The Baltimore Sun from Baltimore, Maryland • Page B2

Maryland Page 2b Monday, Sept. 9, 2002 The Sun Sheppard Pratt to use 2 structures in plans Fears about gas leak linger in Snow Hill Admissions building, power plant among sites preservationists admire Gas, from Page 1b Delaware By Andrew A. Green SUN STAFF 90 Maryland Wicomico bridge site. "By doing this, by including the buildings in the development plan, the buildings are preserved, but it gives Sheppard Pratt some flexibility," said County Councilman Wayne M. Skinner, a Towson Republican who Sheppard Pratt officials say was instrumental in brokering the deal.

Katz said she anticipates that if all goes well, construction will begin in the spring. Preservationists who were involved in the debate said they wished more of the campus could be preserved particularly the stone bridge but that Sheppard Pratt appeared to be making good-faith efforts to retain its character. Carol Allen, president of Historic Towson said what's noteworthy about the campus from a preservationist's perspective is how one structure plays off another to create a cohesive whole, and any alteration will disrupt that. But she said she understands the hospital's need to stay relevant. "I think they, in response to us, are very concerned about the value of their architectural inheritance of those buildings, and buildings really aren't meant to be kept under glass.

They do keep evolving," she said. Elise Butler, programs director of Preservation Maryland, said it's possible for Sheppard Pratt to expand and incorporate the buildings in a historically sensitive way, but she will have to see the specifics before she knows whether Sheppard Pratt is doing that. "It has this distinctive legacy, and it can be built upon, but it needs to be done very carefully," she said. Ocean City Co. Worcester Co.

Atlantic Ocean Chincoteague 4 nan Ba-y New voting machines to make debut in 4 counties in tomorrow's primary Map area Virginia residents packed the Snow Hill Middle School auditorium Thursday night for a hastily arranged meeting with town officials and representatives of the county fire marshal's office, the state Public Service Commission and Eastern Shore Gas, the Ocean City-based firm that supplies propane to that resort, as well as Snow Hill, Berlin and other nearby communities. Many who attended wore tiny red lapel pins in honor of the injured firefighters and Ignatius Daniel Saienni, the 39-year-old gas company worker who was killed in the accident. The explosion occurred the afternoon of Sept. 1 when a gas line, apparently dislodged by nearly a foot of rain that fell during the weekend, caused propane to fill the basement of Dry-den's 1-story house. Veterans of the approximately 60-member community fire and rescue company, which had 13 of its members injured in the blast, say they answer 10 to 15 calls a year from residents who report possible leaks in lines that were installed 50 years ago.

Alex Dankanich, who as manager of the state commission's Pipeline Safety Program is heading its investigation, said that minor leaks are commonplace for municipal systems, regardless of the size of the community. Inspections, in which a grading system is used to assess potential danger, are routine in most towns and cities, Dankanich said. Al Cohen, a former Snow Hill town manager, agreed, saying Sheppard Pratt Health System officials say they will introduce development plans in coming weeks to substantially preserve some of the structures they fought to keep off Baltimore County's list of historic landmarks. Local preservationists fought to put 13 buildings and other structures from the institution's 111-year-old campus on the landmarks list, but last week, the Baltimore County Council voted to leave four of them off. Council members said they were concerned that the restrictions that come with landmark designation would prevent the hospital from modernizing and expanding.

Two of the four structures, the admissions building and the power plant, will be incorporated in plans for a new hospital that Sheppard Pratt intends to file with the county within two weeks, said Barbara Katz, Sheppard Pratt's vice president for corporate business development. The hospital has no plans for a third structure, the barn, and offers no guarantees about what might happen to it. A fourth structure, the stone bridge, will have to be replaced or substantially altered soon because it isn't sufficiently large or structurally sound to handle modern traffic, Katz said, and the hospital has been told by the Army Corps of Engineers that it would not approve a second that diligent inspections usually head off serious problems. "The condition of infrastructure is an issue for any municipality in the state," Cohen said. "Snow Hill is not much different from Baltimore or most other places." But Snow Hill residents are wary.

