Locust

Cooper/T. Smith, a nationally prominent stevedoring company, is closing its operation here, in the latest in a series of blows at the port of Baltimore that foreshadows a sharp downturn in the coming year.The Mobile, Ala.-based company which hires longshoremen to load and unload steamships began operations here two years ago, saying it hoped to attract cargo that would produce more jobs for the port.But recently, the company told state officials it would not renew its lease at the North Locust Point marine terminal.

A 100-foot tugboat sank off Pier 3 in Locust Point on Saturday night. The tugboat Kaleen McAllister sank before 10 p.m., Mike Reagoso, the vice president of Mid-Atlantic operations for McAllister Towing, said Sunday. No one was injured in the incident, Reagoso said. Everyone had left the boat by the time it sank, said Petty Officer David Marin, a Coast Guard spokesman operating out of Baltimore's Curtis Bay yards. "It is too early to determine what the extent of the damage may be, but the submersion of the tug is not expected to interfere with any harbor operations or any port operations," Reagoso said in a statement.

The locust trees are in bloom today. That's the black locust,  Robinia pseudoacacia , one of the last trees to bloom. In eastern Kentucky, where the tree is plentiful, those delicate white blossoms perfume the countryside, and it is by their appearance that I know that spring has well and truly arrived.  Duty has be editing copy for the forthcoming  Sun Magazine issue commemorating the paper's 175th anniversary (I got to edit...

Under Armour plans to hire hundreds of workers at its Locust Point headquarters this year, expand facilities on its campus and bring its brand of sports apparel and footwear to new markets in the U.S. and around the world. CEO Kevin Plank outlined the goals Tuesday while promising shareholders more of the rapid growth that has defined the $1.8 billion company in recent years. During an annual meeting in which Under Armour pitchman and record-setting Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps made a surprise appearance, Plank said the company is just beginning to make inroads in areas such as athletic footwear, women's sports apparel and international markets, with room to grow.

Two-thirds of the North Locust Point grain conveyor (to the left of the four domed tanks above) was demolished by explosives (at right)yesterday at a waterfront site owned by the Maryland Port Administration. The end of the conveyer collapsed in 2001, ending its use for moving soybeans and grain. Considered too dangerous to dismantle directly, the conveyer was taken down by 150 pounds of explosives in 350 individual charges, lowering it to a safe height for removal by cranes, according to the port authority.

The state of Maryland will break ground this summer on a 100,000-square-foot warehouse at South Locust Point Marine Terminal, Gov. Parris N. Glendening said yesterday.The $8 million warehouse will be used as storage for Wilhelmsen Lines USA Inc., a construction and industrial equipment shipping company, Glendening told the Baltimore Propeller Club."We want to make sure we continue to build up the port so it can remain competitive," Glendening said.The warehouse, which should be completed next year, will be built and owned by the state and leased to Wilhelmsen.

Westminster will hold a public meeting at 9 a.m. today to review designs for the Locust Lane shopping area on Main Street. The plans to update the pedestrian mall have been altered to include a new parking deck on the Longwell Avenue parking lot since they were last reviewed in public meetings. The Common Council is scheduled to vote on a design for Locust Lane and the Longwell parking deck at its meeting Feb. 25. Locust Lane was created in the 1970s as a shopping area and pedestrian walkway from the Longwell Avenue parking lots to East Main Street.

Operators of a Riviera Beach assisted-living facility are to ask the county administrative hearing officer Thursday for permission to expand the center to house five more occupants.Locust Lodge wants to use a vacant one-story building behind the main building to increase its capacity from 15 elderly residents to 20.The center also has asked for a waiver for the main building, which is less than 50 feet from the property line, a violation of zoning law.Neighbors fear that the proposed expansion could create traffic and safety problems.

A Riviera Beach group home for frail seniors has lost its operating license after years of allegations of neglect, improper care and hazardous conditions.State inspectors who made a surprise visit to Locust Lodge, a private group home on Meadow Drive, recommended revoking its license after finding a series of violations that threatened the safety and health of the five residents, said Gary Tavin, a spokesman for the Maryland Office on Aging.Locust Lodge and its operator, Elizabeth Frisino, had been cited numerous times in the past for failing to provide proper supervision,well-balanced meals, adequate lighting and warm rooms in the winter,Tavin said.

