Building

Those of us of a certain age can recall Charles Street when there were dozens of shops and consumer oriented services in the blocks between Fayette and Centre Streets, the area addressed by Janet Heller ("Charles Street could use a little TLC," Commentary, Aug 11). In particular, in the 300 block in the 1950s on the east side of the street, there were two furriers, a TV store, a silversmith, a purveyor of antique jewelry, a camera store, a men's' haberdashery, two sellers of fine china and stationery (one was my family's 120-year-old business at 317)

A mother and two infants escaped without injury after a tree fell on a building in Greektown late Saturday night, a city fire spokesman said. Firefighters responded to the 5100 block of Fait Avenue just after 11:15 p.m., said Chief Kevin Cartwright. The family was staying at a neighbor's house, he said. liz.kay@baltsun.com Text BUSINESS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun Business text alerts

A Charles Village landmark, the "Copy Cat" building at 2443 N. Charles St., was sold at auction Tuesday to a father-and-son development team, Carl and Steven Verstandig. Their bid at the auction, handled by Alex Cooper Auctioneers, was $365,000 plus a 5 percent buyer's premium that brought the total price to $383,250. The Verstandigs, who have a company called CityWide Properties, said they plan to restore the exterior and renovate the interior. They said possible commercial tenants include a restaurant and a barber shop.

The John R. Hargrove Sr. building of Baltimore's district court closed shortly after 9 a.m. Tuesday because of a nearby water main break that left the facility without water. It's unclear when the building,  on the 700 block of E. Patapsco Ave.,  will reopen and resume hearing cases. Bail reviews were transferred to the Borgerding district court location at 5800 Wabash Ave, and other cases were postponed, said judiciary spokeswoman Terri Bolling. The water main break occurred on the 3600 block of Brooklyn Ave., Bolling said.

Gov. Martin O'Malley's aide Joseph C. Bryce says that Maryland is in a race with other states to host offshore wind farms ("O'Malley wind plan meets resistance," March 24). How is this a race? What does the winner get? The "losers" will gain a lot of free experience, but I fail to see the advantage of being first. What's the rush, isn't there enough wind for all? There certainly is in Annapolis! David Plaut, Reisterstown

Since 1901, Annapolis residents and downtown workers have been dropping off letters and buying stamps at the brick Georgian Revival-style post office on Church Circle. But not for much longer. A vote by the state's Board of Public Works on Wednesday seals the eventual fate of the post office. The state is buying the office for $3.2 million, with eventual plans to use the building for government offices. "The state saw an opportunity to retain the historic value of the building, particularly because it's in the footprint of other state-owned facilities.

Eastern Avenue was closed in both directions at Broadway after a building collapsed Tuesday morning, Baltimore police and fire officials said. According to state tax records, the building, the former Eastern Auto Supply Co., is owned by 504 South Broadway, LLC -- the address of the Ritz Cabaret. The cabaret owners planned to open a steakhouse, said Jason Sullivan, the executive director of Fells Point Main Street. The owners could not be reached for comment. City firefighters responded at 8:45 a.m. to a report of a building in dangerous condition, said Chief Kevin Cartwright, a department spokesman.

The discovery of two suspicious packages in the morning mail led to the evacuation Thursday of the state's Multi-Service Center in Glen Burnie, though neither turned out to be sinister. Maryland State Police, Anne Arundel County Police and other agencies responded, including bomb-sniffing dogs, said Barbara Bauman, the Department of General Services superintendent for the centers. The offices in the building, which include the Glen Burnie District Court and Department of Social Services, fully resumed operations within a few hours, she said.

The Arc of the Northern Chesapeake Region — whose mission is to help people with disabilities lead personally-valued lives in, and supported by, the community — dedicated its building to the late Tim Quinn. Located at 4513 Philadelphia Rd. in Aberdeen, the building is known now as the Tim Quinn Community Resource Center and was named in honor of Mr. Quinn, a former executive director and visionary leader, during a ceremony and reception Sept. 22. The reception also included a special celebration of the memory garden and those whose lives have touched the hearts at The Arc Northern Chesapeake Region.

Does Pastor Oxentenko's God condone men of the cloth being disingenuous? Or maybe the pastor "forgot" his current building plan (which scores of residents testified against a few months ago) is for two buildings totaling 84,000 square feet on a 40,000-square-foot footprint (filed Aug. 13, 2010), twice the square footage of his previous (July 28, 2005) plan? This is quite contrary to his assurances to the Laurel Leader "they have scaled their plans down from two buildings for the church and school encompassing 72,000 square feet, to a single multilevel building with a 28,000-square-foot circumference" ("County Council, church dispute rages on," Leader, Sept.