Lake Shore Drive

A Pasadena teenager was killed Wednesday evening when his car crashed into a tree at Lake Shore Drive and Alyssa Lane, Anne Arundel police said yesterday. About 6:10 p.m., Joshua Michael Vacek, 16, of Alyssa Lane was headed south on Lake Shore Drive near his family's home when he lost control of the Nissan sedan he was driving and drove off the right side of the street, police said. The car struck two trees before coming to a stop. The larger of the two trees crushed the driver's side door, and Vacek suffered multiple internal injuries.

A Pasadena teenager was killed Wednesday evening when his car crashed into a tree at Lake Shore Drive and Alyssa Lane, Anne Arundel police said yesterday. About 6:10 p.m., Joshua Michael Vacek, 16, of Alyssa Lane was headed south on Lake Shore Drive near his family's home when he lost control of the Nissan sedan he was driving and drove off the right side of the street, police said. The car struck two trees before coming to a stop. The larger of the two trees crushed the driver's side door, and Vacek suffered multiple internal injuries.

Lake Shore Drive to get left-turn laneHighway workers will add a left-turn lane to Lake Shore Drive by January to ease rush-hour congestion at the Mountain Road intersection.John Healy, a spokesman for the State Highway Administration (SHA), said the road and signals will be marked to allow two lanes of traffic to turn left from Lake Shore Drive onto Mountain Road in the morning.Mr. Healy said the extra lane replaces an earlier plan promoted by state Sen. Philip C. Jimeno that would have allowed traffic heading west on Mountain Road to go through the intersection without stopping.

2 -month-long drug investigation nets far too littleThe headline in the Jan. 13 issue of The Sun in Anne Arundel County piqued my interest: "Police arrest 15 in drug raid on home in Four Seasons; 2-month probe ends."I read on, craving a lurid tale of seedy underworld drug kingpins brought down by an elite squad of scrupulous Anne Arundel County detectives employing unlimited resources and high-tech surveillance tactics.To my chagrin, I was offered yet another banal episode associated with the ill-conceived, ever-popular, righteous quest for idealized ultimate justice, "the war on drugs."

Annapolis police, with the assistance of Anne Arundel County police, will stage their first sobriety checkpoint overnight Friday.The checkpoint, to include 16 Annapolis officers, will begin about 11 p.m. in the western part of the city and last five hours.The goal of the checkpoint is to reduce traffic accidents in the city by getting drunken and drugged drivers off the road. It is being paid for with a grant from the state Department of Transportation.A Pasadena woman was killed Monday when she lost control of her car and it struck a tree on Lake Shore Drive, county police said.

An Arnold man was arrested on drug charges Wednesday after police said they watched him participate in a drug transaction in Freetown Village.Douglas Scott Bassford, 33, of the unit block of Pride Lane was charged with possession of crack cocaine.Police patrolling the 7800 block of Shirley Murphy Court saw the driver of a 1988 Ford truck get out, exchange something with a man in the stairwell of a building, get back in the truck and drive off.Police said they stopped the man because he ran a stop sign and asked him if he had purchased drugs.

Voices were raised and tempers flared as more than 700 Pasadena residents packed the auditorium of Chesapeake Senior High School for more than three hours Wednesday night to oppose a Mountain Road bypass.Nearly all the seats in the auditorium were filled, and many people were willing to stand to show their resistance to County Councilman Thomas W. Redmond's plan to build a 2 1/2 -mile bypass."It's wrong," said William L. Long. "You're taking people's homes. That's stupid.""It's a shame!" Ray Jacobs roared at Mr. Redmond.

The politicians are fighting over Mountain Road: Should Anne Arundel County spend money to widen it or to study building a bypass?Four state legislators have asked Anne Arundel County Executive John G. Gary to take $200,000 away from a planned study of a Mountain Road bypass and spend it, instead, to add a lane to the eastbound and westbound sides of Mountain Road between Route 100 and Lake Shore Drive.The legislators -- Republican Dels. John R. Leopold and Victoria L. Schade and Democratic Sen. Philip C. Jimeno and Del. Joan Cadden -- said they are lobbying for their proposal because they envision too many obstacles to the $12 million bypass project, a 2 1/2 -mile, two-lane parallel route linking Magothy Bridge Road to Mountain Road between South Carolina and Maryland avenues in Lake Shore.

