Route 31

The State Highway Administration is studying geologists' recommendations to excavate and shore up the sinkhole on Route 31 that swallowed Robert W. Knight's van in March, fatally injuring the 24-year-old Taneytown man.The SHA also may excavate a smaller sinkhole that has caused road settling on Route 31 about 600 feet east of the accident site, said Douglas R. Rose, the SHA's district engineer.Mr. Rose said that he cannot give details about the project until he studies the SHA geologists' and soil specialists' recommendations, and that he does not know when the work could begin.

City police seek missing man, 56 Baltimore police are looking for a 56-year-old man with dementia who has been missing since Monday from an assisted-living center in West Baltimore. Police released a photograph of the man, Carl Larry Frierson, and said he was last seen wearing a blue short-sleeved shirt and white tennis shoes. Freirson knows his name but might not remember where he lives or how to get there, according to a police bulletin. He lives at the Chamber's Nest, an assisted-living facility in the 1800 block of Ellamont St., police said.

State highway workers regularly monitor Route 31 for signs of sinkholes, David Martin, chief of the highway agency's engineering geology division, told the county commissioners yesterday."

Friends and family wonder whether a roundabout or a traffic signal would have saved Charlie Diegel's life. A college-bound senior, Diegel, 17, died at the scene when his car struck a dump truck at the Route 31 intersection with Tahoma Farm Road one morning in October 2006. Diegel's visibility was obscured by a school bus as he crossed Route 31 toward Old New Windsor Road, en route to Westminster High School. Turning onto Route 31 during rush hour can be a dangerous endeavor for the Westminster residents who live in the neighborhoods north of the state road.

A 52-year-old Westminster woman was taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore yesterday after she was trapped in a car for 20 minutes in a two-vehicle accident.Jean Marie Tiell, 400 Oak Avenue, was transported to the trauma center with head injuries by a state police MedEvac helicopter after the 10:45 a.m. crash on Route 31. Hospital officials had not returned calls yesterday about her condition.Her 13-year-old daughter, Jeralyn, was taken to Carroll County General Hospital and released after treatment for minor injuries, a hospital spokeswoman said.

State officials are continuing their investigation of the sinkhole that led to the death of a Taneytown man early Thursday on Route 31 near Medford Road.Dave Martin, chief of the State Highway Administration's engineering geology division, said Friday that workers were investigating "to determine that we got all of the sinkhole and there are no additional pockets nearby."The agency will drill test holes and borings within 1,000 feet of the sinkhole to check for open pockets, Liz Kalinowski, an SHA spokeswoman, said at the scene Friday.

Two Carroll County men were seriously injured and a 15-month-old boy was hurt in a head-on vehicle collision yesterday in Westminster, authorities said.Paul H. Manner, 49, of the 400 block of Sawgrass Court in Westminster and Stephen D. Mattocks, 28, of the 3900 block of Hawks Hill Road in New Windsor were taken by ambulance to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore after the 11: 30 a.m. accident on Route 31 near Uniontown Road, Westminster police said.Manner and Mattocks were in serious, but stable condition last night, a Shock Trauma spokeswoman said yesterday.

Friends and family wonder whether a roundabout or a traffic signal would have saved Charlie Diegel's life. A college-bound senior, Diegel, 17, died at the scene when his car struck a dump truck at the Route 31 intersection with Tahoma Farm Road one morning in October 2006. Diegel's visibility was obscured by a school bus as he crossed Route 31 toward Old New Windsor Road, en route to Westminster High School. Turning onto Route 31 during rush hour can be a dangerous endeavor for the Westminster residents who live in the neighborhoods north of the state road.

A Glen Rock, Pa., woman who was hurt in an accident on Route 31 in August has died of her injuries.Ollie McCann, 56, died at the Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore on Oct. 12. The information on her death became available yesterday through state police at the Westminster barracks.Rachel Allyn Muenzenmayer, 23, of Annandale, Va., was also killed in the three-car crash Aug. 31 that closed the highway for about two hours while rescue workers cut through the roof of one of the cars to remove the injured.

Two people received minor injuries about 3:15 p.m. yesterday in a crash between a tractor-trailer and a Ford Escort in which the car was flipped onto its roof and the tractor ran up an embankment on Route 31 at Stone Chapel Road.Gary Stouffer, 50, of Bangor, Maine, said, "I was driving the tractor south on Route 31, heading for the McGregor Printing Co., talking with another driver on the CB radio getting directions to the plant, returned the microphone to the hanger, reached to the ashtray for my cigarette and looked ahead to see the car stopped directly in front of me."

