Lake Roland

1853: RAILROAD'S NEW NAME An act of the state legislature on March 21, 1853, changed the name of the newly formed Baltimore, Carroll and Frederick Rail Road to the Western Maryland Rail Road Co. The company had been formed by investors in a series of meetings at the county courthouse in Westminster the year before. Its founders envisioned a line that would recapture trade in the Cumberland Valley that had been getting diverted to Philadelphia, as well as take advantage of economic growth in Carroll County.

It's a dogfight out there. Dog lovers who want to give their pets running room at Robert E. Lee Park north of Mount Washington are fighting equally adamant advocates of leash laws. With the change of administration at City Hall, the battle has become fiercer -- and taken on political overtones. The fate of Thomas Overton, the city's director of recreation and parks, may hang in the balance as both sides lobby Mayor Martin O'Malley with letters. At a time when O'Malley is considering whether to replace or re-appoint Overton, those who favor a free-run dog park are campaigning against him, because he supports existing law requiring dogs to be leashed.

We begin our search for the Baltimore oriole on a fine spring morning, not at noisy Camden Yards but 20 miles to the north on the banks of Phoenix pond, armed with binoculars, a bird guidebook and a single nagging question: Just how easy is it to find the state bird right here in Maryland?Five minutes later we have our answer: Pretty easy, especially this time of year, as long as you know what to listen for and where to look. Because right there, less than 50 feet away, an oriole is perched on the high limb of a sycamore.

A secluded pocket of green hills and trees just outside of the northern boundary line of Baltimore, Ruxton is a conveniently located and surprisingly rural neighborhood. Once an industrially driven town that supported Bellona Powder Supply -- which provided 20 percent of the country's gunpowder during the War of 1812, according to the Ruxton-Riderwood-Lake Roland Area Improvement Association -- the area is now almost entirely residential. Ruxton, a neighborhood rooted in tradition, is a wholesome place to raise a family, said Fran Anderson, the association's president.

Plans by the Marriott Corp. to build its first life-care facility for the elderly in Baltimore County drew sharp criticism yesterday from residents of three communities neighboring the proposed construction site. Residents said that the project was incompatible with their single-family home neighborhoods and would add to traffic problems in the area.But Marriott representatives, who plan to invest more than $20 million in the project, said they believe the project is compatible and will have less impact on traffic than a town-house development would.

Elger Joseph Huber Sr., a retired stationary engineer who helped produce the distinctive blue Noxzema and Bromo-Seltzer glass containers and was later a school bus driver, died of respiratory failure Monday at Howard County General Hospital. The North Laurel resident was 87. Born in Baltimore, he grew up on the grounds of Lake Roland, where his father worked for the city's Division of Water Supply. The family of 13 lived in a house in what is now Robert E. Lee Park. He attended city public schools.

A warning to fishermen: Eating your catch from some waterways could be more hazardous to your health than the federal government would have you believe.So says a national report released yesterday by the Environmental Defense Fund, a group based in New York.The findings relate to the following Maryland waters: Baltimore Harbor, Back River, Lake Roland and the Potomac River in Western Maryland.The report accuses the Environmental Protection Agency of misleading the public about the extent of fish contamination from toxic chemicals.

Thomas P. TignorInsurer's vice presidentThomas P. Tignor, a Baltimore native and retired insurance company executive, died Wednesday of pneumonia at a hospital in Richmond, Va.He was 70 and retired in 1984 as regional vice president of the American Credit Indemnity Co. in Atlanta. He had held the same post for the company in Cleveland from 1972 until 1984.A graduate of City College, he served in the Navy during World War II, then graduated from the Baltimore College of Commerce.In 1945, he began working in Baltimore for American Credit.

Baltimore City is such a Democratic stronghold that general elections are mere ratifications of one-party rule. This year is no exception.It is a deplorable situation. It gives democracy a bad name. The Republican Party ought to sponsor quality candidates and give voters a choice. This should be the GOP's top agenda item in terms of the 1991 city elections.Meanwhile, city voters have important choices to make on bond issues totaling $32.2 million. Baltimore City's continued vitality depends on the passage of those issues, which have been divided into eight separate questions.

I t's welcome news that Baltimore County is taking over operations and maintenance of Robert E. Lee Park, with plans to devote more attention to this hidden gem than the city, which actually owns the land, has been able to offer. The most visible sign of that change is the replacement of the pedestrian bridge just downstream from the dam on Lake Roland; two weeks ago, work crews tore down the old, structurally unstable bridge, and a new one will be built over the coming months. But the county has more plans in mind in the hope that by improving the facilities it can double park use from about 41,000 visitors a year to 100,000 or more.