Many say they remember an incident about 18 months ago in which an employee of Eastern Shore Gas was overcome by fumes as he checked a leak. "I love my gas, I've been a customer for 37 years, but I called the gas company back in June and to my knowledge, there's never been anybody out to check," said Vivian Pilchard. "The smell was so bad, the mail carrier told us about it." Ohio, at a cost of about $15 million. An additional $20 million to $25 million will be needed to buy machines for the entire state, election officials said. Other devices in use While Montgomery County had been using a punch-card voting system, Prince George's, Allegany and Dorchester counties had been using older, lever voting machines.

Other Maryland counties use optical scan voting machines in which voters fill in the middle part of an arrow to make their selections, said Lamone. Baltimore uses an older version of a touch-screen voting machine, she said. The new touch-screen system will solve one problem that existed with the punch-card system ballots being invalidated because of "overvotes." More than 2,500 ballots were disqualified in Montgomery County in the 2000 presidential election because voters chose more than one candidate. The electronic touch-screen machines block such overvotes, according to state election Machine, from Page 1b problems and controversy during the 2000 presidential election. Trial run Armentrout said elections officials have demonstrated the touch-screen voting machines during several meetings at Leisure World.

"Personally I think they are fine," she said. "I had no problem with it. But I've heard some say that it is confusing. It's just the way they work. It is a change and this is a community where you don't make changes." Margaret A.

Jurgensen, election director for the Montgomery County Board of Elections, said her office has heard few complaints from those who tried the new voting machines during demonstrations at Leisure World and elsewhere. "We've had about 92,000 people interact with the machines and, overall, 97 percent of the population had a positive response," Jurgensen said. Still, a pair of researchers from the University of Maryland, College Park who tested the touch-screen machines warned that they could prove confusing for some voters. "I use computers every day, 10 hours a day, and even I had to spend some time trying to figure out how to vote on it," said Paul S. Herrnson, director of the Center for American Politics and Citizenship at the university.

"We thought it was a pretty good machine, but we found some flaws and some areas for improvement," he said. Herrnson's review found, among other things, that one of two machines tested "exhibited catastrophic failure" and that "the system presents inconsistent terminology, which could confuse voters." Lamone criticized the review done by Herrnson and another university researcher as "seriously flawed." With the new voting system, voters touch a box next to the name of the candidate they want to select. At the end of the process, voters touch a button with the words "Cast Ballot." A demonstration version of the voting system is posted on a state board of elections Web site www.mdvotes.org. State election board officials said 5,096 touch-screen machines have been purchased for the four counties from Diebold Election Systems of Canton, Primary Election Day Maryland Pick 4 Day Daily 548 Pick 4 4931 Night Daily 07 12 16 23 27 44 Lotto, Sept. 7 Gash in Hand, Sept.

7 05 09 17 19 20 21 28 Bonus Match Five, Sept. 8 01 13 20 25 3509 Lotto: There was no winning ticket in Saturday's $4 million jackpot. Eleven tickets matched five numbers, winning 807 tickets matched four numbers, winning $40. Wednesday's jackpot will be worth an estimated $4.2 million. -vis This schedule will be in effect tomorrow: Anne Arundel County County offices: open Courts: open Libraries: open Public schools: closed Trash: pickup; landfills open Annapolis City offices: open Courts: open Parking meters: feed Trash: pickup Baltimore City offices: open Courts: open Libraries: open Parking meters: feed Public schools: closed Trash: pickup; landfills and transfer stations open Baltimore County County offices: open Courts: open Libraries: open Parking meters: feed Public schools: closed Trash: pickup, landfill open Carroll County County offices: open Courts: open Libraries: open Public schools: closed Senior centers: open Trash: ask contractor Landfill: Northern Landfill and recycling center open Frederick County County offices: closed Courts: open Libraries: open Public schools: closed Trash: ask contractor Harford County County offices: open Courts: open Libraries: open Public schools: closed Parking meters: feed Trash: check with contractor Howard County County offices: open Courts: open Public schools: closed Libraries: open Trash: regular and recycle pickup; landfill open Parking meters: feed Transit MTA buses: regular schedule MTA commuter buses: regular service Subway (Metro): regular schedule Light rail: regular schedule MARC: regular service Mobility: regular service MTA information services: open Certification office: open MTA Transit Store: open Services, attractions Banks, open Federal offices: open Federal courts: open Post office: regular home delivery, post offices open State offices: open MVA offices: open VEIP stations: open Museum: open Baltimore Museum of Art: closed every Tuesday Walters Art Museum: open Port Discovery: closed National Aquarium: open Science Center: open Baltimore Museum of Industry: open Zoo: 10 a.m.-4:20 p.m.

