Bark

In the wake of the earthquake that jolted my apartment building and a large portion of the eastern United States on Tuesday, allow me to express my disappointment in the local pet population. Long known for possessing the ability to sense impending natural phenomena, animals are nature's early warning system. Yet in the minutes leading up to the magnitude 5.8 quake - reportedly the strongest to strike the area since 1944 - not a single bark, meow, chirp, or whatever it is that turtles do, sounded through the cheaply insulated walls of my building.

John Carroll junior Alex Kane, member of Girl Scout Troop 1382, was awarded the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest award in Girl Scouting. To receive this honor, a girl must use her organizational, leadership, project management and teamwork skills to serve her community. Alex created "Bark for a Cure. " She solicited pictures, in the form of a contest, and created a canine calendar. The proceeds from the sale of this calendar went to benefit cancer research and treatment. Alex will be formally recognized by the Girl Scout organization this spring.

Put down the chew toys and enjoy two hours of free fun with your canine companion at the Annual Dog Day Afternoon on Sat. April 21 in Hopewell Park in Columbia. Hosted by the Columbia Association , the afternoon will be packed with back-to-back contests, treats and activities. Show off your dog's skills with a pucker at the best kiss contest or a bark at the howling contest. If your pup is more of a fashionista, enter it into the coolest costume and most fashionable contest.

If you're looking for some fun spring bonding time with your furry friend, the Bowie Baysox invite you to Bark in the Park at Prince George's Stadium. On the afternoon of Sunday, May 6, the Baysox will take on the Akron Aeros in front of a crowd full of fans and their dogs. "I know that many of our fans enjoy spending time with their four-legged friends so we decided to designate special days where they could bring their dogs to a game," Baysox Director of Marketing Brandan Kaiser said in an April 17 press release.

On June 28, 2005, IRENE J. BARK (nee Szymanski), beloved wife of the late Harry T. Bark, Sr.; dear mother of Linda and her husband Anthony, Harry, Jr. and his wife Deborah, Dennis, and Sandra and her husband Jerome. She is also survived by 11 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. Christian Wake Service at Kaczorowski Funeral Home, P.A., 1201 Dundalk Avenue on Thursday at 3 P.M. Funeral Mass in St. Casimir's Church on Friday, at 10 A.M. Interment Holy Rosary Cemetery. Visiting hours, Thursday, 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 P.M.

On September 9, 2004, ROLAND C.; beloved husband of the late Anna K.(nee Schaub); devoted father of Linda D. Smith and Wayne R. Bark; loving grandfather of Jack Cimino, Jr., Alison and Amy Smith, Lauren, Justin and Jonathan Bark; dear great-grandfather of Mc Kenzie and Morgan Cimino. Funeral from the Lassahn Funeral Home, (Overlea), 7401 Belair Road, on Monday 1 P.M. Interment Parkwood Cemetery. Visiting Saturday, 6 to 8 P.M., Sunday 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 P.M. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Carson Scholars Fund, 305 W. Chesapeake Ave., Suite L-020, Towson, MD 21204, Attn: Development Office, in memory of Roland Bark or Messiah Lutheran Church Building Fund, 5600 Old Washington Road, Sykesville, MD 21784.

Your pooch needs a day to frolic outside. You need a day to shmooze with other people. So leash up the dog and head to the Bark in the Park Saturday at the Humane Society of Baltimore County in Reisterstown. The annual daylong canine festival features games, agility contests, an obstacle course, disc-catching demonstrations, a ceremony honoring the dogs rescued from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, a doggie health and wellness fair, canine contests and lots more for pets and owners.

If you're looking for some fun spring bonding time with your furry friend, the Bowie Baysox invite you to Bark in the Park at Prince George's Stadium. On the afternoon of Sunday, May 6, the Baysox will take on the Akron Aeros in front of a crowd full of fans and their dogs. "I know that many of our fans enjoy spending time with their four-legged friends so we decided to designate special days where they could bring their dogs to a game," Baysox Director of Marketing Brandan Kaiser said in an April 17 press release.

A New York City woman files a $500,000 lawsuit that claims her neighbor's yappy dogs are driving her nuts, and your first thought is: Wow, way to overreact. Then you find out the yappy dogs are Chihuahuas. Your next thought is: Oh, she should sue for way more than that. She should sue for 2 or 3 mil, easy. Maybe even more if she can prove lasting damage to her emotional well-being. That should be a piece of cake when you live above two Chihuahuas. Maybe you read about the plight of lawyer Paulette Taylor, 62, who lives in an apartment on the Upper West Side.

Gerald Bark, a highly respected pitching coach who in his youth had perfected a devastating curveball on the playgrounds of Northwest Baltimore, died of cancer Saturday at Greater Baltimore Medical Center. The Pikesville resident was 61. Mr. Bark, who was known as Jerry, was born in Baltimore and raised on Towanda Avenue, not far from the playground where he began playing baseball -- a game that was to become a central part of his life. "Jerry and I played Little League baseball together.

