Belvedere

On February 18, 2009 CLEOLA I. PURDIE beloved daughter of Mildred Purdie; dear sister of Jacqueline Delores Moses, Betty Jones, Eleanor Franklin and Mildred, David, Larry and Cathy Purdie. Viewing at the JOSEPH L. RUSS FUNERAL HOME, P.A., 2222-26 W. North Avenue, on Friday from 3-8 p.m. Wake at Brown's Memorial Baptist Church, 3215 W. Belvedere Avenue, on Saturday from 10-10:30 a.m., followed by funeral service.

My first inkling that Mayor Sheila Dixon had a different crime strategy than her immediate predecessor came when I saw the foot patrolmen on Garrison Avenue, between Beaufort and Elmer avenues. Before Dixon addressed reporters at a news conference Monday, I talked briefly with Baltimore Police Commissioner Leonard D. Hamm about foot patrolmen, at long last, coming to that part of Garrison Avenue. "The neighborhood knucklehead contingent seems to be absent," I told Hamm. "Yeah, but these guys usually just move to another area," Hamm answered.

One day after the city Health Department closed Pimlico's Super Pride market for unsanitary conditions, workers carted off meat and wiped down shelves yesterday, while customers debated whether they would continue to shop there.Store officials plan to reopen the store in the 3700 block of W. Belvedere Ave. this morning, but area residents, who swapped stories yesterday of spoiled meat, withered vegetables and loaves of bread gnawed by mice, said they were not sure they would go back."It's about time.

Frustrated residents of the Belvedere neighborhood in North Baltimore have for years been urging a city-funded developer to breathe new life into a failing -- and increasingly vacant -- Belvedere Square shopping complex.The response to their pleas stunned them: an ambitious proposal, worth at least $35 million, that would require the purchase of about 40 homes, triple the size of the shopping corridor, and transform York Road south of Northern Parkway into a suburban-sized mall with boxy buildings, trendy boutiques and an ocean of parking spaces.

Joseph A. De Francis told a meeting of Northwest Baltimore residents last night that he is committed to renovating his badly deteriorated Pimlico Race Course with or without public funds.Asked if the fabled but faltering home of the Preakness was in danger of being closed or moved out of the area, De Francis said, "Not while I'm alive."As head of the Maryland Jockey Club -- which owns and operates tracks at Pimlico, Laurel and Bowie -- De Francis has until June 15 to submit renovation plans for all three tracks to Gov. Parris N. Glendening and leading state legislators for approval.

After a months-long stalemate over what to do about the ailing Belvedere Square shopping center in North Baltimore, key business leaders, city planners and residents have sat at the same table to map plans for the future.More than 120 people -- including Jim Ward, owner of the half-vacant shopping complex, and Tom Kiefaber, owner of the nearby Senator Theatre -- gathered Saturday at Govans Presbyterian Church in the 5800 block of York Road to develop strategies to revive the area."It was a long process to bring all the interested parties to the table, to a place they could trust each other enough," said David Goldstein, a lawyer, resident and president of Belvedere Square Action Group.

A woman waiting at a traffic light near a North Baltimore shopping center was forced from her car yesterday only to watch helplessly as the attacker drove away in her car with her 10-month-old daughter.Several witnesses chased the car, which jumped a curb and crashed into a bus stop sign four blocks from the Belvedere Square shopping center. Police said they caught the suspect after a brief foot chase, and the girl was unharmed."We want to express our gratitude to the people who helped get the man who did this," said the victim, Margaret Curley, 35, also speaking for her husband.

The heat wave has made conditions for fishing good, better and best from the North Branch of the Potomac River in Western Maryland east to Chesapeake Bay and the waters of the Atlantic."

A 53-year-old man was beaten with a pipe and stabbed to death late Friday at a group home in the 3600 block of West Belvedere Ave. in Pimlico, police said yesterday.Police said the victim, whom they have not identified, was attacked after an argument about 10: 30 p.m. Friday.Kaghal Coleman, 21, also a resident of the home for the homeless and mentally ill, was arrested early Saturday and charged with first-degree murder. He had turned himself over to Baltimore County police, authorities said.

One day after a couple were critically injured by gunfire in a purse-snatching near Belvedere Square shopping center, store owners in the area are hoping the incident will not further harm a community already suffering business losses.Baltimore police say crime is not a problem in the community surrounding York Road and Belvedere Avenue. Though most shop owners believe the shooting was a random act of violence, a few worry that the incident will leave an indelible impression on residents and visitors.

