car, a 1997 Kia driven by Keishan Willis, 21, of the 100 block of Twin Circle South, was eastbound in the 5100 block of Baltimore National Pike when it hit a curb, an embankment and a tree before hitting and dragging Ashe.

Y ESTERDAY'S street ball heroes: Look at 'em all, down there at Robinson and Pratt streets in East Baltimore, in the very shadows of Highlandtown Middle School in their T-shirts and sneakers, with middle age just around the corner but youth still fresh inside their heads.Half of them have moved out to suburbia now, the way people sometimes do. But they make their way back here, once a year for the last 10 years, back to the old neighborhood, and the old corner, in a kind of pilgrimage to the past, to play the game that carried them through summers of old.Curb ball: one of the old city games, squeezed into any available open space, squeezed between houses, squeezed onto narrow streets, squeezed between cars driving through.

Sidewalk dining nearly proved fatal yesterday evening when a black Honda Accord jumped a curb in front of two Federal Hill restaurants, injuring at least three patrons. The car came to a halt at the steps of Regi's American Bistro. Two people were taken to Maryland General Hospital and one to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center. Witnesses said the injuries did not appear to be life-threatening, but the names and conditions of the victims were not immediately available. The accident occurred shortly before 7:30 p.m., outside Regi's and an adjacent restaurant, Ten-O-Six, in the 1000 block of Light St. Overturned folding chairs and tables were crushed and knocked over.

An 81-year-old Pikesville man and the elderly passenger in the front seat of his car died yesterday when the Chevrolet he was driving jumped a curb in the Sinai Hospital parking lot and rammed the hospital building, city police reported.Moses Cohen, of the 3000 block of Northbrook Road and Rose Scherr, 76, of the same address, died in the 10: 23 a.m. accident, traffic investigators said.The relationship between the victims was unclear last night.Sinai officials were unsure why the pair were at the hospital.

THE PROBLEM: Had a Canton curb been painted illegally? THE BACK STORY: Gary Brukiewa didn't know what to think. A curb on Fait Avenue just east of a driveway into a Rite Aid parking lot had been painted yellow, and Brukiewa wasn't sure whether that was legal. "I've heard so many conflicting stories about who can and cannot paint the curb," he said. It turns out there is also a "No Stopping" sign just west of the driveway that prohibits parking from the driveway to the intersection with Streeper Street.

Every year, police in Baltimore City respond to thousands of calls related to domestic violence. Officers arrest and charge abusive partners, judges issue protective orders to women who fear for their lives, and domestic violence counselors struggle to help battered women and their children recover from the physical and emotional traumas they have suffered. Yet despite the resources of time, money and manpower invested in these efforts, the killing hasn't stopped, or even slowed appreciably.

This is prettay, prettay, prettay cool. Larry David, the creator/star of HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and, of course, a co-creator/writer of "Seinfeld," was apparently seen on the University of Maryland-College Park campus on Tuesday, escorting one of his daughters on a campus tour, according to UMD's student newspaper, The Diamondback.  The Diamondback reports that college officials wouldn't comment on the alleged sightings, but David is...

Maryland could outlaw the shark fin trade under a bill that passed the House of Delegates this week. The fins, the key ingredient in shark fin soup and considered a delicacy in some Chinese cuisines, have undergone global scrutiny because of unsustainable harvesting practices. In some parts of the world, the fins are sliced off the sharks and the wounded animals are left to swim in the sea. The ban, which now heads to the Senate, would outlaw the importation or possession of shark fins.

David Johnson of Fells Point said he and his wife were awakened early on Sunday morning at about 2 a.m. to the sound of revelers' voices in front of their residence. He said his wife asked the group if they could quiet down. When the couple awoke this morning, they found two large planters at the front stoop smashed, the soil spilling onto the sidewalk. "I guess their response was to smash our planters," said Johnson, who said he reported the incident to Baltimore City police.

Aberdeen Aberdeen police report: People were being disorderly and arguing Tuesday in the 100 block of Hamilton Place. A customer ran a curb and struck the Golden Corral restaurant, in the 700 block of South Philadelphia Boulevard, on Tuesday. A customer reported minor cuts to the wrist. Someone pulled a woman's hair, broke her phone and banged her head on the ground at Economy Inn, in the 600 block of South Philadelphia Boulevard, on Tuesday. Three men were harassing customers about buying perfume Tuesday at Panera Bread, in the 1000 block of Beards Hill Road.

A bill to lift state curbs on development using septic systems has died in Annapolis, less than a week after a small "tractorcade" to the State House by farmers upset over pending limits on how many houses can be built on their land. The House Environmental Matters Committee gave an "unfavorable" report to HB106 , which would have repealed the "Sustainable Growth and Agricultural Preservation Act of 2012. "  Sponsored by Del. Michael A. McDermott, a Republican representing Wicomico and Worcester counties on the Eastern Shore.

A county police detective has been charged with drunken driving after his car jumped a curb and narrowly missed a pedestrian Thursday night, Annapolis police said.Ray Thrift, 47, a 24-year department veteran, also was charged with negligent driving and failing to stop ata red light before a right turn.County police spokesman Officer V. Richard Molloy said Thrift, who normally works as an investigator for the state's attorney, has been given administrative duties pending the outcome of an internal affairs investigation.

Parking rate lowered to $9 a day in Daily A garage Baltimore-Washington International Airport has lowered the daily parking rate in the Daily A garage from $11 to $9. Shuttles run between the garage on Elm Road and the terminal every 10 minutes. The airport has 24,800 parking spaces and 4,100 overflow spaces. Another garage under construction will have 8,400 spaces. Pier D's upper curb area to reopen to pedestrians The curb area in front of Pier D's upper-level road will reopen to pedestrian traffic Tuesday.

Farmers and others upset over state-imposed restrictions on septic-based rural development staged a "tractorcade" Tuesday past the State House in Annapolis. The protest comes on the day the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee is scheduled to hear a bill, SB391 , which would repeal the Sustainable Growth and Agricultural Preservation Act of 2012 . The law, introduced by Gov. Martin O'Malley and passed last year over rural lawmakers' objections, restricts large-scale housing development that would rely on septic systems.

Robert Prettyman walked along the uneven ground surrounding Anne Arundel Community College's resource management building and pointed to soil erosion, storm runoff and other evidence that the area is losing its battle against the elements. "You can see the erosion. It's a mess," said Prettyman, 51, a student at the college. He then ventured down a series of weather-beaten steps in the woods to a small waterway known as Divided Creek. Runoff from the resource management building flows through underground pipes and spills into the creek before heading to the Magothy River and Chesapeake Bay. Prettyman, a Glen Burnie resident studying ecosystem restoration and environmental monitoring, wants to stem that tide of erosion, and he recently came up with a project to reduce and naturally filter some of the runoff from the building.