Birthday Party

A Baltimore man alleges that he came down with typhoid fever after eating at a birthday party for state Comptroller William Donald Schaefer in 2002 and has filed a lawsuit against a restaurant in Little Italy. The plaintiff, Dennis Metz, filed the lawsuit in city Circuit Court on Wednesday seeking no less than $25,000 from D'Alesio's of Little Italy, LLC and its co-owners, Paul L. Oliver and Gene M. Raynor. Oliver and Raynor declined to discuss the lawsuit when contacted by The Sun yesterday.

The newly restored Peabody Hotel in Memphis, perhaps best known for its twice-daily parade of ducks to the lobby fountain, is celebrating its 80th anniversary with special events and menus and an 80th Anniversary Package. Included are a night's lodging, welcome champagne in the Corner Bar and dinner in Chez Philippe, tickets to the Peabody Place Museum, complimentary valet parking, and a couple of souvenirs. (If you want to see Graceland, you are on your own.) The package, available through Dec. 31, costs $280.

Disneyland turns 50 this year, and a new parade, a new fireworks show and new attractions will be part of its long party, which begins May 5. To get the most bucks for the bang, the celebration -- called "The Happiest Homecoming on Earth" -- will continue for 18 months at Disneyland and its sister parks, from Orlando to Paris and Tokyo -- and at the new Disneyland in Hong Kong, which opens in September. Arising among what were orange groves and walnut farms in Anaheim, near Los Angeles, Disneyland was the brainchild of Walt Disney and the first of what is now a theme-park empire on three continents.

The West Baltimore woman whom prosecutors called the ringleader of last year's birthday party beating of a 12-year-old girl, and two other principal figures in the attack, pleaded guilty yesterday to assault charges. Nicole Ashley Townes was kicked, stomped and punched by a group of teenagers and children Feb. 28, 2004, in the Loudon Avenue home of the alleged instigator, Monique Baldwin, 37. Nicole spent three weeks in a coma and has permanent brain damage, a city prosecutor said, while her 11-year-old sister, Brenda Bailey, escaped the attack with a broken nose, bruises and an injured leg. Seven women and girls, including Baldwin's daughters, were charged.

And you thought January was the month to take a party breather. Who knew it would turn out to be birthday party central? The b-day party invites are coming fast and furious. Among the highlights -- last weekend's bash at Curt Decker's Mount Vernon digs for Constellation Energy lobbyist hotshot Mary Dempsey. "There were 50 for 50," says party co-host Leslie Shepard, referring to both the number of guests and the birthday itself (although Mary is living proof of the baby boomer's mantra: "Today's 50 is yesterday's 30."

After a day of intense negotiations, expected plea agreements between prosecutors and at least two defendants in the brutal, near-fatal beating of a 12-year-old girl at a Baltimore birthday party fell apart after the case was shuttled among three different courtrooms. Julie Drake, chief of the felony violence unit in the Baltimore state's attorney's office, said she still believes plea agreements will be reached for some of the four defendants whose cases were being negotiated yesterday by prosecutors and defense attorneys.

Four people charged in the near-fatal beating of a 12-year- old girl at a Baltimore birthday party were granted trial postponements yesterday, as prosecutors reported that the girl's condition is improving. "She is now walking and talking," said Julie Drake, chief of the felony violence unit in the Baltimore state's attorney's office. "But she is never going to be the girl she would have been." Drake would not say whether Nicole Ashley Townes, who was in a coma for three months, has been released from a rehabilitation hospital but the prosecutor said the girl is in "contact on a regular basis with her family."

A Baltimore teen charged in the near-fatal attack on a 12-year-old girl at a February birthday party pleaded not guilty yesterday, three months after her mother was arrested on charges that she hid her daughter from police. Seletta Broaddus, 15, was arraigned in Circuit Court and given a Sept. 13 trial date. She is charged with first-degree attempted murder, assault and reckless endangerment. Broaddus will be tried on the same date as four other co-defendants charged as adults in the attack on Nicole Ashley Townes.

B-more's buzzing with celebrity scoops this week. Let's start with the big Tony Bennett shebang at the Meyerhoff last weekend, which benefited the Robert Packard Center for ALS Research at Johns Hopkins. Center administrative director Kathryn Davis says everything about the evening was fantastic, filled with great energy. A lot of that had to do with the legendary crooner himself. "Tony loves singing at the Meyerhoff," Kathryn explains, "because he considers it one of the best concert halls acoustically."

LAVISH SPENDING on children's birthday and coming-out parties is still rampant. In a poll for Parenting magazine, nearly a quarter of parents said they spent more than $200 on their child's last birthday celebration. This month's issue tries to tame the beast, offering tips on how much to spend on gifts for the host ($5 to $15), how many kids to invite (your child's age plus one), whether goodie bags are still expected (they are) and how to keep up with competitive spending on entertainment (don't even try)