Put down the chew toys and enjoy two hours of free fun with your canine companion at the Annual Dog Day Afternoon on Sat. April 21 in Hopewell Park in Columbia. Hosted by the Columbia Association , the afternoon will be packed with back-to-back contests, treats and activities. Show off your dog's skills with a pucker at the best kiss contest or a bark at the howling contest. If your pup is more of a fashionista, enter it into the coolest costume and most fashionable contest.

In the wake of the earthquake that jolted my apartment building and a large portion of the eastern United States on Tuesday, allow me to express my disappointment in the local pet population. Long known for possessing the ability to sense impending natural phenomena, animals are nature's early warning system. Yet in the minutes leading up to the magnitude 5.8 quake - reportedly the strongest to strike the area since 1944 - not a single bark, meow, chirp, or whatever it is that turtles do, sounded through the cheaply insulated walls of my building.

As Carroll County commissioners Richard Rothschild and Robin Frazier spoke recently during a slide presentation on their goals/visions in the 2010 Master Plan, I found myself thinking, "I've heard this tune before. " But I hadn't heard it on WTTR - no, it was at the public meetings where the commissioners tried to explain in January why the a land-use plan submitted by the Planning Commission in January was dead on arrival. Seven months passed before the commissioners got around to making recommendations they considered necessary to gain the board's approval.

An Anne Arundel County man has been charged with a firearms violation and animal cruelty after police said he shot his Severna Park neighbor's pit bull, which he told officers had aggressively barked and growled at him. Police said the shooting occurred about 6:30 p.m. Saturday in the 300 block of Benfield Road. "The male subject reported that the dog was aggressively barking and growling at him," police said in a statement. The man pulled out a gun and shot the dog once, police said.

There's a new foreign insect pest stalking Maryland's pine trees, and state agriculture officials expanded the pine shoot beetle quarantine zone Friday into Baltimore's suburbs in a bid to slow the pest's advance toward valuable loblolly pine timberlands on the Eastern Shore. The state is especially concerned about reaching small Christmas tree farmers who might not be aware of the threat, so that inspectors can monitor their farms and enlist them in the battle. "Even though we haven't seen much damage in Maryland, we're … on the front lines, trying to keep it from moving into the big, pine-producing regions in the South, including the Eastern Shore," said Carol Holko, manager of the state Agriculture Department's Plant Protection and Weed Management Section.

History - and most NFL observers - say the Ravens won't beat the New England Patriots in the first round of the playoffs Sunday. The Patriots have a Super Bowl pedigree, a quarterback who has never lost a home playoff game (Tom Brady is 8-0 in Foxborough) and the consensus best coach of the decade (Bill Belichick). The Ravens, meanwhile, have never beaten New England and have a 1-6 record against this year's playoff field. After the Ravens clinched the sixth and final AFC playoff seed, the players struck a confident (and bitingly sarcastic)

The flower buds on my Cherokee Brave dogwood are dried out. Half the trunk is damaged from deer rubbing their bodies against it. Is it dead? When deer rub their antlers on bark, it damages the cambium layer beneath. The cambium layer transports nutrients and water. It appears your dogwood could not get enough water up to open buds. If the tree leafs out, it may survive the damage, though always suffer from losing so much bark. Water deeply during droughts and mulch (no more than 2-3 inches)

A little doggy dignity if your please, Mr. Claws.(A hymn to the In the Company of Dogs catalog, to the tune of "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing")Bark! The cocker spaniel sings,Don't dress dogs in human things.Faux mink coats and pillbox hats,Save them for your dolls and cats.Dogs do not want velvet collars;Robes are meant for people's showers;If that human your dog be,Sign up for pet therapy.Bark! The cocker spaniel sings,Canine gifts are silly things.Reversible Wool/Mink Dog Coat, $68, Item No. 6364; Pillbox Hat, $16, Item No. 2307; Red Velvet Collar With Jingle Bells, $19, Item No. 2350; Doggy Bathrobe, $39-$48 (varies with size)

A New York City woman files a $500,000 lawsuit that claims her neighbor's yappy dogs are driving her nuts, and your first thought is: Wow, way to overreact. Then you find out the yappy dogs are Chihuahuas. Your next thought is: Oh, she should sue for way more than that. She should sue for 2 or 3 mil, easy. Maybe even more if she can prove lasting damage to her emotional well-being. That should be a piece of cake when you live above two Chihuahuas. Maybe you read about the plight of lawyer Paulette Taylor, 62, who lives in an apartment on the Upper West Side.

LAS VEGAS - If the economy cast a certain glumness across the enormous trade show floor at the recent International Builders Show here, one bright spot - make that a thousand bright spots - was the pervasiveness of any and all things green. Recycling and energy-conservation pitches amounted to a marketing steamroller at the trade show, where a sea of building-products manufacturers' booths pushed their latest offerings for the 60,000-some builders in attendance. From soy-based building insulation to draft-busting windows, the "green" mantle was everywhere.