Gasoline Station

When Tony and Kathy Kruszewski relocated from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., last fall, they settled on the quiet Howard County neighborhood of Dayton for its country setting with its rolling hills, open farmland and small-town charm. But they soon found out that the heart of community was in its residents, who turned out to be the nicest thing about Dayton. "I'm amazed at how friendly the people are," said Tony Kruszewski. Many of their neighbors embraced the Kruszewskis, stopping by to introduce themselves with gifts of houseplants and homemade brownies.

Mandatory testing of groundwater at Maryland service stations has led to the discovery of a significant level of a gasoline additive in residential wells in northern Baltimore County. Tests showed that two wells at homes near a gasoline station had concentrations of methyltertiary butyl ether - commonly known as MTBE - at dozens of times the level deemed safe by the state. Three other wells had much smaller traces of the chemical. The residential wells were tested after the discovery of contaminated groundwater at a Citgo station operated by Wally's Country Store in Parkton.

The family of a Columbia man who died in a drunken-driving accident in July has filed a $50 million suit against the estate of the other driver, who also was killed in the accident.The widow and son of Richard E. Daley, 53, claim that the other driver, Kristine M. Weber,23, was intoxicated that night and caused the accident on Route 32 in Columbia.The police accident report indicates that Weber's blood alcohol content was 0.16 that night, twice the level considered legally drunk in Maryland, said Timothy J. McCrone, the Daleys' attorney.

Two gasoline stations along Hanover Pike in the Hampstead-Manchester area were broken into, and cigarettes were stolen last weekend, state police said.The owner of Renfro's Hilltop Service Station, in the 2700 block of Hanover Pike, reported someone forced open the door to the office and stole cigarettes valued at more than $500, police said.The owner of Curry's Service Station, in the 2300 block of Hanover Pike, said someone broke the glass window and damaged the cash register before stealing 15 cartons of cigarettes.

Paul E. Connolly, a former gasoline station dealers representative and community activist, died Saturday at Lynchburg General Hospital in Virginia of esophageal cancer and other ailments. He was 69. Born and raised in Baltimore, Mr. Connolly graduated from Loyola High School in 1951, then Loyola College. As a member of a family of activists, he was involved with the Community Council of Govans working to integrate neighborhoods. He also co-owned with his mother a neighborhood shop that sold religious articles.

Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. proposed regulations yesterday aimed at preventing residential drinking water from being contaminated by potentially cancer-causing gasoline additives that leak from pipes beneath service stations. Harford County residents have criticized the state for not acting quickly enough after reports surfaced that more than 100 wells in the Fallston area were tainted with the chemical MTBE, some from an Exxon gas station. Ehrlich's proposed rules would require the installation of double-walled pipes and leak sensors on underground storage systems for new gas stations built in areas of the state where most residents get their water from wells.

ExxonMobil Corp. lawyers presented their first witnesses Monday in Baltimore County Circuit Court, opening their defense in a lengthy jury trial after an underground gasoline leak in 2006 — one of the most serious in Maryland's history. Two witnesses — an ExxonMobil territory manager and the then-president of the Greater Jacksonville Association — gave their accounts of the day they learned of the leak of about 25,000 gallons of regular unleaded gasoline and the weeks after, as fear spread through the Jacksonville community of about 4,000 households in northern Baltimore County.

OAKLAND -- Speaking on his own behalf, John Frederick Thanos today stood before his sentencing jury and preached to them about love, hate, evil, Jesus and Lucifer.In a 35-minute rambling discourse, in which a bespectacled Thanos read from notes and frequently gestured, Thanos called Sue A. Schenning, the prosecutor, an evil and "cunning, calculating woman."He accused the prosecutor of violating the law by reading parts of a pre-sentence report to the jury. He said the state's case was all about "hate."

Crown Central Petroleum Corp., the owner of refineries and gas stations whose Baltimore roots stretch back nearly 100 years, has hired an investment banker to help it sell the company - as a whole, or piece by piece. Crown has hired New York-based Park Avenue Equity Management LLC to help sell its two Texas gasoline refineries, its 10 product terminals and its 315 retail locations. "While this was a hard decision, we believe that, in view of the difficult environment faced by independent refiners and retailers during the past year and a half, it is the right thing to do," Frank B. Rosenberg, Crown's president and chief executive officer and a great-grandson of the company's founder, said yesterday in a news release.

POLICE LOGLong Reach: 6000 block of Foreland Garth: An employee at an Exxon gasoline station was approached by a gunman Wednesday morning, but ducked down in the booth and called 911 before a robbery could take place. The gunman, who wore a black and white checkered bandanna over his face, fled, police said.