New Carrollton

Fell's Point Corner Theatre. "Incident at Vichy," a drama by Arthur Miller. 7 p.m. Jan. 4-5 at 251 S. Ann St. Needed are 17 men, ranging in age from 30 to 60; one boy, age 17; and one man, about 70. Call 410-252-4059.School of American Ballet. For summer session in New York City. Jan. 9 at the Maryland Youth Ballet, 7702 Woodmont Ave., 1 p.m. to 2: 30 p.m., ages 12-13; 2: 30 p.m. to 4 p.m., ages 14-15; and 4 p.m. to 5 p.m., ages 16-18. Register an hour in advance. Registration fee is $10. Open only to intermediate and advanced students who are 12 by July.

NEW CARROLLTON -- In many ways, Harry Finley is your average 55-year-old man. He likes classical music, reads the New Yorker obsessively and prefers a good biography to the latest episode of "Friends." He lives in a quiet suburb of Washingtonwith his black tabby and a pile of portraits he's painted over the years.But visit his home, and you'll find there's much more to Harry Finley than first meets the eye. The confirmed bachelor has gone to some extraordinary lengths to spice up his otherwise quiet existence.

Towson Town Center, Westview Cinemas and a New Carrollton office supplies store were sued in federal court yesterday by three disabled residents demanding the businesses restructure ramps, restrooms and parking lots to make them accessible to the disabled.The suits, filed in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, do not seek monetary damages.But similar suits could be filed against other businesses and establishments that the disabled say are not accessible to those in wheelchairs, says an advocate for the handicapped.

New Carrollton -- Britain's kings drew lines from east to west and, ever since, the central section of the Allegheny Plateau has been divided into West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. Business wise, it hasn't worked out. We're getting small returns from a grand setting.After tearing down and building back up for 300 million odd years, old Mother Nature finally got it right. This ancient plateau has the character, variety and grace that gives joy to life. It has hills, deep forests, great ridge mountains, glades, streams, rushing rivers, waterfalls, lakes, strange sandstone formations and on and on for a countless number of scenic delights.

Havre de Grace. -- In the interest of local literacy, herewith a regional reader to make the alphabet more meaningful to Marylanders.A is for Annapolis, its harbor full of boats, and also for Assembly, where lobbyists buy votes. Allegany offers us another use for A. (Don't spell Allegany in any other way.) A is very useful when you mention Aberdeen, where the Army tests Artillery, and the Air is slightly green.B is for Baltimore, Charm City sublime. It has certain little problems, not the least of which is crime, but it also offers hTC Baseball in a Ballpark which is nice, and Bars for Buying Beer in mugs all rimmed with ice. (B used to be for B'hoys, but it isn't any more.

Francis P. ShunneyWestern Union retireeFrancis Peter Shunney, a retired Western Union International manager, died Thursday of a heart attack at his home in New Carrollton. He was 69.Services were to be held at 7 p.m. today at Gasch's Funeral Home, 4739 Baltimore Ave., Hyattsville.Mr. Shunney is survived by his second wife, the former Beatriz Molfino; three sons, Michael Shunney of Berkley Springs, W.Va., Christopher Shunney of New Carrollton and Timothy Shunney of Lynn, Ind.; a daughter, Stephanie Riggs of Columbia; a stepson, Daniel Molfino of Germantown; 16 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Crofton will lose a source of controversy and dissent when Jordan Harding leaves as town manager this month.The community will also lose a man with an extraordinary knowledge of small-town government, a colorful presence and a range of intellectual interests that rivals that of most academics.This is a man who once arm-wrestled Elvis, speaks four languages and knows theistic existentialism the way he knows Crofton's traffic lights. If he likes to talk about himself, as his critics invariably point out, at least there is quite a lot to say.His library, for instance.

Jean and Bryan Ledoux of Glen Burnie say their 16-year-old son was among scores of teens stranded outside RFK Stadium after the Guns N' Roses concert ended Friday night because the Washington subway had stopped running long before the event ended.The couple said they had double-checked the Metro's closing time with Metro employees at the New Carrollton station when they dropped off their son, Benoit Martineaux."We were told there would be no problem, that the Metro would not leave those kids stranded," said Mrs. Ledoux.

A 6-year-old girl was killed and her father and 2-year-old sister critically injured yesterday in a three-car accident in New Carrollton, Prince George's County police said.The accident occurred shortly after 5 p.m. when a Nissan Sentra driven by Teffy Dent, 32, of the 6700 block of Carrollton Parkway in New Carrollton, slid out of control in the westbound lane of the 6900 block of Riverdale Road, police said.Mr. Dent's car skidded on wet pavement, crossed into oncoming traffic and was struck broadside by a Cadillac, police said.

