Fired

Baltimore city dropped the ball for its citizens. If this is any indication of disaster preparedness, our city is done for. Please find out who is responsible for the abysmall snow removal in Baltimore City because that someone needs a new job. Kelley Geiger, Baltimore Send your comments to talkback@baltimoresun.com.

A fire was reported at the popular Wegmans grocery store in Abingdon late Sunday evening, causing a brief evacuation of the store by employees and customers. No injuries were reported, and the store re-opened shortly after the fire was contained, a Wegmans spokesperson said. The store also was open at its normal time on Monday, at 6 a.m. The fire in the first block of Wegmans Boulevard, was reported between 6:45 and 7 p.m. Sunday, when firefighters responded for reports of smoke coming from the computer room, according to the Harford County Volunteer Fire and EMS Association Facebook page.

The Republican National Committee employee fired in the fallout over a nearly $2,000 bar tab at a risque Los Angeles nightclub was Allison Meyers, a finance department staffer, according to a GOP source. A committee spokesman did not return calls about the expense on Tuesday, a day after the RNC acknowledged it was investigating the use of committee money to pay for an outing at the Voyeur West Hollywood. The club features bondage and sadomasochistic scenes, according to its owner.

Administrative Member Jessica Wehle was named Member of the Month by the Laurel Volunteer Fire Department during a recent department meeting. Wehle, who has experience in grant preparation and administrative management, was cited for bringing her skills to the administrative side of the fire department and helping with such tasks as data entry and spreadsheets. She received a certificate and gift card from President Vic Whipple and Chief Trey Kelso. Auxiliary members Janice Zook, Sue Fricke, Nancy Burdge and Irene Duff received recognition certificates from Auxiliary President May-Lynn Bayles at the Auxiliary's anniversary meeting.

WASHINGTON -- The federal government, the United States' biggest employer, fired minority workers at more than twice the rate of whites last year, according to official personnel records obtained by Knight-Ridder.The disparity between whites and minorities existed at every pay grade and for every occupational group, but was greatest among low-level, blue-collar and clerical workers, the Office of Personnel Management statistics showed.Overall, minority men were dismissed at more than three times the rate of whites, and minority women at double the rate of whites.

Barbara Gradet, director of the Baltimore County Department of Aging, had never met new County Executive Roger B. Hayden until Friday when he fired her.Gradet, who in 11 years worked her way up to the top position in the department, said she was given no reason for her firing and was merely told she has one month to depart. She said Hayden told her he had no particular person in mind to replace her.Hayden, who was to formally take office today, handed down several firings and demotions in closed meetings Friday, according to several other fired bureaucrats.

The director of the Star-Spangled Banner Flag House and 1812 Museum was fired yesterday and left under police escort after three members of the executive committee delivered a letter of termination and demanded that she leave immediately.Cynthia A. Nauta, 49, said her differences with the museum's executive committee stemmed from a clash over the museum's direction. She said she has brought new blood into the museum's membership, tried to make it "relevant" and tried to make it a greater part of the community.

Baseball's manager-firing frenzy continued yesterday, when the Seattle Mariners dismissed Jim Lefebvre, the man who just guided them to their first winning season.Lefebvre, 49, became the fourth manager to be fired in four days and the 12th since the season began. The New York Yankees fired Stump Merrill on Monday, Joe Morgan was fired by the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday and Tom Trebelhorn was let go by the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday.There was speculation Lefebvre could be in line to manage the Chicago White Sox after Jeff Torborg's resignation yesterday.

Someone riding in a passing car fired at a Pasadena man but missed him as he stood in his driveway Thursday morning, county police said.The 35-year-old man told police a dirty, black Datsun 240 with damage near the driver's door drove by his house around 3:30 a.m., made a U-turn and returned. When the car reached his driveway, someone fired several shots from the passenger side, police said.No damage was done to the house or the surrounding area, police said. Officers found several 9 mm shell casings at the scene.

