Damage

Rick Santorum's exit from the fight for the Republican presidential nomination was a belated recognition that he was outgunned by Mitt Romney's huge financial advantage. But the damage Mr. Santorum inflicted on the GOP brand in the process leaves Mr. Romney leading a divided party in which he remains an uncomfortable fit. The man who has oddly described himself to be "severely conservative" stands on the brink of nomination despite the party base's general coolness toward him and despite the divisions in its ranks that frustrated his efforts to nail down the nomination for so long.

A fire damaged a home in Forest Hill on Wednesday evening. The fire was reported around 6:15 p.m. in a two-story, wood frame dwelling in the 300 block of Cannery Lane, according to the State Fire Marshal's Office, which investigated. Approximately 20 firefighters from the Bel Air and Fallston volunteer fire companies responded and brought the fire under control in about 10 minutes, according to the Fire Marshal's Office's notice of investigation. No injuries were reported.

Maryland emergency management officials are asking lower Eastern Shore residents to report damage to their property that occurred during Superstorm Sandy as part of an effort to appeal denial of federal storm cleanup money. Residents of Dorchester, Somerset, Wicomico  and Worcester counties with damage to report are asked to call the Maryland Department of Human Resources Relief Hotline for Superstorm Sandy at 888-756-7836. State officials are seeking to gather as much information on damage as possible to boost Maryland's application for federal relief funds.

OCEAN CITY - Merchants and others in Maryland's premier resort are hopeful that that an improving economy, stable gas prices, stepped-up marketing - and the lingering effects of superstorm Sandy - will combine to produce a strong summer season. Shops and restaurants are being built, and the town is poised to reopen the fishing pier that was damaged in last fall's storm. As the season kicks off with the start of the Memorial Day weekend, hotel bookings and rentals appear strong, and some in town believe Sandy has something to do with it. "First of all, there's everything that's happened in New Jersey.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency will grant Baltimore County disaster aid to help pay for damage from Superstorm Sandy, officials announced Thursday. Under the grant program, the federal government will reimburse the county for expenses, including storm preparation, debris removal and damage to public facilities related to the October storm. Officials estimate that storm preparations and damage cost the county $3.4 million, said county public safety spokeswoman Elise Armacost.

A fire did minor damage to a storage shed in the Havre de Grace area Wednesday evening, according to fire investigators. Firefighters were sent to the 400 block of Robin Hood Road about 6:25 p.m. Wednesday after a neighbor reported a fire in a 8-by-10 foot wood frame shed on the property of Richard Forton, according to a notice of investigation from the Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office. Twenty firefighters from the Susquehanna Hose Company of Havre de Grace brought the fire under control in 10 minutes, the fire marshal's office said.

Harford County will not be charging fees on permits required for homeowners to repair damage caused by Hurricane Sandy, County Executive David R. Craig announced Thursday. If a property owner pays a permitting fee in order to repair Sandy-related damage, the county will provide a refund, according to a statement from Craig's office. The fee waiver and potential for refund has been authorized from today until December 1, the statement said.  More information about Harford's building, mechanical, electrical and plumbing fees can be found here:  http://www.harfordcountymd.gov/dilp/index.cfm?

Mayor Michael Bloomberg faces the nation, and we see the devastation to New York City and Long Island through his words. Gov. Chris Christie flies over the ravaged New Jersey coast and sees what horrific damage and destruction has been wreaked by the terrible storm. And then - wait a minute! Not to be outdone by his northern neighbors, our own Gov. Martin O'Malley boards a helicopter so that he can observe what cataclysm has befallen Crisfield. Crisfield! And did my eyes deceive me or was that his adolescent son also getting ready to board?

A two-alarm fire on New Year's Eve caused an estimated $500,000 in damage to a commercial building in the Keymar area of Carroll County, according to the State Fire Marshal's office. The incident occurred at about 5:50 p.m. at 1060 Francis Scott Key Highway (Route 194), Keymar. According to the fire marshal's account, the building is a concrete and steel structure with a wood-framed roof, and is the home of two local companies - Keymar Tire Outlet and J. P. Donmoyer Trucking Company.

The fire Monday at the Mt. Washington Tavern caused $2.5 million in damage to the structure and its contents, fire officials said. The cause and source of the early morning fire that destroyed the popular bar and restaurant remains under investigation. Investigators are still combing through evidence and conducting inspections of the wreckage at the two-story shingled building on Newbury Street. "The Baltimore City fire department never makes an immediate official determination into the cause of fires of this magnitude, or others," spokesman Chief Kevin Cartwright wrote in an email Wednesday.

