Candlelight Vigil

Perhaps it's the brief darkness that nudges people closer, forging among them a unity of purpose as their individual, flickering flames gradually multiply to illuminate the night with one bright glow. Whatever the psychology of a candlelight vigil, its power as an emotionally unifying force is undeniable, making it the perfect choice for a new annual gathering to remember victims who have been assaulted or killed by loved ones, said Krista McKee, who recently took the helm of the Domestic Violence Center of Howard County.

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Students at the University of Virginia are planning to hold a candlelight vigil tonight in memory of slain lacrosse player Yeardley Love, the first campus-wide event organized in honor of the 22-year-old Cockeysville native. Friends and acquaintances of Love have held private tributes since she was found dead in her off-campus apartment Monday morning, including a small candle ceremony on campus yesterday. But tonight's vigil, a public event at 8 p.m. in the university's McIntire Amphitheater, will be one of the few organized activities on a campus otherwise engrossed in preparations for exams.

Johns Hopkins University student Nathan Krasnopoler was riding his bike home from the Waverly Farmer's Market on a sunny Saturday morning last February when his life was cut short by an elderly driver. The 20-year-old computer science major from Ellicott City was riding in a marked bike lane on University Parkway when an 83-year-old woman turned right and hit him, trapping him under her car for 15 to 20 minutes. He never regained consciousness, was in a coma for more than five months and died Aug. 10 of brain injuries sustained in the accident.

They stood quietly behind the Longfellow Elementary sign as though posed for a class picture, a small candelabra of people flickering against the dark. A family trailed toward them: two children, one holding a small picket sign that read, "Remember the Kids," and their parents, one holding a large American flag. In the warm night, dogs sat patiently by their owners. Once or twice, a car honked. It was Missy Zane's second Sunday candlelight vigil against the war, but now bombs were falling on Iraq.

UNDER A starlit sky, hundreds of people gathered to participate in a candlelight vigil near the People Tree at Columbia's Lakefront on Sunday night. The event, called "Columbia Remembers," was planned by the Columbia Association to honor the victims and rescue workers at the Pentagon and in New York who lost or risked their lives Sept. 11 and in the aftermath of the tragedy. The ceremony began with representatives from the Howard County Police and Fire Department's Color Guard marching toward the People Tree, led by Ellicott City residents Don Zack and his daughter, Tatia, playing bagpipes and drum.

Johns Hopkins University student Nathan Krasnopoler was riding his bike home from the Waverly Farmer's Market on a sunny Saturday morning last February when his life was cut short by an elderly driver. The 20-year-old computer science major from Ellicott City was riding in a marked bike lane on University Parkway when an 83-year-old woman turned right and hit him, trapping him under her car for 15 to 20 minutes. He never regained consciousness, was in a coma for more than five months and died Aug. 10 of brain injuries sustained in the accident.

Animal Advocates of Howard County will sponsor a candlelight vigil for homeless animals at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 20 at the Animal Control Facility, 8576 Davis Road, Village of Long Reach.The event is part of a national observance commemorating the dogs, cats and other animals killed in shelters and animal control facilities in the past year because of animal overpopulation.The purpose of the event is to make the public aware that the mass killing can be prevented by spaying and neutering pets, and educating the public.

With a candlelight vigil tonight and a countywide conference tomorrow, Howard County health officials and members of the interfaith community will join HIV carriers and their families to commemorate World AIDS Day, which is tomorrow.The events will focus on the rights and treatment of those who are infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), also called the AIDS virus."This is not just a health issue," said the Rev. Douglas Hunt, pastor of Columbia United Christian Church, which is the host for tonight's vigil at the Oakland Mills Meeting House at 5885 Robert Oliver Place.

The Harford County chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving will hold its first Candlelight Vigil of Remembrance and Hope at 6:30 p.m. Saturday in Bel Air in recognition of those killed or injured by drunken drivers.The vigil, in front of the Harford County Courthouse on Main Street, will be held simultaneously with the National Candlelight Vigil in Chicago and others around the country by local MADD chapters.Harford County is the only one of Maryland's eight chapters holding a ceremony during National Drunk Driving Awareness Month.

The woman whose body was found Sunday evening along the Gwynns Falls Trail in Southwest Baltimore was identified Wednesday as a 40-year-old from Linthicum, according to city police, who say she had been shot. Lois Smyth, also known as Lois Vance, lived in the 400 block of W. Maple Road. She had attended Old Mill High School in Severna Park, and her classmates there have tentatively scheduled a candlelight vigil at the school for Thursday night. Baltimore police said they have interviewed people of interest in the case and have established a motive, but would not disclose details because of the pending investigation.

