Playground Equipment

ANNAPOLIS - The state Board of Public Works approved $3,317,262 in Program Open Space funds for Baltimore City and Baltimore, Carroll, Cecil, Harford, Howard and Montgomery counties yesterday, the governor's office announced. Howard County projects include: $88,845 to replace unsafe playground equipment at Cedar Lane Park East, which is near Cedar Manor.

Aberdeen Forshaye Deshawn, 21, of the 100 block of Holloway Road, was charged Monday with being a fugitive from Virginia. Shona L. Murray, 42, of the 4900 block of Villa Point Drive, was charged Monday with failing to appear in court for a case in which she was charged with second-degree assault, violating a protective order and theft less than $100. Aberdeen police report: A theft was reported Tuesday in the 200 block of Angus Drive. Multiple shots were fired Tuesday in the 900 block of Edmund Street.

In a departure from past practice, the Harford County school system has agreed to contribute money for playground equipment, a decision that will benefit nine schools immediately."

The city has received $150,000 in state funding to replace old playground equipment at the Cypress Street field, adjacent to the Robert J. DiPietro Community Center. The funding came from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Community Parks and Playground program. The Community Parks and Playground program has funded new playgrounds for many of Laurel's parks, including Riverfront Park, Leo E. Wilson Community Park, Emancipation Community Park, Alice B. McCullough Field, Discovery Park, Roland B. Sweitzer Community Park and Snowden Place Park.

The city has received $150,000 in state funding to replace old playground equipment at the Cypress Street field, adjacent to the Robert J. DiPietro Community Center. The funding came from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Community Parks and Playground program. The Community Parks and Playground program has funded new playgrounds for many of Laurel's parks, including Riverfront Park, Leo E. Wilson Community Park, Emancipation Community Park, Alice B. McCullough Field, Discovery Park, Roland B. Sweitzer Community Park and Snowden Place Park.

Eugene Kamer, retired owner of a playground equipment installation company and a survivor of German concentration camps, died Saturday of encephalopathy, a brain disease, at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda. The former Reisterstown resident was 76. Mr. Kamer was born in Krakow, Poland, and as an 11-year-old was imprisoned by the Nazis. He was liberated in 1945 from the Mauthausen concentration camp by troops of the Army's 11th Armored Division. "His mother disappeared and he never saw her again.

Two teenagers accused of pouring industrial-strength drain cleaner on playground equipment in Middle River were found delinquent yesterday of assaulting a toddler who was badly burned after going down a slide. Payton Potochney suffered second- and third-degree chemical burns to both legs and his lower back April 14 after going down a slide at a playground at Victory Villa Elementary School. The 3-year-old spent several months at Johns Hopkins Hospital and Mount Washington Pediatric Hospital and returns to his doctor every few weeks.

Vibrant vinyl, steel and plastic monkey bars and climbing mountains will replace outdated playground equipment marred by peeling paint and rust at 65 elementary schools in Baltimore County. School officials have signed contracts with three manufacturers and the county's Department of Recreation and Parks to remove old slides and jungle gyms and set up the new equipment. Administrators and parents played a role in deciding what would work best for children. The project, supervised by the school system's Division of Physical Facilities, will cost $1.8 million.

The 775 students at Laurel Woods Elementary School share a few pieces of faded 17-year-old metal playground equipment whose design can be hazardous to young children.One second-grader fell off the horizontal bars last month and landed on her back, although she was not seriously injured."The bars are too far apart for small hands," said Principal John K.Vermette.The 620 students at the new Waverly Elementary School can play on two brightly painted metal units that include slides, horizontal bars, a hanging bridge, rings and a cargo net.Playground equipment at Laurel Woods and Waverly illustrates the gap between newer "have" schools and older "have not" schools, a gap that the school board may begin to address in the 1991-1992 operating budget.

25 Years Ago (Week of June 15-21, 1969):* Two grants were provided by the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation of the Department of the Interior for the development of neighborhood parks in the county: $3,862.50, which would be matched by the county, was designated for developing a softball field and installing playground equipment at Elkridge Elementary School, and $3,347.50, also to be matched by the county, would provide playground equipment at the Savage Park site.* Dr. Alfred J. Smith, president of Howard County Community College, spoke at ground-breaking ceremonies for the college's first building.

