Bethel

Mayoral candidate Martin O'Malley will pick up the endorsement today of the Rev. Frank M. Reid III, the influential pastor of the city's largest black church, Bethel AME in West Baltimore.Three sources knowledgeable about the endorsement said last night that Reid would make the announcement at 11: 30 a.m. outside the 213-year-old church at 1300 Druid Hill Ave.The backing of Reid is expected to be a critical boost to the O'Malley campaign as the candidates head into the final week before the Sept.

And on the seventh day, they were still campaigning.Sunday may be a day of rest for many, but the city's mayoral candidates kept pushing yesterday, trying to gather critical votes in the waning hours of the hard-fought campaign that culminates with tomorrow's primary election.The day began with the three most visible Democratic candidates -- Lawrence A. Bell III, Martin O'Malley and Carl Stokes -- whirring through city churches, meeting congregation members by the thousands, hoping they will become their Tuesday voters.

Down Old Court Road, where the subdivisions of Randallstown dissolve into the cornfields and woods of Patapsco Valley, Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church hopes to build a church for its growing suburban membership.But first, the church will have to go around -- or through -- Janice and Owen Weaver's house.The Weavers' two-story house sits on a right of way Bethel wants for access to its 255-acre property near Granite.Though neighbors worry that Bethel's large church will disrupt the tranquillity of the neighborhood by adding traffic to rural roads and taxing wells, the Weavers fear they might lose their home.

HEAD WEST ON Liberty Road from the city, hang a left on Old Court Road and follow it for several miles and you'll come to the bucolic western Baltimore County community of Granite.A couple of miles past the intersection of Old Court and Dogwood roads you'll find Granite Presbyterian Church. That's where Granite residents gathered a week and two days ago to discuss how they would persuade the guy who wants to build, in their words, a "mega-church" in their community to take his proposed edifice elsewhere.

EVERY political campaign brings joy or heartache to marginal players -- people who are committed in varying degrees to a candidate's ideas, hopes and dreams.Some give up summers or even years of summers in search of some public good. Others want a taste of inside political power, "access" to decision-makers, a job -- or an edge in some future campaign.On election night, the real workers, those who have labored for years, sense the outcome at least hours ahead of time. Even the casual visitor can feel the quickening pulse of victory or the languid one of defeat.

After four years of searching in Baltimore County for a place to build a new church, the congregation of Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church thought it had found its promised land -- a 256-acre tract at Dogwood and Old Court roads in Granite.But after meeting with community members last night to present their plans, it was clear the West Baltimore church would need more than trumpets to knock down the walls of opposition.More than 200 people came to the meeting at Woodlawn High School to hear Bethel's proposal, but it was apparent that many had made up their minds to oppose the 3,000-seat church they fear would overwhelm their rural Patapsco Valley neighborhood.

Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church is scheduled to take its first formal step today toward seeking approval from Baltimore County agencies to build a 3,000-seat sanctuary in Granite that has met with resistance from local residents.County representatives have reviewed the church's preliminary plans and are to meet with church officials this morning to discuss concerns about the proposal to build on a 256-acre site at Old Court Road near Dogwood Road.Although church officials hope to build a complex that will include offices, a media center, banquet hall, classrooms and a broadcast station, now they are seeking a sanctuary and 1,500-space parking lot.One of the city's most influential congregations, Bethel has been trying to expand for years because its membership has outgrown its stately, 213-year-old building on Druid Hill Avenue, which seats about 1,700.

EMMITSBURG -- Mount St. Mary's started with four straight losses in Northeast Conference play last season and desperately needed a win last night to avoid the prospect of doing it again.The Mount got it against St. Francis (N.Y.), but it was far from easy."This was a huge win for us because if we go 0-3 facing a road game [at Monmouth Wednesday], it could mean our confidence goes," said Mount forward Tony Hayden, who accumulated 16 points, a game-high 10 rebounds and two steals in the 79-73 victory.

Residents of Granite in southwestern Baltimore County said last night they would oppose any move by the 11,000-member Bethel AME Church to build in their tiny, historic town -- even as Bethel's congregants met in West Baltimore to discuss the expansion proposal."

IT is common during Black History Month to make lists of "firsts" for African-Americans. Certainly, Baltimorean Daniel Coker, a 19th-century educator and religious leader, would be on any such list.Coker was one of the first African-Americans to become an ordained Methodist minister, publish a pamphlet ("A Dialogue Between a Virginian and an African Minister," in 1810), start a school and lead the independent black church movement.Coker, born Isaac Wright in 1780, was the son of an African-American slave father and an English indentured servant mother.

