Capital City

CAPITAL CITY, S.C. -- Al Shirley drove in two runs and Allen McDill pitched six shutout innings, leading the Capital City Mets (10-13) to an 8-1 victory over the Hagerstown Suns (15-8) yesterday in a Single-A South Atlantic League game.Shirley hit a two-run homer in the sixth as the Mets built a 7-0 lead. Cesar Diaz hit a bases-empty homer in the inning. Hagerstown scored its only run in the eighth on a sacrifice fly by Adam Melhuse.McDill allowed four hits, walked one and struck out eight in six innings.

Annapolis officials announced a new initiative Monday to recruit and train mentors for youth outreach programs as part of a continuing effort to reduce crime in the state capital. The Volunteer Center for Anne Arundel County will manage the Treasure Hunters Clearinghouse, which hopes to recruit, screen and train 60 volunteers in the next year to serve as youth mentors in existing programs. The effort will be funded with about $45,000 from city, county and state sources. "I know the importance of having strong adult role models for so many of our young people," said House of Delegates Speaker Michael E. Busch, a Democrat, at a late-afternoon news conference to announce the initiative.

WASHINGTON -- Practically everyone now agrees: the nation's capital city is coming back.Some of the improvements are in services: Potholes are getting filled, trash picked up, dead trees replaced. The drug problem is abating and crime is sinking. Decrepit schools are getting repaired. Vendors are being paid, tax refunds issued.Then there's downtown Washington, on a dramatic upswing. A new MCI sports arena, new restaurants and shops are bringing back life, even on weekday nights. A business-financed improvement district providing sanitation services and extra security accounted for 82 tons of trash pickup and contributed to a 32 percent drop in crime in the district's first six months.

Soft-spoken Maria Broadbent didn't want to wear a badge and be a cop when she became Annapolis' director of the Department of Neighborhood and Environmental Programs. She wondered if there was a way to make her job easier and get residents to become environmental stewards. She put together a program of green initiatives - the Certified Green Environmental Steward Award - for lodgings, offices, retail, restaurants and other venues. To earn the certificate, businesses need to incorporate environmental practices from a comprehensive checklist and be rated on a point system.

HAGERSTOWN -- Guillermo Garcia and Tripp Keister each went 2-for-4 as the Capital City Bombers rallied to defeat the Hagerstown Suns, 4-3, in a South Atlantic League game yesterday.The Suns (11-5) led 2-0 after an RBI single by D. J. Boston in the first and a home run by Angel Martinez in the fourth. The Bombers (10-5) scored three runs in the fifth to take the lead as Garcia homered and Keister and Jerard Osentowski had RBI singles. Capital City added another run in the sixth on an error by Tom Evans.

First Night Annapolis has become a New Year's Eve tradition in the capital city, with entertainment that offers something for all ages. The festival began in 1990 and promotes itself as a theater without walls on a nonstop stage in a "March toward Midnight."

Baltimore comic-book titan Stephen A. Geppi solidified his dominance of the comics distribution business yesterday by buying a major competitor and adding $50 million in sales to his company.With the purchase of Capital City Distribution Inc., Geppi's Diamond Comic Distributors Inc. of Timonium will book considerably more than $200 million in annual sales, boosting it back toward its 1993 peak. The deal won't increase Diamond's employment in Timonium much, however."It's a substantial recapture for us," said Geppi, who also owns Baltimore Magazine and who is a minority shareholder of the Orioles.

Assembly served Annapolis well When the final gavel sounded at the Maryland General Assembly Monday night, the City of Annapolis came out a big winner. The State Capital budget included $2 million for the long-awaited renovation of the Police Station and Emergency Operations Center, which has been a top priority of mine since becoming Mayor. As the Capital City, Annapolis is responsible for providing many public safety services to the many state employees and buildings within its boundaries.

WASHINGTON -- Could America imagine a ''Greater Washington'' -- launched, perhaps, even by Inaugural Day this ,, coming January?Right now, says Bruce Adams, a former president of the suburban Montgomery County Council, the nation's capital city and region are ''failing miserably.''And it's not just the sea of red ink washing over the discredited District government, Mr. Adams told a Smithsonian conference in early October. The capital city and its Virginia and Maryland suburbs are all in trouble and failing to tap their immense resources.

