Ashland

Bernadette C. Lewis, a University of Maryland health worker who went into Baltimore's neighborhoods warning adolescents of the dangers of AIDS, died Sunday when she fell from a moving railroad train in Southwest Baltimore. Police determined her death to be an accident.She was 26 and had lived on South Paca Street.On the staff of the University of Maryland's Institute of Human Virology, she had been going into city neighborhoods and talking with teen-agers, teaching them about HIV transmission.

Signs are taped on the windows of many Ashland Avenue homes: No sitting on steps. No Loitering. Drug dealers often scurry in the streets, and gunfire punctuates many nights.These things have area residents looking forward to today's 16th annual National Night Out Against Crime, but five East Baltimore residents have decided to celebrate early.Very early.For 65 consecutive nights, the corner of Ashland and Rose Street has been occupied by neighborhood residents to shoo away bad company.Under a homemade shelter of 2- by-4-foot wood planks, plastic tarps and gray duct tape, they have camped out for hours at a time -- rain or shine.

A 38-year-old Baltimore man was convicted yesterday in Baltimore Circuit Court of three 1996 arson deaths.Kevin Michael Johnson, 38, of the 2600 block of E. Madison St. was found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder, arson, burglary and attempted murder.Jurors took about 3 1/2 hours to convict Johnson of burning down a house in the 1800 block of Ashland Ave. on Dec. 13, 1996, because his ex-girlfriend, who lived there, would not reconcile with him.Killed in the fire were Carolyn Flowers, 34; her boyfriend, Darryl Johnson, 32; and Parrish Williams, 2, a neighbor for whom they were baby-sitting.

TOWSON -- County police are investigating racially offensive epithets traced in carpeted walls of the elevators at the Towson public safety headquarters, a spokesman said yesterday.In two instances, an offensive word was traced with something sharp, such as a key, in elevators in the Public Safety Building at 700 E. Joppa Road, said police spokesman Bill Toohey. "We don't know who's doing it and we don't know why they're doing it," Toohey said yesterday. "This is a public building. It's not a fortress."

Behold the town a dead bard's plots sustain,Where stage and stores his words do decorate,Where green hills rise and sweet creek swiftly runs,And far-flung strangers do yearly subscribe,To gaze on spawn of two clans strangely wed,And wonder: How hath Hamlet fathered hamlet?The town is Ashland, perched on the edge of the Rogue River Valley opposite a gorgeous verdant hillside, roughly midway between San Francisco and Portland. On lazy afternoons, stray deer wander down its residential streets, while on the main drag, out-of-towners congregate in wistful pairs to peer at the window offerings of real-estate offices.

"I'D ALWAYS BEEN an urban pastor until I came [to Linwood]," the Rev. Bob Keplinger recalled. "It was a step toward heaven when we came to Linwood."Keplinger, who has been pastor of Linwood Brethren Church for 13 years, will retire Tuesday, and will preach his last sermon at the church Sunday.Keplinger and his wife, Dee, will move to Ashland, Ohio, where their children and grandchildren reside, and where the Keplingers met as students at Ashland University.He leaves the ministry after 44 years that took him to congregations in places as varied as Canton, Ohio, and Washington.

A three-alarm fire last night raced through two vacant rowhouses and a grocery store in the 1800 block of Ashland Ave. in East Baltimore, according to a Fire Department spokesman.The fire broke out in the vacant dwelling at 1816 Ashland Ave. and was reported at 7: 39 p.m., said Battalion Chief Hector L. Torres, the spokesman.He said the fire spread to two adjacent dwellings, one at 1818 Ashland Ave. that houses King's Market -- a store on the first floor with storage rooms on the two upper floors.

The Rev. Fred Stashkevetch, pastor of Ashland Presbyterian Church in Cockeysville since 1982, died Monday of a heart attack at his Reisterstown home. He was 49.Mr. Stashkevetch had been admitted into the Orthodox Church in America, an Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, and ordained a deacon earlier this month. He was preparing to leave Ashland to teach Old Testament Studies at St. Tikhon Orthodox Theological Seminary in South Canaan, Pa.Family and friends said that he loved being pastor of Ashland and the parting was amicable.

Edward J. O'HearnPersonnel officerEdward J. O'Hearn, a retired civilian personnel officer at Fort Detrick, died Monday of cancer at his home in Ijamsville. He was 61.Mr. O'Hearn retired in October from the Army post in Frederick, where he had worked since 1972. A civilian employee of the Army for 36 years, he previously worked at Edgewood Arsenal and the Pentagon.Born in Ashland, Pa., he served in the Army for two years in the 1950s and graduated from Mount St. Mary's College in Emmitsburg.

Three billion tons of anthracite, the especially hard coal, helped fuel our nation through the Industrial Revolution. Anthracite, mined in a relatively small region of Pennsylvania, also provided an economic foothold for tens of thousands of immigrants who came to America.Eckley Village, founded in 1854, was one of hundreds of company-owned-and-operated mining communities -- "patch" towns, as they were called -- that were established in the anthracite region of northeastern Pennsylvania.On the verge of being demolished in the late 1960s to make room for more surface coal mining in the area, Eckley won a last-minute reprieve when a local business group saw the village's potential as a tourist attraction and negotiated its purchase from the mining company that held its title at the time.

