Christmas Day

Here's what we know right now about Christmas Day. With the exception of Joey Chiu's in Lutherville, most of the restaurants that were open last year are again. Note that Bistro 300 at the Hyatt is currently operating on the hotel's second floor while its dining rooms are being renovated. Eichenkranz (611 Fagley St., 410-563-7577) will be open again on Christmas Day, from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m. The German restaurant in Brewers Hill serves what may be the currently longest-running Christmas dinner in the Baltimore area.

The warehouse offices are officially closed today for Christmas Day, one of the only truly inactive days of the hot stove season.   The Orioles still have a roster spot available on the 40-man. I don't expect it to be filled today, unless Santa Claus has some Independent League experience. So instead, we will take the opportunity to thank you -- the readers -- for following us throughout the year, from the January rumors to spring training throughout a long regular season and, this year, through the postseason.

This schedule will be in effect in the Baltimore area tomorrowfor the Christmas Day holiday:Anne Arundel CountyCounty offices, closedCourts, closedLibraries, closedPublic schools closed, reopen Jan. 4Trash removal, no pickupAnnapolisCity offices, closedCourts, closedPublic schools closed, reopen Jan. 4Trash removal, no pickupBaltimoreCity offices, closedCourts, closedLibraries, closedParking meters, freePublic schools closed, reopen Jan. 4Trash removal, no...

There is a most magical hour every Christmas season, and it is not the stroke of midnight on Christmas Eve, when the darkened church glows with candles in anticipation of a child's birth. It is not dawn on Christmas morning, when excited children wake their parents so they can see what Santa has left under the tree. And it is not that moment on Christmas night, as in "A Christmas Story," when parents tuck the exhausted children into bed and then sip a quiet glass of wine by a dying fire.

Dec. 25 is still a quiet dining day. Eichenkranz (611 Fagley St., 410-563-7577) will be open again on Christmas Day, from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m. The German restaurant in Brewers Hill serves what may be the currently longest-running Christmas dinner in the Baltimore area. Regi's in Federal Hill is serving a Christmas Day brunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Sotto Sopra is open on Christmas Day from noon to 10 p.m. Wit & Wisdom is serving a $105 fixed-price, three-course menu from noon to 8 p.m., and Bistro 300 (300 Light St., 410-528-1234)

Dec. 24-25Government offices Federal open Christmas Eve; closed Christmas Day.State open Christmas Eve; closed Christmas Day.Baltimore City open Christmas Eve; closed Christmas Day.Baltimore County closed both days.Anne Arundel open Christmas Eve; closed Christmas Day.Carroll closed both days.Harford open Christmas Eve; closed Christmas Day.Howard open Christmas Eve; closed Christmas Day.Courts Federal closed both days.State may close early Christmas Eve; closed Christmas Day.Libraries Baltimore City close at 5 p.m. Christmas Eve; closed Christmas Day.Baltimore County closed both days.

It wouldn't be Christmas without a tree, a turkey and presents. But for Ravens fan Chad F. Hartlove, it just wouldn't be right to skip the last home game of the season. And so the 22-year-old from Pasadena did what he had to do. He brought Christmas to the game - including a hip-high plastic tree with colored lights and a portable DVD player that played A Christmas Story. "It's Christmas Day and the Ravens are in town - what's better?" said Hartlove, whose family adjusted their routine and celebrated Christmas on Saturday so they could make the game.

An Annapolis man was killed Christmas Day when he was hit by a truck on Skidmore Drive in Arnold, county police said.Dennis Lee Perry, 36, of the 1400 block of Log Inn Road died at Anne Arundel Medical Center.Police said Perry was crossing the eastbound lanes of Skidmore Drive shortly after 6 p.m. when he was struck by a 1988 Toyota pickup truck, driven by George Bradford Hartsuff III, 39, of the 1100 block of River Bay Road in Annapolis.Perry was treated by paramedics at the scene, but was pronounced dead at the hospital less than an hour later.

No one else worked that Christmas. I had the whol newspaper to myself.The millionaire publisher was home in his silk robe, sipping breakfast tea by the roaring fire in his baronial mansion, his prize-winning Labs enjoying their Christmas pet-chews on the gorgeous Bokhara. All the editors were home with their kids; that included the city editor, who had 13 of them. All the other reporters, every one of them my senior, were gone for a long weekend.It was Christmas Day 1974. My assignment: Write obituaries, cover the cops.

On the day of Christmas, when gift-giving brings cheer, there were some last-minute shoppers who were in trouble this year. To the stores! Search the aisles! shouted the procrastinators Christmas Day, for if we show up without presents, what will people say? These good-hearted people found themselves in the tricky spot, of finding an open store and buying gifts for those they forgot. The Rite Aid at the Rotunda was crowded all morning, filled with dawdlers who did not heed their loved ones' warning.