BALTIMOREFor more Baltimore convention information, call the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association at (410) 659-7300 (within Maryland) or (800) 343-3468 (outside Maryland).* APRIL 15-17: American Bar Association at Omni Inner Harbor. Contact Dorothy Jackson, 750 N. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Ill. 60611. Expected attendance: 550.* APRIL 17-23: International Symposium on Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis at Stouffer Harborplace. Contact Shirley Schlessinger, 400 E. Randolph Drive, Suite 1015, Chicago, Ill. 60601.

More than 80 Pasadena residents last night turned a forum on how to relieve traffic on Mountain Road into a united stand against developers and the Anne Arundel County planners who issue permits to the builders."

Annapolis police, with the assistance of Anne Arundel County police, will stage their first sobriety checkpoint overnight Friday.The checkpoint, to include 16 Annapolis officers, will begin about 11 p.m. in the western part of the city and last five hours.The goal of the checkpoint is to reduce traffic accidents in the city by getting drunken and drugged drivers off the road. It is being paid for with a grant from the state Department of Transportation.A Pasadena woman was killed Monday when she lost control of her car and it struck a tree on Lake Shore Drive, county police said.

More than 80 Pasadena residents last night turned a forum on how to relieve traffic on Mountain Road into a united stand against developers and the Anne Arundel County planners who issue permits to the builders."

A North Shore resident for 23 years, Dee Feehley gazed out her living room's glass door at Park Creek, one of several waterways off the Magothy River that nearly surround the peninsular neighborhood."

The politicians are fighting over Mountain Road: Should Anne Arundel County spend money to widen it or to study building a bypass?Four state legislators have asked Anne Arundel County Executive John G. Gary to take $200,000 away from a planned study of a Mountain Road bypass and spend it, instead, to add a lane to the eastbound and westbound sides of Mountain Road between Route 100 and Lake Shore Drive.The legislators -- Republican Dels. John R. Leopold and Victoria L. Schade and Democratic Sen. Philip C. Jimeno and Del. Joan Cadden -- said they are lobbying for their proposal because they envision too many obstacles to the $12 million bypass project, a 2 1/2 -mile, two-lane parallel route linking Magothy Bridge Road to Mountain Road between South Carolina and Maryland avenues in Lake Shore.

An Arnold man was arrested on drug charges Wednesday after police said they watched him participate in a drug transaction in Freetown Village.Douglas Scott Bassford, 33, of the unit block of Pride Lane was charged with possession of crack cocaine.Police patrolling the 7800 block of Shirley Murphy Court saw the driver of a 1988 Ford truck get out, exchange something with a man in the stairwell of a building, get back in the truck and drive off.Police said they stopped the man because he ran a stop sign and asked him if he had purchased drugs.

Voices were raised and tempers flared as more than 700 Pasadena residents packed the auditorium of Chesapeake Senior High School for more than three hours Wednesday night to oppose a Mountain Road bypass.Nearly all the seats in the auditorium were filled, and many people were willing to stand to show their resistance to County Councilman Thomas W. Redmond's plan to build a 2 1/2 -mile bypass."It's wrong," said William L. Long. "You're taking people's homes. That's stupid.""It's a shame!" Ray Jacobs roared at Mr. Redmond.

BALTIMOREFor more Baltimore convention information, call the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association at (410) 659-7300 (within Maryland) or (800) 343-3468 (outside Maryland).* APRIL 15-17: American Bar Association at Omni Inner Harbor. Contact Dorothy Jackson, 750 N. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Ill. 60611. Expected attendance: 550.* APRIL 17-23: International Symposium on Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis at Stouffer Harborplace. Contact Shirley Schlessinger, 400 E. Randolph Drive, Suite 1015, Chicago, Ill. 60601.

Lake Shore Drive to get left-turn laneHighway workers will add a left-turn lane to Lake Shore Drive by January to ease rush-hour congestion at the Mountain Road intersection.John Healy, a spokesman for the State Highway Administration (SHA), said the road and signals will be marked to allow two lanes of traffic to turn left from Lake Shore Drive onto Mountain Road in the morning.Mr. Healy said the extra lane replaces an earlier plan promoted by state Sen. Philip C. Jimeno that would have allowed traffic heading west on Mountain Road to go through the intersection without stopping.