Two Hours

FireGamber: Firefighters responded at 9: 17 a.m. Thursday to a trash fire in the 4300 block of Bartholow Road. Units were out two hours.

Baltimore city government employees are now able to devote up to two work hours per week to helping third-grade students hone their reading skills, the mayor's office announced this month. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake signed the executive order on Feb. 1, according to a release, that would allow full-time employees to volunteer in the Baltimore city school system to provide one-on-one tutoring to students struggling with reading--a cause the mayor has taken up as part of her "Third Grade Reads Initiative.

FireTaneytown: Firefighters transferred an engine at 7: 44 a.m. Tuesday to the Littlestown, Pa., station. Units were out two hours.

An accident between a passenger vehicle and a 26,000-pound truck shut down the northbound lanes of Interstate 95 in Havre de Grace for two hours on Friday, police said. The four-door sedan lost control and struck a truck shortly before 5:30 p.m. as both traveled north on the interstate, said Maryland State Police Sgt. Edward Loures. The accident caused the truck's fuel tanks to rupture. No injuries were reported. The interstate reopened at 7:30 p.m. Loures said the accident occurred near mile marker 90. Traffic was detoured to state Route 155 at Exit 89. ywenger@baltsun.com twitter.com/yvonnewenger

FireTaneytown: Taneytown firefighters responded to a broken water pipe on York Street at 1:43 p.m. Tuesday. Units were out two hours.

FireFrizzellburg: Pleasant Valley, Westminster and Taneytown responded at 3: 11 a.m. Tuesday to a garage fire in the 1900 block of Old Taneytown Road. Units were out two hours and 26 minutes. Littlestown, Pa., transferred units to Pleasant Valley for about two hours.Pub Date: 3/20/96

FIRE* Manchester: Manchester, Lineboro and Pleasant Hill of York County, Pa., responded to a house fire in the 1900 block of Garrett Road at 8:54 p.m. Thursday. The units were out for two hours.

FireLittlestown, Pa.,: Taneytown assisted Adams County, Pa., with a shed fire on West King Street at 7:10 p.m. Monday. Units were out for two hours and seven minutes.

Fire Sykesville: Firefighters responded at 8: 03 p.m. Tuesday to a house fire in the 11300 block of Old Frederick Road, Howard County. Units were out two hours, 43 minutes.

Live from the Masters 6 p.m. [Golf Channel] It's Tuesday, so let's get the hype machine all wound up. How many times do you figure they can say "Tiger" during the two hours?

As the host of Shaquille O'Neal's All-Star Comedy Jam 2012, Gary Owen always has to be on his game. There's no letup - not when you're the guy charged with keeping the crowd roaring through six different acts putting out more than two hours of material. "It's harder, the further you get into a show, to keep the laughs going," said the Cincinnati-born Owen, who will be the on-stage leader when the jam takes over Baltimore's Lyric Opera House on Saturday. "People may think you're just as funny, but they get tired.

The start of the 2012-13 college basketball season is more than five months away, but practice begins today. It's only two hours a week over an eight-week summer period, according to a new NCAA rule. Yet for local coaches, it's a chance to acclimate several new players and reinforce what they've taught to those returning. "When you're bringing in seven new guys, and you have four returning scholarship players, this is huge for us," Maryland coach Mark Turgeon said last week.

They are plebes no longer. It took two hours, 10 minutes and 13 seconds Tuesday for the freshman class at the U.S. Naval Academy to have one of its own knock a plebe's "dixie cup" hat from the top of the greased Herndon Monument and replace it with a midshipman's hat, symbolically morphing the group into 4th-class Mids. Andrew Craig, 19, of Tulsa, Okla., achieved the goal in the noisy and slippery event that drew between 800 and 1,000 plebes, officials said. Tradition holds that the student who caps the monument will be first in the class to reach the rank of admiral, though that has yet to happen.

In its fifth year, the Park Quest program run by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources closed its registration for 1,000 families in less than two hours Monday. Told that the spots went as fast as Springsteen tickets, program director Barb Knisely said, "That's what everyone is saying. " Those signed up for the free program have between May 26 and Sept. 3 to complete 10 quests at the 23 participating state parks to qualify for the program's Rendezvous extravaganza at Patapsco State Park on Sept.

The joke began simple enough: "One hundred eighty-five gorillas walk into a bar. The bartender says, 'Sorry, we don't serve your kind here.'" Members of the Severna Park High School Improv Team stood beneath bright lights, and one by one each stepped forward and offered the best think-fast punch line. "Awww, we heard the Monkees were playing. " "What? But you served Darwin. " "But all we want is a little vine. " The exercise capped a two-hour practice of wisecracks and wit, puns and ploys designed to fine-tune the budding comedy skills of a group that regularly stages on-campus shows, often requesting material from their audiences.

An early morning barricade incident Wednesday on the city's west side ended when police took two armed robbery suspects into custody. Police arrived at an apartment in the 1000 block of West Baltimore Street at 3:30 a.m. with arrest warrants. The armed suspects refused to leave the residence, police said. The barricade continued until 5:50 a.m., when the suspects were arrested without incident. The suspects' names have not been released. There were no injuries. mary.gail.hare@baltsun.com Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts

For at least the third time this spring, Baltimore County Public Schools will close early Wednesday due to heat. According to a statement from the county schools, all schools will close two hours early June 8 due to "extreme heat and humidity. " As with this spring's other heat-related early closures, high school graduation ceremonies will still be held. Additionally, summer school teacher training for New Town High School scheduled for 5 p.m. Wednesday will still be held.