Shortages

As cities and states around the country launch long-overdue bridge repair and replacement projects, shortages of steel and skilled workers threaten to set these programs back.The shortages are causing temporary delays on bridge programs nationwide, including such local projects as the new O'Donnell Street overpass in Baltimore. But as billions in new federal highway money wash through the economy, those delays could persist, some in the industry say."Employees are our biggest asset and our biggest problem," said Jim Pue, a principal of Wilton Corp.

Maryland and Carroll County administrators hammered out an agreement Friday that will increase the water supply to South Carroll, the county's most populated area and one troubled by seasonal shortages, with new wells.The state Water Utility and Supply Agreement will allow Carroll to build five wells, a small filtration plant and connecting lines on state-owned land at Springfield Hospital Center in Sykesville. The operation will supplement the Freedom District Plant, which can treat as much as 3 million gallons daily from the Liberty Reservoir.

IN celebrating his second inauguration as governor of Maryland, Parris N. Glendening challenged listeners to answer some big questions. "What should we become?" "What is in our hearts?" "What ought we to be, as a people, and as a society?"Mr. Glendening's answer can be boiled down to "three e's" -- education, environment and equality.His vision of the next century focuses on better classroom learning, open access to college, protection of Maryland's "green infrastructure," and tolerance of the state's diverse population.

The conveyor belt runs almost nonstop at the Gold Bond Building Products Co. in Southeast Baltimore, ferrying more than a million square feet of drywall a day.But although the factory's workers are on the production line around-the-clock, it's still not enough to meet the demand.With the recent frenzy of homebuilding, remodeling and commercial construction, builders and suppliers are reporting shortages of many building products, including drywall, insulation and specialty items such as man-made stone.

SEATTLE -- Boeing Co., showing how badly it was caught off guard by the global boom in aircraft orders, said yesterday that it will halt production of its 747 and 737 jetliners for about three weeks to catch up with crippling labor and parts shortages.The moves mean that the world's largest airplane maker will deliver about 335 jets this year, down from the 350 earlier estimated, and that fourth-quarter earnings will be lower than expected.Boeing's drastic measures indicate that its production problems are far more severe than executives had let on, analysts said.

From their home a hundred yards up the gentle slope of Hampshire Road in Hampstead, Herbert and Dorothy Hewlett figure they hold the high ground on their neighbor and adversary, the Black & Decker Corp. distribution center on Route 30.But that may be their only advantage in their growing legal battle with the company. It's not easy fighting a multibillion-dollar toolmaker on the salary of a paging company employee and a Baltimore police officer, especially when neither town nor county will back you up."

Anne Arundel Community College has received a $200,000 state grant to spearhead an education-industry coalition aimed at attracting more people to high-tech careers and alleviating critical technician shortages in Maryland.The grant proposal, part of $1 million in Maryland Association for Higher Education awards, was the largest single award given 10 community colleges for this fiscal year.The money will finance the college's efforts to help Marylanders identify high-tech careers with faster-than-average employment growth; attain the required skills to enter those careers; obtain on-the-job training while in high school; and fill critical techniques shortages identified by members of the coalition.

State officials have dusted off emergency plans and are prepared to limit purchases of gasoline, invoke mandatory set-asides of fuel for schools and hospitals, and take other steps in the event war in the Persian Gulf creates oil shortages here."

HAVANA -- Basketball, American-style, which has been AWOL in Cuba during the Pan American Games, resurfaced yesterday.The U.S. women's team decisively defeated Cuba 91-71 and in the process did what few U.S. athletes have been able to do: silenced another capacity crowd of 12,000 at Sport City Coliseum.At 3-1, the Americans' prize is a semifinal rematch tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. against a Cuban team (2-2) that gave them trouble early but -- a common problem in a country with petroleum shortages -- simply ran out of gas.Brazil (4-0)

LONACONING -- Local and state authorities should develop plans to guarantee that the water shortages that struck several Allegany County communities recently do not happen again, Gov. William Donald Schaefer said yesterday.State officials also said they are closely monitoring water shortages in neighboring Garrett County, where wells and springs have been drying up and water supplies dwindling.After hearing that the worst might be over for several communities along the George's Creek -- from south of Frostburg down to Westernport -- Governor Schaefer suggested that local officials "sit down with our people."