Information: 410-783-1800 Code 6020 Delaware Day Daily Play 4 Night Daily 757 Play 4 4762 Lotto, Sept. 6 01 12 13 18 32 35 Information: 302-736-1436 Pennsylvania Daily Number 320 Big 4 7519 Gash 5, Sept. 8 09 13 22 27 29 Super 6, Sept. 6 14 19 26 33 45 60 Information: 900-903-9999 New Jersey Day Daily 277 Pick 4 8583 Night Daily 323 Pick 4 5265 Cash 5, Sept. 8 15 19 23 27 29 Pick 6, Sept.

5 06 09 13 15 23 44 Virginia Day Daily Day Pick 4 Day Gash 5, Sept. 7 05 17 18 27 31 Night Daily Night Cash Night Gash 5, Sept. 7 05 17 21 27 28 Lotto, Sept. 7 05 09 18 34 36 48 Information: 804-662-5825 District of Columbia Day Lucky 042 DayD.C.4 0300 Night Lucky 305 Night P.O. 4 0768 Hot Five, Sept.

8 07 09 18 21 22 Q. Gash, Sept. 8 02 09 28 34 37 39 Information: 202-678-3333 Multistate Games Mega Millions, Sept. 6 31 39 42 49 5135 Powerball, Sept. 7 06 12 19 24 3418 6 JOHN MAKELY SUN STAFF Traffic-stopping art Julia Anderson works on a collage as part of the "Where Are We Going?" traffic-sign sculptures at Calvert and 27th streets commemorating the Sept.

11 attacks. A gathering will take place there at 7 p.m. Wednesday. City gives grants to groups planning schools Powerball: There was no winning ticket in Saturday's drawing. Wednesday's jackpot will be an estimated $88 million.

SUNDIAL A 247 news and information service of The Baltimore 410.783.1800 Schools, from Page 1b receive $20,000 in planning funds and must submit a more detailed blueprint by Nov. 25. The steering committee will recommend in December who should get the go-ahead to open a school. The Baltimore school board will have the final say. The planning grant recipients are: Community Law in Action, which hopes to open a school for 350 students called the Baltimore Freedom Academy.

The school would use a combination of traditional and law-related curricula as well as hands-on learning. Community Law in Action has had a standalone program at Northwestern High School for several years. Victory Schools a New York-based for-profit school management company that runs Westport Academy, a combined elementary-middle school in South Baltimore. Victory has proposed launching a Biotech Gateway Academy for 600 students. Replications which has proposed a 260-student school modeled after the design of Frederick Douglass Academy of Harlem.

Replications has created eight New York City schools since 1998, all of which have a rigorous college preparatory curriculum. The Johns Hopkins University's Center for the Social Organization of Schools, which would implement a reform model known as Talent Development that is in place at some city schools. The new school would focus on individualized instruction and serve about 600 students. Baltimore school board member J. Tyson Tildon, who serves on the steering committee that selected the winning proposals, said all four fell within the school district's guidelines for smaller, more rigorous and more creative programs.

"It provides an intellectual diversity for our children," he said. Seven groups submitted proposals to open schools next year, said Leroy J. Tompkins, director of high school reform at the local nonprofit Fund for Educational Excellence, a school system partner. A second round of proposals is being accepted for those wanting to open schools in 2004. School officials have launched a districtwide high school reform effort that is being supported by a $20 million grant from the Gates Foundation and several local supporters.

One part of that effort is to break down existing high schools into more manageable learning communities. The other is to create several new, small schools six of which opened this academic year. "We wanted people to come back to us with proposals with different ways of thinking, thinking outside the box, break-the-mold kind of strategies," said Tompkins. He said large neighborhood high schools, where the average freshman enters reading at a fifth-grade level, aren't working. "We know that what we're doing now is not successful," he said.

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