Cindy

On January 4, 2006, CINDY RUTHTUCCIARELLA (nee Southwick); devoted mother of James, Dominic, Amy and Ariana Tucciarella; dear sister of Vernon Southwick and Judy Nelka. Also survived by many nieces and nephews. A Memorial Service will be held at the Connelly Funeral Home of Essex, 300 Mace Avenue, on Saturday, at 10 A.M. Visiting hours on Saturday 9 A.M. to 11 A.M. Interment private.

She has been called everything from Peace Mom to American Traitor. But when it comes to name-calling, Cindy Sheehan gives as good as she gets. "We've been lulled to sleep by a dictatorship," Sheehan says, "with no opposition from the opposition party and the media." Her soft voice may sound like the person who calls to say the book you checked out is overdue, but her message is in your face. Or rather, in the president's face. Sheehan drew both fame and infamy by camping outside President Bush's Crawford, Texas, ranch during his vacation there this summer, demanding he meet with her and explain why her son had to die in Iraq.

David Clemons seethes when he sees Cindy Sheehan on television, standing among small white crosses in an anti-war encampment named for her dead son. To Clemons, her protest is a crushing insult to his own son, who was also killed while fighting in Iraq. "The lady is not honoring her son's sacrifice, because we don't have a draft, and he went and signed his name on the dotted line," said Clemons, of Winchester, Tenn., whose son, Nathan, 20, was killed by a roadside bomb June 14. "She'd better not be presenting herself as the voice of all the fallen."

CRAWFORD, Texas - Antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan said yesterday that she was leaving the tent camp she had set up near President Bush's ranch because her mother suffered a stroke in California. Sheehan, 48, said she and her sister Deedee Miller were flying to Los Angeles to join their mother, Shirley Miller, 74, who was receiving emergency treatment at an undisclosed location. Sheehan lives in Vacaville, Calif. She said she hoped to return to Crawford within a day or two to resume her campaign to get Bush to meet with her. "While I am gone, the other mothers of fallen soldiers in Iraq will keep up the pressure on the president to meet with us and answer questions about the war," she said.

WASHINGTON - Antiwar demonstrators held candlelight vigils across the country last night, energized by Cindy Sheehan, the California mother of a fallen soldier who has camped out for almost two weeks near President Bush's central Texas ranch, demanding a face-to-face meeting with him. In the Baltimore area, protesters held vigils in Bel Air, North Baltimore, Catonsville and elsewhere. In Washington, 400 to 500 demonstrators gathered silently in front of the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue.

A couple of hundred lucky folks were most definitely up for an opening night at Artscape last weekend. Literally. They gathered on the top of the Meyerhoff garage for a party celebrating opening night. Not only did guests get a birds-eye view of the goings-on below on Mount Royal Avenue, but they also had their pick of several tables full of gourmet goodies. Cocktails - along with the occasional breeze - helped guests keep their cool. Partygoers Jannette Witmyer, Maria Broom and Gwen Richards were in high spirits, as they grooved to the tunes floating up from Artscape's main stage.

The rainy remnants of Tropical Storm Cindy gave way to blue skies over Maryland yesterday, but not before being implicated in two deaths, a smattering of power outages and several traffic mishaps - including a large sinkhole that closed a portion of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway yesterday. Among several traffic accidents that occurred during the storm, state police said Chris Coffelt, 44, and Matthew Coffelt, 8, both of Round Hill, Va., were killed about 11 p.m. Thursday when the pickup truck they were riding in struck a guard rail and overturned in Frederick.

ORLANDO, Fla. - Gulf Coast residents were put on alert yesterday as two tropical storms headed toward Louisiana, setting a record - and potentially ominous - pace for the young 2005 hurricane season. Tropical Storm Cindy was expected to hit the north-central Gulf Coast early today. The National Weather Service issued a tropical-storm warning from Intracoastal City, La., east to Destin, Fla. A more-threatening Tropical Storm Dennis, meanwhile, formed yesterday about 1,000 miles southeast of Key West in the Caribbean Sea. It was expected to strengthen into a Category 1 hurricane that could skirt Florida's southwest tip before slipping into the Gulf early next week.