My baby boy is about to turn 1. The where-is-time-going panic that is inducing is a post for another day, but I'm starting to wonder, as he gets older, how do we differentiate his birthday celebration from the holiday celebrations? Aaron was due on Christmas Day, and I heard from many December babies how much they disliked having their birthdays wrapped up with the holidays (so to speak). I was terrified I'd go into labor on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day since my husband was in Afghanistan and my older son was understanding Christmas for the first time.

State highway officials are urging motorists heading north and west for the holidays to be cautious, given winter weather conditions expected in some areas in the coming days. The weather could complicate holiday travel and celebration plans as people look to take advantage of a long weekend, with Christmas falling on a Tuesday this year. More bad weather could hit those traveling between Christmas and New Year's Eve. Rain is expected tomorrow in Baltimore with light snow possible in areas north and west of the city.

Here's what we know right now about Christmas Day. With the exception of Joey Chiu's in Lutherville, most of the restaurants that were open last year are again. Note that Bistro 300 at the Hyatt is currently operating on the hotel's second floor while its dining rooms are being renovated. Eichenkranz (611 Fagley St., 410-563-7577) will be open again on Christmas Day, from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m. The German restaurant in Brewers Hill serves what may be the currently longest-running Christmas dinner in the Baltimore area.

The Prime Rib at Maryland Live Casino opened, quietly, a few weeks ago, six months after the casino's grand opening and 10 months after the surprise announcement that Buzz Beler's storied Baltimore steakhouse was joining the casino's lineup. Operated, Beler has said, as a "joint venture" with the casino's developers, the Baltimore-based Cordish Cos., the new restaurant has been designed with respect for Prime Rib icons like leopard skin carpeting, black-leather booths and Icart prints.

The Town of Bel Air has announced changes to its trash and recycling pickup schedules during the upcoming holiday weeks. In addition to Christmas Day, town offices will be closed on Monday, Dec. 4, Christmas Eve; Monday Dec. 31, Christmas Day; and Tuesday, Jan. 1, New Year's Day. Public Works Director Randy Robertson said at a recent staff work session that there will be no trash or recycle pickup in town on those days. The holiday trash pickup schedule is as follows: • Monday's household trash route will be collected on Wednesday; • Tuesday's household trash route will be collected on Thursday; • Thursday's recycle route will be collected on Friday; and • Friday's recycle route will be collected on Saturday.

A brief preface for the liturgically uninformed: Kathleen looked up from the comics pages this morning and marveled, "There are really people who think that this is the second day of Christmas. " I believe she was looking at Mother Goose and Grimm . The twelve days of Christmas are not the twelve days leading up to Christmas. This is Advent . The twelve days of Christmas begin on Christmas Day and run until the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6. Lord knows no one can stop your listening to "The Little Drummer Boy" and all that other ghastly kitsch during Advent, but you could at least make an effort to get the terms right.* And now on to business: Postings have been sparse during the last week or so as I have been fighting off some minor malaise, but other people have been industrious.

Squeals of joy filled the West Baltimore home of Denise Lyons yesterday as her two young children opened gifts festively wrapped for the holiday.It was a scene repeated in thousands of homes throughout the Baltimore area -- with one big difference. Lyons, 35, is one of more than 150 people in the region homebound with AIDS. For her, daily life is trying enough, and the holidays bring even more strain.But her Christmas, and that of her children, Denise Watson, 5, and Samuel Watson, 4, was transformed by a visit from Harriett Heyman, a volunteer for Moveable Feast, which prepares and delivers free meals to people with AIDS and their dependents.

Washington ZooLights Spend the holidays with some furry creatures and scaly critters at ZooLights, which features animal sculptures composed of environmentally friendly lights. Animal houses will stay open during this seasonal event, and gingerbread habitats will also be on display. The creations will be on display at the National Zoo from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Dec. 14-23, 26-30 and New Year's Day. The zoo will be closed on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Eve. For more information, call 202-633-2614 or go to nationalzoo.si.edu.

A 24-year-old Baltimore man was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison Wednesday for a Christmas-Day carjacking, the Maryland U.S. attorney's office announced. Tyrone Royster and an accomplice were on the 3300 block of West Coldspring Lane on Dec. 25, 2010, when a man pulled over to give them a ride, according to court documents. One of them pressed something against the driver's neck and demanded money. When the victim tried to take off his jacket to access his cash, Royster told the conspirator to shoot.