Northern Parkway

The city's design advisory panel reviewed and rejected yesterday the latest drawings for a proposed set of footbridges linking three Roland Park private schools.The panel invited Gilman, Bryn Mawr and Roland Park Country schools representatives to return after they incorporate its suggestions into the designs. The panel has approved the concept of the bridges, for which the three schools will pay $1.8 million.The panel recommended that the bridges -- which will run from Gilman to the other campuses, crossing Roland Avenue and Northern Parkway -- be lighted and have more pronounced railings.

A husband and wife were in critical condition last night after being shot during a robbery as they were walking along Northern Parkway near the Belvedere Square shopping center in Govans, police said.The shooting occurred between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. on the sidewalk adjacent to a playground at the southeast corner of Northern Parkway and Clearspring Road near Chili's restaurant. The pair, Fredrick Allan, 78, and his wife, Jill Allan, 55, were confronted by three young men. Jill Allan's purse was taken, and both were shot several times, police said.

Three Baltimore firefighters suffered minor injuries yesterday when a tractor collided with their firetruck while it was stopped in the intersection of Northern Parkway and Preakness Way, a fire official said.Officer Michael Maybin, assistant public information officer for the Fire Department, said four firefighters were in the truck at the time of the crash. Two were taken to Mercy Medical Center, he said, and Matthew Petty, the driver of the firetruck, was taken to Sinai Hospital. All three were treated and released, he said.

Police were seeking a car and its occupants in the fatal shooting last night of an unidentified man on a street in the Westfield section of Northeast Baltimore.Detective Danny Danzy said police responding to reports of shots fired in the 6600 block of Hampnett Ave. about 6: 30 p.m. found the man with at least two bullet wounds to the head, lying on the pavement. Danzy said the man was pronounced dead at the scene, near the 2800 block of E. Northern Parkway.Danzy said witnesses heard gunshots and saw a white 1991 Lexus occupied by two men speeding from the scene.

DRIVING ALONG Northern Parkway can be challenging -- especially at rush hour. But just try to find the exit onto Perring Parkway. In fact, it would take X-ray vision to find this loop.Herb Rosenberg, who has been driving on Northern Parkway for 25 years, complained to Intrepid One that the exit is unmarked.An investigation into the matter showed that, indeed, there is no sign -- drivers must rely on instinct or experience to find the right path.Those familiar with quirky Baltimore roads know there's only one way to get from Northern to Perring -- and then only when traveling east and intending to head north: Hang a right at the barnlike apartment buildings.

WE RECEIVED A disturbing letter from a woman who reviews traffic tickets issued by Baltimore County police officers for the District Court of Maryland. She enclosed several copies of speeding tickets:* A 20-year-old man driving 125 mph in a 65 mph zone on Interstate 95 near Route 43 in White Marsh. $515 fine. Five points.* A 25-year-old man driving 98 mph in a 65 mph zone on Interstate 83 in Hunt Valley. $265 fine.* A 33-year-old man driving 113 mph in a 45 mph zone on U.S. 40 in Catonsville, just before the Howard County line.

Water main breaks sent thousands of gallons of water cascading over Northern Parkway yesterday morning, disrupting traffic at the intersection with Falls Road and leaving the surrounding neighborhoods with discolored, little or no water for a few hours.Vanessa C. Pyatt, a spokeswoman for the city Department of Public Works, said the main at Northern Parkway and Falls Road was repaired by noon and the one at Woodbourne Avenue and Loch Raven Boulevard by late afternoon.Damage to roads will affect morning rush-hour traffic.

A proposal to close Hamilton Elementary and Middle School No. 236 this fall and transfer its 600 students has angered some parents.A city school committee voted last week to recommend that the school, in a 69-year-old red brick building in the 6100 block of Old Harford Road, be closed rather than have a $4.1 million renovation. Students would move to the old Northern Parkway Junior High School building, in the 2500 block of East Northern Parkway. That school building is only about a half-mile from No. 236, but is not linked as closely to the neighborhood.

They fought City Hall, and they won one, at least temporarily.As word that Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke had approved a decision yesterday afternoon to raze Hamilton Elementary-Middle School spread through the surrounding neighborhood, parents and community activists deluged City Hall and state legislators' offices with calls of protest.Their case for preserving the crumbling 69-year-old anchor of the Northeast Baltimore community proved persuasive enough to sway the mayor.By 6 p.m., two hours after backing Superintendent Walter G. Amprey's decision, Mr. Schmoke had agreed to instead consider a last-minute proposal to renovate the school instead of replacing it with a park and moving the 600 students to Northern Parkway Junior High.

An ice storm hit the metropolitan area after rush hour this morning, glazing many roads and bridges and prompting numerous highway accidents.The third such storm in the past two weeks sent police and emergency vehicles scurrying as mid-morning traffic was reduced to a crawl -- and sometimes to a stop.Baltimore County schools were to close one hour early, and Carroll and Harford counties announced plans to close two hours ahead of time. But schools in the city and Anne Arundel and Howard counties were on regular schedules.

