Baltimore And New

In the not-so-distant past, college lacrosse coaches didn't need a national road map to track down talented players to fill their rosters. A simple set of directions to Baltimore and New York, which have been, and still are, hotbeds for field lacrosse players, was all they needed.A cursory glance at the lineups of most of the top-ranked college teams suggests that the Baltimore metropolitan area is still the Mecca of the sport, but a closer look at the hometowns listed on these same rosters raises the question: Are other areas catching up?

Sterling S. "Spence" Keyes, a veteran educator who had served as acting superintendent for Baltimore public schools in the early 1970s and later held positions with the New York State Department of Education, died Nov. 8 of prostate cancer at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Towson. The Odenton resident was 78. "Spence was always at the forefront as a person of color who held positions that heretofore had been held by whites. He was a trailblazer during changing times," said James M. Gaughan, mayor of the village of Altamont, N.Y., who had worked with Dr. Keyes at the New York State Department of Education.

The race for South Baltimore's City Council seat is shaping up to be a struggle between old Baltimore and new, a match of blue collar vs. white. Among the most prominent Democratic candidates vying for the 10th District spot are Edward L. Reisinger, the incumbent who owns a neighborhood tavern called Good Times; and Nicole Pastore-Klein, a lawyer who was the cover girl for Baltimore Magazine's 2000 singles issue. Reisinger, 53, owner of a Morrell Park pub, is a South Baltimore native and self-described "local guy" who has been a councilman for the majority of the past 13 years.

In 2007, Steve Bisciotti made his first major decision as the majority owner of the Baltimore Ravens. He fired Brian Billick, in part because the team had just gone 5-11 to miss the playoffs for the third time in four years, but also because he wanted to change the entire culture of the organization. He wanted someone who possessed not only a first-rate football mind, but also someone who would deal with the players, the media, the community, the fans and the support staff differently.

Stephen L. PearlExecutive vice presidentServices for Stephen L. Pearl, vice president of an investment firm and an accomplished bass singer with choruses in Baltimore and New York City, will be held at 2 p.m. today at Second Presbyterian Church, 4200 St. Paul St.The Winthrop House Condominium resident died Tuesday of cancer at the Mercy Medical Center. He was 56.He was named a vice president of the Adams Express Co. in Baltimore in 1977. He joined the company as a senior investment analyst in New York in 1969.

Federal prosecutors in Baltimore and New York say they have cracked a multi-million dollar, interstate gambling conspiracy with the arrest of a man they described as reputed mob boss John Gotti's "personal bookmaker."Dominic Curra, 47, of Lawrence,N.Y., was freed on $250,000 bail yesterday after agreeing to an arraignment in Baltimore on federal conspiracy and gambling charges.He also promised to avoid such underworld haunts as the Ravenite social club in New York's Little Italy, which prosectors said is Gotti's criminal headquarters.

WASHINGTON -- This week's terror alert in Baltimore is only the latest symptom of larger problems with the government's ability to avert future attacks, Congress was told yesterday. What happened in Baltimore reflects Washington's failure to establish a system to share information among different levels of government and shows a lack of urgency at the national level to avert attacks, according to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. "We could lose a city tomorrow," the Georgia Republican told a House intelligence panel.

A new steamship line consortium that port officials have been trying to lure to Baltimore has decided to keep sending its ships to the Philadelphia area instead, but Baltimore may still stand a chance of winning the line's business.Senator Line, a German company, has aligned with Cho Yang Line, a South Korean company, and DSR Line, based in Germany. The consortium, known as Tricom, will allow the new group to expand Senator's around-the-world service, starting early next year. Baltimore has been competing with other East Coast ports for inclusion on Tricom's schedule.

Ukrainians will hit the hutUkraine is about to get a taste of big-time capitalism as Pepsico Inc. helps the new nation sell $1 billion in commercial tankers and uses the profits to build 100 Pizza Huts in the former Soviet republic.The international food and beverage company said yesterday that it hopes to put its Pizza Huts in every major city of Ukraine, where it claims sales of Pepsi soft drinks already outnumber those of rival Coca-Cola by 3-to-1. Pepsico, based in Purchase, N.Y., said the joint venture with its new Ukrainian partners is the largest ever signed between the West and Ukraine for export of its manufactured products.

A Baltimore-based federal judge said yesterday he probably will rule this week on whether he will hear the trademark dispute between the NFL and the Baltimore CFLs over the use of the name Colts.U.S. District Judge William M. Nickerson presided over a three-hour hearing yesterday during which attorneys for Baltimore's Canadian Football League franchise urged him to hear a suit they filed this summer, rather than letting a rival case filed by the NFL in Indianapolis settle the matter.Nickerson said he hoped to rule on the various requests before the end of the week.

