Reopen

The Route 90 bridge to Ocean City, closed since mid-October for emergency repairs, will reopen about 10 a.m. today - just in time for Thanksgiving, the State Highway Administration has announced. The bridge, one of two connecting the mainland with the ocean resort, had been expected to remain closed through mid-December. The 38-year-old bridge over Assawoman Bay in Worcester County was closed after inspectors discovered deterioration in a girder on an 85-foot section of the span. While the bridge was being repaired, the U.S. 50 bridge was the only one serving the barrier island.

For the Contemporary Museum , which last week abruptly announced it was suspending operations, the challenge going forward may be implicit in its name: How does it stay contemporary? The museum began exhibiting cutting-edge art in Baltimore 23 years ago, helping to create an appetite for non-traditional works. Now it hopes to re-invent itself in an increasingly crowded cultural landscape. "Things have changed from those days," said Rebecca Hoffberger, whose opening in 1995 of the American Visionary Arts Museum on Key Highway is one such change.

A Harford County retailer as popular for its yard-sale atmosphere as its couture fashions is reopening next month more than a year after closing. But it will no longer carry the C-Mart name that bargain shoppers knew so well. C-Mart once attracted a loyal following of frugal shoppers with high-end tastes from around the region until attempts by new owners to modernize in a bad economy forced it out of business in 2008. Now a member of C-Mart's founding family is reopening the store Feb. 3 in its original location under the name The Big TARP Company Store.

Boscov's department store will return to White Marsh Mall Oct. 7, filling the empty anchor spot the regional chain vacated nearly four years ago after it filed for bankruptcy. "I'm glad we are returning to White Marsh Mall," Albert Boscov, the retailer's chairman and CEO and son of the founder, said in a statement. "It was a great store, and we look forward to creating a new, more exciting Boscov's in the Baltimore area. " The family-owned chain, based in Reading, Pa., once had half a dozen department stores in Maryland.

Starting today, Sudhir Shah will close his Catonsville convenience store three hours earlier. In the fall, he will lock the door at dusk and only take in customers whose faces he recognizes. The changes, though, will end there. Shah said he won't keep a gun, trusting, instead that something such as the November robbery at his store — in which he was shot in the head and a customer was killed in front of him — will never happen again. "It screwed up my life," said Shah, as he prepared the store earlier this week to reopen on a full-time basis with a communitywide celebration.

The State Highway Administration reopened its long-closed South Mountain rest stops along Interstate 70 near the Frederick- Washington County line this week after an $18.3 million renovation project. The agency opened a section of the eastbound and westbound rest stops after expanding the parking area and updating restroom facilities. The stops, between Exits 35 and 42 in Frederick County, have been provided with walking trails, picnic areas, parking and restrooms that comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act. According to the SHA, the reopened rest stops each have 76 parking spaces for passenger vehicles, 26 parking spaces for commercial trucks and six parking spaces for RVs and buses.

Police are investigating a shooting in the Lakeland neighborhood of South Baltimore, but have reopened westbound lanes on the 2100 block of West Patapsco Avenue as they search for evidence and interview residents. An unidentified male was shot around 10:30 a.m., police said. The shooting took place across the street from the Hollinswood Park shopping center. At least three shell casings were seen on the sidewalk near where the shooting occured. Police did not release information on the victim's condition.

Farmers Bank will reopen Monday on a limited schedule for a temporary period, said spokeswoman Jacquelyn Lebow. The bank will draw on staff from affiliated banks to reopen.

The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore will reopen March 13, but some exhibits will remain closed to visitors after damage caused by February's historic snowstorms, a zoo spokeswoman said Tuesday. The zoo's March 1 opening was postponed when storms brought down trees and destroyed two aviaries, causing $1.5 million in damage, and the costs of repairs, employee overtime and lost revenue have provided more challenges as the institution tries to emerge from recent financial difficulties. The African Aviary might not reopen until the fall, zoo spokeswoman Jane Ballentine said.

Florence Bain Senior Center in west Columbia will reopen Wednesday, according to Howard County officials. Flooding from a burst sprinkler pipe Jan. 11 closed the center last week. Workers dried carpets and walls after the pipe broke in the ceiling of an exercise room, pouring out water to a depth of 4 inches. The exercise room where the pipe broke will remain closed for several weeks, until a new wood laminate floor can be installed, said Arleen Dinneen, director of the center. Machines have bored into walls to dry them, and rugs have been dried and treated to prevent mold.

