Fireworks Display

Baltimore's free New Year's Eve fireworks are back this year, but with an added wrinkle: The Inner Harbor festivities will be encircled by a metal fence, with access restricted to nine points of entry during much of the celebration. The fence, similar to what was used to enclose September's Grand Prix race, will be put in place Dec. 29, beginning at the waterline east of Rash Field and wrapping around the Inner Harbor before ending on Pratt Street adjacent to Pier 6. No metal detectors or additional security measures will be implemented this year, city officials said.

Fireworks will light the sky over the Inner Harbor on New Year's Eve after a donation from The Baltimore Sun allowed organizers to meet their fundraising goal for putting on the annual display. The Sun will serve as presenting sponsor for the 34-year-old event, which seemed in peril after the previous sponsor, Ports America Chesapeake, declined to renew its contract this spring. "We're so excited to have this generous grant … since it allows the region to reap the economic advantages while preserving the tradition for local residents," Bill Gilmore, executive director of the Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts, said in a statement.

Eleventh-hour pledges for the annual New Year's Eve fireworks display have taken fundraising more than halfway to the $75,000 minimum needed to stage the Inner Harbor spectacle next month, organizers said Thursday. "With what we have pledged now, we're comfortable with signing contracts for the barges and the tugboats and putting some of the other elements in place," Bill Gilmore, executive director of the Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts, said Thursday. "We'll wait and see exactly how much comes in before we order the fireworks shells.

Haven't had enough fireworks this year? Head to the Maple Lawn neighborhood in North Laurel for children's activities, local vendors, displays by community organizations and more, Saturday, July 9 from 5 to 9 p.m., followed by a fireworks display at 9:15 p.m. For details, call 301¿604¿1011 or go to http://www.maplelawnmd.com.

Havre de Grace Mayor Wayne Dougherty read the following statement during Tuesday night's Havre de Grace City Council meeting as an explanation of the events that led to confusion over whether Sunday night's fireworks display had been cancelled: The finale for the Independence Day Activities were complicated by an intense storm cell moving toward the City in the same time frame as the fireworks display was about to begin. Harford County Division of Emergency Operations had been notified by the National Weather Service in Sterling, Virginia of this small weather cell that was capable of producing damaging winds and dangerous lightning.

The Independence Day festivities in the Inner Harbor were marred by two incidents of violence Monday night, the fatal stabbing of a 26-year-old man after an argument and the wounding of a 4-year-old boy by an apparent stray bullet. But before people start condemning Baltimore as unsafe and irredeemable, some caution — and perhaps context — is in order. That's not in any way to excuse these reprehensible actions. The stabbing victim — Joseph Calo, 26, of Opelika, Ala. — couldn't have merited his fate in the midst of what was supposed to be a joyful celebration of this nation’s founding.

A fatal stabbing and the baffling shooting of a 4-year-old boy stunned visitors to Baltimore's downtown Fourth of July festivities and drew condemnation from the city's mayor and police commissioner as they worked to remind people of the thousands who enjoyed the celebration without incident. The violence occurred despite the presence of nearly 600 city and state officers to help with a crowd that was nearly double the size that attended last year, according to Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III. "Our citizens, our visitors deserve better, and [they]

Monday, July 4 Festival and fireworks The annual Fourth of July festival and fireworks display will be held at the Columbia Lakefront. Festival kicks off at 5 p.m. with children's entertainment featuring the Blue Sky Puppet Theater, Kinderman and comedy juggler Michael Rosman. There will also be carnival games and crafts, with a "Stars & Stripes" theme. At 7:30 p.m., the main stage will host a rock performance by Cruise. Fireworks begin at 9:30 p.m. Free parking. Information: 410-313-4451.

The Carroll County Farm Museum, 500 S. Center St., will host its annual Old-Fashioned Fourth of July Celebration and Fireworks on Monday, July 4, from noon until the fireworks end. The Kiwanis Club of Westminster is sponsoring the fireworks display this year. Events during the day at the farm museum will include stage entertainment, vendors and activities. Groups performing will include The Elderly Brothers, Ray Owens, the Carroll County Cloggers, Standard Delivery Combo and Uncle Sam on stilts with his monkey, Django.

Laurel's Independence Day celebration, with a parade, car show, field games and fireworks, will be held Saturday, July 2. The city will close some roads for parts of the day to allow the parade to pass and for safety during the evening fireworks display. Sixth Street will close at 9 a.m. when parade participants gather and line up. When the parade begins at 11 a.m., Montgomery Street will be closed from Sixth to Fourth streets, and Fourth Street will be closed from Montgomery Street to Cherry Lane.