Baltimore Polytechnic Institute

BALTIMORE -- Police were continuing their investigation into the apparent homicide yesterday of a 17-year-old male Baltimore Polytechnic Institute student whose body was found inside a house in the 900 block of Homestead St.Police said the victim lived on the block but that his identity was being withheld pending notification of relatives.Police said the youth was reportedly shot in the head and was pronounced dead at the scene shortly before 7 p.m.It was not immediately known how long the teen-ager had been dead.

Nathan Alfonzo Chapman Jr. has the smooth, self-assured voice of a true salesman. Even in the middle of a trading afternoon, even after fielding calls for hours, even as he hangs up in frustration, he persists in talking a little more.His quiet voice is amplified in the emptiness of the Chapman Co.'s elegant penthouse suite, which has enough room for 104 employees -- dozens more than the company has now.Still, he envisions a trader in every chair. After all, the man who ascended with dizzying speed from a gritty boyhood to become the first black owner of an investment banking firm in Maryland is nothing if not optimistic.

Samuel H. FaraceElectrical engineerSamuel H. Farace, a retired electrical engineer, died April 3 of cancer at the Willow Valley Lakes Manor Retirement Community in Willow Street, Pa. He was 95.He was an electrical engineer for 40 years with Philadelphia Electric Co. and designed part of the Conowingo Dam project when the utility built that power plant on the Susquehanna River in 1927.His expertise was in the field of electrical transmission and distribution systems.During World War II, he was coordinator of power for the 2nd Naval District and the 3rd Service Command.

Michael L. Long, a court clerk and interpreter, died Thursday of pneumonia at St. Joseph Hospital. He was 31.The Homeland resident had worked for four years at the U.S. Department of Immigration and Naturalization in Arlington, Va. Previously, Mr. Long had been a language teacher at the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute.A native of Baltimore, he was a graduate of Calvert Hall College and Towson State University, where he received a bachelor's degree in Spanish in 1986. He also was a graduate of the Monterey Institute of International Studies in Monterey, Calif.

BE THERE, BE THERELoad up the kin folk and head for the 35th annual Trak Auto World of Wheels Custom Car Show at the Baltimore Convention Center this weekend.You'll find, among other spectacles, the jalopy from the "Beverly Hillbillies" movie, as well as the original TV Batmobile.The show will be featuring souped up cars and trucks, as well. Plus, on Saturday, fans can meet John Stamos, who plays Uncle Jesse on "Full House." Tomorrow and Sunday, David Lascher, who plays Vinny on "Blossom," and Rhonda Shear from "USA Up All Night" will be signing autographs.

Charles E. McCaffrayCompany executiveCharles Edmund McCaffray, retired president of the McCaffray Co., a Baltimore heating, ventilation and air-conditioning business, died of bone cancer yesterday at his home in the Charlestown Retirement Community in Catonsville. He was 86.Mr. McCaffray grew up in Mount Washington. He attended Calvert Hall College High School and received his bachelor's degree in engineering from the Johns Hopkins University in 1929.The registered professional engineer was a member of the Hopkins Club and the Engineering Society of Baltimore.

Edward L. RubinHousing Authority stafferEdward L. Rubin, who worked for the Baltimore Housing Authority for most of its existence, died Friday of pneumonia after a long illness at North Oaks Retirement Home in Pikesville. He was 83.Mr. Rubin worked for 45 years for the Housing Authority, from its formation after World War II until his retirement in 1991. He handled legal and insurance issues.During World War II, he worked in the Office of Price Administration and established rent controls in Baltimore and New York City.

Baltimore native Michael Massing, a free-lance writer and founder of the Committee to Protect Journalists, is among the latest group of American scholars, artists and social activists to win a five-year fellowship from the MacArthur Foundation of Chicago.The 39-year-old political journalist won $250,000 for writing "sympathetically, but critically, with clarity and tenacity" about such subjects as foreign relations, politics, drug trafficking, the press and human rights, the foundation announced Monday.

Salvatore A. "Tony" Rao, a Baltimore native who traveled widely abroad as a civil engineer with the U.S. Army, died Feb. 23 of a heart attack at Winchester Memorial Hospital in Winchester, Va., where he had lived for 17 years.A memorial Mass for Mr. Rao, 53, will be offered at 1 p.m. Saturday at St. Leo's Roman Catholic Church, 227 S. Exeter St.He was a graduate of Baltimore Polytechnic Institute and, in 1960, of the University of Maryland. Five years later, he married Mary Lynn Keiper of Baltimore.

Sean Westley, an electrical engineer in the Timonium office of Greiner Inc., was recently named the Most Promising Engineer of 1992 in the U.S. Black Engineer of the Year Awards program.A 28-year-old Baltimore native and graduate of Baltimore Polytechnic Institute and the Johns Hopkins University's Whiting School of Engineering, Mr. Westley joined Greiner in 1987.Recent Greiner projects on which he has worked include the $30 million parking garage at Baltimore-Washington International Airport and the Sideling Hill Visitor's Center in Washington County.