Paper Mill

A Western Maryland paper mill and several others in the region have collected millions of dollars over the past eight years by taking advantage of an obscure provision in a state law that is supposed to encourage the development of wind, solar and other renewable energy projects. The paper manufacturers routinely burn waste byproducts from their mills to make the energy to run them. But since 2005, they've been getting paid to do so by selling "renewable energy credits" to power companies, which can buy the paper waste credits rather than purchase ones generated by the sun or wind.

Call it bridge troubles over drinking water.Baltimore will pay $450,000 more than expected for redesigning the Paper Mill Road Bridge over Loch Raven Reservoir after the first design was rejected because of environmental concerns.The city showed the new 669-foot-long design at the city Board of Estimates meeting yesterday as questions surfaced over the doubling of the design price."It jumps out at you," Council President Lawrence A. Bell III said of the increase.The city originally agreed to pay civil engineers Johnson, Mirmiran & Thompson of Sparks $451,128 to design the bridge that stretches over the northern tip of the reservoir in Baltimore County.

Legislation that would have phased out millions in ratepayer-financed subsidies for mostly out-of-state paper mills died in a House committee Friday, just a day after the Senate passed a companion measure. The House version of the so-called "black liquor" bill, HB1102 , fell one vote short of the 12-vote majority needed to get out of the Economic Matters Committee. The vote in the panel was 11 to 8 for it. The Senate had voted 33-13 on Thursday to end the subsidies, after the bill had died and been resurrected in committee.

Do you feel the nip in the air? Runners do. For them, the advent of fall means more than changing leaves and back to school. Cooler weather and coming races (the Baltimore Running Festival is October 13) make autumn the ideal time to run in the great outdoors. Baltimore is full of places to run, from stately neighborhoods to waterside paths. But for some runners, nothing beats the off-road experience. "Even if you start off easy, it's fun to explore," says Chris Cucuzella, a member of the Baltimore Road Runners Club, a trail running group.

A deal environmentalists thought had been worked out to stop mostly out-of-state paper mills from cashing in on Maryland's renewable energy law by burning so-called "black liquor" has come unglued. The state's only paper plant in Allegany County has backtracked on a pledge not to oppose the move in return for being allowed to keep collecting from the state's utility customers for another five years. The New Page mill in Luke and several others out of state have reaped millions of dollarsfrom Maryland ratepayers over the past eight years by taking advantage of an obscure provision in the "renewable portfolio standard" law, passed in 2004 to reduce the state's reliance on climate-warming fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas. Under the law, Maryland's electricity suppliers must increase the amount of power generated  from renewable sources to 20 percent by 2022.

A longtime Phoenix dentist was charged yesterday with a hit-and-run accident in which a teen-ager -- who turned out to be one of his former patients -- was pinned to a tree by a Mercedes-Benz.Michael James Bennett, 50, of the 14000 block of Jarrettsville Pike in Phoenix, is charged with failure to remain at an accident scene and failure to render aid in the July 24 accident, Baltimore County police said.Dr. Bennett was charged in a summons. A trial date hasn't been set.The victim, Dan Lally, 15, was helping a stranded motorist on Paper Mill Road when the car came around a curve and hit him shortly after 10 p.m.The Lally youth had been a patient of Dr. Bennett's when he was 3 or 4, the youth said last night.

As cities and states around the country launch long-overdue bridge repair and replacement projects, shortages of steel and skilled workers threaten to set these programs back.The shortages are causing temporary delays on bridge programs nationwide, including such local projects as the new O'Donnell Street overpass in Baltimore. But as billions in new federal highway money wash through the economy, those delays could persist, some in the industry say."Employees are our biggest asset and our biggest problem," said Jim Pue, a principal of Wilton Corp.

The following is compiled from police reports from the Cockeysville Precinct. Our policy is to include descriptions only when there is enough information to make identification possible. Monkton Hereford Road, 16700 block, between 9:30 p.m. July 4 and 9:30 a.m. July 5. Ruger .357-caliber handgun and GPS system stolen from unlocked vehicle. Phoenix Paper Mill Road , 3100 block, on Feb. 10, but not reported until July 8. Golf clubs and radio stolen from unlocked vehicle in driveway.

One person was killed and another injured yesterday in a two-car accident at Paper Mill and Cooper roads in Jacksonville, Baltimore County.Police provided few details and did not release the names of those involved late last night, but said two cars collided shortly before 6 p.m. and one car then struck a tree.One person was pronounced dead at the scene.The injured person was flown by state police helicopter to University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center with nonlife-threatening injuries.

C. Clifton Burns, 91, farmer, paper mill workerC. Clifton Burns, who had been a farmer and paper-mill worker, died Thursday of complications after a stroke at the Lutheran Home in Shrewsbury, Pa. The longtime Hereford resident was 91.The White Hall native for many years was a farmer. His father told of hearing the cannons at Gettysburg as they shucked corn on the family farm, which led to a lifelong interest in history."He was an avid reader, self-educated," said his wife of 48 years, the former Gladys Troyer.