Operators

Frustrated by what they term poor working conditions, a majority of Howard County's 911 operators are demanding that the county fix several problems that they say could jeopardize the safety of the county's 231,000 residents.The International Union of Police Associations Local 107, which includes 26 of 47 eligible dispatchers in the county, asserts that a computer system ceased functioning for almost eight hours two weeks ago. The union also complains that the ventilation system at the communications center in the basement of the George Howard Building in Ellicott City is so poor many operators become sick.

WASHINGTON -The nation's worst blackout was a "largely preventable" event caused by a constellation of failures at Ohio's FirstEnergy Corp., a team of government investigators reported yesterday. The widespread power outages Aug. 14 were triggered by the loss of three high-voltage transmission lines in Northern Ohio - which short-circuited after getting tangled with trees - and by a failure of Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. operators to contain the problem, according to findings of a U.S.-Canadian Task Force.

Operators of the Baltimore Ronald McDonald House, a home away from home for families of sick children receiving medical care in local hospitals, are seeking funds to expand it.Tom Sullivan, president of the local, non-profit organization that owns and operates the house at 635 W. Lexington St., said the group needs to raise about $700,000 to help pay for construction of a three-story, $1.2 million addition that would be complete by April 1993. The rest of the construction funds will come from an endowment built up over the past decade.

Tears poured down James Harding's face yesterday as he heard his voice boom through speakers in a Howard County courtroom, pleading with emergency operators to send help because he had just shot his stepson.The tape of his 911 call in March stunned those in the courtroom where Harding is being tried on murder charges. Immediately afterward, the judge called a recess. Harding sat and cried."I've raised this kid from a 6, from 6 years of age," Harding says through choking sobs on the tape. "I got to get a [paramedic]

Primestar, one of the largest of the satellite TV operators that have sprung up to compete with cable, upped the ante over the weekend by adding 65 new audio and video channels to its offering without raising prices.In part, the new offerings simply catch Primestar up with programming that cable already offers; 10 of the 22 new channels of conventional programming are already available in Baltimore suburbs where Comcast Corp. has finished replacing older coaxial cable systems with fiber-optic upgrades.

Primestar, one of the largest of the satellite TV operators that have sprung up to compete with cable, upped the ante over the weekend by adding 65 new audio and video channels to its offering without raising prices.In part, the new offerings simply catch Primestar up with programming that cable already offers; 10 of the 22 new channels of conventional programming are already available in Baltimore suburbs where Comcast Corp. has finished replacing older coaxial cable systems with fiber-optic upgrades.

Heavy-equipment operators went on strike yesterday at an estimated 50 to 60 construction sites in metropolitan Baltimore, as workers sought to retrieve the Saturday overtime that they gave up during the deep construction downturn of the early 1990s.The strike began after members of Local 37 of the International Union of Operating Engineers voted down a proposed contract Monday. The offer from five companies represented by the Maryland Heavy and Highway Contractors Association Inc. followed expiration of the union's contract March 31. "The market has recovered substantially, and members feel that portions of the conditions we gave them then we want back, and one of them is Saturday overtime," said Ron DeJuliis, business manager for the Hamilton-based local.

Following a two-month impasse, the Baltimore City school board voted Tuesday to extend a one-year contract to the operators of Baltimore Talent Development High School. The school board voted unanimously, with one recusal, to allow the Center for Social Organization of Schools at the Johns Hopkins University to operate the school for one more year, during which the district will monitor its progress. In January, after a months-long review of more than two dozen schools with external operators, city schools CEO Andres Alonso recommended severing ties with the school's operator at the end of the school year and slating the school for closure in 2014.

Ring. Ring."Howard County 911.""I need a police officer. There's a man banging on my door. His brother just beat up my son.""Do you know him?""No. He just busted into my house. He busted the whole deadbolt off the door. Where are the police?""They're right around the corner.""He said he was going to shoot me, ma'am."This was just one of hundreds of calls received during a fairly typical 12-hour shift one day last week at Howard County's 911 nerve center, the county's Emergency Communications Center in the basement of the George Howard Building in Ellicott City.

Apple Inc. Shares climbed $4.94 to $132.51 after the Financial Times reported that Apple has nabbed a revenue-sharing deal with three European cell phone operators who want to exclusively sell the iPhone.