Vansant

THIS COLUMN has, through the years, accepted the challenges of settling disputes among the natives concerning the origins of local legends and lore.Some examples: Was there really an elephant at the zoo that played "St. Louis Blues" on the harmonica? (Yes, Minnie in 1946, and you could look it up.) Did a prisoner dig a tunnel out of his city jail cell down and under and up onto Preston Street and walk free? (Yes, "Tunnel Joe" Holmes, in 1951.) How did Charm City get its name? That is the story we take up today.

FireMount Airy: Firefighters responded at 1: 03 p.m. Sunday to a house fire on Ridge Road. Units were out 18 minutes.Winfield: Firefighters responded at 12: 42 p.m. Saturday, transferring an engine to the Sykesville station. Units were out an hour.Mount Airy: Firefighters assisted Frederick County at 10: 28 p.m. Friday, responding to a fire in the 6100 block of Amys Terrace. Units were out 30 minutes.Mount Airy: Firefighters assisted Frederick County at 6: 16 p.m. Friday on a fire alarm in the 4100 block of Bill Moxley Road.

Chamber plans breakfast, energy-co-op session The Baltimore/Washington Corridor Chamber of Commerce has announced the following activities. Thursday: Power networking breakfast from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at Sheraton/College Park, 4095 Powder Mill Road, Beltsville. The cost is $20 in advance and $30 at the door. A literature table, presentations and door prizes will be included. Thursday: Energy co-op information session from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the chamber office, 312 Marshall Ave., Suite 104, Laurel.

Baltimore County police called in to handle a suspected shoplifting case wound up Tuesday arresting a suspect charged with attempted murder, carjacking and robbery of an 82-year-old Glen Burnie woman in November.Gerald Strosnider, 48, of no fixed address was turned over to Anne Arundel County officers last night, according to Baltimore County police spokesman Bill Toohey.Strosnider was being held at the Anne Arundel County Detention Center last night.A Towson Town Center store employee called police Tuesday after detaining a man the employee said he saw putting a scarf in his coat and leaving without paying for it.Officers found a scarf in the man's coat, said Toohey.

On March 11, 2003, DIANE IRENE CLINGER (nee Markiewicz), of Rainelle, WV, born August 8, 1950, in Baltimore, MD; beloved daughter of Albert and Dolores Cichowicz Markiewicz; beloved fiance of Ronald Trout, of Rainelle, WV; loving mother of Kevin Clinger and his fiancee, Lisa, of Baltimore, MD and Jennifer Sangrey and her husband Johnny, of Orlando, FL; dear sister of Dolores Stierhoff, of Baltimore, MD, Albert Markiewicz, of Forest Hill, MD, Janet Kates,...

George Phelps Fondersmith Jr., an artist and former advertising executive who was the founder and director of the Baltimore Life Gallery, died of pneumonia Wednesday at Greater Baltimore Medical Center. The longtime Towson resident was 85. Mr. Fondersmith was born in Philadelphia and raised in Elkins Park, Pa., and was a graduate of Cheltenham High School. He studied at the Art Students' League of New York and the Philadelphia College of Art. During World War II, he served as an Army master sergeant at Aberdeen Proving Ground, where he headed its art department.

Two Baltimore advertising and public relations firms have received awards for their work.Trahan, Burden & Charles/Public Relations received two first-place awards from the Maryland Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America for campaigns to promote Old Bay Seasoning in Florida and to reduce bank robberies in Maryland.Gray Kirk/Vansant won a gold medal in the New York Festival's 1995 Radio Competition for an Utz potato chip campaign. The ads playfully suggest London, Las Vegas and Milwaukee had to endure life without Utz because the chips are shipped only a short distance from the Pennsylvania factory to ensure freshness.

Herbert J. Hand Jr., retired bridge and highway construction supervisor for Baltimore's Department of Public Works, died Sunday after a heart attack at his vacation home at Fenwick Island, Del.A Mass of Christian burial for Mr. Hand, who was 64 and lived on Oakleigh Road in Parkville, was being offered today at the Roman Catholic Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, 8501 Loch Raven Blvd.He retired nearly three years ago. He had worked for the city since 1951.L The Baltimore native served in the Navy during World War II.He attended the Polytechnic Institute and a refrigeration school before attending what is now Towson State University, where he played on the soccer and baseball teams.

Freed & Associates, a small Baltimore advertising firm, has edged out two larger Baltimore firms to become the agency for the Eastern region of Domino's Pizza Inc.The contract award will mean an additional five jobs at the 22-person Freed agency, said President Gloria Freed. "This will be our biggest piece of business," she said.Wanda Newcity, regional marketing director for Domino's, estimated that the deal will mean $3 million in annual billings for Freed. In 1992, Freed had $12 million in billings and expected to grow to $18 million in 1993 without the Domino's account, Ms. Freed said.