Citywide

Democratic mayoral candidate Martin O'Malley, whose strong showing in Tuesday's primary surprised even his most ardent supporters, gained one in three black votes and nine of every 10 white votes.According to a Sun analysis of voting results, O'Malley ran 28 percentage points higher in such black neighborhoods as Walbrook Junction than former City Council President Mary Pat Clarke, who is white, did in 1995 against Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke. O'Malley also posted 25 percentage points more than Clarke did in liberal white neighborhoods such as Hamilton, which gave Schmoke one in three votes four years ago.O'Malley picked up 53 percent of the vote citywide -- despite running against two veteran African-American politicians and 14 other candidates.

The life span of Baltimore men is 10.3 years shorter than of Baltimore women, which might put Hopkins back in the sex change business.Senator Young is living proof that the deprivations of elective office need be no barrier to getting ahead.At a Washington citywide election for a City Council seat, 7 percent of voters turned out.Save South Korea. Kill its merchant banks.Pub Date: 12/05/97

Baltimore's "other" experiment in school privatization got a glowing second-year report card yesterday, and school Superintendent Walter G. Amprey vowed to continue $9 million in contracts with Sylvan Learning Systems, despite a $27 million district budget deficit.From 1994 to 1995, students in seven elementary schools with Sylvan tutoring labs showed larger gains in mathematics than students citywide and those in the nine privately managed "Tesseract" schools, company and school officials said.

Parent involvement in school-improvement teams is among the topics that will be discussed today at the Baltimore school board's fourth citywide public forum.The forum will give parents and the public a chance to voice concerns and ask questions about city schools.It will start at 6:30 p.m. at Coldstream Park Elementary School, 1400 Exeter Hall Ave. in the Waverly area.

No one should be surprised that the first two schools declared eligible for "reconstitution," a euphemism for state takeover, are Baltimore city "neighborhood" high schools: Douglass to the west, Patterson to the east. Both of these schools have proud histories, particularly Douglass, which lists Thurgood Marshall and Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. among its alumni. But both in recent years have suffered the pathology of urban education: poor academic performance, poor attendance, high dropout rates.

Attention, residents of Bolton Hill and South Charles Village: The special taxing district you wanted, to pay for better private security and sanitation, is in deep trouble in the legislature.But there is hope, albeit slim. Another measure, a citywide bill that would allow such special districts to supplement municipal services, is still alive -- for the time being.Although the House approved the South Charles Village legislation two weeks ago, the Senate has not considered it. And the Bolton Hill measure has yet to receive even a committee hearing in either chamber.

Rousing revivalI was terribly elated and exhilarated to observe the front-page coverage that you provided the "citywide revival crusade at Camden Yards ballpark."Your reporter, James Bock, did a superb job in capturing the flavor, spirit and content of the citywide revival crusade. The accompanying photographs were graphic, illustrative, poignant and inspirational.The Rev. Drs. Harold A. Carter of New Shiloh Baptist Church and Frank M. Reid III of Bethel A.M.E. Church are to be commended for their superior leadership, sagacity and wondrous enthusiasm and leadership that they brought to this historic event.

Swaying to the beat of a tambourine, two dozen families clapped and sang Monday night to kick off a weeklong revival program in Annapolis.Women cried out "Thank you, Jesus," as the Rev. Donald McAllister, pastor of the Redeemer Church of Christ, welcomed the group and prayed for healing. The rousing service was the first of five this week, billed as a "citywide revival," sponsored by the black Pentecostal congregation."I saw a need," said McAllister, who founded the church that has held services at Asbury United Methodist Church on West Street since last August.

The number of conventions in Baltimore is expected to drop drastically next year, costing businesses millions of dollars in lost revenue.For 1993, 86 conventions and meetings have been booked in Baltimore, said Wayne Chappell, executive director of the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association. Last year Baltimore played host to 394 conventions, and 332 have been booked through the end of this year.Mr. Chappell estimated that the city's convention revenue would decline by $60 million next year.

The District of Columbia is taking strides to replenish its dwindling supply of trees.The push was initiated last month by residents and civic groups PTC who are concerned about the deterioration of streetscapes and the loss of shade trees.An appeal from citizens on upper Massachusetts Avenue in Northwest Washington has spurred the city to severely limit the number of trees developers can cut without permission from the zoning commission.A group of 20 non-profit organizations has formed the Urban Forest Council of Washington to coordinate tree plantings citywide.

The women sitting on the front porches of two adjoining Northeast Baltimore homes say the well-kept appearance of their community belies a stubborn crime problem. One of them recalls that her son-in-law - an off-duty security guard returning home from work - was beaten and robbed of his possessions as he waited for a bus just a few weeks ago. The other notes that drug dealers come from nearby neighborhoods to hang out on their lush corner. "A lot of people think that not a lot happens in this area, but it does," said one of the women, who was afraid to give her name.