For a guy who supposedly doesn't inspire passion, Johnny Oates sure got things fired up on the radio Monday night.Oates' dismissal as Orioles manager was the equivalent of a 3-1 offering down the heart of the plate, and the talk show squawkers wasted no time jumping into the batter's box."It's got baseball back on the front page," said WCBM's Stan "The Fan" Charles. "Since Aug. 11 [the last night games were played], you start talking about baseball and the phones go dead. [Monday night] I didn't even have to prompt anything.

Deputy state fire marshals on Sunday arrested a Joppa man who they believe set two small fires in a woman's apartment after getting into an argument with her. The Office of the State Fire Marshal said Ryan Lawrence Spann, 28, argued with a woman living at 209 Foxhall Drive, an apartment complex in Bel Air, before the woman left. Deputies said Spann then set two fires in the apartment with "ordinary household items," which the woman discovered when she returned home about 1 a.m. Sunday to smoke alarms sounding.

Harford County's fire and EMS service is a mess. As one Old-Timer used to say, "Rome wasn't built in a day. " Nor was the mess that fire and EMS service has become. Let's get this straight before we go any further: This is not an attack on the men and women who have dedicated their lives to helping their fellow Harford County residents at their times of greatest need. The service they continue to provide in the face of daunting challenges is terrific. Some of our colleagues, family members, friends and neighbors are and have been volunteers in the fire and EMS service.

Members of the Homeschool Heart in Hand 4-H Club met May 8 for their annual work day at Black Horse Fire Station and McKendree Cemetery in Black Horse, MD. Members created a new flower bed at Black Horse Station and pruned bushes and trees, planted flowers, weeded and mulched the finished beds at McKendree Cemetery. The club wishes to thank Smith Hardware, Jarrettsville for its donation of flowers and A.D. Heston Tree Service and Mulch of Street for its donation of mulch.

Saturday's Maryland Voices page laid out a clear example of Baltimore governmental failure and the typical attempt to talk it under the table ("Laying blame," May 11). The Baltimore City Detention Center issue has made the city the laughingstock of the country. Del. Pat McDonough lays it out on the table clearly. It's time for action. Cut the head off of the snake and get rid of corrections chief Gary Maynard, who's has been in a deep sleep for six years, ignoring the incredibly dire circumstances of the public infrastructure which he has been appointed to manage.

The Laurel Volunteer Fire Department will hold its second annual EMS Open House on Saturday, May 18 from noon to 3 p.m. at the fire station, 7411 Cherry Lane. Activities include meeting Laurel's licensed emergency medical technicians, blood pressure screening and learning about injury prevention. Visitors can also take an ambulance tour. The Laurel Volunteer Fire Department was formed four years after an 1898 fire on Main Street destroyed 12 buildings, including the Presbyterian Church.

A man was found badly injured outside a home on fire in East Baltimore on Monday night, and he may have been injured escaping from the flames, the city Fire Department said. The fire was underway at a home in the 800 block of North Luzerne Avenue in the Milton-Montford neighborhood about 9 p.m., Fire Department spokesman Capt. Roman Clark said. The injured man was taken to a hospital in serious condition, and the fire had not spread beyond the house, Clark said. cwells@baltsun.com twitter.com/cwellssun

The director of a Pasadena group home for girls fired Tina Nickersonand six other child-care workers because they blew the whistle on abuses there two years ago, Delegate W. Ray Huff said yesterday.Huff, D-Pasadena, asked a House panel to extend whistle-blower protections enjoyed by government workers to private-sector employees like Nickerson, whose company was under contract with the state."When you hear six or seven people coming out (with complaints) at the same time, that's more than a disgruntled employee," he told the Economic Matters Committee.

Among 100 calls for medical and fire-rescue service received by the Arbutus Volunteer Fire Department during the period May 5-12, were the following: Johnnycake Road, 5700 block, 12:45 a.m. May 11. Crews from the Arbutus and Woodlawn volunteer stations and Catonsville, Westview, and Woodlawn career stations responded to the report of a residential fire in Westview and extinguished a basement fire. South Rolling Road, 900 block, 11:59 p.m. May 10. Crews from the Arbutus volunteer station and Catonsville career station responded to the report of a person injured after falling on the Brightview Assisted Living facility campus.

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.