Rubber

Dear Editor, I attended the Development Advisory Committee meeting that reviewed the plan for "Baldwin Reserve" (Baldwin housing plan comes right from grave) and was shocked by the futility of the proceeding. I asked the DAC Chairman if any of the issues raised by the current surrounding residents would actually impact the final plan. I was told no. When I then inquired about the purpose of the meeting, we were told that it was so residents wouldn't be surprised when the bulldozers showed up. "Baldwin Reserve" is a poorly conceived project in an environmentally sensitive area that feeds directly into the Little Gunpowder River.

Most of the horses in the stakes barns at Pimlico Race Course had cleared out by 8:30 Sunday morning, having loaded into vans under the cover of early-morning rain. Plates with pieces of cake left over from last night's victory party for Oxbow dotted the ground near trainer D. Wayne Lukas' temporary office, as did a few emptied beer bottles. As he said he would, Lukas began loading his horses into a van bound for Louisville less than 12 hours after winning his 14th Triple Crown race, a new record.

Motorists traveling Route 140 near Taneytown will soon be surprised to find out where the rubber meets the road: in the rubber-tire asphalt that will pave four miles of the busy highway between the Carroll County town and Westminster.It's part of a state highway department test to find ways to dispose of growing mountains of old tires that are discarded every year. Mixing the shredded, melted rubber with asphalt and laying it on the road can solve a troublesome disposal problem and improve the durability of highway pavement.

Sol Kramer, who turned a Depression-era 15-cent balsa toy airplane business into a leading wholesale hobby empire, died of pneumonia April 24 at Hospice by the Sea in Pompano Beach, Fla. The former Pikesville resident was 96. Born in Baltimore, he was the son of Lithuanian immigrants. His father, Morris, was a Saratoga Street tailor. His mother, Dora, was a homemaker. Mr. Kramer was a graduate of the old Robert E. Lee School and received his diploma from City College at age 14. "He and his brother, Lou, belonged to the Junior Birdmen of America, a model airplane club promoted by the Hearst newspapers," said his son, Dr. Karl Kramer of Coral Gables, Fla. "His brother was really the airplane builder.

Seeking to shore up strength amid the declining fortunes of organized labor, the governing board of the United Rubber Workers union has approved a proposal to merge with the United Steelworkers of America.The merger agreement, reached late Thursday after several months of talks, is to be voted on by the board of the Steelworkers' union Monday. It would then be subject to a vote at a convention of United Rubber Workers members, a meeting expected within two months.If the agreement clears those hurdles, the merger will significantly increase the membership of the Steelworkers' union, which since the mid-1970s has been in fairly steady decline.

As director of Anne Arundel County's Special Olympics delegation for the past 12 years, Gregg Meade competes with a host of school teams and athletic groups jockeying for the same practice space. Soon, county athletes with special needs will have a dedicated recreation space. This week, state officials granted the county $438,000 to build a state-of-the-art rubber-surface track at Lake Waterford Park in Pasadena — a project that caps an overhaul of athletic facilities there for people with special needs.

Frederick J. Presti, a rubber company executive and former Ferndale resident, died of a stroke Sunday at a hospital in Abington, Pa. He was 76. Mr. Presti was born in Baltimore and raised on Highland Avenue in Arbutus. He was a graduate of Catonsville High School and served with the Navy in the Philippines during World War II. After earning his bachelor's degree from the old Eastern College of Commerce and Law, which later merged with the University of Baltimore, he joined Schenuit Rubber Co. as an accountant and later was promoted to plant superintendent.

A half-inch strip of white rubber found in the otherwise tidy apartment of Dawn Marie Garvin matches a similarly sized hole on a tennis shoe belonging to Garvin's accused killer, Steven H. Oken, an FBI expert has testified.Special Agent William Heilman, an expert in torn-edge comparison, told a Baltimore County Circuit Court jury that, "The piece of rubber had at one time been part of the sole of the shoe."The tiny strip of rubber is considered a key piece of evidence in the prosecution's case against Oken, 29, the White Marsh man accused of raping and killing Garvin on Nov. 2, 1987.

