NEWS
By Jonathan Pitts | January 3, 2009
As a massage therapist, Janet Constantino is used to calming tensed-up shoulders and backs. But as she hovered over a cluster of computer carrels at a jam-packed Howard County library yesterday, the mother of two looked as though she could use a therapeutic rubdown of her own. Daughter Jaci, 6, tapped at a keyboard, her tired eyes filling with tears. Son Jacob, 4, looking bored, played a video over and over. And as Constantino paced back and forth, desperately tossing words of encouragement, it was hard to tell who might melt down first.
NEWS
By From Sun news services | December 27, 2008
No fumble: Brady pops question; model says yes New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady proposed to supermodel Gisele Bundchen on a private jet on Christmas Eve - and she said yes, TMZ.com is reporting. Brady, who, it said, is famous for his quarterbacking skills and running errands for Bundchen, proposed aboard a jet that took off from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey and landed in Boston. There were four dozen white roses on board, as well as champagne. Her parents were also onboard.
NEWS
By Tyeesha Dixon and Gadi Dechter | December 26, 2008
On Wednesday afternoon, Michael Foy decided to change a tire on his trailer while his wife, Catherine, prepared a Christmas Eve lunch and baked cookies. Foy assumed his youngest daughter, Jacqulynn, had followed her stepmother inside their Pasadena home. Moments later, as he looked through the window while backing up his truck, he saw 9-year-old Jackie pinned beneath a wheel of the trailer. Foy has been replaying the next few minutes in his mind ever since: screaming to his wife to call an ambulance, scooping the girl into his arms, hearing her complain of a leg injury before her eyes rolled back and she lost consciousness.
NEWS
December 24, 2008
1 Hawaiian punchless: It's mediocrity at its finest, as Hawaii (7-6) hosts Notre Dame (6-6) in the Hawaii Bowl (8 p.m., ESPN). The Irish are looking to end a nine-game bowl skid. 2 Getting ready: for Jags: Learn about the Ravens' preparations for Sunday's crucial game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Ravens Report (7 p.m., MASN). 3 It's in the hole!: It's not exactly It's a Wonderful Life, but Caddyshack is worthwhile viewing anytime, even on Christmas Eve (7 p.m., Versus). 4 It's better to give: Take the money you were saving for that Mark Teixeira Orioles jersey and buy the wife something nice for Christmas.
NEWS
December 21, 2008
Charity's Closet will host a Christmas performance from 2 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. today. The Marriotts Ridge High School Women's Ensemble, under the direction of Terry Eberhardt, will perform old-fashioned Christmas carols in front of Second Childhood/Charity's Closet, 9090 Frederick Road, Ellicott City. Hot chocolate will be provided. All guests will receive a value coupon for Charity's Closet. The performance is free. Charity's Closet is a women's and teen's thrift shop run by teen girls, where all items cost $5. Proceeds benefit Success In Style, which provides free business wardrobes and coaching to women in crisis who are seeking employment.
NEWS
By JAQUES KELLY | December 21, 2008
The St. Ignatius choir had barely finished its last "in excelsis Deo!" when Frances Kavanagh began leading a band of guests northward along Calvert Street. She first invited me to her Christmas Eve party in the 1970s, casually saying to drop by 913 N. Calvert St. She and her husband, Jack, were having "a few friends in." And so, for the better part of two decades, I spent the early hours of Dec. 25 nestled in an old Baltimore setting worthy of a perfect Christmas card. Frances, who was universally known as Chinky, died in March at age 102. I often think of her, cigarette in hand, deep in conversation with my mother, also puffing on a Lucky Strike.
NEWS
By LAURA VOZZELLA | December 17, 2008
Sheila Dixon made her debut the other night as a Stoop Storyteller. Make that Poop Storyteller. The mayor took the stage at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall on Monday night to share a holiday memory as part of the popular storytelling series. When she was a little girl growing up in West Baltimore, Dixon said, she and her older brother and sister always climbed into bed together on Christmas Eve to await Santa. Then along came another little Dixon. The baby of the family was about 9 months old when his first Christmas rolled around.
NEWS
October 24, 2008
Man gets 20-year term in Christmas Eve holdup A robber who held up a Baltimore couple on Christmas Eve has been ordered to spend the next 20 years in prison. Joel Hunt, 21, of the 2700 block of Mount Holly St. in the city was sentenced Wednesday by Circuit Judge John N. Prevas. Hunt was convicted last month of pulling a gun on a couple waiting for a bus at 11:30 p.m. last Christmas Eve in the 2900 block of The Alameda. Wearing a mask, Hunt held a gun to the man's chest, telling him to empty his pockets.
NEWS
By Brad Schleicher | January 3, 2008
Few musical groups are as aptly named as the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Paul O'Neil, co-founder of the progressive symphonic rock group, was inspired by the Trans-Siberian Railroad. To O'Neil, music is similar to the famed transportation system in the way that it connects different cultures, nationalities and backgrounds. Perhaps unexpectedly, O'Neil's collaboration with fellow producer/musician Robert Kinkel and composer Jon Oliva would prove TSO's name fitting - as their music would connect a variety of people, usually divided by choices in music or live entertainment.
NEWS
By Richard Irwin | December 28, 2007
The man who died after a Christmas Eve fire in his Mount Clare home has been identified as Richard Saulsbury, 42, a resident of the 300 block of S. Norris St. for about six years, a spokesman for the city Fire Department said. Firefighters found Saulsbury, who weighed 300 pounds, unconscious on the floor of an upstairs bathroom about 11 p.m., said Chief Kevin Cartwright, the spokesman. Because of his size and trash that blocked the path, firefighters had to knock down an interior wall to move him out a window.