Annapolis Mayor Joshua J. Cohen signed into law Tuesday legislation creating a new economic development corporation designed to revitalize small businesses in the capital city. Cohen also announced four nominees to serve on the board of the newly created Annapolis Economic Development Corp., which will be run as a public-private entity and be governed by an 11-member board. The board will hire an executive director by the fall to run the day-to-day operations. The corporation launches with $400,000 in seed money from the city council, which was approved as part of the fiscal year 2011 budget.

Annapolis Mayor Joshua J. Cohen is turning to private donors to help pay for some of the city's highest-profile public events, a move he says is necessary given the increasingly tight local budget. Cohen made his pitch to about 10 local business leaders during a breakfast event at Loews Annapolis Hotel on Wednesday morning. The city hopes to partner with local businesses to pay for the city's New Year's Eve celebration, as well as the Fourth of July fireworks and parade — to the tune of about $20,000 each — and an "activity fund" that would pay for events such as the City Hall open house and a luncheon for city employees.

Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold has authorized an early disbursement of property tax revenue and other funds to the city of Annapolis, allowing the city to keep paying its bills. Despite passing a balanced budget this year, Annapolis has struggled to take in enough tax receipts and other revenue to meet expenses. The city obtained a $10 million credit line after Mayor Joshua J. Cohen warned the city was in danger of not being able to meet payroll and pay other debts.

Annapolis Mayor Joshua J. Cohen signed into law Tuesday legislation creating a new economic development corporation designed to revitalize small businesses in the capital city. Cohen also announced four nominees to serve on the board of the newly created Annapolis Economic Development Corp., which will be run as a public-private entity and be governed by an 11-member board. The board will hire an executive director by the fall to run the day-to-day operations. The corporation launches with $400,000 in seed money from the city council, which was approved as part of the fiscal year 2011 budget.

Six months ago, when the earthquake hit Haiti, approximately 2 million people were living in the metropolitan area of the capital city of Port-au-Prince. (The country's total population is almost 10 million.) The capital city was overcrowded. Haitians have always moved from the outlying departments to Port-au-Prince because it's the only place in the country with jobs and most basic services. The biggest employer in Haiti, the Haitian government, has most of its offices in Port-au-Prince.

Jonathan Graham scored 11 points and Donya Jackson added 10 to power second-ranked Calvert Hall past Chestnut Hill (Pa.), 44-36, in the championship game of the Benedictine Capital City Classic in Richmond, Va., Wednesday. The Cardinals went 11-for-20 from the foul line and cruised down the stretch. Calvert Hall finished 3-0 at the three-day tournament. No. 1 Mount St. Joseph 78, J.L. Mann (S.C.) 53: Eric Atkins scored a game-high 20 points as the Gaels (12-1)

Many downtown Annapolis galleries are taking not only a patriotic red, white and blue theme this month, but also a city one as part of the celebration this year of the 300th anniversary of the signing of Annapolis' royal charter. About 20 members of the Annapolis Gallery Association are sponsoring open houses and special exhibitions from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday. I was able to preview the event at McBride Gallery, 215 Main St., which is showing Annapolis: A Living History featuring 20 artists' works exploring 300 years of Annapolis history as well as scenes of the contemporary state capital.

Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold has authorized an early disbursement of property tax revenue and other funds to the city of Annapolis, allowing the city to keep paying its bills. Despite passing a balanced budget this year, Annapolis has struggled to take in enough tax receipts and other revenue to meet expenses. The city obtained a $10 million credit line after Mayor Joshua J. Cohen warned the city was in danger of not being able to meet payroll and pay other debts.

WASHINGTON -- At Camp David, Egyptian President Anwar el Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin held secret talks that led to a historic peace between their nations. On the banks of the Wye River, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to give back part of the West Bank in return for concessions from Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Now, Annapolis becomes the third Maryland locale to take a turn in the international spotlight as a venue in the long search for peace in the Middle East.