Edgewood

The Patterson Mill Huskies boys basketball team picked up a win against a Chesapeake (upper) Division opponent, dispatching the host-team North Harford Hawks, 58-40, Tuesday night. Edgewood also grabbed a Tuesday night victory, beating the Cristo Rey Jesuit team, while C. Milton Wright lost to Benjamin Franklin. With the victory, Patterson Mill (13-0 Susquehanna) improved to 16-2 overall, while North Harford (3-8 Chesapeake) fell to 8-11 on the season. The Huskies led, 31-16, at the halftime intermission.

The long depressed image of Edgewood is in line for a much needed face lift with revitalization plans for the southern Harford County community.A demonstration project to spruce up the business district along U.S. 40 from Tree Top to Gateway drives, with $100,000 in state and county grants, will soon be launched.The project, which includes two of the oldest shopping centers, will bring new sidewalks, landscaping, street lighting and bus shelters to the area. School children have designed community identification banners to be hung from utility poles.

Harford County sheriff's deputies and Maryland State Police report: Aberdeen Matthew Alexander Smothers, 41, of the 200 block of Mayberry Drive, was charged Thursday with second-degree assault. Hugh James Comiskey, 55, of the first block of Franklin Street, was arrested on a bench warrant Friday in a case in which he was charged with disorderly conduct. Bryon Keith Morrison, 41, of the 300 block of Graceton Drive, was charged Monday with marijuana possession, fourth-degree sex offense and second-degree assault.

Aberdeen won its seventh straight Harford County Wrestling Championship last night at Fallston High School with a decisive victory over Edgewood, 189-130.The Eagles, three-time state Class 1A-2A champions, qualified seven wrestlers for the finals and took five individual titles.Matt Slutzky, son of Eagles coach Dick Slutzky and a two-time defending county, regional and state champion, pinned all three of his opponents to take the 135-pound title. In the county final, the junior, 25-1 and ranked No. 1 by the Maryland State Wrestling Association, pinned Edgewood's Bill Carr in one minutes, 9 seconds.

An Edgewood man was in critical condition last night after he was shot in the abdomen, authorities said. Shortly after 6 p.m., a resident entered a sheriff's office in Edgewood to report that a man had been shot down the street, said Sgt. Christina Presberry, a spokeswoman for the Harford County's Sheriff's Office. A sheriff's deputy went to the scene and found a man lying on the road with a gunshot wound to the abdomen, she said. The victim was flown to Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, where he was being treated last night, Presberry said.

Edgewood ran out to a 20-point third-quarter lead and held on to beat visiting James M. Bennett, 46-33, in a girls Class 2A, Region IV opening-round playoff game yesterday.The Rams, who finished third in the Harford County League, will meet second seed Wicomico (19-1) at 5 p.m. tomorrow in Salisbury.Yesterday, Bennett, also from Salisbury, remained close early on, but the Clippers could not contend with Edgewood's domination of the boards or its quickness on defense.The third-seeded Rams (15-8)

In successive games against the teams with the two best records in Harford County, Edgewood has shown it can win when it plays well, and even when it doesn't.The Rams, playing well when they had to, dispatched C. Milton Wright, 42-28, yesterday.Edgewood has now won five of its last six games while improving to 8-7, 5-2. Wright, which had a 10-game winning streak halted, dropped to 11-5, 6-2.For Edgewood, this win followed Friday night's 70-59 lashing of rival Aberdeen, dealing the Eagles their first county loss in the process.

The designation of Edgewood as a state business enterprise zone is an important step toward revitalizing what has long been a pocket of depression in Harford County. But it is only a part of the comprehensive effort needed to elevate the spirits and economy of the U.S. 40 corridor there.The enterprise zone programs include tax credits and low-interest loans for business and industry within the boundaries that stretch north from Joppatowne to Route 755.Hiring unemployed or underemployed persons can yield tax credits of up to $3,000 each for businesses that expand or relocate in the area.

Joppatowne hung with Edgewood for the first quarter of a Harford County League game last night, but that's about as long as the Mariners could last.From then on, Edgewood (12-3, 7-1) took control, outscoring the Boys basketballMariners 25-13 in the second quarter for a 16-point halftime lead and a 77-55 league victory.Edgewood will stay in at least a tie for first place in the county standings. Aberdeen was also 6-1 going into its game last night against Havre de Grace.The Rams have won six of their past seven games, mostly due in part "We have a lot of new and young kids.