Although the state has plenty of doctors, it doesn't have enough who actually see patients - a situation that creates "a silent and growing crisis," the head of the state medical society said yesterday. The shortages are greatest in rural areas "but are likely to affect most of us by the year 2015," said Dr. Martin P. Wasserman, executive director of MedChi, the professional society for the state's doctors. MedChi and the Maryland Hospital Association released a study yesterday showing that the state has 179 doctors delivering care for every 100,000 residents.

WORLD Russian journalist assassinated A well-known Russian journalist who reported on everything from the Kremlin's policy in Chechnya to corruption in the military was fatally shot yesterday, the latest in a string of killings of reporters in recent years. pg 14a 79 killed in Iraq attacks The daytime abduction of Baghdad shopkeeper Abu Ammar yesterday was part of a day of savage violence in Iraq, where at least 79 people were killed in bomb, rocket and gunfire attacks around the country.

WASHINGTON -- Most Americans, especially the elderly and young children, should get vaccinated against flu in the coming months, federal health officials recommended yesterday. After dealing with past vaccine shortages, the officials expect there will be sufficient supplies available. Dr. Julie L. Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recommended the vaccinations for adults 50 and older, children ages 6 months to 5 years and people with chronic diseases, as well as all relatives and health workers who take care of them.

A looming doctor shortage threatens to create a national health care crisis by further limiting access to physicians, jeopardizing quality and accelerating cost increases. Twelve states - including California, Texas and Florida - report some physician shortages now or expect them within a few years. Across the country, patients are experiencing, or soon will face, shortages in at least a dozen physician specialties, including cardiology, radiology and several pediatric and surgical subspecialties.

Home sales in Carroll County plunged in January, but industry insiders say they expect the market to rebound, possibly as soon as this month. Sales in Carroll County fell last month more than 38 percent below the level of January 2005, and area home prices rose only 5.6 percent, a rise that is significantly less than in any other part of the Baltimore region, according to data from Metropolitan Regional Information Systems Inc., a Rockville company that...

Memo to job seekers: Your time appears to have come. Maryland just concluded its best year of job growth since the heady days of the technology boom, according to U.S. Labor Department numbers released yesterday, and local economists are predicting that 2006 will be as good or better. The jobless rate dropped to 3.9 percent last month, so low that some experts dub it "full employment." Several counties - such as affluent Howard - are hovering around 3 percent. More and more employers say they are facing worker shortages.

Rosalind Cordish, 57, hounded her doctor for a flu shot for months. But every time she called, she heard the same recording that the office was expecting flu vaccine but hadn't received it yet. Exasperated, Cordish tried several numbers listed in the phonebook and, when that failed, called her insurance company. Someone there directed her to her county health department, which suggested two clinics. One was out of the vaccine. But Monday, Passport Health Inc. in Baltimore finally gave her the prize she was seeking: a $30 shot.

When President Bush met with vaccine makers at the White House Friday to prod them toward vaccines against the deadly avian flu, his pleas fell on few ears. The vaccine industry in America has been in steady decline over the past four decades, to five companies last year from 26 in the late 1960s. Experts say the recent shortages of vaccines against even seasonal flu are a result of the slide, precipitated by lawsuits and major changes in the pharmaceutical business. "It's just too high-risk for a potentially low return on investment," said Christopher-Paul Milne, assistant director of the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development in Boston.

LOCALLY T. Rowe Price Group Inc. Shares of the Baltimore-based mutual fund company advanced $1.50, or 2.5 percent, to $60.66 yesterday, following the general market upward. NATIONALLY Louisiana-Pacific Corp. The largest North American maker of wood panels for floors and roofs jumped $2.50, or 10 percent, to $26.97, the best performance in the S&P 500, as prices increased on housing demand in California and supply shortages in the Southeast.

Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. urged Marylanders yesterday to step up blood donations to help make up for the critical shortage that has left the Greater Chesapeake and Potomac Blood Services Region unable to ship supplies to local hospitals. "This is a serious public health issue," Ehrlich said at an afternoon news conference. He said the holidays had left blood inventories severely depleted. The governor made the plea yesterday in response to a request from the American Red Cross, which said it is facing shortages of all blood types - especially O-positive.