Community

Before sunrise Monday, Kevin and Shelley Taylor set out from their Millersville home to a new employment center for the Maryland Live! Casino, a slots parlor next to the Arundel Mills mall seeking workers for 1,500 jobs. Having tracked the progress of what will be the state's largest casino, the Taylors believe the facility could provide opportunity for their five-member family. Though Kevin Taylor has a job, he wants a better-paying one. And Shelley Taylor has been out of work for several months.

WESTMINSTER — The 145th observance of the Memorial Day parade and ceremony in Westminster will be available for viewing on Carroll County's cable channel 19 and online at the Community Media Center website, http://www.CarrollMediaCenter.org. A CMC television crew will be set up along the parade route on Main Street in downtown Westminster. Another crew will be set up in the Westminster Cemetery to film the ceremony saluting military servicemen and women. CMC volunteers will also be on hand over the weekend, covering the Civil through Revolutionary War reenactor encampments at the Carroll County Farm Museum.

Navy Lt. Mark Tedrow has no problem reconciling an air show with a commemoration of the War of 1812, an era that precedes flight by almost a century. The Blue Angels pilot said he looks forward to flying over the Inner Harbor, Middle River and Fort McHenry - birthplace of the national anthem - during a bicentennial celebration in June. "It will be outstanding to perform multiple maneuvers over Fort McHenry," he said. "It will show just how far we have come. " Tedrow and his co-pilot flew into Martin State Airport in Middle River on Thursday to give a small preview of what the Navy's renowned flight team will do for the bicentennial maritime and air festival that kicks off June 13. "Stake out your places on the waterfront so you don't miss a thing," said Lt. Cmdr.

Good weather, good crowds and a host of attractions — from rides to a dunk tank, food to raffles — combined to make a successful 2012 edition of the St. Pius X Carnival, hosted this past weekend at the church and school on York Road in Towson. During the three-day event, from Friday to Sunday, carnival patrons enjoyed rides and games, raffles, a silent auction and food that included pit beef, crab cakes, baked goods, fudge and lemonade. The event also included sales of collectibles, used books and other items.

After a seven-year delay, Randallstown residents cheered Monday over an announcement that a Walmart will open on Liberty Road next year. Officials and residents have long hoped that the store — a planned $9 million, 160,000-square-foot supercenter with groceries and a pharmacy — would revitalize the aging commercial corridor, encouraging other national retailers and restaurants to set up shop in the affluent, largely black community....

Albert Lord doesn't like to wait - not in business or on the golf course. The colorful chairman of student loan behemoth Sallie Mae, who's embroiled in a nasty fight over the failed sale of the company, has spent 40 years in the accounting and banking industries. He said that experience should have instilled in him a measure of patience, but it hasn't. Whether in traffic, at the office or on the links, Lord said, he just doesn't like to wait. He can't do much about the first two, but he's got a sure-fire solution for the last one: He's building his own, an 18-hole golf course on land he's acquired amid shuttered tobacco farms and grazing horses in southern Anne Arundel County.

One overlooked victim of globalization is corporate community citizenship. As CEOs, bankers and investors all attempt to squeeze every last penny of shareholder value, we have lost sight of how corporations can and should shape and define values within a community. Three decades ago, CEOs like Jack Moseley, Hank Butta and BGE's George McGowan ran their businesses and built community. They worked together and invested their assets in making this city better. Sadly, they are no longer admired or regarded highly for their important involvement in the redevelopment of Baltimore's downtown.

Editor: I am a resident of Cedarday Drive. I just read your article in The Aegis on-line. I believe that you only have one side of the story and should spend some time and understand our concerns. The county government including Mr. Craig have not been interested in listening to our viewpoint. In fact, his secretary told one of my neighbors that he did not want to talk to "those people!" It seems as though this project is going to go through despite the outcome of the meeting on the 21st.

In his op-ed ( "Cooling out poor, minority kids in community college," May 9), Fred Millar has insulted the success by every student of any color who has attended and graduated from a community college. Despite being an "educational sociologist," Mr. Millar also perpetuates the myth that grades should not matter for eligibility to either 2- or 4-year colleges. While discussing the quality of remedial courses for those in both institutions, Mr. Millar never mentions why remedial courses are necessary in the first place.

