Harford County

As a member of the arts community, I find it to be very exciting that Harford County will get a new arts center funded by a major contribution from Emily Bayless Graham ("Designs are unveiled for Harford arts center," Oct. 24). What bothers me however is the hiring of a New York firm to design it. Maryland, and particularly Baltimore and it's surrounding counties, have several extremely talented architectural firms, some of which have excellent reputations for this type of project.

Gino's Burgers and Chicken will be back in Harford County this fall, with the first of three new sites in the county to open in Aberdeen,  The Aegis reported.  A new Gino's will open in late October or November on Beards Hill Road, with two more franchises expected to open sometime next year at undetermined sites in Abingdon and Fallston, Tom Clatterbuck, vice president of operations, told The Aegis .  Gino's, founded in 1957 by former Baltimore Colts Alan Ameche and Gino Marchetti, closed in 1991, but President Tom Romano began re-opening Gino's restaurants last year in the Baltimore area.

Baltimore County police on Wednesday identified the Harford County man charged with shooting a hunter from Pennsylvania who was believed to be trespassing on property in Cockeysville. Richard Heymann, 42, of Hillsdale Court in Abingdon, was charged with first- and second-degree assault in the shooting of Christopher E. Kinne, 43, of Lancaster, Pa. Police said Kinne had trespassed into a wooded area along Stabler's Church Road Tuesday morning, when Heymann, an acquaintance of the property owner, confronted Kinne.

After years of seeking assistance in combatting its growing drug problem, Harford County won approval Monday to join a regional task force that will direct additional federal resources to the county's drug interdiction effort, the White House announced Monday. The county is the latest local government to join the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, in which local law enforcement officials receive money and analysis from the federal government to help target drug shipments.

A pedestrian was struck and killed by a car on Route 924 near Vale Road around 5:23 a.m. Friday, according to a Maryland State Police officer in Bel Air. Police said Michael Francis Gist, 23, of Jarrettsville, was struck in the southbound lane of Route 924 by a 2003 Kia Sonoma headed south on Route 924, driven by Tina Louise Holland, 37, of Forest Hill. Gist was pronounced deceased at the scene. The crash remains under investigation. Route 924 was closed for about three hours Friday morning between Vale Road and James Avenue.

In its second year awarding grants, the Women's Giving Circle of Harford County gave 11 nonprofit organizations nearly $36,000 in 2012 to help women and girls in the county. Four thousand dollars went to the local Arc chapter to help single parents; $2,500 went to the Upper Chesapeake Health Foundation for a program to help children of people with cancer. Then there was $1,696 to the Highlands School, a private school in Bel Air for children with dyslexia and other learning disabilities in kindergarten through the eighth grade.

Committed. Passionate. Talented. Three words that accurately describe one of our honored men of Harford this year, local painter, Ken Karlic. We chose Ken because he transformed a life-long passion for watercolor painting into a medium that has captured so many beautiful, scenic venues in Harford County. His water color paintings represent the best of rural living and we are happy to tell his story.   Originally from Chicago, Karlic has spent the last 25 years in the Baltimore area and in 2003 moved to Harford County with his wife, Eve Morra, a photographer and their now 9-year-old son Julian who attends Harford Day School.

Due to continued icy conditions on roads, Harford County public schools were opening two hours late Thursday, with no morning pre-kindergarten or early intervention programs. The Highlands School in Bel Air also reported it was opening 90 minutes late, at 9:30 a.m.

Katie Kolb, C. Milton Wright SPORT SOFTBALL GIRLS STATS -- Kolb, a senior center fielder, has helped guide the second-ranked Mustangs to a 3-0 start. Last fall in soccer, she was the Harford County Player of the Year and an All-Metro selection. Kolb, a goalie, led the soccer team to the Class 3A state title. SIDELINES -- Kolb plays on the Maryland Legends club softball team. She belongs to the National Honor Society, German Honor Society and Varsity Club. Kolb has a 4.1 grade point average and has accepted a full academic scholarship to Troy University, where she will play softball.

Harford County was governed by county commissioners from the time it was created by the state legislature in 1773 until 1972. In December 1972, enactment of the Harford County Charter gave the county a system of home rule. The charter provided for legislative and executive branches of government. The county executive is the chief executive officer of Harford County and heads the executive branch of the county government. Elected every four years, the county executive is aided by a Cabinet of directors from 23 departments and agencies, including Public Works, Treasury, Planning and Zoning, Community Services, Economic Development and Parks and Recreation.