Tunnels

Reversing an earlier stance, CSX Corp. yesterday said it will share in the cost of raising railroad tunnels so trains moving to and from the port of Baltimore can accommodate large containers stacked two-high.Unresolved, however, is just how much of the estimated $40 million price tag the state's largest railroad will pick up."I would anticipate that we would help with the funding," John W. Snow, chairman of the Richmond, Va.-based transportation giant, said yesterday in Washington. "What would be a fair share for us to pay?

Question: I saw an ad that said I should get rid of "wood" ants in my yard. What does the University recommend about outside ants? Answer: You want to have ants in your yard. They kill termites and eat many other pests, e.g. Japanese beetle eggs. Their foraging cleans up the constant plant debris created in a landscape. Their soil tunnels aerate the soil, helping plant roots get the oxygen they must have to survive. Their tunneling also moves nutrients deep in the soil up to where roots can use them.

The terror threat to Baltimore's tunnels sent The Sun's reporters and photographers running - and flying - to cover the story Tuesday. Shooter Jed Kirschbaum sped to Frederick, to a chartered helicopter to document the situation at the tunnels from the air. But when the scare appeared to be a false alarm, he had time to sit back and observe the pattern of things from the air on the way back to Frederick.

LONDON -- A massive power failure created chaos in London's Underground railway system at the height of the morning rush hour yesterday, stalling 26 trains and trapping thousands in blacked-out tunnels for up to three hours."

Diggin' Dogs Prairie dogs are not dogs at all! They are a member of the squirrel family. Prairie dogs earned their name because of the high-pitched barking calls used in prairie dog communication. Prairie dogs live in "towns" that are a network of tunnels and burrows underground. Some of these tunnels reach depths of 16 feet! what's for DINNER? Green grasses, seeds and insects. WILD FACTS 1. Prairie dogs only weigh 1.5 to 2.5 pounds. 2. Prairie dogs are considered endangered due to loss of habitat.

What is it?A naked mole-rat is not a mole or a rat. It's a nearly blind, nearly bald rodent that's so ugly it's cute. It lives underground, digging tunnels and eating potatoes.Why is it weird?It lives in large groups, like bees and ants. The group has only one mother, called a queen, and one to three fathers. All the other naked mole-rats are their children, called workers. Some groups have as many as 250 workers. Workers can't have babies.How big is it?Queens and fathers are 3 to 4 inches long, not counting tails.

Early Monday morning, while most of the city slept, Maryland Transportation Authority Police quietly conducted a test: They shut down and then quickly re-opened the tunnels that carry traffic under the harbor. The operation was one of a series of preparatory steps taken by dozens of law enforcement officials behind the scenes over the past week. Their work culminated yesterday when 80 MdTA officers virtually shut down the Harbor and Fort McHenry tunnels while a task force of federal investigators searched several businesses in the area.

Five from Md. killed in Iraq Five members of the military from Maryland were killed while serving in Iraq, including three members of the Baltimore-based Army National Guard's 243rd Engineer Company. They were the first Maryland National Guardsmen to die while on duty overseas since World War II. Also killed were a Marine from Parkton and an Army specialist from Randallstown. Former state senator indicted A federal grand jury indicted former state Sen. Thomas L. Bromwell, a Baltimore County Democrat, on charges of accepting bribes from a local construction company president vying for millions of dollars worth of state contracts.

For over a century, Baltimoreans have worried over the fate of Federal Hill, that airy promontory from which visitors are treated to a panoramic view of the Inner Harbor and downtown.And it's no wonder, given that the hill has been a Maryland landmark for centuries.In 1608, when Capt. John Smith became the first explorer to see the hill, he described it in his journal as "a giant bank of red clay."In 1788, jubilant Marylanders gathered there to celebrate the state's ratification of the Constitution.