Key Bridge

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.

JUST AFTER 8 a.m. yesterday, an older gentleman standing under an umbrella hailed the Pride of Baltimore II as it inched away from the Annapolis City Dock."

The scene was more or less what I'd expected: lots of tents, lots of animated conversations among bohemian types who hadn't had enough sleep. But something was missing. "I didn't hear any drumming," I remarked as Robert Brune and I made the drive back to Columbia from Washington, where he'd just given me the nickel tour of the Occupy D.C. encampment on McPherson Square. "Yeah, I think some people had their fill of the drumming," he replied. After all, he explained, when you're only getting three or four hours sleep a night because you're in a tent alongside a busy city street, it's important to grab a few winks during any daylight down time.

About nine months into a regular commuting routine, and I've become familiar with what the radio traffic reporters call the "usual slow spots. " The main one for me, as it is for many folks reading this, is on I-95 from roughly White Marsh (but sometimes from as far up as Route 152) down to the 895 split. Daily I'll take in the traffic reports from the various stations programmed into the buttons on my car radio. Invariably, if the traffic scene in the greater Baltimore area is pretty fluid, the report is basic and includes some bad news for me and my brother and sister I-95 commuters: things are pretty clear except around the "usual slow spots.

A strong ebb current, a heavy chop, and gusty breeze from the north added up to a real challenge for the 67 starters in Saturday's Magothy River Sailing Association 17th Annual Race to Baltimore.Some sailors coming up the bay from Annapolis to the starting area north of Baltimore Light found just getting there on time to be more of a challenge than they could manage, in fact, and were so late for their starts they went on to the Inner Harbor finish rendezvous without sailing the 14.3-mile race.

This year's Magothy River Sailing Association Spring Race was sailed last Saturday by a fleet of 20 PHRF racers and a new six-boat Cruising class.It was an exciting chase around the upper bay and into the Patapsco River to a finish in the McHenry Channel, capped off by an awards party at the Inn at Henderson's Wharf in the Inner Harbor.All classes began the race at a starting line set northeast of Baltimore Light and finished in the Patapsco River upstream of Key Bridge.The PHRF racers used a challenging 23-mile course that first sent them south to Sandy Point Light on a windward beat, followed by a long run downwind and up the bay to the forward Craighill Channel Light before heading southwest to a turning mark across the river mouth and up the Patapsco on a spinnaker reach to the bridge and the final run to the finish.

New projectsLexington Street: from Gay Street to Frederick Street is closed for construction of the Lexington Street Parking Garage. This closure will be in effect for six weeks.Mulberry Street (U.S. 40) (downtown Baltimore): Traffic is restricted on this street, and a portion is closed to traffic, for reconstruction. Motorists are advised to look for alternative routes.Baltimore Street between Calvert and Gay streets: Lane restrictions daily for these times, 5 a.m.-6 a.m., 4 p.m.-6 p.m. two lanes open, 7 a.m.-9 a.m., 4 p.m.-6 p.m., three lanes open, 8 p.m.-5 a.m. reduced to one lane.

The new Woodrow Wilson Bridge across the Potomac River is a huge project that will require 6,500 workers, 140 million pounds of steel and almost $1 billion to complete. But its engineers are worried about a much smaller number: 1/8th of an inch. On a drawbridge this big, the room for error is that small. After the piles are driven, the foundation poured, and the piers molded into place, one side of the draw span will have to meet the other, and they must align within 1/8th of an inch.

Until the bridge fell in, their luck had been good. A Canadian farm boy, living a dream on the highways of North America. A grandmother enjoying her retirement. A young mother with a beautiful 3-month-old and a doctor husband. A happy couple of 18 years from Northwest Baltimore, heading home. Paul McIntosh, Elizabeth Freeman, Henri Patrice McQueen Williams, Robert Norman Taylor and Regina Lee Brehon. Five strangers. Four vehicles. Three fates. A two-loop highway.

No one calls the War of 1812 America's finest hour. But it had its moments. Resentful over treatment by the British and determined to enhance national sovereignty, Henry Clay and a small group of "War Hawks" in the Twelfth Congress pushed an unprepared country into war. There was reason for resentment. For years, Britain, desperate for sailors in its mortal battle with Napoleon, had stopped American ships and impressed their seamen. Though in theory only British subjects were to be seized, an estimated 6,000 Americans were taken between 1803 and 1812.