They made a joyful noise along West Baltimore's sleepy streets Sunday morning during a processional filled with hymns of praise, boisterous cheers and powerful hand claps. It was the thunder that followed the lightning: Less than two months after historic Bethel AME Church was forced to close its doors because of damage from an electrical storm, its members marched through the streets surrounding the church Sunday to celebrate its reopening. The Druid Hill Avenue church held its first Sunday worship service since the fire and drew dozens of faithful who started marching in celebration well before the start of the morning service.

The Catskills region of New York is known for the mountains that dominate the horizon, wildlife centers and, of course, 1969's Woodstock Music Festival. Relive memories of the celebrated hippie hoedown or create new ones with the area's many shops and parks. Visit the site of the "Aquarian Exposition" in Bethel, now home to an arts center and museum, just in time for the 40th anniversary. 1 Remember the tie dye: : The Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, on the site of the Woodstock Festival (Aug.

PHILADELPHIA -- The Meade Mustangs were in exclusive company. They had reached the final of the boys scholastic "Championship of America" 1,600-meter relay with a sizzling time of 3 minutes, 14.68 seconds in the morning session of yesterday's concluding day of the 114th Penn Relays. Just two other American teams - Bethel of Virginia and Long Beach Poly of California - had been fast enough to join the four Jamaican squads and one from the Bahamas in the final. But the Mustangs weren't about to cruise home on their laurels.

The 31-year-old music director of Bethel African Methodist Episcopal, an influential West Baltimore church, was in jail yesterday on charges that he raped and abused a 12-year-old female parishioner during three encounters, city police and church officials said. Timothy D. Price III of Owings Mills has been held in lieu of $1 million bail at Baltimore's Central Booking and Intake Center since he was arrested Wednesday, according to court records. He was charged with second-degree rape, assault, child abuse and multiple sex offenses.

Each Sunday throughout the HBO drama's 13-week season, TV critic David Zurawik will highlight a must-see character or story element appearing in the current episode. The gospel choir is rocking, and the call of the drummer's backbeat is impossible to resist in the opening of tonight's episode of The Wire, titled "Margin of Error." It all is a prelude to powerful words coming from the pulpit of one of Baltimore's most widely known real-life clergymen, the Rev. Frank M. Reid III, pastor of Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church.

On July 28, 2006, TEON WHITE; beloved father of Taniyah, Tysha and Ty-laih. Also survived by his father Victor White; mother Devona D. Robinson; grandmother Bertha Robinson; brothers Derrell Johnson and Logan Murray; sister Brittian Forester; a host of other family and friends. Friends may call at the WILEY FUNERAL HOME, P.A. 638 N. Gilmor St. on Thursday, 5 to 8 P.M. Family will receive friends on Friday for the 10:30 A.M. Wake and the 11 A.M. Funeral at Bethel A.M.E. Church, 1300 Druid Hill Avenue.

On July 23, 2006 CELESTINE M. SIGGERS. Friends may call at the Family Owned MARCH FUNERAL HOME WEST, INC., 4300 Wabash Ave. on Sunday after 10 a.m. The family will receive friends at Nichols-Bethel United Methodist Church, 1239 Murray Rd., Odenton, MD, on Monday at 10 a.m., followed by Funeral services at 11 A.M.

On April 9, 2006, JOSEPH LONNIEEASTIN, SR.; beloved husband of Bess R. Eastin; loving father of Angela Marie Kiser and husband Joseph Michael and Joseph Lonnie Eastin, Jr., Pop Pop to Nicholas Michael and Samantha Marie Kiser; brother of Emory Ford Eastin and wife Edna Ruth. Family will receive friends at the DONALSDSON FUNERAL HOME AND CREMATORY, P.A., on Wednesday 2-4 and 6-8 P.M. Funeral service will be held on Thursday 10 A.M. at the Nichols-Bethel U.M.C. Interment in the church cemetery.

On March 31, 2006, WILLIAM D. JR.; devoted husband of Margaret A. (nee Schaefer); beloved father of William D., III and his wife Sharon. Also survived by three grandsons and two great-grandsons. Relatives and friends are invited to call the Bethel Temple at 3207 E. Joppa Road, Baltimore, MD 21234 on Monday, from 10 to 12pm at which time Services will be held. Interment at Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens. Arrangements by SCHIMUNEK FUNERAL HOMES, INC.

The Cordish Co.'s bid to renovate the city-owned Pier Six Concert Pavilion is a clever piece of packaging. It offers an experienced development team, the booking talents of the Rams Head Tavern and Infinity Broadcasting and the possibility of a more diverse venue with the participation of Baltimore's biggest, politically well-connected church, Bethel African Methodist Episcopal. That lineup won Cordish the nod on the city contract, but it provoked protests that the church's involvement was a political ploy to shut out minority contractors.