Baltimore Ii

Jerry's Kids are doing without. Same goes for Baltimore police and firefighters. Hurricane Katrina victims have tugged so hard on America's heartstrings that fundraisers for other causes are suddenly shifting focus to benefit storm survivors. So when the group that runs the Pride of Baltimore II announced a "Raise the Rig" campaign for the ship after both masts collapsed this week, the timing was very awkward. "It isn't ideal, is it?" said Carol L. Hirschburg, a board member for Pride of Baltimore Inc., a nonprofit organization that operates the state-owned vessel.

There were no electronic sensors. No digital photographs from satellites. No high-tech gadgets of any kind to guide the way for the warship Constellation.A century seemed to fade into the morning mist yesterday as 20 men and women tugged the sagging, creaking ship into Dry Dock 5 at Baltimore's Fort McHenry Shipyard.They did it the old-fashioned way: pulling on heavy ropes and slowly walking along the dock."If people from 100 years ago had come here today, they would have recognized everything," said Louis F. Linden, executive director of the Constellation Foundation.

In Baltimore City Man gets life term in 1998 killing of home remodeler A 27-year-old city man was sentenced to life in prison yesterday for the 1998 fatal shooting of a Timonium home remodeler who was found dead in the front seat of his pickup truck in North Baltimore. Peter Adams of the 400 block of E. Preston St. was arrested in 2001 after a witness came forward and identified him as the gunman who killed James T. Piche. Adams was convicted in May 2002 of first-degree murder and handgun charges in the death of Piche, 35, whose body was found Dec. 16, 1998, in the 5200 block of Alhambra Ave. Adams' sentencing had been delayed until the court decided on his motion for a new trial, which was denied.

Maryland's Department of Transportation asked the Board of Public Works on Wednesday to declare the state's goodwill ship Pride of Baltimore II to be "surplus property" so ownership can be transferred to the private nonprofit group that has operated the vessel since 1988. "We are confident that our organization is well-positioned to carry on that mission independently, and will continue to raise revenue for operations and success," said Linda Christenson, executive director of Pride of Baltimore Inc. The state paid $1 for title to the Pride II in 1989, after contributing $1 million in public funds toward the $4.5 million it cost to build the Baltimore clipper.

Diane Carey may be "stuck in the 1800s," as she readily concedes, but through the magic of science fiction she can project her favorite period forward a few centuries.That explains how the Pride of Baltimore II, Baltimore's goodwill sailing ambassador designed after an 1800s ship, sails in spirit through "The Great Starship Race," Ms. Carey's latest novel for the ongoing series of "Star Trek" books.Released in November (Pocket Books, $5.50), the novel places Capt. James T. Kirk and crew aboard the starship Enterprise in the middle of a 23rd-century space race celebrating contact with a new civilization.

SPIRIT, PRIDE IISteal a glimpse of a New Englander this weekend. The Spirit of Massachusetts, a 125-foot sail training vessel modeled after the Gloucester fishing schooners of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, arrived in Fells Point yesterday and will be docked at Broadway Pier until Thursday. The ship will not be open for public tours, but all are invited to take a look -- and maybe a picture or two -- from the docks. One landmark ship you can board today and later in May is the Pride of Baltimore II. The ship arrived home Monday and will be in port (at the Inner Harbor Finger Piers)

Sixty-two ports, two oceans and some 37,000 miles after leaving the Chesapeake Bay last fall, the Pride of Baltimore II is home again. The stately replica of the famed Baltimore clipper ships of the early 19th century has completed its fifth mission carrying the message of Maryland business and the Port of Baltimore from the Baltic and Black Seas to Hawaii and Alaska. The time has come again for the state's most effective international ambassador to renew its emotional bond with the people who helped build her.For the tens of thousands of sailors in Chesapeake country there can be few more enchanting sights than the topsail schooner, her saluting cannons booming, cutting through the water under full sail, as she did in returning to Baltimore's Inner Harbor yesterday.

Deerhoof is coming W Magazine describes them as a "blend of candy-coated power pop and abrasive noise rock that's somehow dazzling and fun." Their latest album is about a misunderstood milkman who preys on little children. Deerhoof is coming to the Ottobar Saturday. Critics are calling their new record Milk Man their most accessible to date; fear not, nobody is calling it mainstream. They have been touring and sharing a few dates with Wilco. Philly band Need New Body and Snacks are also billed.

Is the USS Constellation worth another $9 million in repairs?That depends on what we think the Constellation is. A tourist attraction, the centerpiece of the Inner Harbor? Or a historic artifact, a valuable tool linking us with the maritime history not just of Baltimore and Maryland but of the United States as a fledgling world power?Hardly anyone still believes the wooden sailing vessel in the Inner Harbor is the frigate built here in 1797. But there is no doubt it is the last of the all-sail warships built by the U.S. Navy, the culmination of centuries of American wooden shipbuilding skill and one of the great relics of the Civil War.The real answer to the Constellation's continued value lies with the people being asked to support and enjoy it if the vessel were repaired and restored to public use. If the ship disappeared, there would be a huge hole at the apex of the Inner Harbor.

The Volvo Ocean Race fleet was competing in the Chesapeake Bay yesterday, but even on land Valerie Callahan could relate to the sailors. The Anne Arundel County woman took a turn in a Volvo boat simulator at the Inner Harbor during yesterday's Waterfront Festival, emerging from the van-sized moving theater slightly soggy. "It was fun, yes," said Callahan, who hails from Shady Side, as she took off a yellow poncho provided to riders by ABN AMRO, a Netherlands-based international bank sponsoring two racing teams, which brought in the simulator.