Bar

The first time David Caplan walked into Chopper's Sports Grill in Denver in 2009, he was in search of fellow Ravens fans, who he had heard gathered at the bar. "I showed up at the first game not knowing anyone, and saw a bunch of purple and black, and I said, 'All right, I feel comfortable,'" the 31-year-old Columbia native recalled. Since then, that gathering has become an important source of community for Caplan and dozens of other Baltimore-area transplants in the Mile High City — and members are getting primed for Saturday's playoff game against the hometown Broncos.

J. Patrick's Pub, the Locust Point Irish bar loved for its authentic feel and live music, will close after New Year's Eve, according to this Baltimore Business Journal report . The building, located at 1371 Andre St., will be placed on an auction block Jan. 10, according to the report. The bar's contents and liquor license, along with the building itself, will be open to bidding. The BBJ's Jack Lambert also writes that there are potential buyers along the East Coast, and they could be interested in keeping it an Irish pub. Joseph Patrick Byrne, who died in July, opened J. Patrick's Pub in 1987.

Here's a recipe for systematically fact-checking the accuracy of speed camera tickets, at least in Baltimore City where the time stamps on citation photos go to the thousandth of a second: Take a random sample of tickets. Use the two time-stamped photos on each one to physically measure the distance traveled so as to calculate the vehicle's actual speed. Then compare that to the alleged speed listed on the ticket. Repeat. The Sun has employed this method to document erroneous readings at seven city speed cameras.

When it opened a few years ago, the Abbey Burger Bistro was the first restaurant in Federal Hill to offer upscale burgers with odd meats. (Wild boar, anyone?) But it quickly became a neighborhood favorite of Ravens fans and the post-college set. The restaurant and bar is down a short alley off East Cross Street. On your first visit, you might walk right past it without realizing it. There are two floors - if the downstairs bar is slammed, you might have better luck upstairs. And because it's within walking distance of M&T Bank Stadium, you're in the heart of Ravens territory.

The State Department revealed this month that the United States has detained more than 200 children at its military prison in Afghanistan. I represent one of them, a boy who left his parents' home in Karachi, Pakistan in July 2008, when he was 14, on a trip to his grandparents' house in western Pakistan. He was allegedly captured in Afghanistan a few weeks later and has been "detained" at Bagram Air Force Base ever since. What frustrates me about the State Department report is not the number of children detained, but that the U.S. won't let me or other lawyers make a case that these children should be released.

Rachel J. (Seawell) Vogel of Baltimore, formerly of Forest Hill, passed the July 2012 Maryland Bar Examination and was sworn in as a member of the Maryland Bar on Dec. 13 at the Court of Appeals in Annapolis.

Of Love and Regret , the Canton bar and restaurant from Stillwater Ales' Brian Strumke, will open its upstairs bar on Friday. It's called the Jaded Lounge, and it will feature 11 drinks on tap (four Stillwater beers and seven specialty liqueurs/cocktails -- more on that in a bit). Following through on Strumke's vision from the beginning, the Jaded Lounge will also double as a boutique bottle shop, selling an assortment of beer, wine and spirits. Customers will be able to enjoy them in-house or for takeaway.

These days, one of the hardest reservations to make in Baltimore is a table at Ouzo Bay, the eye-catching Greek restaurant that opened in Harbor East in September. Boosted by reviews from critics and devoted Yelpers, Ouzo Bay has quickly become a new favorite among Baltimore foodies. Talk to people who've dined at Ouzo Bay and they'll quickly list their favorite aspects - the South Beach-like decor, the attractive outdoor patio, the attentive servers, the wild-caught fish. Even the intricate work of pastry chef Akis Anagnostou rightfully earns raves.

A fight in downtown Towson early Sunday morning ended when five shots were fired from a handgun into a crowd of people near the Charles Village Pub, one striking a man in the hand, according to Baltimore County police. Francis Minsung Kang, 26, of the first block of Brook Farm Court in Cockeysville was arrested and charged with attempted first-degree murder and other offenses in the shooting — the third in the county seat and the second in its downtown bar district in recent months.

In October, the Admiral's Cup in Fells Point opened its storied doors for the first time since 2007. On the Saturday of its opening weekend, the renovated bar was packed with patrons, most clutching Bud Lights and watching college football on the multiple flat-screen TVs illuminating the dark room. A group of us - all who had missed the former dive bar's heyday of the '80s and '90s - noticed the scene from the street and were lured inside. After a couple of rounds, we couldn't figure out the appeal.