A Red Light for Speed Camera Fans

The Maryland General Assembly's last-minute failure to adopt a bill allowing speed cameras to be used in certain areas, such as work and school zones, has stung Howard lawmakers, who gave up pursuing a county version for the statewide measure.

"It's very disappointing," said Elizabeth Bobo (D-Howard), who leads the group of eight Howard delegates.

The state bill would have authorized counties to use speed cameras in school zones, residential neighborhoods and work areas. Cameras are allowed only in Montgomery County.

Early in the session, the Howard delegation voted to support a bill that would allow cameras to photograph vehicles exceeding a posted speed limit of 45 mph on county roads. Under that bill, $75 tickets would have been mailed to the registered owners of the vehicles.

The county's legislation did not move beyond a House of Delegates committee as efforts to pass a statewide bill gathered steam. But in the final hours of the legislative session Monday, a compromise bill died in the Senate in the face of a threatened filibuster.

Champion of Arctic Meltdowns

After winning the grand prize in physical science last month at the Baltimore Science Fair, Hank Zwally and his teacher, Tara Fadrowski, will be taking an all-expenses-paid trip May 11-17 to Atlanta to participate in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.

The Baltimore event was a regional science fair at Towson University for students from Howard, Harford, Carroll and Baltimore counties, as well as parts of the city of Baltimore. To get to regionals, Zwally placed first in the Centennial High School science fair and won an award of excellence in the Howard County Science Fair.

A student at Centennial High School in Ellicott City, Zwally is the second ninth-grader from Howard to advance to the international fair. Last year, Marriotts Ridge High School freshman Wendy Zhang won the grand prize for biology.

Zwally's winning project posed the question: "Does water around melting arctic sea ice stratify into horizontal thermal gradients that help insulate the ice from the warm water?" The answer, which turns out to be yes, was found by placing ice in tubs of salt water and using equipment borrowed from global warming expert Konrad Steffen, a University of Colorado scientist affiliated with NASA. Zwally's grandfather H. Jay Zwally is a glaciologist at NASA.

Now You See Rot, Now You Don't

Wilde Lake resident Bill Santos has walked the shores of Lake Kittamaqundi for years. As a teen, he worked at the now-closed lakefront boat rental. Santos was dismayed recently by the deterioration of the boat docks and the wooden bell tower there.

He had heard that the Columbia Association board of directors decided against paying for major repairs to the tower and dock area, just off the People Tree plaza, and a stone's throw from headquarters of General Growth Properties. So he took another walk to the boat docks, this time with a camera. He posted what he found March 6 on his blog, Columbia Compass, at http://columbiacompass.blogspot.com.

There are shots of broken light fixtures, hollowed-out dock pylons, mildewed and cracked timbers, a sagging access ramp and trash strewn at the water's edge.

"I wanted to make a point that some things need to be looked after," said Santos, a mechanical engineer. "I thought the condition was not looking that great for the heart of Columbia."

Someone from the Columbia Association apparently was paying attention. A walk along the dock this week reveals that all the light fixtures appear intact, the pylons have been caulked and stained, a new set of stairs has replaced the sagging wooden ramp and there's no trash in sight.

Association board of directors member Tom O'Connor from Dorsey's Search said Tuesday that the condition of the dock and bell tower "has been an ongoing issue that Open Space has known about for years." He said the association has funded previous repairs and will continue to do so in the fiscal budget year that begins May 1.

State's Attorney Is Chosen

Dario J. Broccolino was unanimously selected last week by a three-judge panel to replace Timothy J. McCrone as Howard County state's attorney.

Broccolino had been interim state's attorney since December, when McCrone became a circuit court judge. He is expected to be sworn in this week, said Wayne Kirwan, a spokesman for the state's attorney's office.

Broccolino was selected from among six candidates considered by panelists Louis A. Becker III, Richard S. Bernhardt and Lenore R. Gelfman.

Broccolino, 63, was appointed deputy state's attorney in 1999. He was born in Baltimore; he graduated from Loyola College in 1967 and from the University of Baltimore School of Law in 1970.

McCrone had recused himself from the selection process because he had indicated that he favored one of the candidates. McCrone's term expires in January 2011, and candidates for the job must stand for election in November 2010.

Diane O. Leasure, administrative judge for the circuit court, also recused herself because she was a nominee for the Maryland Court of Special Appeal.

Staff writer Raymond McCaffrey contributed to this report.