Park Officials

Five top city Recreation and Parks officials are being fired as part of what the agency's director calls an on-going "downsizing and reorganization" of the department.Speaking before the City Council's Budget and Appropriations Committee yesterday, Recreation and Parks Director Marlyn J. Perritt said the layoffs are being made to trim the agency's operation."We're looking at the agency and trying to determine how we can more effectively deliver program services," Perritt said.The layoff notices, which went out Tuesday and are effective March 29, hit these high ranking officials in the department:* Deputy Director Ralph Chase, who served as acting director before Perritt's appointment.

A macabre irony weaves through Joe Cannon's survivor story.When he was battling cancer six years ago, Anne Arundel officials rushed to name a baseball stadium in Harmans for him before his death. Today, Mr. Cannon runs the department that operates the 1,600-seat tribute to his memory.With a chuckle, the avid sports fan points out that the tumor once threatening his life was as big as a football. He was written off several times by doctors during the past 13 years, he says, but survives a young physician who once treated him."

New ball-field lights and other park improvements approved in the Manchester town budget won't happen unless the money comes from somewhere else, town officials say.The Town Council approved a $910,817 operating budget Wednesday night, which will keep the tax rate at 46 cents per $100 assessed valuation.Water and sewer rates will go up, however, by about $13.05 each quarter for the average user. Of the few public comments at the budget hearing before approval Wednesday, Tootie Rill of Main Street complained that the water and sewer rates were going up without an increase in quality.

The future Meadowbrook Park, a hilly parcel of land nestled between U.S. 29 and Route 100 in Ellicott City, is not exactly picturesque.The view? Cars on the highway.The sound? Cars on the highway.Yet this unprepossessing 77-acre plot is the focus of one of the latest battles between nature enthusiasts and recreation fans in Baltimore's suburbs, where populations are growing, vacant land is dwindling and parks are becoming ever more precious.From Bel Air to Cockeysville to Columbia, residents are clamoring for more ball fields.

In a push to attract more shops, restaurants and service-oriented businesses, and maybe even a department store, to the heart of Baltimore, the Downtown Partnership has hired a full-time staff member to spearhead its retail development effort. Nan Rohrer, 30, has been named director of retail development. She comes to the organization from the city's Department of Recreation and Parks, where she was director of the office of partnerships. Before that, she served as a neighborhood liaison in the mayor's office of neighborhoods.

ASSATEAGUE ISLAND - It's a bright, dazzlingly blue afternoon on this arid claw of land stretching beside the Atlantic Ocean, and Allison Turner has been slogging for hours through salt marshes and loblolly pines, a rifle slung over her shoulder. Suddenly, she aims at a pony with a shaggy reddish coat munching grass near a dune. A pop sounds as she fires a 4-inch orange dart that pierces the horse's haunch. For the past decade, the National Park Service has been injecting contraceptives into the mares among this herd of 160 wild horses on the Assateague Island National Seashore in an attempt to control the population.

There is no other thrill quite like it. Nothing that plummets you, hurtles you, twists you and turns you at the speeds and dizzying heights of the newest generation of roller coasters. Amusement park engineers design the swings, flips and drops to create the illusion of risk. But doctors, regulators and lawyers are saying that the danger isn't imaginary. Even as millions are flocking to parks, critics of the rides contend that thrill-seekers' brains are being rattled around in their skulls - causing the brain to bleed and tear, which could result in permanent damage or death.

To help solve Ellicott City's parking woes, Howard County may hire private parking police.Under a proposal to be introduced Nov. 6 at the Howard County Council meeting, the county would hire the private ticket writers and free regular police officers of the time-consuming duty.Officials also want to limit parking on Ellicott City's Main Street to one hour.Ellicott City places no time limits on parking on Main Street, only on some side streets.Additionally, the council plans to place parking meters in four Ellicott City lots, but not along Main Street, said Marsha McLaughlin, deputy director of the Howard County Department of Planning and Zoning.

A string of brush fires, likely touched off by train sparks, spread across more than 100 acres in Patapsco Valley State Park yesterday before fire crews contained them last night, rail and fire officials said. About 200 firefighters and nearly 40 trucks from five jurisdictions responded to the fires, which started just after 1 p.m. and spread eight miles along the Baltimore County and Howard County line, Baltimore County fire officials said. No homes were damaged, and no injuries were reported, said Baltimore County fire Battalion Chief Michael Robinson.

Nearly 100 residents of an established Ellicott City neighborhood turned out last night to protest the development of a nearby 77-acre park into a sports complex that could include a roller rink and ball fields lighted at night.The Columbia Hills/Meadowbrook Farm Community Association came out in force to a Howard County Recreation and Parks public hearing on Meadowbrook Park, at the southeast corner of U.S. 29 and Route 100.The land, which the county has owned since 1984, consists of meadows, wetlands and a stream.