On Saturday, August 1, 2009; beloved wife of Horace L. Rollins; loving mother of two children; cherished grandmother of two grandchildren, other family and friends. Viewing Saturday, August 8. 2009, 12 to 4 P.M., at Wylie's Funeral Home, 638 Gilmor Street, Monday, August 10, 2009. Wake 6:30 to 7 P.M. Funeral 7 P.M., at United House of Prayer, 1515 Ashland Avenue.

Benjamin Franklin Perry, a retired Black & Decker Corp. test engineer who assisted in the development of the drill that was carried by the astronauts aboard the Apollo 11 moon mission, died of heart failure July 29 at Greater Baltimore Medical Center. He was 87. Mr. Perry, the son of a Pennsylvania Railroad tower operator and a homemaker, was born and raised in an Ashland, Baltimore County, rowhouse. "It was called Stone Row, and there were no indoor plumbing facilities or electricity," said his son, Michael S. Perry of Phoenix, Baltimore County.

The 55 souls gathered at Faith Tabernacle Apostolic Church kept worshiping Sunday evening when a flash of light danced across the stained-glass windows. Just a police car responding to a call, they figured, a common enough sight in this part of East Baltimore. Probably nothing too serious. But a parishioner standing on the sidewalk knew something was very wrong. On the far side of Ashland Avenue, a crowd rushed from an alley screaming, "You shot? You shot?" The panic was understandable.

The somber atmosphere of Old St. Paul's Episcopal Church could not dampen Ashland Croxton Jr.'s enthusiasm as he described his nephew Darryl Croxton, who died a month ago. The soft-spoken man of 78 spoke of his nephew's ability to touch an audience through his acting. "If he was sitting here right now in that pulpit and reading the Creation story," Ashland Croxton Jr. said, laughing, "I guarantee you he'd have you in tears." Three weeks ago, Darryl Winslow Croxton, a local actor and poet, was found dead in his Mount Vernon apartment, apparently of heart disease.

On May 14, 2009, DARRYL W. CROXTON (Shakespearean Actor), beloved nephew of Ashland M. Croxton Jr. A Memorial Service will be held at Old St. Paul's Church, 233 N. Charles Street, on Thursday, June 11, 2009 at 10:30 AM.

On December 29, 2008, GLADYS VIRGINIA HALL. Visitation at THE DERRICK C. JONES FUNERAL HOME P.A. 4611 Park Heights Avenue on Tuesday, January 6, 2009, 2 to 7 P.M. Mrs. Hall will lie instate at St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church, 2111 Ashland Ave. on Wednesday, January 7, 2009 at 9 A.M. Family will receive friends at 10 A.M. with funeral service to follow at 10:30 A.M.

On December 23, 2008, JEROME MORRIS GILLIAM, survived by wife, Winifred E Gilliam; parents, Walter and Josephine Gilliam Sr.; brother, Ralph Gilliam; sisters, Beverly Street, Delores McClain, Betty Carlos and Detrick Cabean and a host of other family and friends. Family will receive friends at the family owned WYLIE FUNERAL HOME, P.A., 638 N. Gilmor Street, Sunday from 1 to 4 P.M. Services will be held Monday at the United House of Prayer For All People, 1515 Ashland Avenue, 6:00 P.M. wake, 7:00 P.M. funeral.

On December 20, 2008 KATHERINE AMELIA WILLHITE (nee Starr). Beloved wife of the late Paul Oscar Willhite, Sr. Loving mother of Paul Oscar Willhite, Jr. (Jacqueline) and Deborah Borsos, sister of William Starr (Janet), Calvin Starr (Nancy) and the late Betty Bradshaw. Grandmother of Paul III, Tiffany, Jeramey, Ashleigh and Bethanie and three great-grandchildren. Also survived by many nieces and nephews. A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, January 3rd at 11 A.M. at Ashland Presbyterian Church, 116 Ashland Rd., Cockeysville, MD. Gifts may be made in Katherine's memory to Gilchrist Hospice Care or in her grandchildren's name to the American Cancer Society.

On December 20, 2008, HOWARD. Visitation 2140 N. Fulton Avenue, Saturday 4 to 6 P.M. Family will receive friends Sunday 10:30 A.M at First Tabernacle Church of God, Saints of Christ, 1606 Ashland Avenue. Funeral to follow at 11 A.M.

Elmer Frank Sins, a retired railroader and longtime Pasadena resident, died in his sleep Monday at a son's home in Ashland, Va. He was 87. Mr. Sins was born and raised in Pittsburgh. After graduating from high school, he enlisted in the Army. During World War II, he was stationed at Fort Meade, where he was a military policeman until he was discharged in 1946. After the war, he went to work for the B & O Railroad. He then joined the Baltimore and Annapolis Railroad, where he was a watchman and later, a parts manager, for more than 30 years.