Garage Door

Marylanders who've been confidently hitting the automatic door opener a half-block from home and cruising straight into the bright, dry confines of their garage may soon find their roll-up doors won't budge. Military bases in Maryland and around the country are switching to a new mobile radio system that broadcasts on the same frequency as many garage-door openers. The base radios won't open anyone's garage door. But they can drown out the openers' own feeble signals and make "clickers" for miles around balky, at best.

The following is compiled from police reports from the Towson and Cockeysville precincts. Our policy is to include descriptions when there is enough information to make identification possible. A food delivery driver was robbed at gunpoint as he tried to deliver Chinese food at about 11 p.m. on March 5 near the 400 block of Schwartz Avenue, in Towson, police report. The robber stole cash and the Chinese food and fled. Towson Ensor Avenue , unit block, on March 9. Man's car towed for illegal parking.

Burglars entered four unlocked Ellicott City garages yesterday -- one day after Howard County police had warned residents about a string of recent garage burglaries.All four of the burglaries took place between 1 a.m. and 3:42 a.m. yesterday while residents slept, police said.In the 5100 block of Crystal Springs Drive, someone took a garage door opener found in a car parked outside, entered an unlocked door leading into the home and took a purse, police said.In the other three burglaries -- executed without garage-door openers -- thieves searched vehicles parked in driveways on Crestfield Court and two homes on Rising Sun Lane and walked into the garages through unlocked side doors.

The following is compiled from police reports. It is the Baltimore Messenger's policy to include descriptions only when there is enough information to make identification possible. If you have any information about these crimes, call the Baltimore City Police Department's Northern District at 410-396-2455. Yellowwood Avenue 4800 block, between 6:20 and 7 p.m. Nov. 14. MacBook, purse, ID, driver's license, ATM card, credit cards stolen from unsecured office at Ruscombe Mansion.

Less than a week after Howard County police warned residents not to leave garage door openers outside in their cars, burglars used the devices to enter six homes' garages.The recent cluster of garage burglaries in Columbia and Highland surprised police, who are investigating six similar burglaries that occurred during the final months of 1994.Just last month, Howard County tallied seven such burglaries -- a number equal to last year's total."As long as people don't secure their homes, there will continue to be more burglaries," Sgt. Steve Keller, a police spokesman, said.

The family of an 8-year-old Columbia boy who was crushed by a garage door at his home in 1995 is suing the manufacturer and seller of an electric garage door opener.The suit was filed by the family of Simon Decker against Sears Roebuck & Co., Chamberlain Manufacturing and Underwriters Laboratories Inc. The suit alleges the door opener was deficient and dangerous -- one of many similar suits filed in the past decade.Electric garage doors now require safety devices to prevent accidents, said Matthew Zimmerman, the Deckers' attorney, but the Deckers' door opener was made between 1975 and 1979.

Students at a west Columbia elementary school dedicated a garden at the school and a tree in Israel yesterday to their classmate Simon Decker, who was crushed by a garage door 12 days before school started in August."

Nearly 100 years ago, the garage was "invented" by turning carriage houses into places for cars instead of horses and buggies. Now technology and science have advanced the style of garage doors to their trendiest pinnacle to look like ... Carriage houses. Yes, garage-door design has come full circle. Of course the carriage-house look is only one popular style these days. You can find designs ranging from the traditional to the contemporary, made from wood, aluminum, glass, steel, even vinyl.

POLICE LOG* Ellicott City: 3100 block of Wheaton Way: A white 1986 Toyota pickup with Maryland tags 253036 was stolen Tuesday, police said.2900 block of Chestnut Hills Drive: Someone stole a garage door opener from a vehicle, opened the garage door and stole scuba equipment Tuesday.8100 block of Route 40: A CB radio was stolen after someone pried open a garage door and searched through vehicles early Tuesday, police said.

POLICE LOG* Hickory Ridge: 6300 block of Golden Hook: Golf clubs, tapes and a saw were stolen from a garage Wednesday. Police said a garage door opener was taken from an unlocked vehicle parked in the driveway and used to open the garage door.

