Mall

Usually, the sight of six teen-agers shopping at the mall on a school day would arouse suspicion. But these particular "special needs" students aren't playing hooky -- they're actually in school.On this day, Harford Mall is their classroom, price tags are teaching tools and sales clerks may unwittingly be teachers' assistants. The trip is part of Community Based Instruction, a new program of the Special Education Department of Harford County Public Schools.Community Based Instruction takes the students to businesses where they can do everyday errands.

Educators, county planners and store managers at the county's largest mall have big plans for Anne Arundel Community College's $18 million facility at Arundel Mills. Construction on the 77,700-square-foot facility begins today with a ceremonial groundbreaking on the mall's sprawling property. When it is finished next spring, the building will include 22 classrooms, 10 meeting rooms and computer-ready lecture halls. For the college, already growing at a brisk pace, the new facility guarantees a presence in one of the county's fastest-growing areas.

Howard County police said yesterday they are continuing to investigate a holdup Friday night at The Mall in Columbia.Just after 9 p.m., a gunman approached a carousel as the mall was preparing to close, aimed a gun at the operator and demanded cash, police said. The gunman got $300, walked out of the mall and disappeared, police said.Sgt. Steven E. Keller, a police spokesman, said the gunman was carrying a white bag and was wearing a gray sweat shirt and a mask or face paint.Pub Date: 11/04/97

Crown Theatres is scheduled to unveil an 11-screen, stadium-seating movie complex tomorrow at Annapolis Mall. The grand opening, which also will mark the closing of the Connecticut-based company's four-screen complex at the mall, will begin at 6 p.m., said Sue Ostrander, a Crown spokeswoman. The new theater will have the latest digital film projectors and sound systems and range in size from 290 to 300 seats. The old theater will be renovated for another business. Crown Theatres has owned theaters at Annapolis Mall, Harbour Center and Eastport Cinema since 1997.

Westview Mall in western Baltimore County has had a bad couple of weeks. Last last month, the mall's management company filed for bankruptcy. Then eight days ago, a Baltimore County jury awarded $2.75 million to the family of a woman murdered on the mall's parking lot.Are the two events connected? To an extent, yes.The killing of Jane Tyson, committed in front of her two grandchildren in June 1991, obviously scared business away from Westview. Yet it's likewise apparent that the mall itself did not inspire secure feelings among prospective customers.

A BGE contractor knocked out electricity to half of Marley Station Mall shortly after noon yesterday, forcing the movie theaters and about 60 stores and restaurants to close for an hour. They reopened shortly after 1 p.m., when power was restored, said David Casper, mall marketing director.The contractor was digging near the mall while installing power to a cellular tower when workers severed a cable that provides electricity to the mall, said to Darcel Guy, a Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. spokeswoman.

Three new stores will fill vacancies at Harundale Mall by spring, and others are expected to open soon after, mall officials said yesterday.The Glen Burnie mall has signed leases totaling more than 6,000 square feet with Afterthoughts Boutique, which sells jewelry and accessories; Athletic Express, which features athletic apparel and shoes; and The Dollar Tree, whose merchandise sells for $1.The new stores are well-suited to the value-oriented mall, which...

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Teen-agers accustomed to spending Friday and Saturday nights roaming Patrick Henry Mall will have to find a new place to hang out beginning this weekend.Mall Manager Roger Brown, saying he was fed up with foul language, rowdy behavior and lack of respect from some teens, is banning unaccompanied teen-agers under 18 from most of the mall's public areas and food court after 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights."In the last few weeks I've seen the potential for losing control," Mr. Brown said yesterday.

Carrolltowne Mall merchants hope last week's sale of the mall at a foreclosure auction doesn't hurt holiday sales."It's affecting theattitudes and feelings of the merchants and people who shop here," said Joanne Ciepiela, owner of BJ's Bloomers."