Through Aug. 19, McDaniel College, Westminster TODAY Practice 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.; 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. Directions from Baltimore via Interstate 695 Take I-695 (Baltimore Beltway) to Exit 19 onto I-795 (Northwest Expressway) and continue to its end. Follow signs to Westminster via Route 140 West to Route 31 South; at blinking traffic light, turn left (Route 31); at first traffic light, turn left onto Main Street. Go up the hill; the entrance to the Ravens' visitors' parking is on your left.

CENTRAL Gerstell sets run/walk fundraiser Gerstell Academy will hold its fourth annual Thanksgiving One Mile Pie Run/Walk today at the school, 2500 Old Westminster Pike, Finksburg. Registration will begin at 10 a.m., and the race at 11 a.m. Winners in various age groups will receive a pie. Entry fee is $5 per person and $12 for a family of three or more. Proceeds benefit hurricane relief. Information: 410-861-3000. City of Westminster leaf pickup change The City of Westminster Department of Public Works will change its leaf pick-up schedule for this week.

After a month that pushed them to the brink of unraveling, the Ravens seized control of their season, their division and their playoff destiny yesterday. A 31-13 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals before a raucous home crowd of 69,468 spoke volumes about the Ravens. In routing their chief threat in the AFC North division, the Ravens continued to march past a troubling November, when they lost starting quarterback Kyle Boller, gave away back-to-back games on the road and faced a challenge to team unity.

We started with a goal -- to see the wild horses of the Outer Banks. But as we drove south from Richmond, Va., to Corolla, N.C., we discovered that, sometimes, the journey itself is the destination. Sticking to back roads and secondary highways, we visited grand old antebellum plantations still in operation, explored the moody landscape of an ancient swamp and stumbled onto charming towns bright with freshly painted heritage. And we let go of any route we'd planned. Matching our pace and our course to the slow rivers that meander through this tidewater country, we banished "Are we there yet?"

Directions to McDaniel College From Baltimore via Interstate 695: Take I-695 (Baltimore Beltway) to Exit 19 onto I-795 North (Northwest Expressway), and continue to its completion. Follow signs to Westminster via Route 140 West to Route 31 South; at blinking light, turn left (Route 31); at first traffic light, turn left onto Main Street. Go up the hill; the entrance to Ravens' visitor parking is on your left. Follow the drive around Bair Stadium and look for signs. CAMP SCHEDULE Friday, July 26: 8:45 a.m. to 11 a.m.; 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday, July 27: 8:45 a.m. to 11 a.m.; 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, July 28: No practice.

Coventry Pulte Homes has released 20 homes out of the 58 lots available at its Coventry community in Westminster. The community, near McDaniel College, has public water and sewer systems, and gas heat and cooking. Lawn maintenance is included. Standard features include two-car garages, first-floor master suites, 9-foot ceilings, refrigerators and fireplaces. Base prices range from $227,990 to $267,990. The Merion model offers on the first floor a two-story foyer, an 11-by-15-foot living room, a 13-by-12-foot dining room, a two-car garage, a laundry room, a 12-by-18-foot master suite with a master bathroom, a kitchen and a 17-by-13-foot family room.

Almost two years to the day since a Taneytown man died when his car plunged 18 feet into a sinkhole on Route 31 near Westminster, state highway officials are expected to begin tests today to determine if a depression discovered Tuesday could cause a similar collapse of the road.State geologists have inspected the suspected sinkhole, on the westbound shoulder of the road, about a half-mile west of McGregor Road. The depression is 5 feet in diameter and TC inches deep, State Highway Administration officials said.

FireNew Windsor: Firefighters responded at 12: 28 p.m. Tuesday to a fuel spill on Route 31 and Wakefield Valley Road. Units were out 59 minutes.

To anyone strolling or driving down Tahoma Farm Road in Westminster for the first time, the rusty steel pedestrian bridge crossing an unnamed creek looks as though it has stood amid the trees there for generations. In fact, the 110-foot-long, 5-ton bridge was just installed this month as part of the Wakefield Valley Community Trail, a 3-mile-long hiking and biking trail that's been in the works since 1994. And the rusted appearance is no accident, said Thomas B. Beyard, Westminster's director of planning and public works.