Spring brings trips to parks and playgrounds — and slips, falls, bruises and burns that can land children in the emergency room. But doctors say there are steps parents can take to keep their children injury-free, and many involve common sense. "Don't let your kids run in front of a swing, and check the temperature of the slide before kids go down it with shorts on," says Dr. Virginia Keane, associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Maryland Medical Center.

State fire marshals are looking for help in several Harford County arsons over the weekend, authorities said. A townhouse in the 1200 block of Griffith Place in Belcamp was struck twice, authorities said. A picnic table and a wooden shed next to the house were set on fire in four different spots Friday evening, resulting in $5,000 in damages, authorities said. Two days later, the owner discovered two small burns on the exterior siding of the house, according to the state fire marshal's office.

The state Board of Public Works has awarded Harford County $1,031,500 for park expansions and playground equipment. The county will receive $714,000 to partially fund the purchase of 66 acres near Dublin for a new community park. The purchase protects wooded areas and will also offer the northern Harford area new athletic fields, picnic pavilions and a playground, once the project is fully developed. A $212,500 grant will mean Prospect Mill Park in Bel Air grows by more than four acres.

Two teens sentenced in acid case Two teenagers accused of pouring industrial-strength drain cleaner on playground equipment in Middle River were ordered yesterday to serve a year of home detention and to complete 500 hours each of community service at Maryland Shock Trauma Center. The 17-year-old boys were also ordered to write a letter to the family of the toddler who was severely burned after going down a slide doused in the acid. "This is a crime that shocks the conscience," said prosecutor Robin S. Coffin.

Two teenagers accused of pouring industrial-strength drain cleaner on playground equipment in Middle River were found delinquent yesterday of assaulting a toddler who was badly burned after going down a slide. Payton Potochney suffered second- and third-degree chemical burns to both legs and his lower back April 14 after going down a slide at a playground at Victory Villa Elementary School. The 3-year-old spent several months at Johns Hopkins Hospital and Mount Washington Pediatric Hospital and returns to his doctor every few weeks.

Racing from a job in Rockville, Richard Potachney Jr., made it to the hospital as the painkillers started taking effect on his 2-year-old son, Payton. "Daddy," the weeping boy said, reaching out for his father and grabbing one of his fingers. He fell asleep, but kept a tight grip on his father's finger. Not that Potachney was about to go anywhere - if there's one thing he's learned about being a father, he said, it's that "you have to be there." Now more than ever: Payton was severely burned last weekend after sliding down playground equipment that someone had coated with an industrial-strength drain cleaner containing sulfuric acid.

FORT WORTH, Texas - The catalogs for playground equipment were piled on Principal Jacquie Akers' desk at Borman Elementary School in Denton, Texas. In the lobby were three 5-gallon water bottles - two filled with pennies, dimes and quarters, and one still being filled daily by the children who wanted new playground equipment. The savings effort had been going on for seven years, and the school was finally getting ready to make the purchase. But all the coins so carefully collected won't be buying the new equipment the children have craved for so long.

Five boys ages 11 to 13 were charged in the burning of school playground equipment in Savage after police caught two youths scrambling from the fire Sunday morning, county police said.An 11-year-old from Lanham, a 12-year-old from Savage, a 12-year-old from Jessup, a 12-year-old from Columbia and a 13-year-old from Laurel were arrested, charged with destruction of property and released into the custody of their parents. Police said the boys were staying at the Savage youth's home Saturday night, but sneaked away early Sunday.

A 2 1/2 -year-old boy was severely burned yesterday afternoon at the playground of a Middle River elementary school after going down a slide doused in sulfuric acid and landing in a pool of the corrosive liquid. Authorities said they believe vandals stole the industrial-strength drain cleaner from a storage closet at Victory Villa Elementary School and poured it over pieces of playground equipment. The boy, who lives less than a quarter-mile from the school, was in fair condition last night at Johns Hopkins Hospital's pediatric burn unit.

Eugene Kamer, retired owner of a playground equipment installation company and a survivor of German concentration camps, died Saturday of encephalopathy, a brain disease, at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda. The former Reisterstown resident was 76. Mr. Kamer was born in Krakow, Poland, and as an 11-year-old was imprisoned by the Nazis. He was liberated in 1945 from the Mauthausen concentration camp by troops of the Army's 11th Armored Division. "His mother disappeared and he never saw her again.