There was Jana, and then Chrissie and others. And then there was Tyra. The names were among those on a long list of local transgender people who succumbed to violence or drug abuse or homelessness, said Robyn Webb, who rattled them off at a candlelight vigil Friday for the latest victim, Tyra Trent. While Webb, 54, never knew Trent, she understood her struggles and knew of her death. The 25-year-old, born Anthony Trent and known as Tyra, was killed last month. Her body was found Feb. 19 in a vacant, city-owned home in the 3300 block of Virginia Ave. in Northwest Baltimore.

— Like others at the candlelight vigil this week, Patty O'Brien had been outraged by what she called the "stupid and thoughtless" remarks of two county officials who voted to cut off funding to the Head Start preschool program, declaring it was better if women stayed home with their kids. But now, O'Brien, a working mother, was shocked at something much closer to home. Her 9-year-old daughter, who accompanied her to the Thursday night vigil, had a declaration of her own. "I wish she didn't work," Loretta Donaghue said, "so I didn't have to go to day care.

Tara Stickel and her family gathered with friends in Middle River last night for a candlelight vigil to remember her 14-year-old daughter, Anna Marie, who died a year ago when she was struck by an Amtrak train as she walked along the tracks. Trains rumbled by in the background as about 200 people, many of them Anna's school friends, gathered along Orems Road, not far from the site of the Jan. 5, 2010, accident. The teenager had been walking along the tracks, which were frequently used as a shortcut by local students, without authorization; she was unable to get out of the way of a train that came up behind her. Anna's mother says little has been done over the past year to secure the tracks and prevent a recurrence.

Perhaps it's the brief darkness that nudges people closer, forging among them a unity of purpose as their individual, flickering flames gradually multiply to illuminate the night with one bright glow. Whatever the psychology of a candlelight vigil, its power as an emotionally unifying force is undeniable, making it the perfect choice for a new annual gathering to remember victims who have been assaulted or killed by loved ones, said Krista McKee, who recently took the helm of the Domestic Violence Center of Howard County.

Police who searched the apartment of George Huguely recovered a T-shirt with a red stain and a letter addressed to Yeardley Love, the Cockeysville woman he is accused of killing, according to a Charlottesville newspaper. A court document filed by police Wednesday lists several items seized by detectives from Huguely's apartment as they investigated Love's killing, including two Apple laptop computers, a spiral notebook, a shower curtain, rugs and a pair of blue cargo shorts. Court officials said Wednesday that the document had been sealed by court order, but its contents were described in a story by the Charlottesville Daily Progress.

Mark Schumann stood among about 100 people braving the cold at the Inner Harbor Monday night to commemorate National Homeless Persons' Memorial Day. The 52-year-old gave up living on the streets five months ago and now resides in a shelter - which means like most everyone else at the event, he would come in from the cold. But he knows what it's like not to. "Three weeks ago, I got to a shelter late and it was pouring rain, and really cold, and I couldn't get inside that night," said Schumann.

About 100 demonstrators gathered last night in southern Anne Arundel County for a candlelight vigil to protest a Ku Klux Klan recruitment rally.Carrying signs reading "Unite," "Value diversity" and "Ban racism," the demonstrators stayed about a quarter-mile away from the rally, which was on private property, to avoid direct confrontations, they said. About 40 Anne Arundel County police officers were on hand. No incidents were reported.Roger L. Kelly, grand dragon of the Maryland KKK, said he expected 100 to 150 to attend the rally, but police said their informal watch of those entering the grounds of a private residence in West River suggested a much smaller turnout.

Students at the University of Virginia are planning to hold a candlelight vigil tonight in memory of slain lacrosse player Yeardley Love, the first campus-wide event organized in honor of the 22-year-old Cockeysville native. Friends and acquaintances of Love have held private tributes since she was found dead in her off-campus apartment Monday morning, including a small candle ceremony on campus yesterday. But tonight's vigil, a public event at 8 p.m. in the university's McIntire Amphitheater, will be one of the few organized activities on a campus otherwise engrossed in preparations for exams.

On the eve of a candlelight vigil for a 72-year-old man killed during a robbery, City Councilwoman Belinda Conaway called Wednesday for a "dragnet" by city police and federal law enforcement officers to crack down on street violence. "We need to multiply the efforts to get the violent offenders off the street who seem determined to terrorize the innocent residents of Baltimore," Conaway, a Northwest Baltimore Democrat, said in a statement. "With the decline in municipal resources, we need to bring federal law enforcement into the effort in a greater way."