Back In Baltimore

A man was shot in the back just after 9:30 p.m. Sunday in the city's Northern District, according to police. The condition of the man was unknown and additional information was not available Sunday, said Detective Jeremy Silbert, a police spokesman. The shooting occurred at Old York Road and 43 r d St. Hanah.cho@baltsun.com

Baltimore native Matt Tirschman has traded in his Milwaukee Wave uniform for a suit and tie. The Overlea High and Salisbury grad left the team late in December and is now back home in Baltimore substitute teaching. Yesterday afternoon, the Wave officially placed Tirschman on the inactive/suspended list, removing him from the roster while maintaining his player rights. The 26-year-old forward, in his fourth season with the Wave, had 15 points in 11 games before leaving. He was unavailable for comment yesterday.

Hoping to lure experienced teachers to poorly performing schools and to sidestep a nationwide teacher shortage, the Baltimore County Board of Education is considering a plan that would allow retired teachers to return to the classroom without losing pension benefits. The plan would target 65 schools with the lowest test scores and the most inexperienced teachers, those with less than three years in the classroom. Retired teachers who agree to work at those schools would be paid $57,551 a year in addition to their full pensions.

Here's a phrase you probably didn't expect to hear associated with the housing market so soon after the crash: Bidding war. They've been roaring back into suddenly-hotter-again areas in recent months. Now they're a lot more common here, too -- in a milder way than during the bubble years, but surprising nonetheless. Online real estate brokerage Redfin says nearly half of its Baltimore-area buyers' offers in the first three months of the year had competition. Some buyers are using escalation clauses again to try to avoid being outbid.

Earvin "Magic" Johnson, the basketball player-turned-development-player with an eye for urban possibility, announced plans yesterday to invest in a multimillion-dollar housing and retail center about to be built in Mount Vernon. The $34.6 million project at 1209 N. Charles St. -- Canyon-Johnson Urban Funds' second major investment in Baltimore -- suggests a growing confidence among out-of-town developers in city neighborhoods beyond the waterfront. Construction is expected to start at the end of this month and end in the summer of 2007; condominiums will go on sale in April.

Against a deep blue African sky, a majestic woman steals across the stage carrying a spear and the conscience of a nation. Lithe and sensuous, eloquent in every gesture, Maria Broom presents the mute, haunting presence of Mother Africa calling out to her children.The Baltimore actor and dancer is making her Center Stage debut in "Les Blancs," Lorraine Hansberry's play about an imaginary African country on the brink of revolution. She plays a silent spirit visible only to the main character.

Lori Bokeno sat on her bed last night and cried, and cried.But when she leaned over finally to kiss the photograph of her husband -- as she has done every night since Maryland National Guard Spc. David Bokeno left for Saudi Arabia -- her tears tasted sweet."

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Antonio Freeman found himself in the lobby of a Green Bay hotel less than 16 hours before yesterday's kickoff with the Ravens discussing the return game with teammate Roell Preston.Preston, who already had returned two kickoffs for touchdowns this season, had yet to break a big one off a punt, and Freeman let him know it."I told him, 'You've done everything but break a punt,' " Freeman said. "And I told him about how everyone is hyping up Jermaine Lewis coming in here."And he was like, 'You know what, Free, I'm going to get one.' "It took all of 1 minute and 47 seconds for Preston to make good on his promise.

Command Sgt. Maj. Michele S. Jones set up a chair yesterday morning in the middle of the classroom at the Sheridan Army Reserve Center in Northwest Baltimore. Surrounded by enlisted leaders in the Army Reserve's 80th Division, she slid her body under the chair and demonstrated: "Let's say you're a solider and you're a mechanic and you need to get under this Humvee. If you're not physically fit, you may not be able to fit under the vehicle." Jones, a Randallstown native and the highest-ranking female enlisted soldier in the Army, said many reservists ask her why they have to take physical fitness tests if they can do their jobs without passing them.

Naval Petty Officer Alonzo M. Gladden Jr. had been back home for only four hours last October when an unknown person opened fire on him - killing him shortly after he dropped off his grandmother in South Baltimore. Months later, his killing remains unsolved, and city police have turned to Baltimore's Guardian Angels for help with the case. On Sunday, standing amid broken liquor bottles at the corner of Hollins Ferry Road and Patapsco Avenue, the volunteers and Gladden's relatives passed out fliers and held up signs asking passing motorists for leads in the case.