Machinery

Boosted by a sharp increase in construction equipment and paper products, general cargo moving through Maryland Port Administration terminals increased 9 percent during the first quarter.Cargo during the first three months of the year was 1.6 million tons, up from 1.4 million tons in the first quarter of 1997."Roll-off/roll-on" cargoes, the category that includes construction equipment and heavy machinery, increased 19 percent to 127,200 tons. Paper products almost tripled, to 46,096 tons.

WASHINGTON - International inspectors visiting Iran last week were shown a network of sophisticated machinery to enrich uranium, spurring concerns that Iran is making headway in its suspected program to develop nuclear weapons, Western officials and international diplomats said yesterday. The site in question, near the city of Natanz, was visited Friday by Mohamed ElBaradei, the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, who went to Iran to assess the status of its nuclear program.

A 9-year-old Harford County girl died last night in a family ride gone awry when she was run over by a front-end loader that her father was driving, county police said.The girl, who lived in the northeastern part of the county, was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. She was identified as Vanna Henretta Lewis.Sgt. Edward Hopkins, a spokesman for the Harford County Sheriff's Office, said Martin Lewis, 36, was giving his 11-year-old son, Brandon Lewis, a ride in the cab of the front-end loader while Vanna and Martina Lynn Lewis, 13, were walking in front.

SAN JOSE, Calif. - When United Nations inspectors return to Iraq, they are unlikely to find finished weapons for chemical, nuclear or biological warfare, according to former inspectors. Instead, the multinational teams will focus on discovering the machinery and materials used to make weapons and the missiles that could deliver them to other countries. "You ask to look at the equipment itself," said Tim McCarthy, who completed 13 missions in Iraq and served as deputy chief inspector for the United Nations' missile team in the 1990s.

Fusion Systems Corp., Maryland's largest semiconductor equipment manufacturer, said yesterday that it has agreed to be bought for $292.5 million by Eaton Corp., a diversified manufacturing company in Cleveland.Shares in Rockville-based Fusion rose $4.562, or 13 percent, to $39.562 on the news yesterday. Meanwhile shares in Eaton rose 50 cents to close at $87.312.Eaton said the transaction would involve purchasing Fusion's 7.5 million shares at $39 each. The majority of the shares will be bought by Monday, Eaton said.

Your grass is as high as an elephant's eye. Small animals disappear into the backyard veld, never to emerge. The neighbors are beginning to talk.Dragging the mower out from behind the snow shovels, you gas it up, pull the rope and -- nothing. What to do?In a world of self-serve gas, cash machines, U-Haul trucks and press-two-for-information telephone operators, it's nice to know there are people who will come to you.In Montgomery County, that's The Mowerman.Chris Suser has been traveling eastern Montgomery County for eight years, keeping mowers safe from well-meaning but inept tinkerers.

Americans are habitually skeptical; they know that shampoo won't make them sexier, that campaign promises won't mean great schools, and that partisanship essentially runs the federal government. But until Nov. 7, people generally assumed that voting for president was clean, unbiased and uncomplicated. They punched a ballot. A disinterested machine or worker counted their vote. And the candidate with the most votes won their state. Silly them. Among the revelations that sprang from Florida's electoral meltdown of the past 12 days is that the electoral system itself is thoroughly partisan, not to mention inaccurate, archaic and inconsistent.

KOFI APEA Orleans-Lindsay was just a number -- one of 54,000 Maryland convicts on conditional release -- until he allegedly killed an undercover state trooper 19 days ago. The 23-year-old dope dealer simply didn't stand out in the bizarre world of the Maryland Division of Probation and Parole. Yes, he had missed eight meetings with his probation agent, had failed three drug tests and skipped 61 others. But he had also kept 12 probation appointments and passed 45 drug tests. So nothing was done to lock him up. Until it was too late.

Retirees of United Container Machinery Inc. have been told by union officials that they will be without health benefits after the company is sold at the end of the month. Glen Arm-based United, which makes machines that make corrugated boxes, has agreed to sell its assets to Barry-Wehmiller Cos. Inc., a St. Louis-based holding company that also owns United competitor MarquipWard of Cockeysville. United's operations will be folded into MarquipWard's. The acquiring company is not taking over the health benefits for about 80 retirees.

PARADISE, Pa. -- Amish farmers here in eastern Lancaster County, Pa., are facing a crisis this harvest season, and their horses just won't cut it. So this one time, their bishops are permitting Amish farmers to use heavy machinery to bring in their corn crops. "They have been told, `You need to harvest your corn for your cows to survive, so whatever you need to do -- do it,'" said David Hoover, who was helping to direct an effort at helping the Amish that has been dubbed Harvest Aid. The big wind that cut through Lancaster County in the wake of Hurricane Isabel Sept.