Tuscany Villa Vacation What's the deal?: Escape to Italy's scenic Tuscany region, sleep in a Renaissance villa for six nights and tool around the countryside in your own car by day for $846 per person, including round-trip airfare from New York. The Tuscan Villa Vacation gives you six nights at the restored Villa Belvedere Campoli, which dates to the 16th century, in the village of Mercatale Val di Pesa. You also get a manual-shift car for the week, including taxes and collision damage waiver, and round-trip economy airfare to and from Florence, Italy.

FRIDAY BELVEDERE SQUARE SIDEWALK SALE: Shop for sweet deals and discounts from Belvedere Square shops through Sunday. Participating stores include Nouveau Contemporary Goods, The House Downtown, Cloud Nine, Simply Noted and Daedalus. Belvedere Square is at 529 E. Belvedere Ave. Go to Belvedere Square.com. BAR BACON IV: Jimmy Valentine Meyer hosts a night of stand-up comedy at Golden West Cafe, 1105 W. 36th St. The evening's lineup includes the North American debut of Dr. Vic Von D and musician/pie guy Rodney Henry showing off his humorous side at 11 p.m. Tickets are $7. Call 410-889-8891.

On July 25, 2009, LARRY E. PURDIE; beloved son of Mildred Purdie and dear brother of Delores Moses, Betty Jones, Eleanor Franklin and Mildred, David and Cathy Purdie. Viewing at the JOSEPH L. RUSS FUNERAL HOME, P.A., 2222-26 W. North Avenue, on Friday from 5-7 p.m. Wake at Brown's Memorial Baptist Church, 3215 W. Belvedere Avenue, on Saturday from 10-10:30 a.m. followed by the Funeral Service.

In the Hollywood version of Wednesday's auction of the Senator Theatre, the auctioneer would have intoned, "Going once, going twice," and right there, in the pregnant pause before he lowered the gavel to the podium and consigned the historic Art Deco movie house to the wrecking ball, a sudden outpouring of community support would have materialized, It's a Wonderful Life-style, to bail out the plucky owner and hero of our story, Tom Kiefaber. Or maybe in a slightly more realistic version, the theater would have been bought by a mysterious bidder who turned out to be a rich, eccentric movie buff and promised to keep the place going.

On May 31, 2009 MURIEL MAY THOMPSON; devoted mother of Jennifer Walker. Friends may visit the FAMILY OWNED MARCH FUNERAL HOME WEST, INC., 4300 Wabash Avenue, on Friday after 8:30 a.m. where the family will receive friends from 4-7 p.m. The family will also receive friends on Saturday at the Mt. Zion Baptist Church, 2000 East Belvedere Avenue, at 10 a.m. followed by funeral service at 10:30 a.m.

The Senator Theatre will continue showing movies and playing host to other events in the coming weeks, even as the city prepares to put the 70-year-old North Baltimore landmark up for auction. Owner Tom Kiefaber plans to continue showing a slate of older films (such as Stagecoach, playing through May 28) until a new owner is found. He also plans to open the facility for other uses, including concerts and private gatherings, to show potential buyers the "great vitality" of the Senator. "If you've ever had the fantasy of sitting in the theater by yourself, with everything cranked up, now is the time to approach us," he said.

The Senator Theatre on York Road is the area's biggest-screen venue for first-run Hollywood movies. But despite an enthusiastic and loyal local following, the Senator has been hit hard by competition from newer, multiplex theaters offering a greater variety of entertainment fare, and for some time now the venerable Baltimore landmark, which serves as an anchor of the Belvedere Square community, has been struggling under an increasingly unsustainable burden...

The stretch along North Charles Street between the Belvedere Hotel and Pennsylvania Station should be one of the most welcoming places in the city. But since the 2006 opening of the Suite Ultralounge bottle club in the Belvedere's basement, it's been anything but that. Residents complain of unruly patrons causing disturbances at all hours, and a spike in violence. In October, a man and a woman were shot and another man was stabbed in an attack linked to club patrons. And last weekend, two pedestrians were viciously assaulted in separate incidents near Charles Street as they passed through the area on their way home.

Despite the strong objections of Comptroller Joan M. Pratt, who described the deal as a "bailout" for a failed business and a continuing drain on public funds, Baltimore's spending panel voted Wednesday to purchase the mortgage on the ailing Senator Theatre. The vote formalizes a proposal Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon put forward in April for the city to pay $950,000 to 1st Mariner Bank for the mortgage on the 900-seat theater and two other properties. It also gives the city the authority to foreclose on the Senator, after which it plans find a new owner or operator for the theater.

On May 7, 2009, VERNEL BARCO. Friends may visit the family owned March Funeral Home West, Inc., 4300 Wabash Avenue, on Wednesday after 8:30 A.M. The family will receive friends on Thursday at Browns Memorial Baptist Church, 3215 W. Belvedere Avenue at 12:30 P.M., followed by funeral services at 1 P.M.