Officials at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport shut down two concourses for about an hour Monday morning, while investigators tried to determine the nature and source of an unusual odor. All checkpoints reopened by 10 a.m., after investigators removed what they believe was a can of pepper spray from a trash bin. Investigators discovered the item, which they are still processing, discarded in a trash can near the security check point at Concourse B. A passenger may have tossed the aerosol can before going through security, officials said.

Blue Agave has new owners, Brian Acquavella and Nicole Callender. They closed the Federal Hill restaurant right after Cinco De Mayo for renovations. They plan to have it back open on May 17. In the meantime, they're asking the dining public to weigh in on what the new Blue Agave should be like. A message on the restaurant's website says: "We plan on making some changes, but want to make the right ones. Please send us a message via email, Facebook , Twitter , or if you're feeling adventurous stop by in person to give us your feedback.

The dormant liquor license has been reactivated at 924 North Charles Street, the former home of the Brass Elephant. The approval came at Thursday's meeting of the Baltimore City Liquor License Board. Within a few weeks, the property will reopen as The Museum, according to the board's president Stephan Fogelman. Faced with opposition from neighborhood groups, attempts to reactivate the license stalled in February, when Charles Street Restaurant, Inc., the holding company that operated the Brass Elephant, asked the liquor board for a postponement.  On the eve of the February hearing, however, the association sent its members an email listing concerns about the plans for the property, particularly the inclusion of live entertainment.

With the clock ticking toward Thursday afternoon rush hour, state crews raced to right a tractor-trailer truck and clear the debris that closed all four lanes of the inner loop of Interstate 695 near U.S. 1. The truck was drained of fuel and hitched to a tow truck, and all lanes were open just 2 1/2 hours after the accident happened, the State Highway Administration said. The flat-bed truck, hauling pipes and lumber, tipped over and landed on the driver's side at 12:48 p.m., according to State Police spokesman Greg Shipley.

Imean Shaheed was working last Sunday when federal agents rushed into the Patapsco Flea Market, announced over the loudspeaker that the bazaar was closed for business and shut down vendors selling knockoff Nikes, Louis Vuitton bags and Tiffany & Co. jewelry. "It was like the movies," the 20-year-old Shaheed said Saturday after the Cherry Hill flea market re-opened. Some booths were empty, but the parking lot was full and customers flocked to vendors such as Shaheed who were open for business.

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller says he wants a "modification" to a budget deal that General Assembly conferees signed hours before the legislative session ended in confusion last week. In a letter to Gov. Martin O'Malley and House Speaker Michael E. Busch, Miller says he believes the General Assembly should increase income taxes on people with adjusted gross incomes of more than $75,000. House and Senate budget conferees had agreed to a plan to raise taxes on individuals with incomes of more than $100,000.

The Hackerman House, where the Walters Art Gallery displays its Asian collection, reopens today after a four-day hiatus.The planned months-long closing of the house, which Walters officials blamed on city budget cuts, was averted thanks to rapid response to a fund-raising plea, and a special gift from Mr. and Mrs. Willard Hackerman, the original donors of the Mount Vernon mansion.The Walters has received about $30,000, including the Hackerman gift, since Monday after making an emergency appeal at the end of last week.

As soon as the last race was over at Laurel yesterday, workmen began tearing out old mutuel machines in order to replace them with new Spectrum 2000 terminals.The track will be shut down through Thursday so that the pari-mutuel system can be installed and tested.General manager Jim Mango said that a 45-man crew will work almost around the clock."We should have the installation done by [Monday] morning," Mango said. "Then we go through the procedure of testing all [computer] hardware and software.

Update April 17 : CVP has set the official opening date as April 23, after a week or so in soft mode, reports Explore Baltimore County . That's a month later than co-owner Rick Bielski had anticipated in early March, when he last spoke out about the reconstruction's progress. Towson's Charles Village Pub, closed for over year after a devastating fire, expects to re-open by month's end, owner Rick Bielski said Tuesday. The pub, a favorite of Towson residents and college students, was struck by a catastrophic, two-alarm fire January 2011 that required some 100 firefighters to put out. Reconstruction started last summer, but was delayed by weather complications.

Mt. Washington Tavern, which was gutted by a two-alarm fire late last year, expects to re-open mid-fall, co-owner Rob Frisch said this week. Meanwhile, the Baltimore City Fire Department has listed the cause of the fire as "not fully ascertainable. " That official listing does not suggest foul play. "It simply implies the damages and destruction was too great, which made it difficult and unsafe for investigators to narrow the cause to one specific source," said Chief Kevin Cartwright, Baltimore City Fire Department spokesman.  The tavern is a city mainstay and a favorite among lacrosse players, and jockeys and horse trainers from nearby Pimlico Race Track.