As it must come to all American presidents, it seems, Barack Obama's policy agenda is being crowded out of the headlines by the imperative of damage control against administration scandal. The allegations of incompetence or worse in the IRS' targeting of conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status, the Justice Department snooping on Associated Press reporters, and the State-CIA dispute over the origins of the Benghazi terrorist attacks comprise a three-pronged firestorm demanding swift smothering.

A man in Carroll County was checking his mailbox Wednesday afternoon when he discovered a pipe bomb, the Office of the State Fire Marshal said. The man was not injured. The mailbox was described as "rural," in the 3800 block of McMullen Road in Taneytown, the fire marshal said. The home's owner, James A. Sandel, found the bomb about 4:15 p.m. and called 911. The bomb was disposed of, and McMullen Road was closed for about five hours. Anyone with information about who placed the bomb in the mailbox is asked to contact the Office of the State Fire Marshal at 410-859-7152.

A line of thunderstorms passed through Harford County Saturday afternoon, knocking down trees - including one at the Harford County Courthouse - and causing sporadic power outages. By 7:30 p.m., the BGE web site was reporting roughly 2,200 customers were without power in the immediate aftermath of the storm; more than 1,500 had power restored and more than crews were working to get 700 more back on line. Hardest hit were areas along Route 24 from Forest Hill to Joppa, and in the greater Havre de Grace area.

A trained weather spotter reported a funnel cloud sighting in Roland Park on Saturday afternoon, while severe wind damage occurred in Harford County as storms passed through the region, according to the National Weather Service. The funnel cloud sighting was reported at 4:24 p.m. along Lake Avenue near Roland Avenue. No tornado has been confirmed, and the weather service has not received any reports of damage that appeared to have been caused by a tornado, said Brian Lasorsa, a meteorologist in the weather service's Baltimore/Washington forecast office.

Fire extensively damaged a vacant house on Aberdeen's east side late Friday night, investigators said. The cause of the fire in the two-story, single family house in the first block of East Bel Air Avenue remains under investigation, according to the Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office. The fire was reported by a passerby about 11:58 p.m. Sixty firefighters and equipment from the Aberdeen Fire Department, Aberdeen Proving Ground Fire Department and the Susquehanna Hose Company of Havre de Grace brought the fire under control in about 90 minutes, according to a notice of investigation from the Fire Marshal's Office.

Weather disasters including tornadoes, the derecho storm and Hurricane Sandy caused at least $48 million in property and crop damages in Maryland last year, the costliest since 2003, according to data released Thursday. Five people also died from extreme weather - high temperatures, for the most part - and 10 people were injured. The data do not include things like traffic deaths or electrocutions from downed power lines, considered to be indirectly caused by the weather, said Brenton MacAloney, a meterologist with the National Weather Service in Silver Spring.

Weather disasters including tornadoes, the derecho storm and Hurricane Sandy caused at least $48 million in property and crop damages in Maryland last year, the costliest since 2003, according to data released Thursday. Five people also died from extreme weather - high temperatures, for the most part - and 10 people were injured. The data do not include things like traffic deaths or electrocutions from downed power lines, considered to be indirectly caused by the weather, said Brenton MacAloney, a meterologist with the National Weather Service in Silver Spring.

State and local officials have returned to the Eastern Shore communities ravaged by superstorm Sandy's heavy rains and high winds to comb over the damage in hopes of appealing federal officials' decision to deny aid to Maryland. The Federal Emergency Management Agency declined the state's request for funds for individual residents because the damage was not considered substantial enough. But U.S. Sens. Barbara A. Mikulski and Ben Cardin, Gov. Martin O'Malley's administration and other state leaders vowed this week to appeal the decision, citing extensive damage to the area, where more than 300 homes are estimated to have been severely damaged.

Six Baltimore community groups filed an $8 million lawsuit Tuesday against a Texas man whose companies own dozens of properties in the city, alleging that he failed to improve rundown homes after purchasing them at tax sales and allowed them to become a danger. "The lawsuit challenges the practice of purchasing vacant properties at tax sale and leaving them for dead with unaddressed city code violations," said Kristine Dunkerton, executive director of the Community Law Center Inc., a nonprofit based in Baltimore that represents the community associations.

Multiple residents in Anne Arundel County were displaced Thursday evening after fires blazed through their homes in separate incidents. Fire officials first responded to the 6400 block of Lamplighter Ridge in Glen Burnie around 9:45 p.m. where a two-story townhome was ablaze. The 43 firefighters at the scene had situation under control within an hour, but not before three homes could endure $215,000 in damages, according to fire officials. Six people who were displaced in the event are now being assisted by the American Red Cross while a firefighter and 60-year-old male were treated for minor injuries at the Baltimore Washington Medical Center, officials said.