If the nationwide rail strike comes to full bloom at midnight and shuts down the one line operating through Maryland, Gov. William Donald Schaefer advises commuters in the state to take the bus.In fact, Mr. Schaefer and transportation officials say the state has about 50 buses ready to roll early tomorrow morning and is looking for more to handle about 8,000 travelers who commute, mostly to Washington, to work.Some 9,000 round-trip passengers normally ride the state's MARC rail system. But in light of the strike, officials also are encouraging use of private vehicles and car pooling.

At least two developers are vying to lure the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from its outdated Rockville complex in Montgomery County to spacious new digs in Prince George's County. Each firm is interested in building almost 1 million square feet of office space for HHS near a Metro stop in Prince George's County. If constructed, such a complex would relocate about 5,000 federal jobs to the county, fatten property tax coffers and serve as a major anchor near a transit station.

The City of Annapolis is working with the Maryland Transit Administration to find funding for next year to accommodate bus riders who work in Annapolis and live in the Washington area, as well as Annapolitans commuting to D.C., Mayor Ellen O. Moyer said. The "Capital to Capital" bus route was under the threat of shutting down, but Dillon's Bus Service, the company that provides the commuter bus line from Annapolis to New Carrollton, where the closest Metro station is located, decided to continue the service despite cuts in MTA funding.

Annapolis Mayor Ellen O. Moyer is calling a decision by the Maryland Transit Administration to cut a popular but sparsely used bus route connecting Annapolis to the Washington area "nuts," and is vowing to scrape together funds from the city's budget to keep the bus in circulation. "It's nonsense," Moyer said. "We've spent a lot of time and energy - that means money - trying to convince people to use alternative transportation to reduce congestion on the roads and to reduce the [pollution]

An overnight storm flooded roads and streams south of Baltimore yesterday morning, snarled rush hour traffic, interrupted MARC train service to Washington and triggered a brief tornado scare in Prince George's County. Cheron Wicker, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Transit Administration, said flooding along the Camden and Brunswick MARC lines forced trains to operate at reduced speeds early yesterday morning. High water on the Amtrak tracks forced Penn Line MARC trains to stop at the New Carrollton station, and passengers had to transfer to the Washington METRO system to finish their commute into Washington.

Woman charged in officer's death Elkton woman identified by authorities as a person of interest in a hit-and-run accident that killed a veteran Maryland Transportation Authority police officer was indicted yesterday in connection with the New Year's Eve crash, according to Baltimore prosecutors. Kerri J. King, 35, faces charges of automobile manslaughter, driving under the influence of alcohol and leaving the scene of an accident, the city state's attorney's office said. The indictment handed up by a Baltimore grand jury was unsealed yesterday.

Many motorists know the age-old speeding ticket routine - get pulled over, wait at least 10 minutes for an officer to write a barely legible citation and hope to remember to mail a check within 15 days. But fumbling with carbon copies and postage stamps might soon be a thing of the past. By the end of the month, the Maryland State Police, which issues a third of all speeding tickets issued in the state, plans to deploy an electronic citation system, and law enforcement agencies in almost 30 other jurisdictions have expressed interest in doing the same, police and court officials say. The agencies are following the lead of New Carrollton, whose police department in December became the first agency in Maryland to become certified by the District Court to issue e- citations.

NEW CARROLLTON -- Seeking political mileage from Maryland's long commuting times, Mayor Martin O'Malley proposed a transportation plan yesterday that he said would emphasize Smart Growth principles, promote public transit and reduce congestion on the highways. After spending the early morning rush hour shaking hands with commuters at the Metro station here, O'Malley held a news conference where he criticized Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. for what he called a "knee-jerk opposition to rail" in mass transit projects.

D.C. business group endorses Franchot One day after endorsing the re-election of Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., a Washington business group has thrown its support to one of the governor's harshest critics in the race for comptroller. The Greater Washington Board of Trade's political action committee announced yesterday that Democrat Peter Franchot, who won a hard-fought primary over incumbent William Donald Schaefer last month, is its choice for comptroller over Republican nominee Anne M. McCarthy, former dean of the University of Baltimore business school.

Boy, 12, is shot by a cousin, 8, toying with gun A 12-year-old boy was in critical condition last night after being shot by an 8-year-old cousin who was playing with a loaded handgun, Annapolis police said. The victim, whose name police did not release, was flown to Johns Hopkins Childrens Hospital. The children were playing yesterday afternoon in the 12-year-old's home in the 900 block of Central St., which is near Wiley H. Bates Middle School, police said. The bullet went though the boy's neck and exited though his shoulder, police said.

NEW CARROLLTON - When she stepped from her car yesterday morning, an icy wind billowed the silken skirt Tanya Gilly wore beneath her long overcoat. But the 30-year-old mother of two, a native of Kurdistan in northern Iraq, paid scant notice to the 10-degree chill that reddened her face and swept her hair as she made her way to the Ramada Inn in New Carrollton on this momentous first day of the rest of her life. After you've fled your homeland as a child, lost kinsmen in mass graves, and learned of government agents trying to assassinate your parents, a late-January freeze is a minor obstacle when the moment has come to exercise your political freedom for the first time.