Abell Foundation

A few weeks back, I wrote about the Abell Foundation funding a survey of Baltimore's tech community, which was being pushed by a new group called the Innovation Alliance . About 170 people responded to the IA's survey . Apparently, we'll get the results soon. And then, the next step is a big town hall meeting. It will be held March 12th, 5:30-7:30pm at the Mount Washington Conference Center . So who is the Innovation Alliance? Says Larrabee: Newt Fowler and Jason Pappas formed the Innovation Alliance to study the needs of Baltimore's innovation community with support from the Abell Foundation, and hopefully the Innovation Alliance will facilitate the creation of a hub facility for the innovation community.

At age 8, Christyna Johnson reads all the time. She reads to her grandmother, her aunt and her mother every day. She reads so voraciously that she read her way through 515 books, up two grade levels and straight into Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke's office on Friday. Christyna was one of 11 children honored by Schmoke and the Abell Foundation for reading more books than anyone else in their schools. First-grader Nicole Winneberger from George Washington Elementary read 1,248 books. They are enrolled at the 11 schools that took part in an Abell Foundation-sponsored program called the 100 Book Challenge, designed to boost the amount of independent reading children do each day at home and in the classroom.

With substantial help from a leading philanthropic organization, the city plans to turn a bankrupt nursing home in Northwest Baltimore into a 124-bed residential center to provide intensive, long-term treatment for drug addicts -- creating the largest facility of its kind in town. The plan survived an 11th-hour bid by a local developer to acquire the property for an assisted-living center. Apprised of the city's eight-month effort to transform the former Greenspring Nursing and Rehabilitation Center into a large drug-treatment facility, Whistler Development Corp.

Heartened by the success of a 3-year-old partnership between a Baltimore public school and the private Calvert School, city Superintendent Walter G. Amprey said last night that he is looking into expanding Calvert's role into a few other city schools.Dr. Amprey said that school administrators, school board members and Calvert officials will discuss a possible expansion of the Calvert program beyond the Barclay School in Charles Village, where the unique partnership began.Key questions, including financing for any such expansion, remain unanswered, but the superintendent said the overwhelming success of the collaboration prompted administrators and school board members to look for ways -- and financing -- to expand.

Mayor Martin O'Malley, Housing Commissioner Paul T. Graziano and other officials announced yesterday a development of five rowhouses in the 2200 block of Madison Ave. in Reservoir Hill. The residences are being developed by Reservoir Hill HOPE. Funding is being provided by the city's Community Development Financing Corp. ($419,000), the Baltimore Department of Housing and Community Development ($280,000) and the Abell Foundation ($78,968). The project is an example of the mayor's strategy of improving housing in traditionally successful neighborhoods.

Mark Fetting's departure from Legg Mason is a major blow to the city ("Legg Mason CEO to step down," Sept. 11). Under his leadership no corporation has been more committed to improving the city than Legg Mason, even though Baltimore is blessed with some very public spirited CEOs. Mark is a native Baltimorean with a unique commitment to implement the community obligations of a major business. This perspective is increasingly rare among America's corporate executives. It was a banner day for our city when Legg Mason's board selected him as CEO. We can only be grateful that we received the benefit of five years of his leadership and hope that his tenure is seen as a model by other CEOs.

A New Jersey company announced yesterday that it has agreed to purchase glass molds, customer lists and production contracts of the recently closed Carr Lowrey Glass Co., the last member of the once-shimmering Baltimore glassmaking industry. Terms of the deal were not released. The purchaser, Glass Group Inc. of Millville, N.J., also said it intends to hire an unspecified number of Carr Lowery Glass sales and manufacturing specialists. Those employees will probably be moved to the Glass Group's operations in Park Hills, Mo., said V. Paul Weikel, the company's vice president of engineering.

Baltimore officials, facing an adolescent pregnancy rate among the country's highest, are organizing doctors and foundation officials to promote Norplant, the contraceptive that lasts five years.Baltimore Health Commissioner Peter Beilenson has organized the Baltimore City Norplant Consortium and wants to target teen-agers, who use birth control erratically or not at all. The consortium is considering an advertising campaign and wants Norplant discussed in family-life classes in city schools.

We read with interest the article on the Abell Foundation report, "Why Can't Johnny Read," which The Sun wrote about on Monday ("Testing of kids' eyesight faulted," Sept. 27) The Baltimore City Medical Society (BCMS) Foundation, established by Baltimore physicians in 1972, learned of the possible correlation between students' undetected eyesight problems and low academic performance while conducting educational programs in elementary and middle schools. Three years ago, the BCMS Foundation was pleased to secure funding to assist elementary and middle school students with the purchase of eyeglasses.

The Baltimore Shakespeare Festival, a relative newcomer to the city's cultural scene, may be forced to cancel its coming summer season because it can't raise enough money to continue operations, its directors say.For the past two summers, the festival has presented Shakespearean dramas performed and directed by a professional cast. Throughout the academic year, the festival has taken abridged versions of its productions on the road to public schools throughout Maryland and Delaware.Beginning in June it is scheduled to produce "As You Like It" and, for children, "Winnie-the-Pooh" outdoors at the Cloisters.