Essex

Having been assigned to Precinct 11 in Essex for the last four years until my retirement in November, I am very familiar with the school resource officers at Chesapeake High School who were involved in the use of pepper spray to break up a fight between two students ("How much force is too much?" Dec. 16). Both officers have been at the school for years; they know and care about the kids and work well with the administration. And you can be assured that In the Baltimore County Police Department, every incident like this one is critiqued and evaluated to see if the officers acted properly, whether additional training is needed and whether things should be done differently in the future.

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. -- Brock Livingston scored in the final second to give SUNY-Farmingdale (10-5) a 16-15 victory over Essex Community College (10-4) in the consolation game of the National Junior College Athletic Association championships yesterday. Chad Christian had three goals and three assists for Essex, the defending national champion.

The Community College of Allegheny County (Pa.) beat host Essex Community College, 5-3, in a shootout yesterday to win its first NJCAA Region XX championship.Allegheny scored on a penalty kick in regulation, which ended in a 1-1 tie. It scored on another penalty kick in overtime, which closed in a 2-2 deadlock, and won the title in the shootout.Allegheny (18-1-2), ranked 14th nationally, advances to the national tournament, that starts on Nov. 19 at Mercer County Community College in New Jersey.

WEST WINDSOR, N.J. -- It was pack-it-up time for Essex Community College. It should have been, anyway. It just never came to that.Essex put on a stunning rally to knock off host Mercer County Community College, 4-3, in a shootout in the opening round of the national junior college women's soccer tournament. Essex now faces defending-champ Meramec (Mo.) in this morning's first semifinal (10).The second semifinal pits Catonsville Community College against Monroe (N.Y.). Catonsville, last year's runner-up, advanced with a 2-0 win over SUNY-Farmingdale (N.Y)

Carrie Falkehan's 16 points -- including three three-pointers -- sparked visiting Dundalk Community College past Essex CC, 47-42, in a Maryland JUCO game last night.Claire Iman added 14 for Dundalk (1-4).Freshman guard Ozlem Kayabasi finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds for Essex (0-3).Essex sophomore guard Leigh Biggerman had eight points, three assists and three steals.Essex's Athina Mavromoustakos added 10 steals and six points.Rochester 71, J. Hopkins 51ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Libbie Tobin scored game-high 19 and handed out eight assists, as Rochester toppled Johns Hopkins, 71-51, in a University Athletic Association game.

An arrest warrant has been issued for a 19-year-old man charged with attempted first-degree murder in a shooting in Essex last month, Baltimore County police said yesterday. Police said they are looking for Jonathan Duvon Lowe, 19, who frequents the Essex area, in the wounding of an 18-year-old man during a robbery attempt on the Southeastern Terrace footbridge over Route 702 about 6:30 a.m. July 13. The victim, who was not identified, was treated at Maryland Shock Trauma Center, police said.

Despite Essex Community College's dominance over Catonsville Community College in men's soccer over the years, Essex coach Tom Wall believed his team was the underdog in Monday's game at Catonsville.Chalk up one for the underdog. The Knights won the first of two regular-season meetings with the Cardinals, 3-1.Wall, in his first season as head coach at Essex after serving as an assistant for two years, started eight freshmen against Catonsville. He has started as many as 10 freshmen this season.

For Sunday's Essex Day Festival, Jeff Swope will prepare nearly 800 pounds of pit beef, considered by many along Baltimore County's eclectic east side to be one of the basic food groups. Swope, 34, is owner and chief griller at Big Al's Pit Beef, an east-side institution. For 14 years, he has sliced and served sandwiches from his stand along the midway as part of Essex's annual celebration of itself. "This is a proud place," said Swope, whose one-room barbecue shack is two blocks from the festival site on Eastern Boulevard.

Columbia's Essex Corp. finally had some good news yesterday, announcing a $1.6 million contract extension to continue providing the Army with anti-mine educational materials.The company, which last week posted a sizable loss of annual income for 1996, will refine its Electronic Demining Support System and ship more units to Army Special Forces. Many are already deployed in Cambodia, Africa and Bosnia.The system features mobile workstations that include a CD-ROM database to find pictures and descriptions of mines encountered in the field.