False Alarms

For the first time since taking office last year with several new members, the County Council has swept aside an executive veto and disagreed with the county executive. By a vote of 6 to 1, the council overrode a veto and enacted legislation to increase the fines that businesses and homeowners pay when county fire and police respond to false alarms. The fines take effect within 30 days of the vote or earlier, whenever County Executive David R. Craig signs the bill into law. Instead of a $50 fine, owners will receive a warning for a first offense, followed by escalating fines up to $1,000 for repeat incidents within the same year.

A bill that would have raised fines considerably for false fire alarms in Harford County was vetoed Tuesday by County Executive David R. Craig, in a move that overturned a 6-1 County Council vote. Craig wrote in a message accompanying his veto that there is no data to demonstrate that increases in fines and penalties would act as a deterrent. Councilman Dion F. Guthrie, who introduced the bill, disagreed. "I read his veto message, but I don't see any substance at all," Guthrie said. "To say that it is not a deterrent is ridiculous.

Two Bel Air banks were robbed Monday by two different men, police said. The BB&T Bank at 333 Baltimore Pike was robbed at 12:30 p.m. by a man who presented the teller with a note demanding cash and then fled on foot. At 3:45 p.m., a man used the same ploy to obtain cash from a teller and also fled on foot. Witnesses' height and weight descriptions of the subjects did not match, police said. Initiative targets drunken driving The Harford County Sheriff's Office has announced that it will be joining the "Drunk Driving.

Business owners and homeowners would pay higher fines when county fire and police respond to false alarms, under measures to be introduced this week in the Harford County Council. Councilman Dion F. Guthrie, an Edgewood Democrat, said he plans to introduce two bills Tuesday that would increase fees for false alarms resulting in a response by county sheriff's deputies and firefighters. "The sheriffs and the Fire Department have been nagged with many false alarms, and a lot of it is because people neglect their equipment, or the alarm goes off and they don't bother to call," Guthrie said.

CHICAGO -- When the panic about silicone breast implants erupted back in 1991, it was big news. But when the last chapter of that saga was closed a couple of weeks ago, hardly anyone noticed. Government regulators and journalists often find it tempting to set off loud, clanging alarms. They don't find it nearly so enjoyable to publicize when the alarms turn out to be false. Last month, the Food and Drug Administration decided that the medical evidence was sufficiently positive to let these devices back on the market.

WASHINGTON -- At least eight U.S. senators were among 200 people evacuated last night from the Russell Senate Office Building after sensors in the building signaled the possible presence of a nerve agent, according to U.S. Capitol Police. An alarm in the building attic signaled the presence of a dangerous substance at 6:30 p.m., prompting the evacuation. A subsequent test was negative, but those evacuated were held in an adjacent garage for three hours, until additional testing confirmed that the scare was a false alarm.

LONDON - The death toll from the bombing attacks on London commuters reached 52 yesterday, a number made all the more real by the first formal identification of a victim, a woman who left behind a husband and two sons. Her name was Susan Levy. She was 53. Many Londoners were returning to work and central London yesterday for the first time since bombs ripped apart a bus and three subway cars during Thursday's morning rush hour. Officials said the number of passengers yesterday was just short of 3 million, a typical Monday.

The county is working with volunteer fire companies to streamline fire-reporting procedures in an attempt to reduce the growing number of false alarms, which officials say endanger the safety of firefighters and residents. Of the 1,025 dispatches of firetrucks last year, 53 were the result of fire or smoke, according to Ernie Crist, manager of the county's Emergency Operation Center. He said 577 of the firetruck runs were the result of false alarms from faulty equipment, or the accidental or intentional triggering of an alarm.

When Tom McKillip punched the code to deactivate his neighbors' security system one day, he heard what every cat-sitter dreads: The alarm blaring "louder than a fire engine," he said. The security company called, but he didn't have the cancellation code for the Turf Valley home. He convinced the company to turn off the siren by suggesting that if he was a burglar, would he still be on the phone? McKillip fed the cats, and as he walked out the door, two officers arrived. Howard County police are trying to avoid this scenario.

"Alert. Firebox 301. Company 3," the radio at the Bel Air Volunteer Fire Co. on Hickory Avenue suddenly barks out. In a room next to where the trucks are parked, firefighters spring to action. Within two minutes, they have donned their protective gear and boarded the big truck moving out the door, its sirens blaring and light flashing. Moving as fast as safety allows, the truck weaves on streets leading to a government office building on Bond Street. But something's wrong - the firefighters see no smoke.