Plant

The American Legion Riders, Slate Ridge Post 182, in conjunction with fallen Marine Sgt. Michael Heede's family and friends, have undertaken the task of maintaining and planting a flower bed around the memorial sign honoring the fallen Marine at the intersection of Routes 136 and 165. Assigned to the 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif., Sgt. Heede was killed in action July 13,...

Regarding your article about the proposed waste-to-energy plant in South Baltimore, I don't think it's a good idea to have another such plant in the area since there is already such a high concentration of pollution there ("Delay sought for trash-burning power plant in Fairfield," Jan. 9). If we are trying to reduce pollutants in the air, all a new plant would do is discourage recycling and make it even harder to build other "green" energy projects. That's a step backward, not forward.

The general manager at Sparrows Point is leaving as the plant's union work force continues to hammer out a contract with parent company Severstal that could result in hundreds of job losses. Thomas Russo, who started at the plant 33 years ago out of high school, is stepping down today. A company spokesman said he was leaving to "pursue other interests." United Steelworkers Local 9477 union, which represents 2,500 workers at Sparrows Point, has spent more than a year negotiating a new contract without success.

Anne Arundel County plans to plant more than 12,000 trees at the headwaters of of Rockhold Creek and also purchase a 54-acre property on the Magothy River for conservation, County Executive John R. Leopold announced Monday. The projects are funded by the county's reforestation fund, which was created in 1985. According to county law, anyone who cuts down trees must mitigate that environmental damage, by either planting new trees or paying into the fund, which currently contains $4.1 million "This program reduces air and water pollution, provides habitat for wildlife and facilitates educational opportunities," Leopold said in a statement.

The University of Maryland, College Park announced Wednesday that it has agreed to purchase a shuttered production plant in College Park owned by The Washington Post for about $12 million. The college says it would use the plant, approximately 300,000 square feet on 18.5 acres, to relocate services such as a bus depot it currently houses on the east side of campus, the site of a planned redevelopment project that includes housing for graduate students, retail space and a hotel. The college had wanted to move those services near Comcast Center, but students protested the proposed bulldozing of a 9-acre wooded area.

Yucca or Adam's needle (Yucca filamentosa) This cast-iron plant laughs at drought, humidity and high temperatures. Stiff, swordlike leaves bristle out of clumps 2 to 3 feet wide, making a strong statement in the landscape year-round. With modern varieties offering variegated leaves and whiter blooms, yuccas are more attractive than ever. Flower stalks several feet tall provide that elusive vertical element in the landscape. A deer-proof plant, yuccas are also wind and salt tolerant, making them suitable for seashore or roadside.

A person was killed this morning when a trailer fell at a Coca-Cola bottling plant in East Baltimore, according to a statement from the city Fire Department. Few details were immediately available. Chief Kevin Cartwright, a fire spokesman, said the accident occurred about 10:30 a.m. at the plant in the 700 block of Kresson St., near East Monument Street and Pulaski Highway. The identity of the worker and other details, such as age and gender, have not yet been released. Cartwright said the victim was a vender contracted to work at the plant.

When Berea resident Nia Redmond heard that the long-vacant paint manufacturing plant in her East Baltimore neighborhood was to be torn down, she went door to door passing out fliers, inviting her neighbors to an emergency meeting. "A lot of us are still planting vegetables in our yards and we don't want to eat lead," Redmond said. "This is an elderly neighborhood. A lot of people already have asthma in here; a lot of people already have emphysema in here. " Early next year, the city is set to demolish the Ainsworth Paint and Chemical Co. plant, an empty eyesore for more than 20 years at the corner of Edison Highway and East Biddle Street.