Assumption

Monsignor James Vincent Hobbs, former rector of the Basilica of the Assumption who during his tenure oversaw a two-year, $32 million restoration of the 200-year-old structure, died Monday of cardiac arrest at his Thurmont home. He was 81. James Vincent Hobbs was born and raised in Thurmont, where his father owned a grocery store and his mother was proprietor of a hardware store. He attended Frederick County public schools as an elementary school student before entering St. Anthony's parochial school in Emmitsburg.

On Aug, 24, 2011, the earthquake that jolted the East Coast from Georgia to Quebec rattled through the bricks, plaster and paint of one of Baltimore's architectural jewels, the Basilica of the Assumption, sending nearly 1,000 linear feet of cracks through its ceilings and walls. On Sunday, as Christians worldwide commemorate the resurrection of Christ on Easter, the 207-year-old cathedral, too, will enjoy a rebirth. Construction workers have put the finishing touches on a seven-month, $3 million restoration job, and Sunday morning's Mass will mark the formal reopening.

Wearing a hard hat and a white collar, Cardinal William H. Keeler led a tour yesterday of the half-restored Basilica of the Assumption in downtown Baltimore, all the while hinting to contractors that he expects the project to be finished early. "I've told people in Rome that the weather is nicer in Baltimore in October than it is in Rome," he said, referring to the invitation he has sent Pope Benedict XVI to attend the basilica's rededication -- a ceremony scheduled for November next year.

Tuesday of last week was such a great time to be a Baltimorean. Then came Wednesday. One day after approximately 200,000 fans helped the Ravens celebrate their second Super Bowl victory, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake announced that without significant financial reforms, the city will face growing budget deficits every year for the foreseeable future. According to a budget forecast developed by Public Financial Management, a Philadelphia-based consulting firm, by 2023 the cumulative total of these annual shortfalls could reach $744.8 million.

Sunday was a day of celebration for well-wishers and the 250 parishioners of St. Mary's Assumption Eastern Rite Catholic Church in Joppa,which opened its doors for Mass for the first time. The building wasformerly St. Mark's Roman Catholic Church in Fallston.

A Glen Burnie man died Tuesday after his motorcycle drifted off the road and slammed into two trees near Eldersburg, state police said. William Allan Puckett Jr., 38, of the 100 block of Janaelin Drive was heading west on Arrington Road about 10:45 a.m. when his 1979 Yamaha motorcycle struck a tree on the road's north side. The motorcycle came to a stop after striking a second tree about 30 feet off the road. Puckett was taken by helicopter to Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, where he died at 11:52 a.m. State police said no one witnessed the accident, and the preliminary cause is driver error.

SHIRLEY BENTON, 69, of RR 5, Keyser, died Wednesday, April 14, 2004, at Sacred Heart Hospital, Cumberland, Md. Born Tuesday, July 10, 1934 at Atlantic City, NJ, she was a daughter of the late Florence (Smith) Ingersol. She was also preceded in death by a daughter, Deborah Ann Benton, and two brothers: Bill Smith and Charles A. Smith. Mrs. Benton was a homemaker and a member of the Assumption Church where she served as church lector. Surviving are her husband of 54 years, William Donald Benton, Sr.; two sons, William Donald Benton, Jr. of New Creek and Bradford W. Benton, Sr. of Cumberland, MD; four grandchildren: Jesse C. Benton, Robert W. Benton, Bradford W. Benton, Jr. and Brady C. Benton.

The Washington Post used to have the best media reporter in the country in Howard Kurtz. Now it was Erik Wemple writing what the paper calls "a reported opinion blog on news media. " I'll leave it to others to speculate on what that might suggest about the trajectory of the Post. But I was on Kurtz's "Reliable Sources" CNN media show Sunday, and Wemple didn't like what I said about the debut of Chelsea Clinton as a "special correspondent" for NBC News. You can read his post here . In it, he called me "childish and misanthropic" for my criticism of Clinton.

IN CAMBRIDGE, Mass., a 15-year-old is accused of murdering a college student during a mugging, then bragging to his two high school-age accomplices that the knife went all the way through the body.After the boy's arraignment, some of his classmates cried. Not for the loss of a promising life, but for the high bail that had been placed on their friend. When a reporter asked one of them what the appropriate punishment for murder should be, he responded, "counseling." Said another, a girl, "What's the big bleepin' deal?

On November 15, 2004, MARTY, of New Smyrna Beach, FL, formerly of Baltimore, MD, is the beloved son of the late James Edward Allenbaugh and Gertrude Dailey; and the loving brother of Mary Ziegler, James Allenbaugh, Virginia Worthington and the late Thomas Allenbaugh. He is survived by his two children, Martin Allenbaugh, Jr. and Christopher Allenbaugh, and his three grandchildren. Memorial Mass will be held at St. Mary of the Assumption (410-435-5900), 5502 York Rd., Baltimore, on Saturday, December 18, at 10 A.M. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Liver Foundation, 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 603, New York, 10038 or to Hospice of Volusia/Flagler, 3800 Woodbriar Trail, Port Orange, Florida, 32119.

