Middle River

Petition signature collectors have hit the streets again in Baltimore County for a referendum effort on development issues - this time targeting a recent County Council bill that would protect a Middle River project from an earlier referendum challenge. Last month, County Councilwoman Cathy Bevins, a Middle River Democrat, sponsored and won approval for a bill that would let a Middle River development proceed, even if the zoning is overturned through a pending referendum attempt.

A pedestrian who was killed on Pulaski Highway in Middle River on Saturday night has been identified as 60-year-old Dianna Rae Brooks, Baltimore County Police said Sunday. Brooks, who police said they have no fixed address for, was standing on the eastbound side of the highway (Route 40) near Holly Drive shortly before 7 p.m. when she was struck by a Ford F-150, police said. Brooks was pronounced dead while being transported to Franklin Square Hospital, police said. The driver of the Ford pickup truck, who has not been identified, remained at the scene, police said.

It would be easier to redevelop large, historic manufacturing sites in Baltimore County under legislation approved Monday by the County Council. Under the bill, tracts of land 40 acres or larger that are zoned for heavy manufacturing and include buildings on the Maryland Historical Trust's historic properties list could be used for retail, office and residential development. Developers would not have to wait for the county rezoning process — which happens every four years — to turn such properties into mixed-use projects.

In less than a year, there will be a Target in Canton. The discount chain announced this week that it will be opening a 135,000 square foot store in the Canton Crossing shopping center in October 2013. The store will have groceries in addition to the "everyday essentials" that Target is known for, the company said in a statement. The Canton Crossing center, off Boston Street between Baylis and South Haven streets, will have two anchors (Target is one) and is expected to have 30 businesses in all -- including seven or eight restaurants and a bank branch, according to the developer,  Chesapeake Real Estate Group LLC . The only Target currently within the city limits is at Mondawmin Mall, in northwest Baltimore.

A Middle River woman was sentenced Thursday in Baltimore County Circuit Court for her role in the death of a Dundalk man whose body turned up in April after he had been missing for months. Carollyn Robin Duschl, 29, who pleaded guilty as in accessory 57-year-old Jeffrey Jennings' death, received five years in prison — with half of it suspended — followed by five years of supervised probation. John Joseph Leschefsky, 27, also of Middle River, was convicted of second degree murder in Jennings death.

A man was shot multiple times in Middle River on Wednesday evening, according to Baltimore County police and fire dispatchers. Police received a call about 6:58 p.m. from Franklin Square Hospital Center reporting a man with multiple gunshot wounds had arrived at the hospital, a police dispatcher said. The actual shooting occurred near the intersection of Martin Boulevard and Middle River Road, the dispatcher said. Detectives with the violent crimes unit were at the scene investigating late Wednesday, he said.

Deductions, exclusions and loopholes: Why does the middle class continue to struggle for dear life on the ladder of hope and prosperity because the rungs have been removed at the 20 percent mark? Does anyone remember when the middle class could take advantage of small but significant tax breaks, such as deductions for union dues and not having to report earned interest on their Christmas Club savings? Where are the loopholes for the poor? Here is how I define the fiscal cliff: For the rich, it's an ant hill but for the poor it's Mount Everest!

A 19-year-old man was shot Saturday night in the Middle River neighborhood of Baltimore County, police said.  Officers were called to the 100 block of Kingston Road, near the Hawthorne Plaza Shopping Center, for a report of shots fired. Once they arrive, police found a 19-year-old man suffering from a gunshot to the upper body, officers said. He was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. Police, who did not identify the teen, said he is expected to survive. The Baltimore County police's Violent Crimes Unit is investigating.

John F. Muller, an addictions counselor who earlier had been co-owner of a wholesale seafood business, died Nov. 24 from colon cancer at his Middle River home. He was 78. The son of a Methodist minister and a homemaker, John Frederick Muller was born and raised in Baltimore and graduated in 1951 from City College. Mr. Muller enlisted in the Army, where he served as a military policeman during the Korean War, and in 1976 earned a bachelor's degree from Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio.