Pulaski

Three-hundred and thirty-something-year-old Baltimore County is suffering an identity crisis.The suburb is no longer the stuff of Barry Levinson's "Avalon," or home to Ward and the Beaver. You can sense the transformation in the debate over a changing school system, in the heightened fear over crime. There's concern about the aesthetics of a growing county seat, about threats to rural zoning, about the continued loss of job security in the industrial east, about the urbanization that has spawned political redistricting in the west and about the fast-growing retiree population.

The roadside root beer stand's orange contours memorialize this venerated shrine to a different era. Its fans make pilgrimages to this Stewart's franchise on Pulaski Highway, a truck-battered stretch of U.S. 40 in eastern Baltimore County, to recall the food experiences of their youth. This is the place where it seemed a little cooler in the days before broiling city neighborhoods such as Highlandtown or Canton had air conditioning. Suburban Rosedale was the summer destination when the sun was bright, the humidity was high and school was a distant notion.

When the Baltimore City Council imposed a five-year moratorium on further incinerator construction, few could have anticipated that the emotionally charged issue would be revived so soon. But here is the City Council -- just two years later -- again pondering the explosive question.The reason is a proposal by the aging Pulaski incinerator's owner, Willard Hackerman. He wants to replace the East Baltimore facility's five polluting furnaces with a new $300 million waste-to-energy plant at no cost to the city.

A pregnant woman and her unborn child are in critical condition after a crash on Pulaski Highway Saturday, Baltimore police said. Police said one vehicle, headed east on Pulaski Highway, attempted to turn left onto North Kresson Street when it struck the second vehicle traveling west on Pulaski, around 1:15 p.m. The pregnant woman was riding in the of the second vehicle, and was taken an area hospital, police said. She was not identified but police said she is 19. The driver sustained non life-threatening injuries and was also taken to an area hospital.

Settling Pulaski Highway incinerator operator Willard J. Hackerman's lawsuit against the city may have saved millions of dollars for City Hall, but the settlement leaves open the future of that disposal site near the Baltimore City line.Mr. Hackerman filed a $75 million suit in 1993, claiming the City Council's imposition of a five-year moratorium on new incinerator construction prevented him from repairing air pollution problems replacing his 38-year-old facility.The city privatized the incinerator in 1981 during the Schaefer administration and sold it to Mr. Hackerman, a supporter of the mayor, for $41 million -- but the city also had heavy expenses for using the plant.

Wanda lifts a swollen hand to her face, scratches her nose and tells the eternal lie about quitting the heroin habit.Her eyelids are at half-mast, and her voice is the low grumble of the junkie as she talks about life on the street in the white glow of the Marylander Motel sign on Pulaski Highway."

A female pedestrian was killed last night after she was struck by a truck while attempting to cross Pulaski Highway in White Marsh, Baltimore County police reported. The victim - whose name was not immediately released - was struck about 10 p.m. in the 11000 block of Pulaski near the Williamsburg Inn. She was pronounced dead at Franklin Square Hospital Center, police said.

In a lengthy article in last Sunday's Sun, staff writer Joe Nawrozki described the descent of Pulaski Highway, particularly around the Baltimore city-county line. In a scene resembling "a Third World country," one police official said, 80 to 100 prostitutes work a five-mile stretch of the road that's chock-a-block with no-tell motels. The hookers rounded up on Pulaski by police in recent months have included a grandmother, a mother-daughter team and a woman who was seven months pregnant; the johns have included locals, long-distance travelers and even a minister who told police he was just trying to spread the word of the Lord.

A gunman opened fire at a car traveling on North Pulaski Street in West Baltimore yesterday afternoon, killing one man and injuring another, police said. Police identified the dead man, Anthony Carlest, 35, of the 4200 block of Labyrinth Road in Northwest Baltimore, as the driver of the car. Melvin McAllister, 39, of the 2400 block of W. Baltimore St. in West Baltimore was shot in the back and was listed in good condition at Maryland Shock Trauma Center, police said. Detective Dave Peckoo said the shooting occurred about 2:25 p.m. while the men were driving a Ford Escort in the 300 block of N. Pulaski St. A gunman fired numerous shots through the back windshield of the car, striking both men, Peckoo said.

A 19-year-old Perry Hall man was gravely injured and on life support last night after the car he was driving on Pulaski Highway in White Marsh struck the rear of a tractor-trailer, shearing off the car's roof, Baltimore County police said. The injured man, Bryan Patrick Walbrecher of the 4500 block of King George Court, was driving a 1995 Saturn west in the 9300 block of Pulaski at 6:20 p.m., well above the 50-mph limit, when he struck the rear of the rig as it was crossing the westbound lane from Dryden Oil Co. to turn east on the highway, said Officer Stephen Forster.

Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz will hold a “Coffee with Kevin” community forum on Friday, April 25, in Rosedale as part of an ongoing effort to interact with county residents and community leaders. The latest event will be for the communities up and down Pulaski Highway, including Rosedale, Fullerton, White Marsh and Middle River, and will be held at the Rosedale Senior Center, 1208 Neighbors Avenue, from 10 to 11 a.m. The meeting is open to the public without pre-registration; coffee and donuts will be provided.

A 27-year-old Dundalk man died Friday afternoon after being struck by a vehicle as he crossed Pulaski Highway on foot, police said. Paul Robert Mack, of the 6800 block of Broening Road, was not in a crosswalk when he was hit by a 2007 Honda Accord traveling westbound on Pulaski Highway at the Harford County line, police said. He was declared dead on the scene by medical personnel. Police said the driver of the Accord remained on scene and the Baltimore County police crash team was investigating.

Crews have reopened the right lane of eastbound Pulaski Highway in White Marsh after a discovery of erosion caused an emergency closure, the State Highway Administration said Thursday. The work involved back filling an area beneath the road south of White Marsh Boulevard, near the bridge that carries the highway over White Marsh Run, the SHA said. Initial estimates were that the work, which began Wednesday and disrupted traffic, could take several days. The state granted a $50,000 contract to Hunt Valley-based Brawner Builders to complete the repair work.

Two people were killed in a Friday morning crash on Pulaski Highway East in the White Marsh area, according to Baltimore County Police. Police Cpl. Cathleen Batton said that police and fire units were dispatched to Pulaski Highway near Reams Road at 5:37 a.m. for a single-vehicle crash. Batton said that they discovered an eastbound car that had left the roadway and struck a tree. Pronounced dead at the scene were the vehicle's driver, identified as William Gialamas, 23, of the 9500 block of Good Spring Drive in Perry Hall, and a passenger, identified as Laura Campbell, 19, of the unit block of Freedom Court in Chase.

A pedestrian was struck and killed by a car on Pulaski Highway in Middle River Saturday night, Baltimore County police said. Baltimore County police and fire personnel responded to Pulaski Highway and Holly Drive at 6:56 p.m. for a report that a pedestrian that had been struck by a car, police said. Police said an adult female was standing on Pulaski Highway (Route 40) when she was struck by a Ford F150. She was pronounced dead while being transported to Franklin Square Hospital.

As of 9 a.m. Tuesday, traffic was slow on Pulaski Highway and Rossville Boulevard, due to an accident. Accidents were slowing traffic at North Point Road and Quad Avenue in Dundalk, Cross Country Boulevard and Greenspring Avenue in Baltimore County, and the inner loop of I-695 at the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore City. A utility problem was slowing traffic at Perring Parkway and Hillsway Avenue in Baltimore County. There were no major delays reported on Baltimore area transit systems.

It was dark when the man in the red Jeep Cherokee pulled up to the willowy blonde standing on the shoulder of Pulaski Highway at 68th Street. He was ready to buy and she was ready to sell. But they were both a little wary."Are you a cop?" he inquired."No, are you?" she snapped."No," he said.Both were lying.He turned out to be an off-duty state trooper. She turned out to be an on-duty Baltimore County police officer. She was working undercover to arrest men who solicit prostitutes along a section of Pulaski Highway that straddles the city-county line near Rosedale.

The Pulaski Highway incinerator, an outmoded facility that has troubled nearby East Baltimore residents with its smoke and smell for years, will cease operations, its owner has announced.In a brief statement issued late Thursday, Willard Hackerman, president of the Pulaski Co., said he would "continue to pursue" the construction of a new waste-to-energy plant on the site of the incinerator. He said he was "confident" that a city ban on incinerator construction, which he is challenging in court, would be "lifted in the near future."