Marc Train

Collisions on northbound roads in Baltimore City and Baltimore County caused lane closures during Tuesday morning's commute, according to the state Department of Transportation. In Baltimore City, a collision on Interstate 95 North at the Washington Boulevard exit has closed one of four northbound lanes and one of two northbound shoulders at 7:56 a.m., DOT said. In Baltimore County, a one-vehicle collision on MD 702 North prior to the Baltimore Beltway has closed one of two northbound lanes and one of two northbound shoulders at 7:55 a.m., DOT said.

All lanes are closed on MD 177 in both directions in Anne Arundel County at 9:11 a.m. on Tuesday due to what the state Department of Transportation said is police activity. No additional information was given. In Baltimore City, a two-vehicle collision on Interstate 95 North past the US 1 Caton Avenue exit has closed one of four northbound traffic lanes and one of two northbound traffic shoulders at 9:06 a.m., DOT said. The Maryland Transit Administration is reporting minor delays on the Metro subway and MARC train at 9:20 a.m. Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts

Separate incidents on Baltimore-area interstates forced lane closures at the close of Monday's rush hour, according to the state Department of Transportation. In Baltimore City, debris in the roadway on the inner loop of Interstate 695 at the Francis Scott Key Bridge closed one of two traffic lanes at 9:06 a.m., DOT said. A collision in Baltimore County on Interstate 95 South at the Baltimore Beltway exit has closed one of two southbound shoulders at 8:49 a.m., DOT said. Morning-long minor delays on the Metro subway, light rail and MARC train continued at 9:15 a.m., according to the Maryland Transit Administration.

All southbound traffic lanes were closed on MD 151 South in Baltimore County at 7:41 a.m., due to a one-vehicle collision, one of two incidents that forced lane closures during Tuesday morning rush hour, according to the state Department of Transportation. In the other incident, a disabled vehicle in Anne Arundel County on US 50 East at the Cape Street/St. Claire Road exit closed the eastbound left merge lane and one of two eastbound shoulders at 6:17 a.m., DOT said. The Maryland Transit Authority reported minor delays on the Metro subway and MARC train at 8:50 a.m. Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts

Howard County: Columbia Police standoff ends in two arrests A standoff between two robbery suspects and police ended with authorities arresting the pair yesterday afternoon. Police said the two suspects - identified as 19-year-old Devon Dixon and a 17-year-old boy - ran into Dixon's Columbia home in the 8800 block of Hayshed Lane after a street robbery. The victim - who was not identified - told police he was approached by two robbers who implied having a weapon and demanded his cell phone.

A spokesman for Amtrak said yesterday that "preliminary indications" were that the engineer of a northbound MARC train was responsible for a low-speed collision with an Amtrak passenger train in the tunnel south of Penn Station Friday.And the spokesman, R. Clifford Black IV, confirmed that Amtrak officials were investigating a report that the Maryland Rail Commuter engineer was urinating into a bottle when his diesel locomotive rear-ended and coupled with the northbound Amtrak Virginian. But Mr. Black cautioned that "it's not been determined one way or another whether that's the actual fact."

When Debbie Catena wakes up at 6:25 a.m., it's not the beep of an alarm clock that gets her attention, but a nudge and a sniff from her golden retriever, Jacob. A childhood illness left Catena with 60 percent hearing loss in her right ear and completely deaf in her left ear. Jacob is a hearing dog that was paired with Catena, a 55-year-old Ellicott City resident, through Fidos for Freedom, a nonprofit organization based in Laurel that provides service dogs, hearing dogs and therapy dogs to residents of the Baltimore-Washington area.

After several morning accidents Tuesday, including one pedestrian fatality in Baltimore County, most area traffic after 9 a.m. was slowed primarily by a disabled vehicle in Howard County, according to the state Department of Transportation. Baltimore Police said that a fatal accident on Liberty Road westbound in Milford Mill closed the shoulder and all through lanes as of 6:48 a.m. All lanes opened around 8:55 a.m., police reported. A disabled vehicle on MD 100 at Exit 8 (Coca Cola Drive)

Investigators combing the wreckage of a rail collision in Silver Spring that killed 11 people Friday night -- including two Baltimoreans -- concluded yesterday that both trains were moving when the crash occurred, despite earlier reports that a commuter train was stopped.In addition, investigators said the engineer of the Maryland Rail Commuter train slammed on the brakes just before it and the Chicago-bound Amtrak Capitol Limited collided.The MARC train had been traveling at 63 mph after it left the Kensington station and slowed to 40 mph just 15 seconds before the crash.

The first round of lawsuits stemming from last winter's fiery Silver Spring train crash was filed in federal court yesterday, seeking more than $200 million on behalf of a MARC train conductor who was killed in the collision and six Amtrak workers who were injured.The suits, filed against several companies, claim that a train signal was removed from the tracks and never replaced, that another signal malfunctioned, that exposed tanks on a locomotive fueled the fire and that windows on the MARC train failed to work.