Halethorpe

Lois L. Hughes, a retired department store sales associate and longtime Randallstown resident, died Monday of cancer at Dove House Hospice in Westminster. She was 84. Lois Louise Rutter was born in Halifax, Pa., and graduated in 1945 from a high school in Presque Isle, Maine, where her stepfather was stationed as a United Airlines mechanic. In 1946, she married Richard Kenneth Hughes and moved with her husband to Coronado Road in Halethorpe after he took a job as a maintenance worker for Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp.

Norma Thompson spent much of Monday dusting, polishing and sprucing up items that will fill a soon-to-open home improvement store in Halethorpe. The hours she volunteers with Habitat for Humanity's newest ReStore will help this Baltimore grandmother, who works as a housekeeper at a downtown hotel, earn a home of her own. Each prospective homeowner must provide Habitat volunteer hours, and Thompson is doing just that at the nonprofit organization's third...

An article in the Aug. 12, 1911 edition of The Argus reported on damage from a severe storm. Lightning struck the home of Mr. Emil Fisher, Smithwood avenue, last Friday night, causing damage of several hundred dollars. The bolt struck the roof near the chimney and entered the house, ripping the plaster off several rooms. No one was injured. The home of Mr. Fisher was struck by lightning about six weeks ago in the same place. *****' Rabbits and partridges are said to be more plentiful than for a number of years.

Gov. Martin O'Malley called Maryland's often lengthy and confusing business permit process "one of the weaknesses of our state" Thursday — and then signed an executive order aimed at easing it. The new program he ordered, called "Fast Track," is supposed to help speed projects with significant economic impact in specific areas — so long as they would not adversely affect the state's environmental and Smart Growth goals. A developer who qualifies for Fast Track will be told up front whether his or her proposal has any chance of being approved, or whether the state will fight "tooth and nail" against it, O'Malley said.

Maryland officials plan to announce Thursday a new system to speed the review process for business owners seeking state permits for projects in priority development areas. Gov. Martin O'Malley, Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz and other state officials will meet at Bakery Express Inc. in Halethorpe to make the announcement. The new system, called Fast Track — part of the Maryland Made Easy business initiative — will focus on projects with significant economic impact, said Maureen Kilcullen, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Business and Economic Development.

Among the 64 calls for medical and fire-rescue service received by the Arbutus Volunteer Fire Department June 19-26 were the following: Kensington Road, 4300 block, 12:16 a.m. June 25. Crews responded to the report of a fire alarm at an Arbutus residence and found a stovetop fire had self-extinguished. Washington Boulevard at Commerce Drive, 6:57 p.m. June 24. Crews from the Arbutus volunteer station and Halethorpe career station responded to the report of an unconscious person, possibly due to an overdose, in Halethorpe.

Among the 71 calls for service to the Arbutus Volunteer Fire Department June 12-19 were the following: 55 Wade Avenue, 3:35 p.m. June 15. Crews responded to the report of a person having a seizure on the grounds of Spring Grove State Hospital and transported one seriously injured person to University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center. Hollins Ferry Road at 5th Avenue, Geely Laundromat, 10:13 p.m. June 14. Crews from the Lansdowne, Arbutus, English Consul and Violetville volunteer stations and Halethorpe and Westview career stations responded to the report of a building fire in Lansdowne and extinguished the fire.

Pillowy cumulus clouds and temperatures around 80 degrees delighted the thousands of visitors and hundreds of vendors during the 38th annual Arbutus Arts Festival on May 15. The warm spring weather stayed with the event, which started at 10 a.m., until it closed at 5 p.m. About 90 minutes later, the skies opened. "The weather's been a great surprise," said Susan-Marie Stedman, as she showed off some of the inventory of Rainbow Moon Tie-Dye, a company that sells bags, shirts and other psychedelic items.

City police were investigating a fatal daytime shooting Thursday in Northeast Baltimore's Frankford neighborhood and said a Halethorpe man shot Wednesday afternoon in a Pigtown parking lot had died of his injuries. Police said a 31-year-old man was shot in the face about 2 p.m. Thursday in the 6000 block of Moravia Park Drive in the Frankford neighborhood, near where another man was killed Tuesday in a shopping center parking lot. Thursday's victim was not immediately identified.