Brooklyn Park

Hard by the Baltimore City-Anne Arundel County line, Brooklyn Park is a typical urban border town.It has a trash and prostitution problem. Worse yet, many residents are convinced that the stability of their neighborhood has been eroding in recent years as renters have replaced homeowners. Many have lost hope.This feeling of pessimism is so overwhelming that improvements are often overlooked. Yet there are bright spots.The most newsworthy item from Brooklyn Park these days is that the Ritchie Motel, that dilapidated fleabag that closed more than two years ago, has physically disappeared.

A 17-year-old boy walking with his girlfriend Wednesday night in Brooklyn Park reported being robbed by three male suspects, Anne Arundel County police said. Officers in the Northern District received the complaint of the robbery in the area of Belle Grove Road and West Arden Road at approximately 10:40 p.m. Wednesday, according to police. One of the suspects held the victim while the other two assaulted him and took his phone, police said, before all three fled on Belle Grove Road.

Two men robbed a Brooklyn Park convenience store at gunpoint, Anne Arudnel County police said. The clerk told police that the pair, armed with handguns, entered the 7-Eleven store at 4000 Ritchie Highway about 1:15 a.m. Friday and demanded money. They fled with an undetermined sum. The robbers were described as black, ages 19 to 25, one about 5 feet, 10 inches tall, weighing 175 pounds and wearing a white T-shirt, baggy blue jeans and a black and gold hat; and the other about 5 feet, 7 inches tall, 155 pounds and wearing a black T-shirt, dark jean shorts and a black do-rag.

Youth football* 115-pounds -- Dominic Harris scored two touchdowns on offense and had an interception and six tackles on defense as the Brooklyn Park Broncos (2-4) of coach Warren Rice defeated the (2-4) Anne Arundel Gridiron Rebels, 24-0.Harris led all carriers with 56 yards on seven attempts, scoring on runs of 15 and 20 yards and grabbed a 20-yard pass from quarterback Cory Wright (5-for-8, 40 yards passing) at the 1 to set up another touchdown.On a keeper, Wright plunged into the end zone with 15 seconds to go in the first half to give the Broncos a 12-0 lead.

The Arundel Improvement Association will hold a candidates night for those running for offices representing the Brooklyn Park area. The session will begin at 7 p.m. Thursday at 705 Cross St. in Brooklyn Park.The candidates will get an opportunity to give a brief resume and describe how they plan to make a difference, if elected. Audience members will be able to talk to the candidates during a social hour after the meeting.Information: 410-789-2192.

IT WAS 12 years ago that I began to write about the residents and events in Brooklyn Park. In today's fast-paced world, 12 years is a long time to do anything. When I told family and friends that I would be doing this, I was told that there wasn't enough going on in Brooklyn Park to make a column, and even if there were, no one would want to read about it. Nothing could have been further from the truth. I had no idea that so many community associations existed or that so many people gave freely of their time for the community.

Anne Arundel County park officials have rescheduled games for five softball leagues this summer because two fields at Brooklyn Park II at East 11th Avenue are being moved. A third field, closest to Ritchie Highway, will be open."The Board of Education is building a new Park Elementary School, so the fields had to be reconfigured," said Joseph Cannon, director of the Department of Recreation and Parks.Park Elementary's new site is next to the park, said Ralph A. Luther, director of facilities management.

A Brooklyn Park man was sentenced Tuesday to 20 years in prison for trying to kill his estranged wife in an bloody attack that took place a month after she left him in the wake of what prosecutors said was an earlier assault. "The difference between this case and a murder case is only the grace of God," Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge Paul A. Hackner told William C. Ward III, 44. The judge also cut off contact between Ward, a construction worker, and the couple's three sons - one of whom saved his mother's life - telling Ward that the only way for Rachel Ward and the children to move along in life "is for you not be a part of it" unless a family law judge says otherwise.