The crowd was tensed for one of the biggest games of the high schoolsoftball season and the long-awaited pitching duel between Northeast's Kristy Zulka and Archbishop Spalding's Kim Sheridan.Both teamshad completed infield drills. The pitchers were warmed up. Each teamhad given its pregame cheer, the players were psyched.Sheridan took the mound at Upton Park last Wednesday. It was timeto see which of the two ace windmillers would keep her team among the undefeated.But hold on.Sheridan's catcher, Jen McKeldin, knew instantly something was wrong.

Thomas A. Washington Jr., a retired rubber company supervisor, died of a heart attack Sunday at St. Joseph Medical Center. The Northeast Baltimore resident was 63. Born in Baltimore and raised on East Eager Street, he was a 1955 graduate of Dunbar High School. He joined Monarch Rubber Co. in Highlandtown more than 40 years ago and retired as a supervisor two years ago. He was a tenpin bowler and enjoyed steaming crabs. He was a member and deacon at New Friendship Baptist Church, 1515 E. Eager St., where services will be held at 9 a.m. today.

Editor's note: Freelance writer Diedre A. Ware grew up in Havre de Grace and graduated from Havre de Grace High School. Her recollections of what it was like growing up black in an era when children's dolls were white was published recently in Dolls magazine based in Iola, Wis., http://www.dollsmagazine.com . It is republished here with permission, along with photographs that ran with the Dolls magazine version. As a child, my dolls were by best friends. When I confided in them, I knew they would never tell.

TUESDAY'S TELEVISION HIGHLIGHTS MLB Orioles@Seattle (T) MASN9 a.m. Dodgers@Washington MASN7 Oakland@Detroit MLB7 Orioles@Seattle MASN210 Colorado@San Francisco MLB10 MiLB Triple-A Nat'l Champ.: Pawtuck. vs. Reno NBCSP7 WNBA New York@San Antonio ESPN28 Phoenix@Los Angeles NBA10:30 C. foot. Virginia@Georgia Tech (T) CSN7 Notre Dame@Michigan State (T) ESPNU9:30 Wake Forest@Florida State (T)

Nothing leaves a person jaded like a good Goliath-beats-David story. Such was the case in Baltimore in the mid-1980s when electronics giantSony Corp.famously succeeded in running a Filipino restaurant out of business because the owner had the nerve to attach her name to it. Her name was Sony Florendo. Sony Corp. attorneys came to town and filed a $2.9 million lawsuit against Sony's restaurant on Park Avenue, claiming trademark infringement. It didn't seem to matter that Sony Corp.

As director of Anne Arundel County's Special Olympics delegation for the past 12 years, Gregg Meade competes with a host of school teams and athletic groups jockeying for the same practice space. Soon, county athletes with special needs will have a dedicated recreation space. This week, state officials granted the county $438,000 to build a state-of-the-art rubber-surface track at Lake Waterford Park in Pasadena — a project that caps an overhaul of athletic facilities there for people with special needs.

FRIDAY'S TELEVISION HIGHLIGHTS NASCAR Sprint Cup: Geico 400, Practice ESPN22 Truck Series: Chicago, Qualifying SPEED3:30 N'wide: Dollar General 300, Practice SPEED4:30 Sprint Cup: Geico 400, Practice SPEED6 Truck Series: Chicago SPEED8 MLB Washington@Mets (T) MASN10 a.m. Angels@Orioles MASN7 Florida@Washington MASN27 Tampa Bay@Boston MLB7 Angels@Orioles (T)

The Maryland Department of the Environment says it will end the monitoring of wells on part of the former Cambridge Rubber Co. factory in Taneytown.MDE's action clears the way for sale of the Dunbar parcel on the south side of the 14-acre site of the former shoe factory at 86 York St.Several people familiar with the negotiations confirmed that a warehouse company has a contract on the property, but city officials refused to provide information about the...