Page 11 - Port of Baltimore Magazine March/April 2011
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March/April 2011
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The Port of Baltimore
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11
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the Port
SOUNDINGS
NEWSMAKERS
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Two Key Labor Figures, formerly
of Ports America, Retire
A
pair of labor leaders highly visible in the
Port of Baltimore community retired in
February: Paul Kursch, President of ILA
Local 1429, and Bill Reeve, the Steamship Trade
Association’s Powered Industrial Truck (PIT)
Training Manager.
Kursch, a former Ports America employee,
served as financial secretary from 1988 to
1990, leading the union to a check-off system
for dues collection, and then as president from
1990 to 2001; he was elected again in 2009.
“As financial secretary, he pretty much
took the local out of bankruptcy,” said John
Leichling, the former Vice President of ILA
Local 1429 who replaced Kursch. “He has been
a great asset to the local. … He knows how to
get along with people. He’s been one hell of a
teacher for me.”
“The Port and the ILA have been very good
to me; they’ve provided me with a good living,”
said Kursch, 62, who plans to travel and play
golf. “I have nothing but good to say about the
Port and the people here.”
Bill Reeve, who also worked for Ports
America, has been the STA’s PIT training man-
ager since 2001 and an integral part of the
RO/RO Rodeo. In addition to developing and
conducting training in everything from yard
hustling equipment to hazardous materials and
security awareness, Reeve was also responsi-
ble for the PIT certification of ILA workers.
“Bill has definitely been an asset to the STA
and he has certainly performed the essential train-
ing functions very well,” said David Hartman, STA
Vice President. “We’re sorry to see him leave.”
“I’m really going to miss it,” said Reeve,
70. “It’s been a delight working with everybody
down here.”
Reeve, an avid fisherman, has since moved
to Cape Coral, Fla., near his son, who has a
fishing boat.
•
ONLINE
— . — . — . — . — . — . — . — . — . — . — . — . — . — . — . — . — . — . — .
Update Your Port Directory Listing
C
ompanies and organizations interested in being part of
the Port of Baltimore Directory should go online to either
create or update their listing at
POBdirectory.com
. The
printed version of the 2011 Port of Baltimore Directory is now in
the works.
A basic listing is free, and the process to post a listing
should take just a few minutes. Questions should be directed
to Nancy Menefee Jackson, Assistant Editor, Media Two
Custom Publishing, at 443-909-7837 or nancy.jackson@
mediatwo.com.
Anyone interested
in purchasing an ad or
enhanced listing in the
printed directory or online
at POBdirectory.com
should contact Media Two
Advertising Director Steve
Lassiter at 443-909-7828
or steve.lassiter@
mediatwo.com.
•
Go to Twitter for
Port Happenings
The latest news about the
Port of Baltimore can be
found on Twitter. Users
should go online to
twitter.com/portofbalt
.
Recent topics being
discussed included the
50-foot berth under con-
struction at the Seagirt
Marine Terminal, Port
sustainability efforts and
cruise opportunities.
•
CARGO
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CBP Discovers Pests
in Foreign Cargo
B
altimore’s U.S. Customs
and Border Protection
(CBP) Agricultural Unit
recently discovered a tiny ter-
rorist lurking in the shadows
of Italian ceramic tiles. It was
the second discovery of an
unwelcome insect pest at the
Port of Baltimore within just a
few weeks of each other.
“It is very unique that
a single Customs and
Border Protection port may
capture two new insect
pest discoveries in such
a short time, and on a
single commodity,” said
CBP Baltimore Agriculture
Supervisor David Ng. “CBP
agriculture specialists take
very serious our mission
of protecting American
agriculture, and each pest
interception emphasizes the
importance of our efforts.”
CBP agriculture specialists
inspecting a shipment of
Italian ceramic tiles in January
discovered a Dorytomus. Also
known as a Willow Weevil, it
is a genus of plant-feeding
weevil never before reported
in Baltimore.
The finding came less than
three weeks after the discov-
ery of a Stenopterapion tenue,
another kind of plant-feed-
ing weevil, also among Italian
ceramic tiles. “Weevils, if left
unchecked, could have a pro-
found impact on America’s crop
plant industries,” said Ng.
•
