Chimes

The Chimes agency rang in some 2,000 music lovers, and $325,000, at its fund-raising benefit at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. The event featured a reception and a concert by opera star Jose Carreras.Even before the internationally renowned tenor took the stage, a buffet in the lobby hit the perfect pitch for opera aficionados such as Terry Perl, president and CEO of the Chimes; Eileen Levine, Elaine and Alvin Katz, Judith Martinak, and Susan and Gary Talles, event co-chairs; Allan Levine, the Chimes' board chair; Steve Kramer and James Phillips, board members; Hal Dahan, the evening's honoree; Dr. Cesar Castillo of St. Agnes HealthCare; Marc Winner, president of F. P. Winner Ltd.; Steve Gigliotti, VP and GM of WMAR-TV; Arlene Mandel, manager at the dental office of Feldman, Sachs & Fitzgerald; and Janice Altman, fitness-wear distributor.

Question from the 1960s: Who put the bomp in the bomp-da-bomp-da-bomp? Question for the 1990s: Who puts the beep in the cell phones?And it's not just the beeps. It's the chirps, the bings, and the bongs. It's the bells and the whistles. It's the whole cacophony of electronic burps that are embedded in microchips inside automobiles, cash machines, stereo gear, answering machines, wristwatches, toys, cameras, computer hardware, fax machines, copiers and coffee makers.Not so long ago the alarm clock and the telephone were pretty much the only buzzes in our lives.

The Chimes and Intervals, two nonprofit groups serving children and adults with mental retardation, have merged operations to provide better service and save operating costs.Under the sole leadership of Terry Allen Perl, president and chief executive officer of Chimes, the groups will work together to complement their experiences with different types of clients.The groups will keep their names and boards."We merged to enhance programs and services and to provide more cost-efficient administrative support," said Mary "Terry" Chapman, who was chief executive officer of Intervals and remains as its chief operating officer.

An Iowa nonprofit group offering residential and day services for mentally retarded people is considering whether to merge with The Chimes, the Baltimore-based organization assisting people with developmental disabilities.North Central Human Services (NCHS) of Forest City, Iowa, which has been affiliated with Chimes for 18 months, will undertake a study to determine whether to become part of the Baltimore group as a way of expanding its professional and clinical services, both groups said.

After initially balking at the cost, the state Board of Public Works has approved a $21 million airport cleaning contract for an organization that employs the disabled.The board had delayed action on the deal with The Chimes Inc., a Baltimore-based nonprofit group, at its July 17 meeting. Members questioned whether a contract of that size should be awarded without competitive bidding. But after receiving additional information from the Maryland Aviation Administration, the board this week approved the three-year contract.

Vonnie Kay Jenkins was an activist for the developmentally disabled. The Woodlawn woman sat on committees formed for that purpose, spoke to the state legislature and even appeared on television.Ms. Jenkins, who was mildly developmentally disabled herself, was described by those who knew her as outgoing, pleasant and always willing to help.On Tuesday the 40-year-old died of a stroke at Northwest Hospital Center.Since 1983, Ms. Jenkins lived in Woodlawn at Chimes, a home for people with developmental disabilities, and became well known to those who resided and worked there.

FEW THINGS are as ubiquitous as noise -- from the din of television and radio in homes to roaring highway traffic to jarring workplace sounds. Noise can jolt, annoy and awaken. But not all noise is bothersome. Walk through Ellicott City's Main Street at high noon and the noise is bound to delight. The sound of bells from two churches and, recently, the Howard County Historical Society cascade from high towers down the hills to shower their dulcet tones.Smiles cross the faces of some tourists hearing the music for the first time.

A quality field headed by added-money winners Looming, Churchbell Chimes and Say Capp will battle in tomorrow's $100,000 Northern Dancer Stakes for 3-year-old Maryland-bred horses.The filly Churchbell Chimes is on a three-race winning streak and coming off an impressive 7 1/2 -length victory in the Maryland Million Oaks. She is a daughter of Deputed Testamony.

Eight people suffered minor injuries when a bus carrying developmentally disabled adults collided with a small white GEO Spectrum, flipped over and slammed into a utility pole near the Bonnie View Golf Course in Baltimore County.The driver of the Spectrum, Aleksander Ushbrenko, 20, of the 6900 block of Ten Timbers Lane, Summit Park, was flown to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, where he was listed in fair and stable condition last night.No one on the bus -- a driver, an attendant and five passengers -- was seriously injured.

Ida Caplan, 74, says her favorite color is pink. You can see it in her smile, as her pink lipstick complements her dress, sweater, the rims of her glasses, the flower pinned to her chest and even the color of her skin.It seemed only appropriate that she cut a pink ribbon yesterday to officially open the Curtis Hall Senior Living Center, the first residential center for mentally retarded and physically handicaped older adults.Just 20 years ago Caplan moved into the now renovated Chimes house in Mount Washington when it became the area's first alternative to institutionalized living for developmentally disabled people.

