Highway

You can make the effort to go to a music school either as a student or at least to attend a concert, but how sweet it is when the music school comes to you. That's pretty much the case with the "Curtis on Tour" concert program coming to the Candlelight Concert Society series on Sunday, Dec. 9, at 7 p.m., at Howard Community College's Smith Theatre. Founded in Philadelphia in 1924, the Curtis Institute of Music is one of the country's most prestigious music schools. The musical talent appearing with "Curtis on Tour" includes current students and faculty members, as well as alumni.

Maryland's legislative auditors criticized the State Highway Administration for inadequate monitoring of its speed camera program in an audit report released Tuesday, saying the state began using the cameras without conducting sufficient tests to ensure they could accurately record a vehicle's speed. The report also said the state used its mobile cameras to catch speeding motorists for nine months without having the devices independently calibrated to ensure they were functioning properly.

As of 9 a.m. Monday, traffic was slow on I-97 southbound near Crain Highway in Anne Arundel County, due to an accident. Accidents were slowing traffic on I-83 southbound near Belfast Road, Monroe Street and Frederick Avenue in Baltimore City, Clarksville Pike and Cedar Lane in Howard County, and Route 140 and Sullivan Avenue near Westminster. A disabled vehicle was slowing traffic on the inner loop of I-695 at Dulaney Valley Road in Baltimore County. Monument Street is closed between Wolfe Street and Patterson Park Avenue in East Baltimore due to sinkhole repairs.

Two people were killed and others were injured in a car accident at the Curtis Creek drawbridge that closed all lanes of eastbound Interstate 695 in Baltimore late Sunday night, according to the Baltimore Fire Department. Rescue personnel were dispatched to the outer loop bridge at 10:01 p.m. and found at least five victims, a dispatcher said. A Maryland Transportation Authority Police spokesman said 21-year-old Victoria DeAngelo of Dundalk entered the outer loop of 695 near exit 1 driving in the wrong direction Sunday night around 10. She then crashed into an SUV. DeAngelo and a 3-year-old in the SUV, Lily Kelley, died.

State highway crews have an answer to whatever winter brings our way this year: a snow-chewing, salt-spewing monster truck capable of plowing two full lanes at once. The truck is the latest weapon in the 2,400-vehicle arsenal of the State Highway Administration, the agency charged with clearing as much blacktop and concrete as the equivalent of seven round trips to Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland. Officials showed off an array of flake-fighting equipment Monday at its annual show-and-tell at SHA's Statewide Operations Center in Hanover.

A pedestrian, who police say was jaywalking on Ritchie Highway in Brooklyn Park Thursday night, died after being struck by a pickup truck. Cheryl Lynn Knick, 57, of the 5100 block of Brookwood Road in the same neighborhood, died at Harbor Hospital soon after the 7:44 p.m. accident on the highway, south of the intersection with 11th Avenue West. The truck was traveling south on the highway. Its driver, a 53-year-old Gambrills man, swerved to avoid the victim, who was not crossing at a designated crosswalk and had failed to yield to southbound traffic, police said.

A pedestrian was hit by a Chevy pickup truck after running out onto Ritchie Highway late Friday afternoon, Anne Arundel County Police said. Officers found Carl James Boyce, 41, from Baltimore, lying in the road with potentially life threatening injuries, police said. He was taken to Shock Trauma, where police described his condition as stable. Police said Boyce ran in front of the pickup which was traveling north on the highway near Cedar Hill Lane. The drive of the truck tried to swerve but was unable to avoid him, police said.

Hurricane Sandy's pending arrival forced the State Highway Administration to postpone this weekend's attempt to replace one of two spans over the Baltimore-Washington Parkway at West Nursery Road. The $6 million project calls for swapping out two 60-year-old bridges that carry traffic to Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport and its business district with two new spans that were built in the highway median. A massive multiwheel transporter has been assembled for the heavy lifting.

As of 8:30 a.m. Friday, traffic was slow on Church Road near Ritchie Highway, due to an accident. An accident was slowing traffic on Route 198 near Laurel Fort Meade Road in Anne Arundel County. Emergency roadwork was slowing traffic on Route 140 southbound near St. Thomas Lane in Baltimore County. Monument Street is closed between Wolfe Street and Patterson Park Avenue in East Baltimore, due to sinkhole repairs. Maryland Transit Administration bus 35 has been diverted. There are no major delays reported on area transit systems.

The State Highway Administration is lending reflective vests to children in costume and their chaperones on Halloween, Oct. 31, as part of the the annual Vests for Visibility program. The vests will be available, free of charge, at SHA maintenance facilities Monday through Wednesday, Oct. 29-31, from 8 a.m.-4 p.m.. They are available on a first-come, first-served basis and must be returned by Friday, Nov. 9. In Carroll County, the vests are available at the Westminster SHA Shop, 150 Wyndtryst Drive, Westminster (410-876-2061)