Community Leaders

Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon has said little about the theft charges leveled against her nearly a year ago. But with her trial under way, the silent void is being filled by backers offering personal and political support. Dixon's family members streamed into the downtown courtroom last week for opening statements and the testimony of the first witnesses. So did members of Maryland Minority Contractors Association Inc., who took time off from running landscaping, demolition and construction firms to watch the proceedings.

Last year, even as she grew weaker from an illness she'd had for many months, the Rev. Josephine Pinkard of Severna Park kept telling her daughter, Avanette, of a dream she couldn't get out of her head. "I see the roof [of your business] opening up, and God showering the place with blessings," she told Avanette, who owns Essential Essence, a Laurel day spa and beauty salon. "I see it growing by leaps and bounds." At the time, the imagery seemed absurd. The Pinkards had started the business in 1997, offering their Severna Park home as collateral for a loan.

When the sun came up Friday, the Franklin Square Boys and Girls Club was just "OK," its director says. By sunset, the West Baltimore center serving dozens of youths had been transformed into a dazzling, safari-themed world of new computers, books, games, sofas, flat-screen TVs - even an air hockey table. Yesterday, club director Deborah Tyson still seemed dazed by the one-day overhaul carried out by 125 employees of Constellation Energy Group and its subsidiary, BGE, as part of the company's annual Extreme Makeover Challenge.

The board of directors of the Oakland Mills Community Association is seeking people to conduct a daylong retreat for community leaders. The retreat is to be held in January. Anyone with experience in organizational planning and group facilitation is encouraged to submit a letter of interest and a resume to the board. Submissions are requested via e-mail to omca@columbia villages.org or by fax to 410-730- 4620 by tomorrow. Information: 410-730-4610. Exchange program to teach Photoshop The Columbia Community Exchange, formerly known as Columbia Association Network, will offer a two-part Photoshop class from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Dec. 8 at The Barn in Oakland Mills Village Center.

WASHINGTON -- Here's one from the "Taste of His Own Medicine" department: When the Rev. Al Sharpton led a recent Washington rally to protest what he called lax federal prosecution of hate crimes, at least one local black resident was waiting with a protest of his own. Amid recent reports of noose hangings and other racial incidents, Mr. Sharpton, Martin Luther King III and other activists rallied outside the Department of Justice on Friday to call for...

Urging parents to talk to their kids and pay attention to what is going on in their lives, one of the area's leading gang experts gave tips yesterday to about two dozen community, education and religious leaders on how to recognize and combat gang activity. Frank Clark, director of the Gang Intervention and Investigation Unit for the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services, told his audience at a Catonsville library to be aware of large groups of young adults wearing red or blue colors, and that graffiti with five- or six-point symbols and numbers arranged in a certain order are generally signs of gang activity.

The Baltimore County Council is considering a plan that would allow more homes to be built in Middle River than currently allowed, even as community leaders express concerns about crowded roads and schools. The eastern community has 5,000 homes, and 2,000 more units are planned. County officials say the community is primed for more growth, particularly with the construction of White Marsh Boulevard. Industrial parks are planned for many properties along that street, and building homes nearby would allow employees of future businesses to live close to their workplaces, county officials say. They also expect the area to be on the list of places to live for new employees of Aberdeen Proving Ground, which is expanding as part of a nationwide consolidation of military bases.

To the relief of many in South Baltimore, Mayor Sheila Dixon has blocked a plan to build two more waterfront towers at HarborView. Faced with intense community opposition, the mayor pushed HarborView's developer, Richard A. Swirnow, to rescind his request to the City Council that would have enabled him to keep building even though he technically had exhausted his construction options. "I have decided to withdraw [the bill] and instruct the Planning Department and Mayor's Office of Neighborhoods to bring all parties together to find common ground," Dixon wrote in a letter to a community leader who opposes the proposal.

Amid growing concerns about crime and a continuing vacancy problem on the police force, Annapolis and community leaders are scheduled tomorrow night to identify specific problems - neighborhood by neighborhood - and look at ways to fight crime. The City Council's Public Safety Committee called for the forum, which will include county and state representatives, entrepreneurs and public housing officials. "There's an abundance of crime taking place in the city. Some of it is alcohol-related with bars downtown and issues spilling out to street," said Alderman David H. Cordle Sr., chairman of the committee.

As he prepares the first budget of his administration, Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold said he's forming a panel of community and business leaders to examine how the county can overcome a mountain of fiscal challenges - and support his push for new taxes. His decision comes days after the chief executive of the Annapolis and Anne Arundel Chamber of Commerce urged Leopold to form such a committee, amid grave concern in the business community about the county's fiscal outlook.