Raymond Berry can't fathom the odds. Who'd have thought that, the same year he was asked to present the Vince Lombardi Trophy, the two locales most dear to his heart would be playing on Sunday for a Super Bowl berth? That's Baltimore, the town Berry helped win two world championships as a Colts receiver, and New England, the club he later coached to the Super Bowl. Either the Ravens or Patriots will advance Sunday to the big game, giving Berry a rooting bias in Indianapolis two weeks hence.

An Elkton woman indicted last year alongside a reputed drug kingpin on charges they ran a vast heroin ring was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison Monday, the Maryland U.S. attorney's office announced. Tahirah Carter, 35, was charged with drug conspiracy in August for her role as a courier for Steven Blackwell Jr., a key player, authorities say, in a violent drug feud that has led to at least four homicides and several shootouts on Baltimore streets. She pleaded guilty last fall, according to online court records, though much about her case has been kept secret.

Glittering confetti fell from the third-floor balcony. Bow tie-clad members of the jazz band Charm City Revival broke into "Auld Lang Syne." And revelers shook their noisemakers. But 3-year-old Izzy Wallace's eyelids slid down like windowpanes, her head digging into her grandmother's chest and legs straddling her hips. It was the stroke of 12 - noon. Yesterday, several hundred children toasted the New Year early (with milk) at Port Discovery, Baltimore's children's museum. Hours later, tens of thousands packed the Inner Harbor, dancing, chatting, bundling up little ones and prepping for the midnight fireworks.

WASHINGTON -- This week's terror alert in Baltimore is only the latest symptom of larger problems with the government's ability to avert future attacks, Congress was told yesterday. What happened in Baltimore reflects Washington's failure to establish a system to share information among different levels of government and shows a lack of urgency at the national level to avert attacks, according to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. "We could lose a city tomorrow," the Georgia Republican told a House intelligence panel.

The race for South Baltimore's City Council seat is shaping up to be a struggle between old Baltimore and new, a match of blue collar vs. white. Among the most prominent Democratic candidates vying for the 10th District spot are Edward L. Reisinger, the incumbent who owns a neighborhood tavern called Good Times; and Nicole Pastore-Klein, a lawyer who was the cover girl for Baltimore Magazine's 2000 singles issue. Reisinger, 53, owner of a Morrell Park pub, is a South Baltimore native and self-described "local guy" who has been a councilman for the majority of the past 13 years.

Before a knee injury ended his season, Virginia defenseman Mark Koontz put together a campaign that made him the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year in men's lacrosse. Georgetown attackman Steve Dusseau, a high school teammate of Koontz's, is one of the top candidates for this year's Tewaaraton Trophy, given for the first time last year by Washington's University Club to the nation's best player. Loyola captain Bryan England, Maryland defender Brett Harper, former Johns Hopkins defenseman Brendan Shook and current Blue Jays midfielder Lou Braun came out of that same program.

Welcome to Fitness Profile, a new feature. Each Sunday we'll tell you about a Baltimore resident who inspires us with his or her quest to be more fit. If you know of someone who'd be a good subject, write to: Fitness Profile, Baltimore Sun, Features Department, 501 N. Calvert St., P.O. Box 1377, Baltimore, Md. 21278.You've heard of the 25-hour day? Mary Lou DiNardo takes that several steps and strokes further. She lives life on an eight-day, 200-hour-a-week schedule.Just named one of the 10 fittest women in America by Living Fit magazine, Baltimore native Mary Lou DiNardo, 43, comes by the accolade via a workout schedule a professional athlete with a huge shoe contract would be proud of."

Though he is a candidate for New York City's top school job, Baltimore school Superintendent Walter G. Amprey said yesterday that he intends to remain in Baltimore -- at least for now."I don't want to go anywhere, I'm happy with what I'm doing, this is my home. . . . There's not a lot of motivation for me to go," said Dr. Amprey, who confirmed that he is one of the candidates for the chancellorship of the New York system, the nation's largest with 1 million students."I've made it very clear to them that I'm much happier here.

Pinstripes haven't been added to Baltimore police uniforms. Yet. But there is no question that New York influences are encroaching on a police force steeped in local tradition. Along with a police leader hired from New York come New York ideas about how crime is fought, the color of the uniforms and what kind of shields detectives wear. Even more noticeable, however, is the new vernacular. We say ambo, they say bus. We say lockup, they say collar. The language of policing in Baltimore and New York seems as different as crabs and quiche.

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia -- The snow fell right to left, tiny whitecaps snapped on the water and fog whistles groaned long in the distance, all of it whipping Halifax Harbour into a modest frenzy. And, inside his waterfront office, David Bellefontaine was just as excited.He stretched out a map, put a finger on the Atlantic Ocean and dragged it around McNabs Island into a round anchorage called Bedford Basin, just past the center of town. The whole swath, from the ocean inland, was at least 60 feet deep, he explained.