Fort Meade

Anne Arundel Workforce Development Corporation and Howard County Workforce Development are sponsoring a Fort Meade Town Hall Thursday, Oct. 25, from 7 to 8:30 p.m., at Arundel High School, 1001 Annapolis Road, in Gambrills. The public can learn from Fort Meade employers about their hiring needs. The following organizations are scheduled to be in attendance: Fort Meade Civilian Personnel Advisory Center, Defense Information Systems Agency, Defense Media Activity, the National Security Agency and the Fort Meade Kimbrough Ambulatory Care Center.

A large, two-alarm fire burned through an apartment complex and forced residents of 24 units to be evacuated in Odenton on Sunday evening, according to the Anne Arundel County Fire Department. Firefighters were called to the apartment building in the 2000 block of Military Place, in the Seven Oaks community off Regiment Way near Fort Meade, about 6:05 p.m., said Lt. Cliff Koofer, a department spokesman. About 60 firefighters and 25 pieces of equipment remained on the "very active scene" about 8:15 p.m., Koofer said.

At Fort Meade, where the suicide rate among service members is six times higher than that of the entire state, a crowd of 75 soldiers offered mostly silence when Mark Fisher asked them to list potential warning signs that a colleague is about to take his or her own life. "The only way we're going to attack suicides is to talk about it," Fisher urged them. "We have to get it. And this is the only way. " Fort Meade's mandatory suicide prevention training Wednesday was part of an Army-wide initiative undertaken as the military branch is on pace to reach its highest-ever suicide rate.

The Maryland Department of Labor Licensing and Regulation/DLLR is holding a Fort Meade Community Job Fair, Wednesday, Sept. 12, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Club Meade, 6600 Mapes Road, on Fort Meade. All job seekers, veterans and nonveterans, can meet prospective employers. Bring résumés and dress for success. Participants should arrive early, and anticipate lines at the installation's gate and at the job fair. Other sponsors of the job fair include Fort Meade Family, Morale, Welfare and Recreation; DLLR/Anne Arundel One Stop Career Centers; Anne Arundel Workforce Development Corp.; Army Community Service; Navy Fleet and Family Support Center; and Army Career and Alumni Program.

Ever since Harford County learned that the nationwide military base realignment would bring up to 10,000 new jobs to Aberdeen Proving Ground, officials and residents have pushed for road improvements around the Army base. Average daily traffic on Route 715 to and from the installation grew from 7,950 vehicles in 2004, the year before the Base Realignment and Closure process was announced, to 12,612 in 2011, according to the State Highway Administration. Traffic on U.S. 40 near the post increased by nearly 3,000 vehicles per day. "As we prepared for BRAC, our No. 1 roads priority was upgrades to intersections closest to the installation," said Karen Holt, who manages a consortium of government agencies and business groups formed to promote economic development in the region.

Sunday, Aug. 5 Ready for football? The Bowie Baysox host a "Football Kickoff Party" at Prince George's Stadium as the team faces the Trenton Thunder at 6:05 p.m. 105.7 The Fan's Vinny Cerrato and Rob Long will broadcast live from the stadium from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. A silent auction to benefit the Jimmy V Foundation will feature a VIP package for the Ravens' game against the Washington Redskins at FedEx Field on Dec. 9, among other items. Tuesday, Aug. 7 Concert Grammy Award winner Billy Ocean takes the stage at 8 p.m. at the Rams Head Tavern , 33 West St. in Annapolis.

A Massachusetts company is building about 940 apartment units in and near the Baltimore area, with plans to start construction on about 460 more units this year. The Dolben Co.'s project in Owings Mills, the View at Mill Run, is slated to finish this month. Other developments are the Village at Odenton Station, near Fort Meade in Anne Arundel County, which the company expects to complete in September, and Charlestown Crossing in the Cecil County community of North East, newly under way with completion expected in early 2014.

Less than a year after realizing his lifelong dream of becoming a Marine, Pvt. Anthony W. Romano-Caruso was found dead under mysterious circumstances in his Fort Meade barracks room on Wednesday. Rita Romano-Caruso said two Marines arrived at her front door in Burlington, N.C., on Thursday night to tell her that her 19-year-old son had died, but they didn't know why. "I am not sure exactly what happened," she said Friday. "It is bad to sit here in limbo, to not know what's going on. It's bad. ... "Everybody is still in shock.

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service is investigating the cause of a Marine's death in his Fort Meade barracks room Wednesday afternoon. Emergency medical teams that responded to the call pronounced him dead at the scene. The name of the Marine, who was assigned to the Marine Corps student training detachment, is being withheld pending next of kin notification. More information will be posted as it becomes available.

Mary Charlotte Sneeringer, a retired Army intelligence worker, died of respiratory failure May 20 at her Mayfield home. She was 95. Born Mary Charlotte Nash in Baltimore, she attended the old St. Katherine's Commercial School in East Baltimore. She did modeling for the Hecht Co. as a young woman. After raising a family, she became an Army civilian employee. She worked at the Intelligence Command at Fort Holabird and was trained as an adjudicator for security clearances. She rose to the GS-12 level and received numerous performance awards.