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The Carroll County commissioners are holding up work on a new Wal-Mart store in Eldersburg until they are satisfied that a proposed entrance to the shopping center on Route 26 will be safe.The move frustrated a Wal-Mart official, who said last week that the company had fulfilled all county and state requirements and had paid for the permits to begin work at the site."It appears like we've tagged all the bases," said J. Michael Davis, real estate manager for the Arkansas company. "The sentiment being expressed right now is more from emotion than study."

Under the bleary-eyed gaze of nine county residents at 3:42 a.m. Friday, the county Zoning Board heard the last word on Wal-Mart's plans for two warehouse-sized stores in Ellicott City.It was the 10th night of testimony in one of the longest county zoning hearings since 1976, when the Rouse Co. won the annexation of hundreds of acres into Columbia."I was punch-drunk at the end of that. I think that for the last half an hour of that I was numb," said Verlene Frye, a River Mills Estates resident.

About 140 people showed up last week to tell the County Council theydon't want Wal-Mart at U.S. 29 and U.S. 40.And some of them threatened to make it a ballot-box issue."

Residents of the Ellicott Meadows development aren't welcoming Wal-Mart to their neighborhood."I can't see how Wal-Mart coming here would help at all," said Bob Hrivnak, 45, whose townhouse in the 3200 block of Sonia Trail in the housing development backs to where the retailing giant plans to soon open a new store. "Our peaceful, quiet little neighborhood is going to be shot."Another resident of the same block, Cheryl McKeon, 30, said of the store's site: "It's a nice big empty field, full of wildlife like foxes and deer . . . that's part of the reason we chose this spot.

Three Baltimore men were arrested on theft charges Wednesday, after security officers at the Westminster Wal-Mart called police and pointed out a car that they said belonged to shoplifters.Police saw compact discs in the back seat of the car with price tags from Wal-Mart, Kmart and Caldor.When the men could not produce sales receipts, they were arrested and charged with three counts of theft under $300, one count of scheming to commit a theft over $300 and one count of conspiring to commit a theft over $300.

Mount Airy residents will get their first real look today at plans for a Wal-Mart store at a Route 27 shopping center.The Mount Airy Planning and Zoning Commission will review site plans for the store today -- the beginning of a process that could bring an 85,000-square-foot Wal-Mart to the town of 5,000.A citizens group opposed to the project complains it will be ill prepared to comment at the planning commission meeting because members have been denied access to information.Town officials have refused residents' requests to see a detailed traffic study and the staff reports on the project.

The county administration's proposals for rezoning eastern Howard would reject yet another request to allow two warehouse-size stores at U.S. Routes 40 and 29, an official told Ellicott City residents last night.Joseph Rutter, county director of planning and zoning, gave members of the Northern St. John's Lane Community Association a preview of his department's petition for comprehensive rezoning.Although the petition is not going to be completed until next week, he assured them that a rezoning sought by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. would not be on the proposed map, despite a second request from the property owner to include the change.

The president of Hampstead Business Association hopes for a healthy turnout tonight at its meeting to discuss the possible location of a "big-box store" north of town."

Already the hub for a fast-growing four-county area, Mount Airy is about to get another symbol of continued growth -- its own Wal-Mart.The national chain -- with more than 2,800 stores nationwide and sales of $93 billion in 1995 -- has four stores within a 30-minute drive of the town, but company officials say the number of customers is expanding in Mount Airy, a town of 5,000 situated where Carroll, Frederick, Howard and Montgomery counties meet."

Mount Airy Planning Commission put a damper last night on Wal-Mart's plan for a large store in a Route 27 shopping center.The commission voted unanimously to defer approval until completion of a comprehensive study to determine the impact of the store on traffic. The panel also wants to wait for a report from state highway officials.Although town officials were coy about mentioning the Arkansas retailer by name, virtually everyone knew that approval of a plat carving a 14-acre piece from Mount Airy Shopping Center was the beginning of a process for Wal-Mart to build an 85,000-square-foot store.