Community

Sen. Rand Paul is recruiting plaintiffs - and seeking donations - for a class-action lawsuit against the National Security Agency. “Dear Patriot,” the Kentucky Republican wrote Thursday in an e-mail to supporters. “I'm looking for ten million Americans to stand with me and sue the federal government and TAKE BACK our rights. “Can I count on your help? “Without it, I truly fear where our fragile Republic could be headed …” Paul, who is expected to run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, told a Fox News interviewer this week that he would be asking Internet providers and telephone companies to join him in a lawsuit against the electronic eavesdropping agency based at Fort Meade.

Ann Bartlinski placed the Eucharist and a pearl-beaded rosary blessed by the hands of the late Pope John Paul II on the chest of her 6-year-old daughter, Teresa, who lay Tuesday in a hospital bed, her tiny body rejecting a donor's heart. Teresa remained still, connected to life support at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia while her parents, Ed and Ann Bartlinski of Catonsville, their parish priest, the Rev. Christopher J. Whatley of St. Mark Church, and the community prayed for a miracle.

Greg Cantori plans to downsize when he retires. Really, really downsize. His retirement home is 238 square feet - one-tenth the size of the average new American house - and sits in his Anne Arundel County yard. He and wife Renee can hitch it to a truck and take it with them wherever they go. "It's so cheap - that's what's so cool about this," said Cantori, 52, who envisions a surf-and-turf future, alternating between the house and a sailboat. "We bought the house for $19,000.

K. Hovnanian Homes is planning to develop a community of townhomes in Dundalk on the land that used to be the North Point Drive-In theater, which closed three decades ago, and more recently served as an outdoor flea market. The 108-unit development will be called The Townes at North point, according to St. John Properties Inc., which in partnership with N.P. Investment LLC, sold K. Hovnanian the 11-acre parcel of land at 4001 North Point Boulevard for $2 million. K. Hovnanian, one of the nation's largest home builders, plans to break ground on The Townes later this year.

Gambling started Wednesday afternoon at the Rocky Gap Casino Resort right after the state approved the opening of its fourth casino, one that Western Maryland leaders hope will lure not only gamblers but also their families to a region eager for more tourist dollars. "It's open and jamming," said Scott Just, the general manager of the resort near Cumberland. "There's a couple hundred people in there. They were pressing up against the ropes. " The $35 million casino, located in what was the lakeside golf resort's conference center, will be open around the clock.

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.

Fells Point could become the latest Baltimore neighborhood to adopt a self-imposed tax that would be used to hire street sweepers and security patrols.These days, much of the talk in the historic waterfront neighborhood centers on whether the creation of a community benefits district, which would levy a tax on property owners, is the best way to improve Fells Point's appearance and decrease crime in the area.Such districts have been formed in Charles Village and the city's midtown and downtown areas.

K. Hovnanian Homes is planning to develop a community of townhomes in Dundalk on the land that used to be the North Point Drive-In theater, which closed three decades ago, and more recently served as an outdoor flea market. The 108-unit development will be called The Townes at North point, according to St. John Properties Inc., which in partnership with N.P. Investment LLC, sold K. Hovnanian the 11-acre parcel of land at 4001 North Point Boulevard for $2 million. K. Hovnanian, one of the nation's largest home builders, plans to break ground on The Townes later this year.

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 old low-income Hilltop Housing project in Ellicott City has given way to another world: new apartments with facades of soft-colored siding and stone, and a recreation center with the latest in exercise gear, including a retractable-roof indoor swimming pool. Gone are the brick low-rise buildings put up around 1970 that were not aging gracefully, along with the public housing policy that made them possible. The county is moving away from the practice of building apartment complexes strictly for low-income people, in part because of the lack of government money to support projects that cannot be sustained by people paying below market-rate rents.

The Dew Tour is coming to Ocean City two months earlier than last year in hopes of catching bigger waves, and the town will be packed with extreme-sports fans paying homage to this shrine to surfing, skateboarding and BMX. The five-day competition next weekend gives visitors a chance to see some of the most difficult tricks performed by the top professionals. It's all about their incredible balance, coordination and refusal to obey gravity. And about bringing throngs of fans to the shops and eateries at the beach: The 2012 event drew 90,000 visitors and organizers are hoping to top that number this year.

Ty Whittaker was sitting on his couch, perusing the Internet on his iPad last month when he saw the horrifying news: an EF5 tornado had ravaged Moore, Okla., and the surrounding area. Whittaker, an assistant coach for the Team Maryland, and his players were supposed to stay in the area during the all-star baseball team's upcoming trip for the Heartland Classic tournament from June 18-22. He immediately contacted host families in the devastated area and learned that all of the families' houses were safe.

At the height of the Baltimore Pride event Saturday, the song "We Are Family" played over the parade's speakers. Spectators lining North Charles Street called the song a fitting anthem, despite a recent dispute among community leaders about the spirit of the event. "This is the annual family reunion," said Erika Marie, 26, of Harford County. She was accompanied by a friend who goes by the name of Anastasia Belladonna and who was dressed in drag while entertaining a crowd outside the Grand Central club on North Charles Street.

Making good on a promise by Baltimore police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts after the severe beating of a gay East Baltimore man, the city Police Department announced Friday a special advisory council to help improve its relations with the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. The panel of activists, civil rights advocates and attorneys also plans to work to improve the atmosphere for gay and transgendered officers within the Police Department as it increases efforts to recruit from that community.

I take exception to Councilman David Marks' article published in your paper May 15. He stated that the building boom in Towson would "transform this suburban county seat into one of the most dynamic cosmopolitan communities in Maryland. " I feel it will transform this suburban county seat into one of the most congested impassable urban communities closely resembling the urban sprawl found elsewhere in Baltimore County along Reisterstown Road or Liberty Road. Is that what the full-time residents of Towson want?

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.

In a year when Maryland's same-sex couples can, for the first time, legally marry, the organizers of Baltimore Pride 2013 decided some special celebrating was required. A landmark occasion, they reasoned, called for a landmark commemoration. So they organized a wedding for Sunday afternoon. Not just any wedding, mind you, but a group wedding, one in which some 20 gay and lesbian couples will join together and say, "I do. " And who better to preside over WeDo Baltimore than Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, a longtime friend of the LGBT community who already knows the drill, having performed marriages for several gay couples just after midnight Jan. 1, within minutes of same-sex marriages becoming legal in the state?