Baltimore's Spring Cleanup 9 removed 454 tons of debris from city neighborhoods, according to city public works officials. The cleanup - held April 19 - attracted more than 5,500 volunteers from 241 communities across the city. Volunteers and city workers cleaned lots, alleys and sidewalks, while also removing graffiti and weeds, and planting trees and flowers. During last year's fall citywide cleanup, more than 2,500 volunteers removed 855 tons of trash, officials said.

Baltimore's mayoral contest has been shaping up for months, but the race for cash is getting under way in earnest this week. Mayor Sheila Dixon and City Councilman Keiffer J. Mitchell Jr., who will be rivals in this year's mayoral election, are planning fundraising events this week, hoping to get an early start in what is expected to be the city's most crowded race in years and its most costly ever. Next week, at least two more fundraisers are scheduled. Early fundraising may be critical in a race that some believe could cost the successful candidate more than $2 million.

A Baltimore education committeerecommended last night that Pimlico Middle School be shuttered this summer as part of the latest round of school closings in the city. Last week, the committee approved a recommendation to close Thomas G. Hayes Elementary this summer and to phase out Lombard Middle, Hamilton Middldle and Canton Middle over the next few years. The recommendations, which grew out of a series of community meetings, will be presented to the school board Tuesday. The board will hold a series of public hearingson all proposed closings during the week of Feb. 10, before voting onthe recommendations Feb. 27. It will be the second of three annual rounds of school closings in Baltimore.

WHAT IN the world are these people trying to do to my beloved City College? Not only are they trying to do it to City, they're trying to nail our esteemed rivals at Polytechnic Institute. A third school dear to my heart, Carver Vocational-Technical High School, is on the list. My older sister Barbara graduated from Carver in 1966. That doesn't make me an alumnus, but it sure as heck makes me an alumnus-in-law. Other citywide high schools - Western, Dunbar and Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical among them - are being targeted.

Fighting to keep the city's homicide toll below last year's mark of 256, Baltimore police are stepping up anti-crime work: saturating heavy drug areas, stopping more motorists and increasing street interviews. They're also following up on arrest warrants, cracking down on illegal taxi drivers who often are targets of violent crime and posing as drug dealers and prostitutes. It might cost the city a lot more in overtime pay, but the police efforts seem to be working. As of yesterday, the city had one less homicide in the current year than on Nov. 7 last year -- 218 compared with 219. That's a substantial turnaround since Oct. 1, when the homicide toll was 13 higher than on the same date a year ago, said Col. Robert Biemiller, chief of the patrol division.

Following the lead of Chicago and other areas, Baltimore is planning a citywide reading assignment come fall, and the front-running book is the autobiography of Frederick Douglass, the one-time slave who became one of the most important black American leaders of the 19th century. City and library officials confirmed yesterday that they are putting together a program to encourage community reading centered on the city's annual book fair in September. The idea started in Seattle - residents read The Sweet Hereafter by Russell Banks - but gained speed after Chicago's program last year had citizens thumbing through Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird.

More than a dozen neighborhood shopping districts in Baltimore will be targeted for revitalization over three years under Baltimore Main Streets, a citywide preservation program launched yesterday. The city will kick in $1 million this year to run the program, adapted from the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Main Street Center, Mayor Martin O'Malley said yesterday. Another $500,000 will come from the state, with $26,000 expected for capital improvements from each of the commercial corridors selected.

SEVERAL TIMES during his successful bid to become mayor of Baltimore city, Martin O'Malley mentioned the idea of citywide preschool. Not surprisingly, it has since taken a back seat to more urgent concerns like crime and court reform. But the idea deserves serious attention because the condition of many city children is so fragile that citywide preschool programs may be the only way to stem chronic academic failure. In Baltimore, 70 percent of children are poor. And poor, when it comes to children, doesn't simply mean "lacking the essentials."

Democratic mayoral candidate Martin O'Malley, whose strong showing in Tuesday's primary surprised even his most ardent supporters, gained one in three black votes and nine of every 10 white votes.According to a Sun analysis of voting results, O'Malley ran 28 percentage points higher in such black neighborhoods as Walbrook Junction than former City Council President Mary Pat Clarke, who is white, did in 1995 against Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke. O'Malley also posted 25 percentage points more than Clarke did in liberal white neighborhoods such as Hamilton, which gave Schmoke one in three votes four years ago.O'Malley picked up 53 percent of the vote citywide -- despite running against two veteran African-American politicians and 14 other candidates.