Windmill

Several Phoenix residents are appealing a decision by the Baltimore County zoning board that would allow a couple to build a 120-foot windmill on their property. Neighbors say the windmill that Barry and Urszuela Antonelli hope to construct on their 97-acre property on Cooper Road would be an eyesore and would decrease their property values. "It's the equivalent of having a 12-story structure in your backyard," said John Reistrup, a marketing executive and one of the neighbors who is filing the appeal.

OAK VIEW, Calif. — Ray "Windmill" White, a veteran of 60 professional fights, pulls a paperback from a shelf in his office, opens "The Ultimate Book of Boxing Lists" and thumbs through it. Finally spotting his name, he looks up and smiles. "So," the 72-year-old proudly announces to a visitor, "out of all the fighters that ever lived, I made the top 10. " Page 88 confirms it. White, a 6-foot-4 former light heavyweight best known for throwing behind-the-back punches and other unorthodox blows, has been deemed by authors Bert Sugar and Teddy Atlas the fifth most awkward fighter in boxing history.

A dirt path lined with swaying wheat leads to a wooden barn. In the distance, rolling hills give way to dense woods. The farm is peaceful and rustic - the kind of place, in another time or country, where you might expect to find a windmill. And if one northern Baltimore County couple gets their way, a windmill will indeed rise above their Phoenix farm. Barry and Urszula Antonelli have petitioned the county for permission to erect a windmill as part of their plan to build a "green" home that draws energy from renewable sources.

Windmills have been around for centuries, yet they have become nothing more than pretty backdrops in oil paintings and stories of ancient rural life. Their usefulness is minimal. The governor wants to again pick the pockets of taxpayers to fund a windmill farm off Ocean City, a pet project that will not benefit anyone in the short or long term except the company he wants to finance with our dollars. As a recent article in the British Daily Mail revealed (see "Why the £250bn wind power industry could be the greatest scam of our age — and here are the three 'lies' that prove it")

A Baltimore County zoning official has approved a couple's request to erect a windmill on their 59-acre farm in Phoenix as part of a plan to build a "green" home using renewable energy sources. "After reviewing all of the evidence, I am convinced that ... the family should be permitted to forge new ground in the growing field of alternative, renewable energy," Deputy Zoning Commissioner Thomas H. Bostwick wrote in his order, dated Thursday and released yesterday. "On paper, the ... request is simply a request for variance, but the implications of the family's actions may well reflect a change in American attitudes regarding oil and alternative energy uses."

Windmills used to provide power to houses would be regulated under a measure being considered by Baltimore County lawmakers. The proposed resolution, introduced by Councilman Vincent J. Gardina, directs the county Planning Board to propose amendments that would regulate the location and use of windmills for residential energy. Gardina, a Towson-Perry Hall Democrat, said the regulations would be designed to encourage residents to install windmills. The measure, a topic at yesterday's council work session and scheduled for a vote during Monday's council session, comes as a zoning commissioner considers the request of a northern Baltimore County couple who want to erect a windmill as part of their plan to build a "green" home that draws energy from renewable sources.

WEATHERFORD, Texas -- A windmill thief is on the loose in Parker County, and Sheriff Jay Brown and others believe that the thefts might be Y2K-related.A windmill -- with 8-foot metal blades and a 24-foot tower -- was stolen two weeks ago from a ranch near Millsap.The previous week, a windmill head was stolen."With this Y2K thing coming on, everybody wants a windmill," Brown said.The owner of a Fort Worth windmill company agrees."It's a bumper year for windmills. I call it the Y2K crazies," said Mark Welch, owner of the Second Wind Windmill Service Co., which sells 200 to 300 windmills yearly to working ranches, and another 10 or so more to people who want "yard toys."

SAN ANGELO, Texas -- When Kees Verheul decided at age 62 to leave the comfort of retirement and return to the business world, he chose an unlikely venture: a windmill manufacturing plant. Before he bought Aermotor Windmill Co., Verheul consulted his bride, Jane, who had one question for her husband: "Will it interfere with my fishing?" He assured her that it wouldn't. Verheul, who made a fortune manufacturing parts for oil rigs and retired at age 47, paid $1 million in cash for the windmill company in 1998.

The administration has a budget deal, and a missile defense scheme to bust it. There's nothing wrong with the U.S. energy supply that cannot be fixed by making every house a windmill. Hollywood producers and writers cannot agree on whether their story is sitcom, soap opera, juvenile, action thriller or reality. Stay tuned. Uh-oh! Mysterious "dark energy" has been discovered in Wyman Park.