A 20-year-old Rosedale man was shot in the head while sitting on a bicycle near a bus stop on Northern Parkway in Northeast Baltimore, one of two fatal shootings Friday, a city police spokesman said. Police Agent Donny Moses said the man, Trenton Marshall of the 2200 block of Bluegrass Heights Court, was transported by ambulance to Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. Authorities said the area where the shooting occurred, near McClean Boulevard and the Hamilton Shopping Center, was packed with students and others rushing to nearby shops or to a covered bus stop to escape a driving rainstorm.

A water main break reopened Wednesday at Falls Road and Northern Parkway in Baltimore, and repair work is likely to affect traffic in the area through the end of the week, according to public works officials. The break was initially found Tuesday on southbound Falls Road about 200 feet north of its intersection with Northern Parkway, according to city Department of Public Works spokesman Kurt Kocher. A clamp on the leak failed Wednesday morning, Kocher said. A portion of Falls Road south of Northern Parkway was being used as a staging area for construction equipment, causing southbound Falls Road traffic to be detoured onto westbound Northern Parkway, Kocher said.

O's game means parking limits 2 Traffic modifications and stadium parking rules will be in effect Sunday as the Baltimore Orioles take on the Tampa Bay Rays at 1:35 p.m., the city Department of Transportation says. Spectators are encouraged to take public transportation or to pay for public parking lots because parking agents will be aggressively enforcing stadium-area restrictions in surrounding neighborhoods from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Changes to traffic patterns around the stadiums will begin at noon.

Baltimore transportation officials are planning street closures and detours to accommodate tomorrow morning's funeral for Maryland Transportation Authority Police Cpl. Courtney G. Brooks. The funeral is to be held at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen at 5200 N. Charles St. Starting at 7 a.m., Charles Street, from the 4400 block to the 5400 block, will be closed to traffic. Southbound Charles Street traffic will be directed west on Northern Parkway, south on Roland Avenue, east on Cold Spring Lane, and then back to Charles.

Minority-run firm sues over city schools contract The city school board's decision to declare an "emergency" so it could award a no-bid food contract to an Ohio firm has sparked a lawsuit from a local minority-run firm that was the low bidder. Eastern Food Services, which is run by Sam Kim and his father, filed the lawsuit in city Circuit Court last month. A hearing on a temporary injunction to block the contract is scheduled for Tuesday. The lawsuit alleges that the school board illegally awarded the contract to Clovervale Farms Inc., a firm that is not minority-owned and has no experience in food distribution.

The Baltimore Department of Transportation is advising motorists of street closures and other traffic restrictions around the Pimlico Race Course before and after tomorrow's running of the Preakness Stakes, and officials are warning anyone traveling in Northwest Baltimore to expect delays and to seek alternate routes. Officials are urging people who attend the race to park in commercial lots or use public transportation. Special traffic patterns - including making two-way streets one-way - are in effect through 8 p.m. Saturday on 14 roads around the track, including Rogers, Winner, Sulgrave, Rusk and Woodcrest avenues.

A 22-year-old Baltimore man was sentenced in federal court yesterday to serve a decade in prison for firing a gun while he robbed a bank on Northern Parkway. According to the statement of facts presented at his guilty plea on Nov. 18, 2005, Kendall C. Alexander Jr. and his father, Kendall Charles Alexander Sr., 41, of Baltimore robbed the Wachovia Bank on the 1700 block of E. Northern Parkway on Aug. 10, 2005. Kendall Alexander Sr. pleaded guilty Feb. 3 to armed bank robbery and is scheduled to be sentenced April 21. Under the terms of his plea agreement, he is expected to be sentenced to 27 years in prison.

Ex-officers enter not guilty pleas Three former correctional officers pleaded not guilty yesterday to second-degree murder in the death of an inmate who was fatally beaten in his cell early this year at a troubled state-run facility. Dameon Christopher Woods, 33, Nathan Del-mont Colbert, 42, and James Leonard Hatcher, 43, were indicted in August on charges of second-degree murder, first- and second-degree assault and conspiracy to commit first- and second-degree assault in the beating death of Raymond K. Smoot, 51. Smoot was being held on a theft charge at Baltimore Central Booking and Intake Center.

ANNE ARUNDEL Highway blocked by sinkhole expected to reopen by today The northbound lanes of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway near Route 32 were expected to reopen to traffic by today after work to repair a large sinkhole. U.S. Park Police Sgt. Scott Fear said crews worked overnight Friday and all day yesterday, and hoped to complete the repairs by last night. The sinkhole, which was estimated to be 16 feet wide by 10 feet deep, formed Friday after heavy rain. "We hope to have it open as soon as possible," Fear said yesterday.

The Baltimore Department of Transportation today announced nightly ramp closures this week along Northern Parkway to southbound Interstate 83 for utility work. Detours are scheduled to go into effect tonight, and the ramp will close between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m. each night through Friday, weather permitting, officials said. One lane of the southbound Jones Falls Expressway will also be closed for traffic this week, according to the department. Motorists traveling in this vicinity are encouraged to use alternate routes.