Street Lights

When we lived off Lake Avenue, I noticed the lights on the Falls Road bridge over the railroad tracks were often on in the day. I have also noticed that typically some of the west side Beltway lights are on. Wednesday, for example, a long string of these lights were on as we traveled the Westside at 9 a.m. and were still on when we returned seven hours later. These are not isolated instances and have been going on for years - no, decades. This is another example of government waste.

As of 9 a.m. Tuesday, traffic was slow at Linwood Road and Madison Street, due to an accident. Cleanup from an accident was slowing traffic on Washington Boulevard near I-195 in Baltimore County. A disabled vehicle was blocking traffic on U.S. 29 south at Old Columbia Road in Howard County. Debris in the road was blocking traffic on the inner loop of I-695 near Greenspring Avenue in Baltimore County. Light rail service is suspended between the Timonium and Hunt Valley stations due to construction work.

The problem: Street lights and directional signs remain dark in West Baltimore. The back story: Harry E. Bennett Jr. regularly travels from his home in Sandtown-Winchester to Westview Park to go bowling. For months, he's been troubled by the dark street signs in his neighborhood. At two intersections, lights have been dim on two green overhead signs — like the kind you see on highways — that direct drivers around the "Highway to Nowhere. " The signs are located on North Fulton Street, guiding drivers onto westbound Franklin Street, and on westbound Mulberry Street, to North Monroe Street.

The problem: An old street light on West North Avenue blocks the sidewalk for wheelchair users. The backstory: Reader Rick Dorr went to great lengths to document the problems at the intersection of West North Avenue and Mount Royal Avenue, on the border of Bolton Hill and Reservoir Hill. He took measurements, bought a disposable camera, drew diagrams on the printed images and mailed them to Watchdog. Primarily, Dorr was concerned about a rusty street light pole on the southwest corner of the intersection, across from the Interstate 83 ramps.

Half a century ago, Arthur W. Feeser, owner of A. W. Feeser Canning Co. in Silver Run, and another local businessman decided that their community ought to have street lights.So Mr. Feeser dipped into his cash register and came up with the money to install lamps in downtown Silver Run and along Mayberry and Cherrytown roads.Also in the early 1940s, the Independent Order of Mechanics, a now-defunct lodge in Union Mills, sponsored the installation of street lights along Route 97 in that community.

A few weeks ago, I recalled a summer night in 1950s Baltimore when the gas street lamps came on as the sun set. Obviously, judging from my mail, others shared the experience of old lamplights: "I grew up on Calvin Avenue and we had a lamplighter for one lamp on the southwest side of the street," wrote Bob Ludwig. "Those several street lights closer to Greenmount Avenue had already been electrified, likely because of their proximity to what was then a really thriving business area.

Uniontown is a historic treasure of Carroll County, its 19th century homes on Main Street well kept with fresh paint and loving restoration. A leisurely stroll from the Methodist cemetery to the town limits along the narrow sidewalk is a peaceful retreat to yesteryear.But this town is no living museum. The lace-curtained antique front parlors merge into more modern habitations in the back. Residents care about their present while nurturing their civic heritage.The town's needs of today and yesterday have come into conflict in a controversy over Uniontown's 50-year-old street lights.

HOUSE TOURS are a unique American tradition. Nowhere else in the world will ordinary people open their homes to strangers who buy a ticket. Yes, some of the castles and manor houses of England and France can be toured for a fee. But they are not regular people's homes.This is the season of house tours and a nice one is coming up. Six Uniontown homes and several other buildings can be toured from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. The admission is $10 and all proceeds go to community projects."We hope to raise several thousand dollars," tour organizer Barbara Childs says.

The Westminster City Council plans to increase the illumination from street lights in some sections of the city as a crime-fighting measure.On Monday night, the council approved a police department proposal to change mercury vapor lights to higher powered sodium vapor lights. Sodium vapor lights currently are in use in downtown Westminster.The action came after a fatal shooting on South Center Street that police said was a drug-related murder Jan. 28.Lt. Dean Brewer told the council that dark areas on some streets make it easy for drug deal ers to avoid police scrutiny.

NEW YORK -- New York Mayor David N. Dinkins presented a "doomsday" budget yesterday that would pare the Big Apple toward a seedy core, raising taxes while turning off 25 percent of the street lights, laying off 28,000 city workers and closing many libraries, clinics and the Central Park Zoo.All week, New Yorkers have heard grim tidbits about what bad times have wrought, including a somber televised speech in which the mayor suggested that citizens themselves...

