MARYLAND BRIEFING

MONTGOMERY COUNTY

Planning Board Backs Hospital Relocation

Washington Adventist Hospital has received the first of numerous approvals needed for its proposed move from Takoma Park to a site in the White Oak area and near the border of Montgomery and Prince George's counties.

Yesterday, the Montgomery Planning Board unanimously recommended that the hospital be granted a special exception allowing it to relocate to 48 acres near Route 29 and Cherry Hill Road.

A new Washington Adventist would not increase the number of beds, but all of them would be in private rooms. The replacement hospital would have much more space and offer more medical services. Administrators have said the hospital's existing site, in a congested residential area, is too small for additional growth.

If the special exception receives a go-ahead from the county Board of Appeals, the hospital will file for state regulatory approval.

-- Susan Levine

HOWARD COUNTY

Drunken Driving Alleged in Route 32 Fatality

A 46-year-old Taneytown resident was driving under the influence on Wednesday when his pickup truck struck and killed a man standing on the shoulder of Route 32, Howard County police said yesterday.

Aleksandr V. Dyubanov has been charged with manslaughter by automobile and other offenses, said Sherry Llewellyn, a police spokeswoman. He was being held at the county detention center yesterday.

Police said Luther Beamer III, 23, of Odenton ran out of gas shortly after 11 p.m. Wednesday and stopped on the shoulder of the northbound lanes of Route 32 near Deer Hill Road. Beamer was putting fuel in his pickup when he was hit, police said. He was pronounced dead at Howard County General Hospital.