"Compromise or confrontation?" So ran a recent headline on CNN.com, above a story about the "fiscal cliff" and a confrontational-looking picture of President Barack Obama. The implication was clear: Our leaders must compromise or confront each other on the precipice. Even clearer, in the view of most Americans, was the solution: Compromise, already! Endless confrontation has made the need for compromise as obvious as the election results. Or has it? Actually, decades of negotiation research have cast doubt on the conventional wisdom, showing that compromise vs. confrontation represents a false choice, and compromise a false ideal.

Question: What is the most guaranteed applause line in American politics today? Answer: Anything that allegedly benefits that fine group of Americans known as the middle class. Want proof? Well, just about every other sentence uttered at the Democratic National Convention paid homage to this esteemed socioeconomic group. Ditto for the GOP in Tampa, where speaker after speaker spoke of the virtues of the middle-income worker. From a political perspective, the drumbeat makes sense.

I am disappointed in the narrow-minded view of the Sept. 6 letter, "Same-sex marriage amounts to experimenting on children. " The letter-writer states that "Marriage across time and culture has always been a loving, committed relationship between a man and a woman. " This statement does not take into account that over 50 percent of marriages end in divorce. What about unhappy marriages where a woman or man is being beaten or verbally abused by their spouse? She also states that "marriage provides a safe environment for children and connects them to their biological parents".

Declining to follow the footsteps of Baltimore County's pension plan, Maryland's state employee retirement system decided Tuesday to leave unchanged its assumption about how much it will earn on investments. The 14-member pension board voted 11-1 to keep the rate at 7.75 percent, in the middle of the pack for public retirement plans nationwide. By keeping the rate where it has been for almost a decade, Maryland will avoid the roughly $12 million gap that a change might have created in next year's state budget.

Monsignor James Vincent Hobbs, former rector of the Basilica of the Assumption who during his tenure oversaw a two-year, $32 million restoration of the 200-year-old structure, died Monday of cardiac arrest at his Thurmont home. He was 81. James Vincent Hobbs was born and raised in Thurmont, where his father owned a grocery store and his mother was proprietor of a hardware store. He attended Frederick County public schools as an elementary school student before entering St. Anthony's parochial school in Emmitsburg.

The chance to chronicle a teacher's battle with multiple sclerosis while learning documentary movie-making and earning a slot in a new film competition — it all came together for 18 students at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute with their nonfiction short "Health, Interrupted," selected for the first Baltimore High School Film Festival (4-6 p.m. Thursday at the Charles). The 12-minute film shares its title with the candid blog that the teacher, Kate Hooks, 33, has written since 2004.

On August 28, 2003 MICHAEL E. (Mickey) GERICK, JR. of Delta, PA. Beloved husband of the late Mary A. Modesto. Loving mother of Mark E. Gerick, Michael E. Gerick III, and Michelle M. Sieling. Dear brother of Marty Gerick. Visitations will be held at Harkins Funeral Home, 600 Main St., Delta, PA on Sunday, August 31, 2003 from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 P.M. with a prayer service at 8 P.M. Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Monday, September 1, 2003 at 10 A.M. at St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church, 1021 St. Mary's Road, Pylesville, MD. Interment in the adjoining church cemetery.

BERKELEY, Calif. -- A war between the United States and broad swaths of the Islamic world was precisely what Osama bin Laden and his accomplices in terror hoped to provoke by attacking the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. But they cannot accomplish their goal without our assistance. What they need -- and what President Bush's speech Thursday made clear we are getting ready to deliver -- is a large-scale military assault on a Muslim country. By presenting the Taliban with a list of non-negotiable demands and effectively threatening them with death, the White House has virtually guaranteed that the United States will soon be at war with Afghanistan.

Oscar nominee Viola Davis is featured on the cover of the February issue of the LA Times Magazine. While the article focuses on her work as an actor, mentor and soon-to-be producer, I think the real story is her hair - her natural hair. In a four-picture spread by photographer Ruvan Afanador, Ms. Davis' radiance is undeniable. With the exception of Whoopi Goldberg, this marks the first time, in recent memory, that an A-list, African-American, Oscar-nominated actress has dared to go "bare," so to speak.

The Washington Post used to have the best media reporter in the country in Howard Kurtz. Now it was Erik Wemple writing what the paper calls "a reported opinion blog on news media. " I'll leave it to others to speculate on what that might suggest about the trajectory of the Post. But I was on Kurtz's "Reliable Sources" CNN media show Sunday, and Wemple didn't like what I said about the debut of Chelsea Clinton as a "special correspondent" for NBC News. You can read his post here . In it, he called me "childish and misanthropic" for my criticism of Clinton.