Storm

A snow day after all as schools close Updated 5:43 p.m. Several school systems in the Baltimore area will be closed Monday as the region continues to dig out from this weekend's snow storm. Public school systems in Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Harford and Cecil counties have announced cancellations, as have the systems in Kent, Montgomery and Prince George's counties. As of 5 p.m., Baltimore City schools officials had yet to decide whether to open Monday, and no public announcements had been made by school systems in Carroll or Howard counties.

The rain had begun to fall harder, so Anthony Sadleo figured he'd stop and see his buddy Keith Matthews in Matthews' small auto-detailing shop off Belair Road. Why plunge into rush-hour traffic before the weather cleared? Matthews was laughing when the men heard a keening sound, kind of like a train whistle, as the sky blackened over Fallston. "I think we're getting a tornado," he said. Within moments, Matthews was pinned under a collapsed concrete wall with a broken femur and dislocated shoulder that would send him to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore.

Everyone should be encouraged to shop local once the snow is all clear. I own Cloverhill Yarn Shop in Catonsville, and we have had to close many days for these storms. This really hurts our business, and I would like to encourage people to consider that when they are back on the streets. There are also many small and local bakeries and restaurants that I am sure are hurting due to the storm. Jolene Mosley, Catonsville

The Obama administration has determined that Maryland suffered a disaster during the major snowstorm that hit in mid-December, making the state eligible for federal recovery aid. Because of the declaration, federal funding is to the state as well as local governments for emergency protective measures taken in the counties of Baltimore, Caroline, Cecil, Harford, Howard, Kent, Montgomery, and Queen Anne's, the White House said. Local governments spent roughly $7 million plowing and salting through the massive storm, and the state approached the limit of the $26 million it had budgeted for storm emergencies -- and that was before this month's twin dumpings.

Baltimore Gas and Electric made a decision to cut its work force to make more profit. Customers should never have to pay a surcharge for outages ("A worthy investment," Oct. 4). The losses should be absorbed by the shareholders. They are the ones that profit when times are good. Why would you advocate socializing the risks and privatizing the profits? This is just more corporate welfare. Les Kurts

Maryland energy regulators will grill Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. officials on their cleanup after the June 29 derecho storm in a hearing scheduled for Sept. 13. Eight public hearings will meanwhile take place across the state in August, the Maryland Public Service Commission said Friday. Commissioners deliberately scheduled the public hearings ahead of the meetings with BGE and other state utilities. “We have scheduled the public hearings in advance of the hearings with the utility companies so that we can hear customers' concerns and use that information as we question the utilities and evaluate their storm reports,” Commission Chairman Douglas R.M. Nazarian said in a statement.

LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE, Calif. - A third powerful Pacific storm pounded California with heavy rain and snow Wednesday, forcing evacuations of hundreds of homes below wildfire-scarred mountains, shutting a major interstate and unleashing lightning strikes on two airliners. Fierce winds howled along the coast and in the mountains, and forecasters warned of rainfall rates as high as 1 1/2 inches an hour on soil already saturated from two days of wild weather that caused street flooding in coastal cities, spawned a damaging tornado and toppled trees, killing two people.

Noting that this is the "biggest two-day blizzard since 1922," Mayor Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake today detailed the city's plans and preparations for the coming winter storm and the response to last weekend's event. Saying "we need all hands on deck," Rawlings-Blake put a call out for contractors with any specialized equipment, such as small bulldozers, that can be used to clear narrower streets. The mayor said that available contractors should call the city hot line, at 410-396-5752.

On the eve of what might turn out to be the year's worst storm, a piece of snow removal equipment has been stolen in Annapolis. Police said a park maintenance worker told them he discovered that the mechanism that is used to lift and maneuver a snow plow blade was missing Tuesday morning when he arrived for work at the maintenance yard in the 200 block of Truxton Park Road. The bolts that attached the mechanism to the truck were on the ground by the vehicle. "The timing on this is bad," said Art Thomas, the maintenance administrator for the city's Recreation and Parks Department.

Please publish kudos for Baltimore Gas and Electric officials. As a resident of Howard County still without power as of July 5 at 4:25 p.m., I was so thrilled to see my first BGE vehicle and representative in my neighborhood since the outage last Friday night. Imagine the comfort I took when I learned that the individual was a natural gas meter reader. Even though there is a downed, live wire in the neighborhood protected by two strands of yellow caution tape, BGE is out collecting natural gas billing data on customers that have natural gas but not electricity.