Gas Main

Wounded Va. Tech student improving The family of Justin Klein, a 2004 Catonsville High School graduate injured in Monday's shootings at Virginia Tech, said he is expected to be released from the hospital "shortly," according to a statement released yesterday. Klein, a Virginia Tech junior, was shot three times--twice in his right leg and once in his left elbow, according to the statement. His medical condition "continues to improve," the family said in a statement faxed to news media outlets.

Excessive speed led to fatal motorcycle accident, police say Excessive speed was blamed yesterday for the death of a man whose motorcycle slammed into the back of a car Wednesday night on Ritchie Highway in Arnold. Bruce Donnell Watkins, 33, of the 500 block of Marc Road in Millersville was pronounced dead at Maryland Shock Trauma Center shortly after his 1998 Suzuki 750 ran into the rear of a 1993 Toyota Corolla being driven north on Ritchie near Joyce Lane. The driver of the car, George Henry Sengelaub III, 43, of Arnold and his daughter, Krista, 9, were treated at Johns Hopkins Hospital and released.

Baltimore public works crews replaced a section of a water main quicker than expected Friday, a spokesman for the department said, after a major break flooded the 1600 block of Argonne Drive a day earlier. Workers installed a segment of pipe to replace the broken cast-iron section, which was about 70 years to 80 years old, according to the spokesman, Kurt Kocher. Department of Public Works officials expected to be able to disinfect the pipe and return it to service by the early evening, he said.

A gas main break interrupted service to 60 homes and businesses in Manchester and closed a one-half mile stretch of Route 27 for four hours yesterday, authorities said. No one was injured but Millers Food Market was evacuated after customers complained of a gas odor. Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. workers repaired the line and restored service within five hours. Employees of Shannon-Baum Signs Inc., an Eldersburg sign company, broke a hole in the 6-inch plastic pipe at 11:10 a.m. while installing a sign on the southeast side of Route 27 near Route 30, said Mike Delaney, a spokesman for BGE. "It shot straight up in my face," said Doug Baum, vice president of the sign company, who was at the scene.

The County Office Building in Westminster was evacuated for nearly an hour yesterday because of a ruptured gas main at a construction site adjoining the building.Fire companies from Westminster, Reese, Manchester and Pleasant Valley responded as a precautionary measure. Emergency officials found no traces of gas inside the building.Officials blocked Center Street from Route 140 to Willis Street. Employees were out of the building from 10: 06 a.m. until 11: 04 a.m. No injuries were reported.

A major road in Cockeysville was closed for several hours yesterday, and 20 homes were evacuated after construction equipment punctured a natural gas main, Baltimore County fire officials said. The leak in a 2-inch gas line near Cranbrook and Sorley roads was reported shortly after 10 a.m., officials said. Cranbrook Road was closed for several hours in both directions between Sorley Road and Greenside Drive, police said. Representatives of the county's Office of Emergency Management were at the scene to assist residents.

County firefighters closed northbound and southbound lanes of Ritchie Highway for about a half hour yesterday while Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. crews repaired a gas leak, officials said.The closure tied up traffic for miles in each direction for nearly an hour, said Nancy Caplan, a BGE spokeswoman.She said workers on a construction crew ruptured a 6-inch, high- pressure natural gas main about 11:20 a.m. near the Ritchie Highway and Whites Road. Repair crews rushed to the scene, arriving about 11:45 a.m. By 12:25 p.m., repair crews had the gas line shut off, Ms. Caplan said.

Eight East Columbia families were evacuated from their homes last night when natural gas leaked into their water systems.The gas leak was discovered when it caused water to spew from a toilet in a home in the 6000 block of Granite Knoll about 6:30 p.m, said Peggy Mulloy, a Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. spokeswoman."

The caretaker at Piney Run Park in Eldersburg was beaten Thursday by six men whom he asked to leave the park after dark, state police said Friday.William T. Sullivan, 39, who lives near the county-owned park, told police he walked to the lake about 10: 15 p.m.He found a group of men and, when he asked them to leave, one hit him with a small log and the others punched him in the face and upper body, police said.He told police the men threw him in the lake and left. Sullivan walked home and called police.