Key Bridge

All Americans reap benefits of free trade The ignorance of the anti-trade and anti-globalization protesters interviewed in The Sun's article "Hundreds protest as free trade talks start" (Nov. 17) is astounding. In fact, free trade disproportionately benefits working-class Americans, and it is special interest groups that hate free trade. Although the average tariff the United States levies on imported goods is 1.7 percent (which is among the lowest levels in the world), the tariffs we impose on consumer, agricultural and labor-intensive products are 10 to 20 times higher than the average tariffs.

State transportation and highway officials advise motorists that the following projects are under way in the area:* Baltimore Harbor Tunnel (Interstate 895) -- All week, around the clock, there will be new traffic patterns on Md. 295, eastbound and westbound over I-895. From 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., road officials will maintain two-way traffic through one tube.* John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway (Interstate 95) -- Today through Thursday, sunrise to sunset, and Friday, sunrise to noon, one lane may be closed in each direction on the Millard E. Tydings Memorial Bridge.

State transportation and highway officials advise motorists that these construction projects will be under way in the area this week:* Interstate 95 North -- The fast lane of the northbound roadway from the Beltway to White Marsh will be closed from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. The fast lane of the southbound roadway from the Beltway to White Marsh Boulevard will be closed daily from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.* I-95 (John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway) -- Today through Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., I-95 north and southbound from White Marsh Boulevard to Stepney Road, one lane may be closed and, from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., one to two lanes may be closed.

With the wind comfortably at your back, you head out for an afternoon of boating in a parade of small whitecaps marching down the river toward Chesapeake Bay. The boat is old, but apparently strong. The family is wearing life jackets, and the engine pulls the small boat steadily and safely along. And then the unexpected happens -- a large powerboat overtakes the smaller boat on the starboard side, its wake splashing water over the gunwale at first and then causes the smaller boat to roll heavily, while pitching its bow and burying its stern in the waves.

Attorneys for Stephen Todd Nelson, who's accused of killing his 3-year-old son in February 2008 by tossing the boy off the Key Bridge, are expected to continue plea discussions Tuesday morning after a Baltimore judge rejected the initial deal struck with prosecutors. Nelson, who had been charged with first-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death, was brought in to court Monday morning — hours before his trial was set to begin — to plead guilty to second-degree murder, which carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison.

WAY UP IN God's Country -- north of Hunt Valley, that is -- the remote, winding roads are getting a lot of traffic these days.One spot in particular, near Glyndon on Piney Grove Road, has motorists biting their nails each time they try to turn onto or cross Butler Road. There, a three-way intersection with Belmont Avenue, marked by a stately, historic church, often gets dicey."The corner there is so blind that the only thing you can do is turn off the radio, roll down the driver's window, drift out and listen very carefully for oncoming traffic," resident Holly Rich explained to Intrepid One.Such driving tactics may work for Fred Flintstone, but not for most of us. Randall Scott, a traffic engineer for the State Highway Administration, which oversees Butler Road, has pledged to investigate.

Holiday breakBecause of the holidays, the State Highway Administration plans no lane closures on state highways in Baltimore or Harford counties through 9 a.m. Wednesday.Continuing projectsToll facilitiesBay Bridge (U.S. 50/301): Toll plaza under reconstruction, two lanes closed.Key Bridge (I-695):* Wednesday-Saturday, one lane closed in each direction.* Wednesday-Friday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., lane closures on Bear Creek Viaduct between exits 43 and 44.* Wednesday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., one lane closed southbound on Curtis Creek drawbridge.

State transportation authorities advise motorists that these construction projects will affect motorists using state roadways and toll facilities this week:* Interstate 95 North -- Northbound roadway from the Beltway to White Marsh Boulevard, the fast lane is closed through Friday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday 6 a.m. to 11 a.m.* I-95 North -- Southbound roadway from White Marsh Boulevard to the Beltway, the fast lane is closed through Friday from 9...

In an eighth-floor dormitory suite at Morgan State University, a group of freshman women took a break from Tuesday's first day of classes to watch "General Hospital" in their modern, air-conditioned room.Life in the new Clarence W. Blount Towers -- complete with a vista of the Baltimore skyline and the shimmering waters beneath the Francis Scott Key Bridge -- represents a new era at Morgan.With $37 million spent in construction over the last two years and a fall enrollment of 4,733, Morgan is starting to get results in the campaign to recover its glory days of the 1970s when enrollment peaked at 6,000.

High winds and an overturned tractor trailer closed the eastbound and westbound spans of the Bay Bridge for several hours Wednesday afternoon. It reopened to passenger vehicles in both directions just after 6 p.m. The accident happened at about 2 p.m., when the westbound vehicle was struck by a gust of wind and forced against the guardrail. The passenger-side tires of both the trailer and cab were lifted from the pavement. The trailer was twisted like a piece of aluminum foil. The unidentified driver received minor injuries and was taken to Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis for treatment, officials said.