Hannon

Robert L. Hannon, who played a major role in attracting thousands of jobs to Baltimore County and in efforts to revitalize Essex and Middle River, said yesterday that he has resigned from his post as the county's economic development director. He is the second county department head to resign since James T. Smith Jr. took over as county executive, but unlike former Parks and Recreation director John F. Weber III, Hannon made clear that his departure is entirely voluntary. "This is an honest-to-God resignation," Hannon said.

An inactive Baltimore priest admitted in county Circuit Court yesterday that he had engaged in sex acts with a teen-age boy in his Catonsville rectory during the mid-1970s. The victim - now a 45- year-old Mount Washington man - watched as the Rev. David G. Smith pleaded guilty to perverted practice. "I'm just glad he had to face me in court," said Brian P. Hannon, who told police in July about the abuse he suffered at St. Mark's Church as a teen-ager. Smith, 55, earlier had denied Hannon's allegations.

Elaine Hannon Christy, who reinvented herself through a series of careers including construction, interior design and retailing at a time when few women worked, died Tuesday of heart failure at Manor Care Nursing Home in Towson. She was 81. Born in Catonsville to a strict Roman Catholic family, she exhibited early on what would be a lifelong streak of independence when, as a teen-ager, she changed her given name, Mary Theresa, to Elaine. Before long, she was selling cosmetics, modeling at Hecht United Brothers, and selling dresses at Frank's near Greenmount Avenue and 33rd Street.

Patrick A. Hannon, 65, assistant at law firm Patrick A. Hannon, an administrative assistant at a law firm, died Wednesday of heart problems at Union Memorial Hospital. He was 65 and lived in Catonsville. He worked at the firm of Reese and Carney, a Columbia law firm, for the past 10 years. He had previously driven a truck for Eastern Express Co. in Baltimore. Born in Baltimore and reared on Collins Avenue in Irvington, he was a graduate of St. Joseph's Monastery Parochial School. As a young man, he enlisted in the Marine Corps and served in Japan.

Clifton Virginia Riley, 92, State Department official Clifton Virginia Riley, a former State Department official, died Monday of respiratory failure at Keswick Multi-Care Center in Roland Park. She was 92. She began her State Department career as a staff officer in the early 1940s and later served at diplomatic posts in Morocco, Greece, Kenya, Iraq, Finland and Singapore. At the time of her retirement in 1963, she was vice consul in Luxembourg. She was born in New Castle, Pa., and moved to Waverly in 1932.

When Dr. Auther Hannon and his family put their Havre de Grace home on the market last year they brought in a real estate agent who they thought would be able to do the job. They interviewed the agent before signing the listing agreement and waited for the right offer to come along. But their relationship slowly deteriorated and, after five months, they became frustrated with how the agent was handling the selling of their home. "She'd call five minutes before showing up at the house and tell us: `I need to show it right now,'" he said.

Plans for a gateway to the Towson business district will have to wait.Baltimore County officials postponed plans yesterday to award Towson University a $200,000 grant to help the school purchase the site of a former Crown service station at York Road and Burke Avenue, near the campus entrance.Robert L. Hannon, executive director of the county's economic development department, said he asked County Council Chairman Kevin B. Kamenetz to take the grant request off last night's council agenda because he realized the proposal lacked support from four members of the seven-member council, which would be necessary to pass it."

A stolen credit card that was used to call an adult entertainment line in California helped state police crack about 25 cases of mail theft in the Hampstead area, authorities said.A 16-year-old boy from Hampstead was arrested Sunday on 45 counts of theft under $300, 41 counts of unlawful letter opening, DTC one count of credit card theft, four counts of credit card fraud and theft conspiracy involving two others -- a 17-year-old Hampstead boy and an 18-year-old Manchester man.The 16-year-old was not named and the two older suspects have not been charged, said Tfc. Chris Hannon of the state police barracks in Westminster.

A Carroll County judge rejected yesterday a defense motion to suppress a blurted confession and other seized evidence that prosecutors believe will secure a conviction against a Hampstead businessman accused in the June shotgun deaths of his former girlfriend and her date.Circuit Judge Raymond E. Beck Sr. will preside at the jury trial of Smith Harper Dean III, who is charged with two counts of first-degree murder. The trial is scheduled to begin June 15 in Howard County, where it has been moved to avoid pretrial publicity.

For the second time in three years, the Maryland State Police Alumni Association has selected a trooper from the Westminster barracks -- the state's largest -- as its 1997 Trooper of the Year.Tfc. Chris Hannon, 36, who works road patrol in Carroll County, also is one of 12 finalists for the agency's 1997 Trooper of the Year award, which will be presented next month.Hannon's involvement in making arrests in several high-profile cases, including a double homicide in Hampstead, and his performance in day-to-day burglary and theft investigations earned him the alumni association's top award.