Community

No fireworks for the Fourth of July? Residents of Loch Raven Village exploded when they heard their beloved tradition was in jeopardy. The spark of civic protest was lit when residents learned that the Associates of Loch Raven Village, a volunteer group that manages and pays for the show, was told it would have to pay for a $3,100 fence around a construction site at Loch Raven Academy where the display is held. The group, whose funds come from voluntary membership dues and fundraisers, said it could not afford to pay for the fence and the fireworks show, which alone cost over $8,000.

While bulldozers moved earth in the background, more than 100 people crowded into a tent in Middle River on Thursday to celebrate the rebirth of a 17-acre site on Baltimore County's east side. The county has razed a crime-ridden apartment complex and brokered a partnership to build Renaissance Square, a community that promises affordable homes to seniors and working families. Officials, developers, clergy and former Kingsley Park residents extolled the project, which includes 81 apartments for seniors and 115 homes, many of them priced for moderate-income families.

Nickel Mines, Pa. -- As light snow swirled, the only sounds that could be heard on the country lane were the scrape of mortar on brick, the tap of a hammer and the whine of a power saw. In a field between two houses, down a drive marked "no trespassing," more than a dozen men could be seen one day last week laying bricks, pounding nails and cutting planks to build a new one-room schoolhouse. The schoolhouse is rising a few hundred feet from where the West Nickel Mines Amish School stood.

Aiming to get the word out to minorities about county services, a local group will take to the airwaves with a series of shows on the county's public access station. The first of four shows, Voz Latina, which translates to Latino Voice, starts tonight at 6 on Channel 99 on Comcast and Channel 39 on Verizon's FIOs television services. The rest of the programming slate, which will begin airing next month, includes, Our Community, Your Voice, targeted at African- Americans and a show called Korean-Americans in Anne Arundel County.

Journeys' final spring service set Journeys Community, a nontraditional spiritual-seekers group, will hold its final spring service at 10 a.m. Sunday in the second-floor auditorium of Vantage House Life-Care Retirement Community, 5400 Vantage Point Road in Town Center, Columbia. This week's service will celebrate the nature and power of community. The kick-off for the group's summer program will be a community picnic, to be held at 5 p.m. July 1. Summer activities, many of them outdoors, are to be held through Labor Day; regular services will continue Sept.

Citizens fight back against city's crime The article "Losing the streets" (July 1) may leave the impression that Baltimore residents are not outraged by violent crime - or indeed by all crime. Nothing could be further from the truth, at least in Northeast Baltimore. The HARBEL Community Organization is a coalition of residents and businesses united in trying to keep Northeast Baltimore's many neighborhoods safe and stable. Residents have banded together with HARBEL since 2000 to form the successful Northeast Citizens Patrol.

Developers for the Two Rivers community hope to break ground this summer on an 18-hole golf course, the first piece of an age-restricted project of 2,000 homes south of Odenton, after recently gaining preliminary planning approval from Anne Arundel County. John C. Stamato, president of Annapolis-based Ribera Development, said yesterday the next step is to submit to the county final engineering plans for the gated community on 1,471 acres between the Patuxent and Little Patuxent rivers.

In their heyday, the Galesville Hot Sox drew hundreds of fans to lively baseball games on lazy Sunday afternoons. The all-black team, the heart of South County's African-American community, played on a grassy field purchased in the late 1800s by a former slave named Henry Wilson. It has been 10 years since the team, which integrated in the 1960s, last suited up. And the 26-acre lot where it once played against Negro Leagues greats has been up for sale since the fall. But it just might be time to get out the bats again.

The bocce tournament was in full swing by the time the float carrying the mariachi band came snaking through Little Italy's skinny streets. A cultural fusion was on display yesterday at the city's 117th Columbus Day parade, complete with a float representing the city's Hispanic Business Association, plenty of local high school marching bands and the standard, and always popular, Frank Sinatra impersonators. "Columbus opened the door for immigrants to come to the United States," said Angelo Solera, a Hispanic community advocate who helped coordinate the participation of Hispanic businesses.

For 10-year-old Paris Lyles, the gathering in his Annapolis neighborhood was about balloons, burgers and bubble gum. But for his mother, Quintina Curtis, it was a chance to plant flowers and commune with neighbors about building relationships in a sometimes-troubled community. "We need this. It helps kids understand how to keep the community clean, and they will appreciate it," Curtis said. "And we need something positive in this community to bring everyone together to form a support group to make things happen."

