Taxicab

Annapolis taxi drivers and owners said they would probably challengea new mandatory drug-testing policy passed by the City Council on Monday.The drivers, the first in the nation to be subject to drug testing, said some of them may refuse to renew their licenses at the end of June, leaving the city short of cabs."

NEW YORK -- Guardian Angel founder Curtis Sliwa, still wearing a bandage on an arm broken in an April beating, was shot and seriously wounded early yesterday after boarding a cab near his home in Lower Manhattan.Mr. Sliwa, 38, underwent five hours of surgery at Bellevue Hospital, but a bullet remained lodged in his abdomen.Mr. Sliwa was listed in serious condition last night, but he was expected to make a full recovery.Two members of his volunteer anti-crime brigade, with their signature red berets, and a New York city police officer were standing outside his hospital room.

It all started with a honking cabdriver outside the apartment complex of an irritated Annapolis alderwoman. Words were exchanged, complaints were lodged, meetings were held, and now, the alderwoman is mounting a charge against an annoyance familiar to every city dweller. She is drafting a bill that would make taxicab drivers subject to fines for honking their horns to pick up passengers. "I'm looking at what we can do. I'm living in a community that has been besieged," says Alderwoman Julie Stankivic, who declined to discuss the bill's details.

Dependable ServiceOf The Sun's Oct. 15 editorial, "Blockading Penn Station," it can be said that damned if you do, damned if you don't.Every major terminal in the United States arranges for dedicated ground transportation to serve arriving passengers. Imagine arriving from New York to Baltimore's Penn Station, expecting a cab to be there to take you to your destination, only to have to scramble out in the streets carrying luggage to locate a taxicab.We realize when people see a long line of taxicabs parked on Charles Street, they wonder why there are so many waiting cabs.

A taxicab was seized after the driver was charged Monday with selling marijuana out of his cab, county police said.The cab, which thedriver owned, was seized through state drug asset forfeiture laws, police said. The narcotics officers also found about 1 pound of marijuana at the suspect's Clarksville home.Arrested was Alexander White, 42, of the 13700 block Triadelphia Mill Road, who police said was charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.White was arrested about 9 a.m. at the park-and-ride parking lot near the intersection of Route 32 and Snowden River Parkway.

This is how bad taxicab service has gotten in this city:Last month, James Gashel of the National Federation of the Blind, was scheduled to meet with members of the Taxicab Owners Association to talk about the problem of poor cab service.So, the president of one of the city's largest cab companies sent one of his taxis to pick Gashel up."The cab was 15 minutes late," said Gashel with a sad chuckle. "In fact, as we were heading out, we got a radio call from the dispatcher because [the president]

NEW YORK -- Have you ever seen a well-dressed woman clutching a black plastic garbage bag while strutting along New York's Seventh Avenue in her Charles Jourdan pumps?It's probably stuffed with an evening gown or an Andrew Marc leather jacket, and she's probably just come from a sample sale. Sample "sailing" is truly the daytime sport for the woman or the man of the '90s. Skip the body-sculpting class at the trendy Reebok Sports Club -- you can get a real workout at a sale. It's an experience that's spreading like pollen in June.

OUR GOVERNMENT seems to have forgotten most of us. I listen to what comes out of Washington, out of the state capital and out of City Hall, and I wonder whether politicians live in the same country as the rest of us.I drive a taxi. My passengers are a random mix of rich and poor, black and white, old and young, local residents and tourists. They talk to me. They tell me of their hopes and fears, their dreams and nightmares, problems and needs.The tourists in general are not too worried about the current economic situation.

I NEED to pick up an order from my Avon lady," the young girl says as she gets in my cab. It is 1 a.m. "I'm not sure of her address, but I know it's right around here."

An unlicensed taxi driver who was shot Monday night during a robbery attempt in North Baltimore died yesterday. The victim was identified as a 50-year-old former Martinsburg, W.Va., resident whose local address was unknown and whose relatives had not been located. Police said that shortly after the driver stopped in the 2700 block of Greenmount Ave. about 10:30 p.m., a gunman approached his Honda Accord and announced a holdup. Before the driver could give up money or valuables, he was shot several times.