Odenton

Odenton Federal Savings and Loan Association is converting from a mutual association run by depositors to a holding company run by shareholders, said bank president Judy Smiechowski.The move will enablethe bank to "increase our capital position to make us strong, give us extra money to put out in home mortgages and . . . serve the community," Smiechowski said.Harbor Investment Corp., which Odenton Federal has incorporated to serve as the holding company, has applied with the Office of ThriftSupervision to make the transition.

A large, two-alarm fire tore through an Odenton apartment building near Fort Meade on Wednesday afternoon, damaging 12 units and displacing about 30 people, according to the Anne Arundel Fire Department. The fire occurred in the same Seven Oaks complex that was damaged by another two-alarm fire in September. No injuries were reported, and the cause of the fire remained under investigation, said Chief Michael Cox, a department spokesman. Firefighters responded about 1:11 p.m. to find fire coming from the rear of the building, burning up the complex's three stories.

Odenton, as any MARC passenger knows, is one of the busiest commuter stops between Baltimore and Washington. Military uniforms are a telltale sign of the station's proximity to Fort George G. Meade. Parking is at a premium. And the amount of construction going on in Odenton-area subdivisions guarantees that commuting in future years is going to be much heavier still.Which is why we are delighted at the Odenton Heritage Society'sinitiative to turn the old Citizens State Bank, in the 1400 block of Odenton Road, into a snack shop for commuters.

For years, Odenton has been part of something else -- Fort Meade, the railroad, the intersection of Routes 170 and 175.Now, county officials are putting the final touches on a plan to help Odenton become a place of its own. The plan, drafted by a 20-member citizens committee, is to go before the County Council in September. If approved, it would become part of the county's General Development Plan and act as the blueprint for the town's growth.Yesterday, Jay Winer, an Odenton developer and member of the committee that drafted the plan, led four County Council members and staff on a four-hour driving tour of Odenton to help them visualize the plan.

An Odenton man died Saturday night after the car he was driving collided head-on with a Maryland Transit Administration bus in Glen Burnie, sending his 14-year-old passenger and nine people on the bus to area hospitals, police said. Anne Arundel County police said Marcus Antonio Anderson, 27, of Odenton, died before reaching a hospital after the 9:47 p.m. crash. His passenger, who was not named by police, was taken to Johns Hopkins Pediatric Trauma Center, where he was in stable condition, police said.

Last month, a group of Odenton residents gathered in a church to talk about building the ideal hometown.Some wanted a quiet retirement village. Others wanted a transportation hub. Still others wanted tosee a better pedestrian walkway system.Tonight, the residents will be asked their thoughts on four central questions that came out of the last discussion:* Should Odenton become a bedroom community or a full-service community, with churches, recreation areas and businesses?* What should Odenton look like?

As the old saying goes, the three most important things in real estate are location, location and location. Odenton has no deficiency in that regard.The western Anne Arundel County town sits midway between not only Baltimore and Washington but Annapolis and Columbia, too. It is located at the confluence of Maryland routes 170, 174, 175 and 32 and is bisected by a railroad line served by MARC commuter and Amtrak long-distance trains. Central Maryland's major north-south arteries, Interstate 97 (formerly Route 3)

A man who walked into an Odenton home early yesterday while a woman was warming up her car robbed her at gunpoint when she walked back inside, county police said.Cipriana Gooding, 43, gave the robber a small amount of cash. Her home is in the 8200 block of Commissary Circle, in the Seven Oaks development under construction across from Fort Meade, authorities said.Police said the man apparently walked into the home while Ms. Gooding was outside in her car, then threatened her with a small black handgun when she returned.

The Odenton Volunteer Fire Company was awarded a $34,650 grant for new communications equipment by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The fire company plans to use the money for portable radios and pagers, according to the announcement Friday. The funds are part of the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program, providing money for items such as firefighter protection equipment, training and firetrucks. This is the second year the fire company received the grant. Last year, it received $43,298 for vehicle-crash rescue tools.

JAY WINER, chairman of the Odenton Town Plan committee, and Mike Fox, a county planner, will update the Odenton Improvement Association tomorrow on the plan, which is to be a blueprint for growth in West County for the next 20 years.County Executive John G. Gary, County Councilman Bert L. Rice and state officials also are expected to be at the meeting at 7: 30 p.m. in the Odenton Volunteer Fire Hall on Route 175.The Odenton Town Plan, almost 30 years in the making and covering 1,600 acres, is designed to focus commercial and residential growth while controlling sprawl.