Mail Service

The apartments called Tubman House on Towson Way are part of a new dorm complex for freshmen and sophomores at Towson University, and someone recently sent an occupant there 65 grams of marijuana. A townhouse on Randallstown's Kenny Green Court is a suburban cookie-cutter home on a cul-de-sac, and someone from West Hollywood, Calif., recently mailed 1,450 grams of marijuana to that address. Federal agents with the U.S. postal inspector's office intercepted both packages, according to search warrant applications — and subsequent lists of what the searches revealed — unsealed in U.S. District Court in Baltimore this week.

Morrissey is promoted at Howard County General Joseph Morrissey, director of pharmaceutical services at Howard County General Hospital, has been appointed director of materials management. He will continue to oversee daily operations of the pharmacy as director of pharmaceutical services. The materials management department, which is responsible for purchasing, receiving, general stores linen supplies and mail service, has 17 full-time employees. Miller a vice president at Harkins Builders Dave Miller has been promoted to vice president of construction at Harkins Builders of Marriottsville.

150 years ago in The SunAugust 7, 1849: A Good Moment -- Early on Sunday morning the plugs in many of the streets were unscrewed, and the fresh water gushing out therefrom, washed the gutters more effectually than ever. The very atmosphere also appeared purer and cooler whilst the streams which rushed down the streets washed away the dirt and filth with which they were lined.100 years ago in The SunAugust 8, 1899: WESTMINSTER, MD., Aug.7. -- The experiment of free mail service in the rural districts of Carroll County, begun April 3, has proved successful beyond expectations.

Comcast Corp. said yesterday that it has restored electronic-mail service to customers hit by a 36-hour slowdown and stoppage of e-mail traffic. The problem affected Comcast's high-speed Internet service, called Comcast @Home, and hampered e-mail transmissions for up to 20,000 households in Howard and Baltimore counties. The glitches began Sunday, when customers started to see delays in their e-mail service. Eventually, e-mail service stopped altogether. The problem was caused by the failure of a main server, a $150,000 computer that governs Internet traffic along Comcast's cable network.

THIS DATE IN HISTORY: Sept.8In 1565, a Spanish expedition established the first permanent European settlement in North America at present-day St. Augustine, Fla.In 1664, the Dutch surrendered New Amsterdam to the British, who renamed it New York.In 1892, an early version of "The Pledge of Allegiance" appeared in the Youth's Companion.In 1900, Galveston, Texas, was struck by a hurricane that killed about 6,000 people.In 1920, New York-to-San Francisco air mail service was inaugurated.In 1921, Margaret Gorman of Washington, D.C., was crowned the first Miss America in Atlantic City, N.J.In 1930, the comic strip "Blondie" first appeared.

RECENT OFFICIAL reports confirm what we already knew: The delivery of the U.S. mail in the Baltimore area is a service in need of fixing. With that in mind, the story of Richard Thompson seems particularly quaint. Back in the 1920s, Mr. Thompson depended on same-day delivery of mail in Baltimore and got it without paying a premium price.Mr. Thompson's secret: He knew the speed of Baltimore's Railway Mail Service -- the mobile postal service which began exactly 100 years ago today on Oct. 4, 1894.

A clerk at a Severna Park gas station gave a man $30 for three rolls of quarters Sunday night, only to discover later that the rolls contained copper tubes with a quarter in each end.James Vincent, 23, the clerk at Maceys Corner Exxon in the 500 block of Ritchie Highway, told police the man came in between 8:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. and handed him what appeared to be three rolls of quarters worth $10 each. Mr. Vincent had the man write his name and telephone number on each roll before giving him $30, police said.

Merck & Co. the world's largest drug maker, said yesterday that it had completed the $6 billion purchase of Medco Containment Services Inc., one of the largest mail-order pharmacy and managed-care drug companies.The deal was closed after Medco shareholders overwhelmingly approved the sale, which was announced on July 28.Demonstrating the new company's marketing strength, Medco announced that it had signed new contracts with General Motors Corp. and a dozen other large companies since July.

The Johns Hopkins University is tightening its computer security after hackers broke into a computer at the medical school and secretly used it to generate a flood of e-mail advertisements.Efforts by the university to cope with the October break-in have caused balky and intermittent e-mail service for seven months for hundreds of staff members at the East Baltimore campus. At least once, e-mail service through the system, called "welchlink," shut down for two days."What was unique about this break-in was how slick it was," said J. Robert Sapp III, director of advanced technology for the Welch Medical Library.

Some people have seen the potential of registering Web site domain names en masse. In 1995, MailBank.com Inc., a Reno, Nev., company, began registering 12,000 surnames - which they say represent more than 70 percent of the U.S. population's last names - for its fee-based e-mail service. To date, the company has paid about $2.5 million to register and renew their rights to the names. "Personalizing the Internet" is the motto for this company that, for $9.95 a year, rents e-mail addresses that pair first and last names, for example, JK@Hewlitt.