What do blues music, ribs and a windmill have in common? It's obvious, if you've stopped in at Red, Hot & Blue on Old Mill Bottom Road in Annapolis: great food. Open since November 1991, this restaurant, less than 25 miles from Baltimore, was formerly known as the Dutch Pancake House. It has a towering windmill that catches glances from motorists traveling east on U.S. 50 toward the Bay Bridge -- especially since the windmill vanes have "flying pink pigs" on the ends. The food served here is Memphis-style, with appealing spicy barbecue sauce as the main feature.

The Anne Arundel County Council could vote as early as next month on a renewable energy proposal that would allow small windmills in residential areas. At a recent public hearing on the bill, sponsored by Councilman Ronald C. Dillon Jr., about a dozen residents expressed opinions on the structures that could rise 120 feet. "With all the oil spewing in the Gulf, we all need to be moving forward with alternatives," said Dillon, a Republican who represents District 3. "I have two power plants in my district.

Offshore wind energy can furnish Marylanders with as much as two-thirds of the electricity they currently use, and if aggressively developed, could turn the state into a net exporter of power, a new report by the Abell Foundation says. About 2,900 wind turbines could be placed using current technology in relatively shallow Atlantic waters 28 miles to 43 miles off the Maryland coast, according to the report, which was written by researchers at the University of Delaware's Center for Carbon-free Power Integration.

I live in Edgewater and recently visited Texas, where I spotted this windmill in Hutto, near Austin. The sun was rapidly setting, and I was barely able to run up to the windmill in time to get this photo. The high school in Hutto is known for its hippo mascot. The town is known for its painted, concrete hippo statues in front of schools, government buildings and businesses. The Baltimore Sun welcomes submissions for "My Best Shot." Photos should have been taken within the past year and be accompanied by a description of when and where you took the picture and your name, address and phone number.

Several Phoenix residents are appealing a decision by the Baltimore County zoning board that would allow a couple to build a 120-foot windmill on their property. Neighbors say the windmill that Barry and Urszuela Antonelli hope to construct on their 97-acre property on Cooper Road would be an eyesore and would decrease their property values. "It's the equivalent of having a 12-story structure in your backyard," said John Reistrup, a marketing executive and one of the neighbors who is filing the appeal.

A Baltimore County zoning official has approved a couple's request to erect a windmill on their 59-acre farm in Phoenix as part of a plan to build a "green" home using renewable energy sources. "After reviewing all of the evidence, I am convinced that ... the family should be permitted to forge new ground in the growing field of alternative, renewable energy," Deputy Zoning Commissioner Thomas H. Bostwick wrote in his order, dated Thursday and released yesterday. "On paper, the ... request is simply a request for variance, but the implications of the family's actions may well reflect a change in American attitudes regarding oil and alternative energy uses."

An effort to allow windmills to be used to provide power to individual houses in parts of Baltimore County won support from county lawmakers last night. The resolution, introduced by Councilman Vincent J. Gardina, directs the county Planning Board to propose amendments that would regulate the location and use of windmills for residential energy. The measure passed unanimously. "They're not appropriate in every location, including a typical neighborhood where the closest house might only be 15 feet away," Gardina, a Towson-Perry Hall Democrat, said before last night's meeting.

I live in Edgewater and recently visited Texas, where I spotted this windmill in Hutto, near Austin. The sun was rapidly setting, and I was barely able to run up to the windmill in time to get this photo. The high school in Hutto is known for its hippo mascot. The town is known for its painted, concrete hippo statues in front of schools, government buildings and businesses. The Baltimore Sun welcomes submissions for "My Best Shot." Photos should have been taken within the past year and be accompanied by a description of when and where you took the picture and your name, address and phone number.

James B. Richardson, 84, a retired Dorchester County boat builder who did restorations and reconstructions of historic structures and boats, died Monday at the Deer's Head Center, a state hospital in Salisbury, after a stroke.Funeral services were being held today at Cambridge Seventh-day Adventist Church, which he helped to build.Mr. Richardson lived in Lloyds. After he retired and closed the boatyard at his home on Le Compte Creek, he continued to do projects of his own, such as the bugeye, Jenny Norman, which he completed in 1989.

Windmills used to provide power to houses would be regulated under a measure being considered by Baltimore County lawmakers. The proposed resolution, introduced by Councilman Vincent J. Gardina, directs the county Planning Board to propose amendments that would regulate the location and use of windmills for residential energy. Gardina, a Towson-Perry Hall Democrat, said the regulations would be designed to encourage residents to install windmills. The measure, a topic at yesterday's council work session and scheduled for a vote during Monday's council session, comes as a zoning commissioner considers the request of a northern Baltimore County couple who want to erect a windmill as part of their plan to build a "green" home that draws energy from renewable sources.