A few weeks ago, I recalled a summer night in 1950s Baltimore when the gas street lamps came on as the sun set. Obviously, judging from my mail, others shared the experience of old lamplights: "I grew up on Calvin Avenue and we had a lamplighter for one lamp on the southwest side of the street," wrote Bob Ludwig. "Those several street lights closer to Greenmount Avenue had already been electrified, likely because of their proximity to what was then a really thriving business area.

When we lived off Lake Avenue, I noticed the lights on the Falls Road bridge over the railroad tracks were often on in the day. I have also noticed that typically some of the west side Beltway lights are on. Wednesday, for example, a long string of these lights were on as we traveled the Westside at 9 a.m. and were still on when we returned seven hours later. These are not isolated instances and have been going on for years - no, decades. This is another example of government waste.

The problem: Lights inside a Mount Washington park have been dark for more than a month. The back story: Beverly Kukoly has called. Her neighbors have called. Finally, there was no one to call but Watchdog. Kukoly lives across the street from Irvin Luckman Memorial Park, where the lights that usually illuminate the park have been dark for weeks. "It's always been beautifully lit as a rule," she said. There are street lights on the blocks that surround the park, but not within its confines.

The problem: Street lights and directional signs remain dark in West Baltimore. The back story: Harry E. Bennett Jr. regularly travels from his home in Sandtown-Winchester to Westview Park to go bowling. For months, he's been troubled by the dark street signs in his neighborhood. At two intersections, lights have been dim on two green overhead signs — like the kind you see on highways — that direct drivers around the "Highway to Nowhere. " The signs are located on North Fulton Street, guiding drivers onto westbound Franklin Street, and on westbound Mulberry Street, to North Monroe Street.

The problem Holes remain in a Northeast Baltimore sidewalk months after streetlight repairs. The back story The Holts did what they were supposed to do. About five months ago, they called Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. to report problems with the streetlight in the 7600 block of Mars Ave., in the North Harford Road neighborhood. Contractors came to repair the light. They dug holes in the sidewalk, and afterward, filled most of them with asphalt, not concrete. "They filled in a couple of the holes but put a bucket over the one and just left it there and never did anything with it," said Linda Holt, who lives across the street.

AVAM'S BAZAART: It really is possible to find unique gifts for everyone on your list without hitting the mall. The American Visionary Art Museum, 800 Key Highway, is a great place to start. In addition to dozens of vendors selling handmade wares ranging from jewelry to soap, you can also stop by the incomparable gift shop, Sideshow, or grab some brunch at the new Mr. Rain's Fun House. Bazaart takes place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free. Go to avam.org. CHEEKY MONKEY SIDESHOW: Get out of the house and have some fun with live music, comedy and freaks!

South Court Street residents have heard that drug dealers and users call the street "Crack Alley." But some of the neighbors are ready to try to shed that label."

When the water stops running in outdoor fountains downtown, David Stein gets the call. When the weeds choke tree wells along Charles Street, he pulls them. When Lexington Mall merchants pitch their shipping cartons onto the sidewalk, he is the one who casts a disapproving eye.Stein, 34, is the man on the hot seat who's responsible for the maintenance of downtown. He's the groundskeeper of an area that runs from the Inner Harbor to North Avenue, from the Jones Falls Expressway to Martin Luther King Boulevard.

Sometimes, in small ways, this Getting There gig is downright gratifying. Particularly when it can help a reader get something fixed. One example is an e-mail that came Feb. 16 from Crossan McDonald of Baltimore. For me one of the most hazardous stretches of road that I travel is Keith Avenue, the connector between Interstate 95 [the first exit after the Fort McHenry toll booth] and Broening Highway. To properly appreciate the problems, one has to travel this road at night. On any given evening, over half of the street lights are out of service, and the white paint lane markers are so faint that they are barely visible.

It was almost as warm as springtime yesterday, but Jeanette Middlesworth was already decking her bathroom with a snowman shower curtain and matching soap dispensers. In front of her rowhouse in Hampden, she raised a 6-foot plastic snow globe, a hammered-tin baby Jesus, a gingerbread house, two families of life-size inflatable snowmen and a garden of candy canes. Six weeks before Christmas - and well before Thanksgiving - the 50-year-old office worker and her neighbors were sweating like Santa's elves to build a wonderland of over-the-top holiday lighting displays that has made their street in Baltimore famous for its annual "Miracle on 34th Street."