Planning Committee

The faculty and staff of South Carroll High School have recently completed the first phase of the new Middle States Accreditation for Growth process.The school identified technology and career readiness as the two areas of focus for the next five years. The faculty planning committee developed long-range goals and formed teams to oversee them.The Career Readiness Team will establish strategies for every student to create a career plan, complete a resume and do a mock interview before leaving the school.

In an attempt to make the proposed Patapsco Heritage Greenway more palatable to a wider number of people, the new chairman of the planning committee pledged yesterday to work more closely with environmentalists and residents concerned about Patapsco Valley State Park."

SUNDAY'S SWELTERING heat didn't stop the coolest parade in town.The 29th Longfellow Friends of the Traditional 4th parade is one of the most quirky, laid-back and enthusiastic marches you'd ever want to see.Neighbors in costume or riding elaborate floats, kids riding in a pickup truck shooting water guns into the crowd, dogs decked out in Fourth of July finery and tons of bicyclists -- most on decorated bikes -- just let loose and celebrated. Some marchers dyed their hair or painted their faces red, white and blue.

Though Elizabeth C. "Nancy" Smith died in February 1997, she's getting her wish to preserve 300 acres of land in the heart of Columbia -- for another five months, at least.The long-anticipated recreational development of Smith's Blandair farm off Route 175 has been thrown into question by a lawsuit and a postponement of the trial has pushed its resolution back to December.That worries residents who were eager to see a park, replete with baseball diamonds, soccer fields and nature trails."I am starting to have serious concerns on [whether]

An 11-year-old proposal for a hotel and conference center in Crofton that stirred an emotional debate this year is again sparking controversy over its location.A legal agreement between the developer and the association keeps association board members from opposing the venture at its new proposed location, even if residents disagree.Crofton Civic Association president Gayle Sears called for more public discussion."We shouldn't be stymied by an agreement that was signed in 1988," she said.

At a heated meeting last night on whether to turn the Patapsco Valley into a certified heritage area, a group of environmentalists and concerned citizens formally demanded that Patapsco Valley State Park be removed from plans for a trail network linking the natural, cultural and historic resources of the valley.After almost two hours of arguing, shouting and pleading, the two sides resolved nothing. Heritage area supporters said the Maryland Department of Natural Resources will have the final say on whether to include the park in the plans, but opponents said that was just an excuse to avoid the issue.

A citizens committee has presented to fellow Broadneck residents a zoning plan based on the tenets of preserving green space and scenic roads and waterways, protecting local roads from excessive traffic and barring new commercial zoning along College Parkway."

County officials and small-area planning committee members presented a preliminary 20-year vision statement for Mayo and Edgewater at a public forum last night, but their work was greeted with equal parts skepticism and disgust by area residents.Harwood resident Bill Foley summed up audience opinion for the night:"This looks good on paper," he said. "But it's not realistic."The vision statement, drafted by a county-appointed committee of 15 members, is meant to help guide the county as it determines the use of private property and public spending over the next two decades.

Community leaders from Jacksonville are to meet tonight to weigh a supermarket chain's proposal to build a 44,000-square-foot-store at the northern Baltimore County crossroads.Officials from Harford County-based Klein's Super Markets are to meet with the board of directors and the planning committee from the Greater Jacksonville Association to discuss plans for a store near the "Four Corners" intersection of Jarrettsville Pike and Paper Mill and Sweet Air roads.Jim McCoy, head of the community group's planning committee, said association officials likely will vote on whether to support the chain's request for zoning changes to allow the project.

A lack of sales has stalled plans for the Brethren Retirement Community, a $3 million condominium complex proposed for New Windsor.After nearly five years of planning and about $65,000 in pre-construction expenses, the project is "on hold indefinitely," said D. Miller Davis, planning committee member and executive director for center operations at the Brethren Service Center."

Marcy Leonard eyed the four thick New York strip steaks that rested atop the hot grill. Occasional flames jumped up as the juices from the meat dripped below. Her two assistants stood a few feet away, concentrating on chopping zucchini, squash and tomato for a roasted vegetable bruschetta. "Forty minutes, ladies!" Leonard yelled above the surrounding chatter and other sounds of the Howard County Fair. "We've got 40 minutes." Her teammates nodded and quickened their pace. At first glance, one wouldn't know that Leonard has no formal culinary training.

