Children S Museum

He doesn't have a college education, but he runs the country's largest after-school tutoring company. He's single and childless, but he's heading the effort to build the new, $30 million children's museum in downtown Baltimore."

Thousands of children, from toddlers to 12-year-olds, did something yesterday that seems almost novel in the age of computers and digital games: They went outside and played. In the chilly air of the first Sunday of October, Rash Field at Baltimore's Inner Harbor became a sprawling playground. Over six hours, boys and girls skipped rope, jumped rope, hula-hooped, played with sticks and created works of sidewalk art with colorful chalk. They chased big, soapy bubbles created by a clown on stilts.

Thousands of children, from toddlers to 12-year-olds, did something yesterday that seems almost novel in the age of computers and digital games: They went outside and played. In the chilly air of the first Sunday of October, Rash Field at Baltimore's Inner Harbor became a sprawling playground. Over six hours, boys and girls skipped rope, jumped rope, hula-hooped, played with sticks and created works of sidewalk art with colorful chalk. They chased big, soapy bubbles created by a clown on stilts.

With drums, bells and other instruments, children were raising the roof Sunday at Port Discovery in Baltimore, as part of the 10th annual "I Have A Dream Weekend" festivities honoring the birthday of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. On Day 2 of the three-day celebration, scores of children sat in a large studio of the children's museum, beating djembe West African drums while others shook cowbells and whacked tambourines. They tried to keep up with Jonathan Murray, drum circle facilitator, and his partner, Daveed Korup, who built the African rhythms to a crescendo as loud as an Eastern Shore summer thunderstorm.

'Rhythm of Love' Tour Listen to a blend of contemporary jazz, R&B, soul and funk music when the "Rhythm of Love" Tour stops at the Morris A. Mechanic Theatre Saturday for two benefit concerts. The lineup features Will Downing, Gerald Albright, Vesta and Phil Perry. Show time is 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. The theater is at Hopkins Plaza. Tickets are $32.50-$42.50. The concert is a benefit for the Arthritis Foundation, Maryland Chapter. Call 410-481-SEAT. AROUND THE HARBOR New Year's fun at Port Discovery Count down to the new year at noon Sunday at Port Discovery, a children's museum at 35 Market Place.

In Baltimore City Southern resigns; Port Discovery seeks new museum chief Port Discovery, Baltimore's children's museum, is looking for a new president and chief executive officer. Kathy Dwyer Southern, its head since 1996, has resigned to lead the Capital Children's Museum in Washington, according to a statement issued yesterday. Port Discovery will launch a national search for a successor to Southern, who has headed the $32 million museum since 1996. Alan Leberknight, who is retiring as dean of Towson University's College of Business and Economic Development Tuesday, will become the interim president as of Aug. 13. In Frederick County Parking meter technician charged with stealing funds FREDERICK - Frederick city police have arrested a city parking meter technician on charges of stealing money from municipal parking decks and street meters during the past month.

If this is lacrosse season, it must be spring.The White House will put an official on the Whitewater case to make sure that no one there is tampering with the investigation.A vigorous little trade war with Japan should rally people behind the president.If NationsBank says there is going to be a Children's Museum in the Brokerage, there is going to be one.

"The timing was perfect," said Susan Keating, president of NationsBank Maryland. Indeed, it was.NationsBank was looking to make a bold statement about its commitment to the community as it absorbs the venerable Maryland National Bank, which it acquired last year.Meanwhile, the Baltimore Children's Museum was looking to move from the Cloisters, a Gothic castle tucked away in Baltimore County, to a more visible spot near the bustling Inner Harbor.This convergence of desires led to a $3 million donation from the North Carolina-based financial institution, its largest single gift ever, to the children's museum effort.

Transforming the Fishmarket nightclub complex into achildren's museum will cost $21 million, but city planners said most of the renovations would be financed with private funds.The overhaul is among the projects included in the six-year, $1.2 billion capital improvements budget adopted Thursday by the Planning Commission. The budget proposes spending $223 million in the fiscal year that begins in July, about $5 million less than is being spent on construction and renovation projects in the current budget year.

THE COUNTDOWN is on to the Dec. 29 public opening of Port Discovery, Baltimore's new children's museum. As by-invitation-only pre-opening events begin Tuesday, no one is watching the project more closely than the real estate community.It is wondering whether the $32 million complex can make a big splash at a site where other entertainment and retail concepts failed.Port Discovery's exhibits have to succeed on their own, of course. But the Baltimore Development Corp. strengthened the museum's long-term chances recently by selecting the Cordish Co. to revitalize the Brokerage, an adjoining building that flopped as a retail and nightclub venue.

