Havre De Grace

On this morning 200 years ago, a plucky Irish immigrant, John O'Neill, matched wits with British Adm. Sir George Cockburn, a veteran sea dog in command of a fleet of 19 vessels that sailed into Havre de Grace during the War of 1812. O'Neill was born in Ireland in 1768 and immigrated to America in 1786. After serving under Gen. Henry "Light-Horse Harry" Lee, helping to put an end to the Whiskey Rebellion in western Pennsylvania in 1794, he settled in Havre de Grace, then a small Upper Chesapeake Bay village with about 60 wooden houses.

Since 1882, Havre de Grace has been run by an elected mayor and council, assisted by a town clerk. This form of government is now changing with the arrival of Dennis Sparks, of Bowling Green, Va., who recently was selected from more than 50 applicants as the Harford County town's first city manager.When Mr. Sparks begins his new job, he will be responsible for preparing annual budgets for the municipality of 9,400 residents. He will carry out the council's decisions and oversee the daily operations of the municipal staff of 75, including the police, planning and public works departments.

A Harford County grand jury has indicted the owner of a Havre de Grace pharmacy on charges that he conspired with a 78-year-old doctor to distribute prescription drugs illegally.The 10-count indictment released last week charged that pharmacist Dominic Robert Gasdia, 44, of Perryman filled illegal prescriptions written by Dr. Edward John Simon.Dr. Simon, of the 3900 block of Somerset Court, Havre de Grace, pleaded guilty Aug. 2 to one count of illegally distributing diazepam, a form of Valium.

Havre de Grace. -- There seems to be some difference of opinion about whether Maryland should take the District of Columbia back.Former Governor Schaefer wanted to do so, perhaps in the hope that he could name it after himself. His successor Parris Glendening, perhaps daunted by the District's $722 million budgetary deficit, is negative. Most Marylanders seem to be with Mr. Glendening, but if they are they might be missing a bet. Opportunities to turn back history don't come along too often.

Everyday scenes of Havre de Grace will be the subject of the plein air paintings created by artists selected to compete in the second annual Havre de Grace Plein Air Painting Competition from Wednesday through Saturday. The competition is sponsored by Soroptimist International of Havre de Grace. En plein air is a French expression meaning "in the open air," used to describe painting in an outside environment rather than in a studio. Artists were selected to compete by juror Jacqueline Baldini of Niagara Falls, Ontario, director and founder of the International Plein Air Painting Organization.