In Maryland Busch appoints three to higher education panel ANNAPOLIS - House Speaker Michael E. Busch appointed three delegates yesterday to a Maryland Higher Education Commission planning committee that will update the state's strategic plan for higher education. "We sought public servants with a track record of experience, knowledge and commitment to providing the very best in higher education," said Busch in announcing the appointment of Frank S. Turner, a Howard County Democrat, James E. Proctor Jr., a Prince George's and Calvert Democrat, and David G. Boschert, a Republican from Anne Arundel County.

Driving north on one-way McCulloh Street through West Baltimore's Upton neighborhood, you'll find boarded-up homes and graffiti, but there is also alluring character here. Unusual pinnacles and other architectural touches adorn the three-story rowhouses and corner churches that seem to hover over the road. A block over is Druid Hill Avenue, a one-way street south, and much more of the same. "In the past, the plan has been to tear down and reconstruct. But we want to preserve the old Upton as much as possible," said Ernest Green of the Upton Planning Committee.

Activists urge state to keep promise to low-income tenants A coalition of community and civil rights activists repeated its call yesterday for the state to keep its promise to low-income, public-housing residents in Annapolis and make sure tenants will be able to move into the new Bloomsbury Square public housing facility this year. "These are hard-working taxpayers who deserve good housing," said Annapolis Alderman George O. Kelley, who attended the meeting of representatives from RESPECT, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Greater Clay Street Community Development Corp.

Leaders of the city's west-side redevelopment effort and other groups turned out yesterday to oppose a City Council bill that would amend a 2-year-old ban on new billboards to allow more than a dozen four-story-tall advertisements on the former Baltimore Arena. Mayor Martin O'Malley supports legislation that would allow Baltimore Blast soccer team owner Edwin F. Hale Sr. to sell space on 14 billboards on the city-owned arena as a way of offsetting financial losses by the team, which plays there.

WHEN THESE friends say they go way back, they mean way back - at least 69 years. They attended Glen Burnie High School together and graduated in 1937. Several of the 150 graduates who live in the area get together regularly to plan reunions for their class. To the best of their knowledge, they are the only class that has held reunions consistently since graduation. The most recent one was held May 9 at Snyder's Willow Grove restaurant. Twenty-four classmates attended the 65th reunion.

Thirteen people have been named to represent residents and businesses on the Glen Burnie Small Area Planning Committee, Anne Arundel County officials have announced. The members are: Michael Phennicie, chairman, M. Gerald Ackerman, Denice Bouyer, Danny Boyd, Bernadette Cavey, Francis DeGrange Jr., Darrell Heseman, Evelyn Iga, Christopher Jensen, Alfred Lipin, Gerald Moschel, Mary Talbot and Edward Thomas. The committee members will work with members of the planning and zoning staff to plan Glen Burnie's future.

Tension is rising as long-standing plans to turn a former Navy research center near Annapolis into a high-tech office park reach a crucial stage. Nearby residents are worried chiefly about the traffic impact on their narrow neighborhood roads and are threatening to sue the county over the reuse of the 46-acre former David Taylor Research Center site. "This is going to be war, there's no doubt about it," declared Steve Carr, president of the Ferry Farms Home Owners Association. County officials warn of serious consequences if the County Council kills two bills needed before a developer can take over the prime site across the Severn River from the Naval Academy.

Residential neighbors of Baltimore-Washington International Airport responded with mixed reactions yesterday to the state's $1.3 billion expansion plan. Some trust that the growing airport's noise and the traffic impact on the communities will be addressed, while others fear not enough will be done. The plan announced yesterday includes promises of new parking facilities, larger concourses and rail and road work, but improvements to local roads to accommodate more travelers have yet to be worked out. "We are still working with the county, I believe, coordinating with the county, for how and who will pay what share," said BWI spokesman John White.

An 11-year-old proposal for a hotel and conference center in Crofton that stirred an emotional debate this year is again sparking controversy over its location.A legal agreement between the developer and the association keeps association board members from opposing the venture at its new proposed location, even if residents disagree.Crofton Civic Association president Gayle Sears called for more public discussion."We shouldn't be stymied by an agreement that was signed in 1988," she said.