Regarding Jay Hancock 's "Restaurants run hot and cold on Groupon deals" (June 7), it is clear that Groupon and similar programs may not be appropriate marketing tools for all businesses. At Katzen Eye Group, however, we are using social marketing tools as a community resource. Through Groupon, we are reaching uninsured patients and providing them with the opportunity to access vision care services. According to a recent CDC survey of more than 11,000 adults over the age of 40 with moderate to severe visual impairment, nearly 40 percent failed to seek treatment over the past year because of cost or lack of insurance.

Under Armour has announced a new "community-based empowerment program" titled "WIN Baltimore," with its first initiative being the renovation of the football stadium at Dunbar. The Locust Point-based apparel company revealed the plans to Dunbar coaches, administrators and students Friday , in a ceremony that included company founder and CEO Kevin Plank and Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis. According to a news release sent this week, Under Armour will fund the construction of "a state-of-the-art turf football field with new stadium lights, a first-rate scoreboard, wrap-around track and more.

State Del. Pat McDonough's news release alleging that "black youth mobs terrorize" downtown Baltimore has certainly set off a firestorm of debate. But what about the nature of that discussion, particularly as it relates to race? Without an inclusive, candid and wide-ranging conversation about race, such discussions tend to inflame rather than enlighten. And instead of getting smarter as a community about our feelings on race, we can get more confused and polarized. One thing that has bothered me for several days is the way that various parts of the community tried to silence McDonough in the immediate wake of his Wednesday news release.

Alan Gross, the Potomac man serving 15 years in Cuba after carrying communications equipment into the communist island nation, continues to communicate with supporters from the military hospital where he is held. The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington said Monday that Gross called to express his gratitude for the efforts of the Jewish community to push for his release. "I worked many years to reinforce the concept of community and I really feel it," Gross, 63, said during the telephone call last week, according to the council.

Dr. Norman I. Zipper, a retired Baltimore optometrist active in the Jewish community, died of renal failure May 12 at his Pikesville home. He was 89. Born in East Baltimore and raised on South Ann Street, he was a 1940 City College graduate. As a young man, he worked at the Patterson Park swimming pool and was a 1943 graduate of the Pennsylvania College of Optometry in suburban Philadelphia. During World War II, he was a Maritime Service pharmacist's mate and was stationed on Catalina Island.

News Roundup •••• Former major league pitcher Curt Schilling's 38 Studios, which released “Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning” in February, is in financial hot water with the state of Rhode Island. Taking cash from the state to move from Massachusetts seemed like a good idea when the company was projecting huge sales from its games. Instead, 38 Studios can't pay its employees or pay the state back. Yikes. [ The Boston Globe ] •••• Wired ran a gorgeous preview with lots of screens of the Unreal 4 Engine, which could be the backbone of next-gen console games.

Saturday's editions of The Sun will include an article on Loyola junior long-stick midfielder Scott Ratliff, who narrowly missed out on being named one of five finalists for the Tewaaraton Award after recording one of the finer seasons in recent memory. Ratliff hails from Marietta, Ga., and graduated from George Walton Comprehensive High School there. The success of Ratliff and fellow Georgia natives Darius Bowling and Rick Lewis - both at Ohio State - has garnered the interest of a younger generation of lacrosse players in the Peach State.

Reisterstown mourns the passing of Charles Edward Nevin Murray, who died Feb. 27 at age 78. Mr. Murray, known to all as "Silk," joins the ranks of others who have served their community and made a difference in so doing. . Silk's father, Charles Henry Stanley Murray, was the town's first dry cleaner in the 1940s, and its only dry cleaner for many years. The business, Silk's Cleaners, was located on Main Street, where the Wawa now stands. The family lived behind the store.

Even though there was no formal lighting ceremony this year, an Edgewood couple wants to remind their fellow residents that the community's Christmas tree is alive, well and fully decorated. Sam and Donna Gibson, longtime residents active in the community, say they made sure the tree near the Edgewood MARC station did not go neglected. Standing next to the tree Thursday morning, the Gibsons wanted to remind everyone that even though there was not an official tree lighting because of construction by the station, the tree is decorated and lit at night for people to come and see. The Gibsons both talked about how grateful they are for the community and the people in it. They said they just wanted to make sure they could spread some holiday cheer.

The Anne Arundel Community Action Agency studied a long list of nominees as it prepared to induct the first members into its Hall of Fame. In its nearly 50-year history battling poverty, many staff members and volunteers have kept the agency going, and a few made sure it survived. The final decision fell to the History Committee, which nominated five for the initial honor. "Oh, we have great stories and many great nominees who made significant contributions," said Kinaya Sokoya, chief executive officer of the Annapolis-based agency.