Frisky

The presumption in this city should be that most people on the street are minding their own business. If a police officer thinks otherwise, he must have "reasonable suspicion" that something's amiss before he can stop and search anyone. That's the law. The woman on the stoop, the teenager in the park, the guy on the street corner may be a target in high crime areas, but police have to abide by the law just like the rest of us. And, when it comes to a stop-and-frisk, the law is clear: "reasonable suspicion."

A bill that would have guaranteed the continued existence of Frisky's Wildlife and Primate Sanctuary in western Howard County was killed on an ironic 3-2 vote by the County Council last night. The deciding "no" vote was cast by newly appointed member Charles C. Feaga, a western county Republican who replaced the bill's sponsor, Allan H. Kittleman, who left the council in October to take his late father's seat in the state Senate. "We felt very differently on it," Feaga said, adding that Kittleman had lobbied him late yesterday to support a last-ditch compromise amendment supported by two Democrats, council Chairman Guy Guzzone, who represents North Laurel-Savage, and east Columbia's David A. Rakes.

The Howard County Planning Board approved a zoning change last night to specifically allow wildlife sanctuaries - but the future of the only one operating in Howard, Frisky's Wildlife and Primate Sanctuary in Woodstock, remained uncertain. Meeting for a second time on the issue, the board made several changes in fine-tuning the sanctuary amendment, including requiring a minimum of 5 acres for a sanctuary to be allowed. Frisky's has slightly more than 3 acres, and the board discussed but did not decide whether to make an exception for it to remain in operation.

The ravages of time have not yet caught up to the aptly named Young Dubliner. While most of his thoroughbred peers of 14 years have been retired from running and jumping and are turned out to an idyllic life in the pasture, Young Dubliner keeps right on going. "He probably thinks he's about 6 because he tries to run off like a child," trainer Katherine Neilson said. "When you get on him to gallop, he's ready to go." At lucky 13, the Irish-bred gelding had a very good year. He won the prestigious Maryland Hunt Cup and went on to clinch the National Steeplechase Association timber championship with a runner-up finish over yielding turf in Camden, S.C., late last season.

Frisky's Wildlife and Primate Sanctuary can stay in Woodstock, but its monkeys must be out in four years, a Howard County panel has decided. The vote - which pleased neither the longtime Frisky's manager nor the next-door neighbors opposed to the primates - occurred after 27 months of hearings to decide the fate of the private shelter, which was operating without land-use approval. "I'm devastated, I'm totally devastated," said Colleen Layton, who runs the sanctuary from her 3.7-acre home.

Plenty of zoning fights involve monkey business, but only one has actual monkeys. The future of those animals -- and several hundred squirrels, rabbits and other creatures at Frisky's Wildlife and Primate Sanctuary in Woodstock -- was hanging in the balance last night as the Howard County Board of Appeals debated whether to allow the center to keep operating on its 3.7 acres. Frisky's, which has operated for years without the land-use approval it needs, is trying to gain approval as a "charitable and philanthropic institution."

Recipe for a very long zoning case: Just add monkeys. Howard County is 25 months into the debate over the legality of Frisky's Wildlife and Primate Sanctuary, a 3.4-acre site in Woodstock that cares for several hundred abandoned or injured animals and - the key sticking point - several dozen primates. One of the county's most hotly contested rezoning cases, the 507-acre Maple Lawn Farms in Fulton, was wrapped up in less time. But the end is near: A final round of testimony is expected at a hearing tonight.

FRISKY'S WILDLIFE and Primate Sanctuary is holding a monthlong yard sale at its Woodstock facility. You never know what you may find at the fund-raiser, which is being held in and around the barn that normally serves as manager Colleen Layton's office. Each weekend this month, Layton, her husband, Scott Robbins, yard-sale coordinator Sandy Davison and other volunteers stack the wares on tables in front of the building. Tables inside are piled with glassware, books, household items and collectibles.

A Howard County Board of Appeals hearing planned for Tuesday night has been rescheduled for 7:30 p.m. March 7. The land-use panel, which meets in the George Howard Building in Ellicott City, will hear arguments about Frisky's Wildlife and Primate Sanctuary in Woodstock. The sanctuary is seeking formal zoning approval, without which it cannot continue to operate. Supporters say Frisky's is doing a good deed, but some neighbors say they are worried about monkeys living so close to them.

Nicholas and Alexandra were conked out on a warm floor yesterday, sleeping after a night's ordeal that began when they bolted past the gate of their Westminster-area home, ran into woods and fell through ice on a pond - leading to an improvised canine rescue by state police and a sheriff's deputy. The adventure of the black Labrador retrievers began about 8 p.m. Sunday, when they escaped as their owner Bill Schroeder was shoveling snow with his wife, Jane, and daughters Clare, 13, and Beth, 10, at their home in the Carriage Hill community off Gorsuch Road.