The Smoke City has come a long way since its origins as the industrial giant of the world. Trying to reverse a hazy legacy that led writer James Parton in 1868 to describe it as "hell with the lid taken off," Pittsburgh has joined the green, eco-friendly movement. The city hosts visitors in the world's largest green-certified convention center, where lights are recycled and water is reclaimed. It's also known for outdoor retreats, historical sites, museums, art galleries and zoos. 1 Go play at the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh.

Bryan and Missy Meyers planned their vacation to Northern Virginia around a trip to Baltimore's Port Discovery - a favorite spot of their young daughters before the family moved to Reno, Nev. With a late flight Tuesday, the Meyers family arrived at 11:30 a.m. only to learn that the children's museum would close in an hour and a half. The reason: Lots of children and no water pressure make for very messy bathrooms. And after seeing the toilets brimming with discolored, soppy toilet paper, Missy Meyers conceded the point.

From an early age, kids are fascinated by water. A new exhibit at Port Discovery Children's Museum capitalizes on that fascination. Wonders of Water is the name of the $400,000 exhibit, the first permanent one added to the museum since it opened in December 1998. The new aquatic playground on the museum's third level lets kids interact with water in a variety of ways. They can pump it, squirt it, make giant bubbles with it, play music with it, float boats on it -- just about anything short of bathing in it. And that appeals to kids' natural interest in all things liquid.

Nail biting, keeping a messy desk and hitting a little brother were among the bad habits written on strips of paper, then stuffed into an effigy of an old man on Wednesday. Girls ages six to 11 participating in New Year's Around the World at the Chesapeake Children's Museum in Annapolis then carried the old man, stuffed with their faults and pieces of cloth, as though they were taking him to the market to light on fire, as is a tradition in Ecuador. "Now you don't have to think about your faults anymore," said Renee Spears, a museum volunteer.

Harford County: Pylesville North Harford school water tests clean The water at North Harford Middle School came back clean in its first test since showing traces of fecal coliform earlier this month. Twelve samples were taken from the Pylesville school's water, which has been shut off since a pipe was broken during construction in the summer. A spokesman for the Maryland Department of the Environment said 12 more samples were to be taken yesterday, with the results coming in over the weekend.

Financially struggling Port Discovery received debt relief yesterday from city officials who agreed to allow the downtown children's museum to delay repaying $4 million in loans that were coming due in December. The city's five-member Board of Estimates unanimously approved a request from the Baltimore Development Corp. to modify its loan agreement with Port Discovery's nonprofit operating company. The deal allows the Baltimore Children's Museum Inc. to repay the interest-free loans by Dec. 31, 2009, instead of at the end of this year, allowing its executives time to continue on a newly implemented business plan aimed at improving Port Discovery's operations.

Hoping to turn around the struggling Port Discovery, the city's Board of Estimates took steps yesterday to ease the children's museum debt so that officials can focus on bringing in new exhibits. The city extended the length of its $3 million loan by one year, to 2005, and allowed the museum to use $3 million of its capital to pay off higher-interest bank loans. Mayor Martin O'Malley said the restructuring would help the museum. "They are not in as much trouble as they were," O'Malley said.

BALTIMORE TAXPAYERS beware: Your pockets are about to be picked. The struggling children's museum is trying to turn its city-owned Port Discovery complex into a cash machine. The museum, which leases the building for $1 a year, would net $360,000 a year by subleasing excess space to the school system; taxpayers would get zilch. Museum advocates argue this is a good deal all around because it would keep Port Discovery open and provide a home for several public school training academies for the next 20 years.

NEXT WEEK IN LIVE This year's holiday movie season gives viewers more hope and less to cry about ... Checking out the fresh produce at four markets just north of the Maryland line. COMING UP The suit-wearing, pump-purchasing class in Washington does have some creativity in its midst after all. It'll be displayed in spades this week when Artomatic opens. The annual event is a kind of Trading Spaces for artists. A horde of them (more than 1,000) take over an underused office building - this time the site of the old National Children's Museum - and paint it, install art in it and generally turn it into their own studio/fun house.

If you have a kid who loves music, Port Discovery has just the exhibit for your little fan. Opening Saturday and running through Jan. 9 at the downtown children's museum is Making America's Music: Rhythm, Roots and Rhyme, a new traveling exhibit celebrating the history, diversity and joy of American music. The exhibit, created by the Boston Children's Museum and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, promotes an appreciation of music by kids and encourages them to participate in music-making, says Michelle Winner, director of marketing at Port Discovery.