Baltimore City

Walter Sanders, Mervo SPORT TRACK AND FIELD BOYS STATS -- The talented senior captain returns as a member of the Mustangs' Baltimore City champion 800-meter relay team, and also is competing in the 100- and 200-meter dashes. SIDELINES -- A three-sport athlete who has a 3.2 grade point average, Sanders, 17, also starred on the Mustangs' football and basketball teams. In football, the 5-foot-8, 190-pounder running back rushed for 2,500 yards and 23 touchdowns over two seasons, earning a full athletic scholarship to Saint Augustine's.

The Baltimore City and Baltimore County school districts have been named among 61 finalists nationwide to vie for millions in federal grants under the new Race to the Top program, the U.S. Dept. of Education announced Monday. The two school systems were among 372 from across the country to apply for the new district-level competition, which could award the city and county between $30 and $40 million to invest in innovative programs to address their achievement gaps. "These finalists are setting the curve for the rest of the country with innovative plans to drive education reform in the classroom," U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said in a statement send by the department.

In the weeks following the news that city schools CEO Andres Alonso was leaving, I've come across various pieces of commentary about the legacy the schools chief will leave. As with most resignations, much of the commentary has been expressions of gratitude, and encouraging forecasts of what's next. I thought this piece , written by a city school teacher, was particularly reflective. I've personally watched Iris Kirsch, a high school English teacher, challenge Alonso during public comment at city school board meetings.

The Dunbar boys basketball team has already earned a spot to defend its Baltimore City Division I championship -- this year's title game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Morgan St a te . The one question left -- who will the No. 3 Poets play? A deep and balanced regular season in Baltimore City comes to an end Friday with plenty of excitement as three teams -- No. 6 Edmondson, No. 8 City and No. 12 Poly -- are still in the hunt for the second spot in Tuesday's title game with each 9-2 in league play.

Officer Forrest E. "Dino" Taylor loved his family, his job, his fellow Baltimore police officers and his motorcycle. All played a part in services Friday at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen. Officer Taylor, 44, died Aug. 29 of injuries incurred on duty. The 17-year veteran of the city Police Department was driving to aid a fellow officer at 5:50 a.m. Feb. 18 when his police cruiser was struck at an intersection downtown. He had endured months of surgeries, therapies and treatments in an effort to recover.

A driver who likely lost control Tuesday on a rain-soaked road on the city's west side had to be extricated from his car, fire officials said. Baltimore City fire and EMS units responded at 7:35 a.m. to the one-car accident in the 5400 hundred block of Frederick Avenue in the Westgate neighborhood. The unidentified man, who was conscious and alert, was taken to University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center with injuries that rescuers said were not life-threatening. The driver, who was traveling in the eastbound lane, lost control of the car and struck a utility pole.

"Greetings from Maryland, home of the number one public school system in America for four years in a row!" That is how Gov. Martin O'Malley opened his speech at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., last week to a roar of applause. He was referring to the state's ranking from Education Week magazine. If he had said, "Greetings from Maryland, where more than 60 percent of public school graduates who studied a 'college prep curriculum' and went on to community college needed remedial help in math" (which was the case as recently as the 2008-09 school year)

When the Ravens visited the White House on Wednesday, four Baltimore City athletes went along for the ride. The Ravens invited city high school football players Steven Thomas (Poly) and David Owens (City), as well as girls basketball players A'Lexus Harrison (Digital Harbor) and Zyaire Lockley (Western), to join them in Washington, D.C., because President Barack Obama announced during the trip that the Ravens will be donating new uniforms for Baltimore City girls varsity basketball and varsity football teams.

The Western girls have started another streak. The fourth-ranked Doves won 18 consecutive Baltimore City indoor track and field championships before losing two years ago. The Doves bounced back to win last year and captured a second consecutive title at this year's meet Wednesday night at the Fifth Regiment Armory. Carver's boys had won three in a row, but Digital Harbor ended that streak with its first city title since 2007. Western employed the same formula it has used for years -- balance and depth.