A Locust Point man drowned yesterday afternoon while swimming in the Patapsco River off Hull Street, police said. Police identified the man as Steven Maylor, 42, of the 1200 block of Hull St. About 3 p.m., police received a 911 call reporting that a man was swimming in 35 feet of water off a pier at the end of Hull Street and failed to surface, police said. A city Fire Department communications officer said two city fireboats, a dive-rescue team, firefighters and medics responded. A short time later, divers pulled Maylor from the river.

A plague of locusts swept through Egypt a few weeks ago, an estimated 30 million of the critters. Egyptian officials tried to downplay the phenomenon, hoping to quash any biblical analogies. They noted that locust swarms show up in the spring every now and then. But more earthly indicators suggest that the blighted Egyptian government is in such deep political and economic trouble that perhaps the analogy is apt. Experts and senior government officials worldwide are warning that Egypt's economy is hurtling toward collapse.

Among Baltimore's neighborhoods, the hip community of Hampden is forecast to see the most home value appreciation this year, according to data-driven real estate search website Zillow. Home values in that North Baltimore district should see a 4.2 percent increase over the next 12 months, according to a report the firm recently released. Zillow considers an annual appreciation of about 3 percent to be the national norm. Locust Point and Highlandtown are tied for second place in the Baltimore forecast.

Like many young professionals who work in or near Baltimore, Jon and Jenny Kraft searched for city properties when they decided to build a home together. "We looked at myriad different houses and could not find one that was designed for how we live and was also located in a walkable community," said Jon Kraft. His wife noted that parking, open layout, roof deck, fireplace and a minimum of three bedrooms were also priorities. They ultimately found a tailor-made answer to their requirements in The Townes at Locust Point, an enclave of 71 three-story brick townhouses built by Ruppert Homes Urban Redevelopment.

Baltimore's urban design panel on Thursday approved a developer's request to build townhouses on land in Locust Point that had been slated for residential towers and a mixed-use complex. The two parcels, on either side of the Silo Point condo building, will have about 50 townhouses divided between them, according to plans presented to the panel by the architects for Mark Sapperstein, the developer of McHenry Row. The decision to build townhomes instead of taller residential office buildings was a reaction to market demands and input from the community, which would prefer shorter structures on those sites, Sapperstein said.

Two small thrifts founded many decades ago to cater to Baltimore's immigrant population could merge as early as the end of November following approval Monday by a federal regulator. Kopernik Federal Bank in Fells Point and Hull Federal Savings Bank in Locust Point each have one office, and both will remain open and operate under the Kopernik name after the merger. The marriage of these two institutions — opened a combined 189 years — is just another sign of the difficulties of small financial institutions, banking analysts said.

Baltimore's Fire Department is overhauling its rescue teams and converting its Locust Point station into a new command center — moves designed to increase the availability of firefighters trained to work in deep water, collapsed buildings and other dangerous locations. Fire Chief James S. Clack said the changes — which come after a December accident that shut down the dive team — are needed to address shortcomings in the agency. Baltimore, he said, has fallen "a little behind" other big cities since the Sept.

Responding to residents' complaints of an intermittent foul odor, the state Department of the Environment will collect and test air samples at Locust House in Westminster.Many of the 100 senior and disabled residents of the federally subsidized housing complex have reported the odor in their apartments and in common areas of the seven-story building, county inspectors said.An independent air-quality consultant inspected the building two months ago, but reported no problems with the air circulating in the 17-year-old building.

Some neighbors of Locust Lodge, an assisted-living facility in Riviera Beach, fear that a proposed expansion of its operation to allow five more occupants could create problems in their neighborhood."

A co-founder of the Dead Man Incorporated prison gang pleaded guilty Wednesday to his role in the group's murder-for-hire and drug-dealing conspiracy — ensuring that the former Baltimorean serves a life sentence even as he promised followers in missives from behind bars that he would continue to defy the government. The plea agreement will spare James Sweeney, 35, a possible death sentence in a separate case in which he is charged with killing a fellow inmate. The former Locust Point resident, who is being held in federal prison in Texas, admitted under the agreement that he was a leader of Dead Man Inc. and that he ordered "hits for hire in order to raise money and also to enable white prisoners to retaliate against black gangs" in Maryland, court records show.

Wisconsin transplant Dana Ostrenga has spent the past 14 years on the south side of Baltimore. The 37-year-old NASA scientist lived in Federal Hill and then in Washington Village, also known as Pigtown. When it was time for a change, she didn't want to move far, but she did have a list of requirements. "I wanted a brand-new, turnkey rehab," she said, ticking off the items on her list. "I wanted location, a parking pad, lots of natural light, two stories, a finished basement, three bedrooms, two baths, and I wanted it to be diverse and kid-friendly.