The group of teens and twentysomethings had no problem summoning an audience for a presentation on community building recently at a West Baltimore youth center. After all, instead of offering suggestions, they're offering money. Big money. To young people just like themselves. At a time when grant givers across the country are tightening their fists amid the recession, the Baltimore-based nonprofit group Youth As Resources (YAR) is helping others their age turn ideas into initiatives with up to $3,500 in funding per project.

Containers of hand sanitizer have been deployed near the doors at St. Mary's in Annapolis. The doorknobs are being cleaned between Masses, and the bathrooms are getting more attention. The Rev. John Kingsbury has practiced giving Communion without touching the hand of the recipient. But the pastor still worries about the impact on the 16,000-member Catholic parish if the H1N1 virus hits the community hard. "I think the spiritual side is the one that has yet to be faced," Kingsbury said.

Social services should be applauded, not shunned I really appreciated the thoughtful article about the 'Beans and Bread' controversy in Fells Point. As an eight-year resident of the neighborhood I am aware of the tensions that exist between the various community demographics. (particularly the homeless community) I think we all want to live in a safe, healthy environment. Anything that threatens our sense of security is a concern to the community. However, I think you asked the core question in your article: "The homeless aren't about to go away.

The sad part is, there is nothing unusual about this story. A little girl is hit in the head on a Southwest Baltimore street by a bullet meant for someone else. A teenager with a lengthy criminal record is arrested and charged as an adult with attempted murder. As Raven Wyatt's anguished family huddles over her hospital bed, hoping that the 5-year-old recovers, an outraged community demands to know how the 17-year-old suspect, Lamont Davis, seems to have slithered through the juvenile system relatively unscathed for years.

Josh Cohen grew up a saxophone player, studying music at the University of Maryland. Then Bill Clinton ran for president in 1992, and Cohen switched paths at the age of 18. "That was the first national presidential campaign that I really followed, and it just engaged me in a way that nothing had engaged me before," said the Annapolis native who's now in the race for mayor. "I realized that people can actually devote their time to working on issues that make a difference." The next semester, Cohen dropped his music classes and ended up graduating with a degree in economics.

A development aimed at revitalizing a blighted area of Dundalk won planning approval last week and is making its way through Baltimore County's review process. "Everyone is ready to see this project move forward and have these houses constructed," said Arnold "Pat" Keller, Baltimore County director of planning. Yorkway will bring about 66 energy-efficient, single-family homes to a demolition site, where 20 multi-unit apartment buildings were built shortly after World War II. In recent years, those buildings, in the heart of the eastern county community, generated as many as 3,000 police calls a year, officials said.

No fireworks for the Fourth of July? Residents of Loch Raven Village exploded when they heard their beloved tradition was in jeopardy. The spark of civic protest was lit when residents learned that the Associates of Loch Raven Village, a volunteer group that manages and pays for the show, was told it would have to pay for a $3,100 fence around a construction site at Loch Raven Academy where the display is held. The group, whose funds come from voluntary membership dues and fundraisers, said it could not afford to pay for the fence and the fireworks show, which alone cost over $8,000.

Dozens of Turners Station residents, newcomers and long-timers both, arrived with ideas that ranged from adding new amenities to preserving the cultural roots of the 188-acre enclave that is one of the country's oldest African-American communities. The residents were helping to launch an intensive planning process, organized by Baltimore County, to revitalize a neighborhood that was established back in 1888 for workers at Sparrows Point and their families. To do that, though, they had to look not backward but forward.

The microwave ovens were still in their boxes as of mid-morning. Employees were just getting accustomed to the new phone system and computers. But that didn't detract from the main event at 1701 N. Gay St. yesterday: For the first time in 36 years, people were working inside Baltimore's historic American Brewery. Thursday was move-in day for Humanim, a 37-year old nonprofit that provides training, job placement and other services for Central Maryland residents. Previously located in Columbia, Humanim bought the Victorian landmark in November 2007 and has spent $22 million during the past 16 months converting it to its headquarters.

While bulldozers moved earth in the background, more than 100 people crowded into a tent in Middle River on Thursday to celebrate the rebirth of a 17-acre site on Baltimore County's east side. The county has razed a crime-ridden apartment complex and brokered a partnership to build Renaissance Square, a community that promises affordable homes to seniors and working families. Officials, developers, clergy and former Kingsley Park residents extolled the project, which includes 81 apartments for seniors and 115 homes, many of them priced for moderate-income families.