Elkridge

A two-alarm fire caused serious damage to a motel in Elkridge on Monday night, closing U.S. 1 for hours and drawing fire units from surrounding counties. Jackie Cutler, a spokeswoman for Howard County Fire and Rescue Services, said the blaze broke out just before 9 p.m. in a second-floor section of the White Elk Motel. Occupants evacuated themselves, and there were no fatalities or injuries, she said. Cutler said the cause of the fire was under investigation and that it was too early to give a damage estimate.

We used to live in the Harwood Park community and, contrary to what Baltimore Gas and Electric says, there were always numerous power outages throughout the entire community and the residents never knew how long they would be without electricity. Many times I personally called BGE to inform them of an outage and their response would be "We are aware of the outage in your area, service people are being dispatched and we hope to have your power restored within a reasonable time.

The fate of a $2.64 million deal for a new elementary school site in Elkridge remains unclear, with the property owners embroiled in a dispute over a lien that has delayed the project. If the Howard County school system cannot purchase a 10.1-acre site from Ducketts Ridge LLC, school officials will have to look elsewhere to open a 600-seat elementary school. The new school, which officials had hoped to open by August 2013, is needed to ease projected growth at Bellow Springs, Deep Run and Elkridge elementary schools in the northeastern part of the county.

A Guatemalan immigrant pleaded guilty Monday in Howard County Circuit Court to two counts of attempted first-degree murder for his role in a fire that authorities said was set at the Elkridge home where his estranged wife lived. Prosecutors said they would argue for a 20-year prison sentence for Santiago Adalpho Gonzalez-Miner, 44, although defense lawyers can seek a lesser sentence, according to T. Wayne Kirwan, spokesman for the Howard County State's Attorney's Office. Gonzales-Miner is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 31. A second defendant, Edvin Giovanni Ceron Reyes, 24, is scheduled for a pretrial hearing next month and a trial in mid-January.

Barry Schwartz got a job scooping ice cream at Baskin-Robbins in the Mall in Columbia in 1979, just so he could cash in his paychecks for quarters to feed the pinball machines in the arcade. "Pinball was a huge part of my life when I was 16," the Ellicott City resident said between turns in Free State Pinball Association's weekly league play in Elkridge. "It's that whole nostalgic, coming-of-age thing," said Joe Schober, FSPA president, who drives each Wednesday from Great Falls, Va., to play in the 10-week tournaments held at Volleyball House, which has eight machines.

Howard County Police have identified an 18-year-old Severn man as the second victim killed in a single-car crash Friday night in Elkridge. Jonathan Lloyd Deckman, a rear passenger in the vehicle, was identified as the victim. He was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident in the 6200 block of Lawyer's Hill Road. The front passenger, Jeffrey Ryan Giles of Linthicum, was also killed. Police said a preliminary investigation found that neither man was wearing a seat belt when the 2008 Pontiac GT collided with a tree.

Two people whom police believe were not wearing their seat belts were killed and three others were injured Friday night in a single-car crash in Elkridge. Howard County police say a 2008 Pontiac GT with five occupants crashed into a tree around 8:05 p.m. in the 6200 block of Lawyer's Hill Road. The vehicle was traveling westbound when the driver lost control, crossed the eastbound lanes and struck a tree. Police said speed appeared to be a factor in the accident. The front passenger, Jeffrey Ryan Giles, 19, of Linthicum, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Jeff and Corinne Plank , of Baltimore, announce the birth of their daughter, Whitney Elizabeth Plank , on Oct. 4, 2011. Her grandparents are Mike and Sissy Plank, of Ellicott City; Mary Anne and Tom Williams, of Perry Hall; and Susan and Harold Campbell, of Abingdon. Mary and David Slaton , of Elkridge, announce the birth of their son, Travis James Slaton , on Nov. 14, 2011, at 11:26 p.m. He weighed 7 pounds, 5 ounces. His brothers are David and Dylan.

James (Jim) H. Durfee , of Office Movers, Inc., in Elkridge, has been elected president of the Office Moving Alliance at its 2011 Annual Meeting, held Oct. 24-27, in Phoenix. Durfee will serve a two-year term at OMA, an international trade organization that boasts member revenues in excess of $780 million. Durfee will serve as President of OMA in addition to his regular position at Office Movers Inc. Ron Mason , chief operating officer, and chief executive officer Jerry Rader , both of Corridor Mortgage Group, presented a check for $7,500 to Special Olympics Howard County director Bob Baker . Corridor raised the money through a golf tournament held in October.

The most controversial of four proposed sites for a Baltimore-area center for transferring cargo between trucks and trains carries the lowest cost estimate, while one that has virtually no close neighbors would cost nearly twice as much, according to officials of CSX and the Maryland Department of Transportation. But during a news briefing Tuesday at the agency's headquarters, the officials offered assurances that while all of the locations remain in the running, none is favored over the others.