The workers who clean Oriole Park at Camden Yards - and who fought a successful campaign last year for higher wages - have voted to unionize, AFSCME Maryland said yesterday. The union, the state affiliate of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, said the cleaners voted 64 to 13 to join. About 130 were eligible to vote. AFSCME hailed the results, tallied early yesterday morning, as a victory for "contingent workers" with no set schedule. They are employed by Chimes DC, which is an arm of Baltimore nonprofit Chimes International and has a contract with the Maryland Stadium Authority.

Surrounded by more than 50 dancers, Steven Beerman, 55, grooved with his sister, Lisa Singer, to Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" last night in a large ballroom in Martin's West. The song took on special meaning for the siblings this year because Beerman, who has a severe form of mental retardation, has missed the annual Chimes and Intervals holiday party the past two years because of an illness that has required him to use a feeding tube. This year, he was able to eat pureed roast beef, mashed potatoes and vegetables at the party, which organizers say is the state's biggest for people with disabilities.

YOU COULD SAY THAT THE CHIMES School's "2007 Hall of Fame" celebration was a family affair this year because it wasn't just former Maryland state senator Frank Kelly being honored, but also his wife, Janet, their four sons, daughters-in-law and grandchildren. And 22 -- almost all of them -- turned out at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall for the shindig. "We're celebrating generations...and we have three generations here with us," said Janet Kelly. "The whole theme of this evening is the generations of the Kellys supporting generations of people with disabilities, just as Chimes has for the last six decades," said Chimes president / CEO Terry Allen Perl.

At 2 p.m. on Friday, the chimes in the tower of the historic Harford County Courthouse rang out just once. At 3 o'clock, they tolled only twice. Had a time warp mysteriously descended upon the county seat? In fact, county facilities workers got a jump on adjusting the chimes in the 1858 building on Courtland Place, in advance of the end of daylight-saving time, which expired at 2 a.m. today. No one was up at that early hour fiddling with the chimes because other chores needed to be done over the weekend by county workers, mainly electrical maintenance work at county buildings.

WASHINGTON -- U.S. senators yesterday sharply criticized the results of a pair of federal work programs for people with disabilities, saying too few are helped and many of them are not being prepared for mainstream jobs. Members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee also said at their hearing yesterday that some of the nonprofits benefiting from these federal contract set-asides are enriching their executives with high salaries and "lavish" perks. They issued a staff report that singled out five charities as examples - including Baltimore-based Chimes Inc., a charity serving the mentally disabled.

Zaleski to address chamber luncheon The Carroll County Chamber of Commerce will hold a member luncheon at noon Feb. 10 at Best Western Westminster Catering and Conference Center. Ted Zaleski, director of the county budget and management office, will discuss the fiscal 2006 county budget. The cost is $18, and reservations are required by Feb. 3. The Chamber of Commerce is at 700 Corporate Center, Suite L, in Westminster. Information: 410-848-9050. Carrolltown Center chief to take over The Plaza Mark Seaman, recently general manager for Carrolltown Center in Eldersburg, has been named general manager for The Plaza shopping center complex in Baltimore.

FEDERAL authorities have launched a tax probe of Baltimore-based Chimes Inc. and have proposed sweeping governance standards, including executive salary limits, for Chimes and other nonprofit groups that get $2 billion annually from taxpayers to employ the disabled. The Internal Revenue Service has been looking over its records, the Chimes said last week. Chimes executives did not elaborate, and it was unclear whether the review is part of a national IRS investigation into executive compensation at charities and other nonprofits.

Chimes' record of service stands up to scrutiny It's outrageous. The Sun has published several articles, two editorials ("No questions asked," July 9, and "For whom the Chimes toll," Oct. 23) and several letters to the editor attacking The Chimes Inc., one of Maryland's most cost-efficient, effective service organizations. If the Chimes were a failure it wouldn't get this amount of coverage. The Sun seems affronted that an entrepreneurial nonprofit group should pay its executive management team for building an organization that leads the nation in meeting the needs of individuals with disabilities.

Poor salaries for prosecutors impede justice The Sun's article on prosecutors' salaries was instructive but also prompted deep concern ("City's prosecutors exit as their job takes a toll," July 6). As a law student at the University of Maryland, I am concerned that many talented, public-minded law school graduates will be deterred from practicing in this crucial legal field. Most students accrue more than $30,000 a year in debt to attend law school; when this debt is added to undergraduate loans, a student could easily graduate from law school more than $150,000 in debt.

WHAT DO YOU CALL three people who -- without so much as asking a question -- shovel tens of millions of taxpayer dollars to a nonprofit with an unusually well-paid CEO, numerous insider business deals and sloppy accounting? Most people would call them irresponsible. In Maryland, we call them the Board of Public Works. Apparently, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., Comptroller William Donald Schaefer and Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp have limited curiosity about the finances of The Chimes Inc., the Baltimore charity with some pretty strained financial credibility.