The following is compiled from police reports. The Columbia Flier includes descriptions of perpetrators only when the description makes identification possible. East Columbia Cobblefield Drive, 8600 block, between 7:30 a.m. and 5:40 p.m. May 26. Entry gained. Video game system and sound system stolen. Good Lion Road, 9400 block, between 4 and 4:55 am. May 26. Entry gained through garage door. Laptop, television and video game system stolen.

There is nothing like a home and garden show to make you want to start from scratch on your own home and garden, and the 27th Maryland Home & Garden Show this weekend at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium is no exception. "I wish I'd thought of that." "Honey, we should think about doing that." And "Can I have your card?" will be the catchphrases at the Cow Palace until the show closes at 6 tomorrow night and we are all left with only our daydreams. There are more than 500 exhibitors in more than 160,000 square feet, and that's a lot of ground to cover.

Over the years, I've developed a few skills as a troubleshooter. When friends or family have problems with computers, I can often solve them. If a light or appliance won't turn on, I know how to make sure there's power in the outlet - and even rewire a lamp or wall switch in a pinch. I also spent two decades nursing a variety of small engines on lawnmowers, weed-whackers, snow blowers and the like. So I was pretty confident of my ability to solve common household technology problems - until I was bushwhacked by a garage door opener.

It seems a no-brainer that copying a DVD movie and reselling it should be illegal. But how about copying it to your iPod? Or, if you're a professor, copying snippets of Citizen Kane to illustrate a point in your film class? Well, the answer is "No, you can't" on the iPod. But academics can freely capture Kane's "Rosebud" moment and other highlights, courtesy of a decision by the U.S. Copyright Office that went into effect last week. The rulings highlight the same murky legal frontier where copyright law meets burgeoning digital technology.

Nearly 100 years ago, the garage was "invented" by turning carriage houses into places for cars instead of horses and buggies. Now technology and science have advanced the style of garage doors to their trendiest pinnacle to look like ... Carriage houses. Yes, garage-door design has come full circle. Of course the carriage-house look is only one popular style these days. You can find designs ranging from the traditional to the contemporary, made from wood, aluminum, glass, steel, even vinyl.

Marylanders who've been confidently hitting the automatic door opener a half-block from home and cruising straight into the bright, dry confines of their garage may soon find their roll-up doors won't budge. Military bases in Maryland and around the country are switching to a new mobile radio system that broadcasts on the same frequency as many garage-door openers. The base radios won't open anyone's garage door. But they can drown out the openers' own feeble signals and make "clickers" for miles around balky, at best.

POLICE LOG* Long Reach: 8600 block of Cooperhawk Court: A burglar stole a garage door opener from a parked vehicle, opened a home's garage door and stole tools from the garage, a resident reported Thursday. Police said the house was not entered.

Police logOwen Brown: 6600 Dobbin Road: Late Friday or early Saturday, someone pried open a garage door at I/O Magnetics, entered a warehouse and stole two televisions. Nearby -- about the same time -- a garage door at Medical Systems Inc. was pried open and tools, a television and a computer were stolen.Pub Date: 10/23/96

Pictures are perhaps our most treasured possession. Tangible memories, they tell our stories, capture the moments of our lives and document our histories. They, of course, deserve proper and safe storage. Photographer and album designer John Porter couldn't agree more, having just created John Porter Everyday Archives, a comprehensive line of albums and photo storage tools to safely keep and protect photos up to 200 years. The line of products, which meets or exceeds preservation requirements set forth by the Library of Congress, includes a 9-by-7-inch or 5-by-7-inch Easy Archive Album ($10.

Anne Arundel County police have arrested two male juveniles from Pasadena in connection with vandalism in which a swastika and the letters "KKK" were painted on a garage door and a fence at a Pasadena home. The incident, which police are treating as a racially motivated hate crime, occurred July 31 at the home of an African-American family on Red Lion Way. The boys, ages 12 and 13, were charged with destruction of property.