Community Service

Three men who pleaded guilty to illegally dumping used tires on a vacant lot in southern Baltimore were sentenced to 100 hours or more of community service, according to a Maryland assistant attorney general.The guilty were identified by prosecutors as Sanquel E. Prince, 26, whose last known address was in the 3700 block of Koppers St. in Violetville; Al K. Singleton, 25, of the 4600 block of Pimlico Road; and Bobby S. Queen, 26, of the 3000 block of Oakford Ave. in Northwest Baltimore.Each man was fined $5,000, which was reduced by Judge David Mitchell to $1,000.

Yesterday, Adele Mowers was singled out from the crowd at Francis Scott Key High School, where community service has become as much a part of education as algebra and English.The 17-year-old senior was awarded the Horatio Alger Youth Award by the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans Inc., during a daylong program on community service.She was the only Maryland student selected for the award, which includes a $5,000 scholarship."Wow. I really was surprised," said Mowers, the daughter of Fred and Kathy Shaw of Linwood.

Anne Arundel County students may find themselves doing community service as part of their schoolwork, even if the General Assembly decides such good deeds shouldn't be a requirement for graduation after all.Yesterday, the county Board of Education voted 5-1, with one member abstaining and another absent, to adopt a proposal to teach the concept of community service, starting in the fourth grade, and require service work outside the classroom.Community service was instituted statewide last year as a condition for graduation, but the General Assembly has a bill before it to do away with the requirement.

Call it the evolution of Edward T. Norris: Top police officer. Convicted felon. And now, radio talk-show guest turned host. Norris is returning on Monday to the city that he once ruled as police commissioner to begin his 500 hours of community service. This is the last stage of the sentence he received after pleading guilty to federal public corruption and tax charges stemming from his time at the helm of the city force. He spent six months in a federal prison in Atlanta and is finishing up six months on home detention in his Florida home.

Domonique Foxworth has created a foundation to serve teenage boys in Baltimore, taken kids from his own holiday party to a local bookstore, and helped raise funds to build a teen center in Denver. So it's no surprise that the Ravens cornerback was honored Monday morning as the first recipient of the Tim Wheatley Award. The Tim Wheatley Award, to be given annually, was created by the Baltimore Sun Media Group to honor a local athlete whose contributions off the field are as important as the ones on the field.

A Maryland law requiring public school students to complete community service or forfeit their diplomas could be undermined by a lawsuit heard yesterday in federal court in Baltimore.Two students at Chapel Hill High School in North Carolina contend that their school board's requirement that they complete 50 hours of community service in four years is unconstitutional. They contend that the mandate is "akin to slavery" because it forces them to work against their will."I don't intend to do this under any circumstances for this school board," John Reinhard III, 15, said yesterday outside the courthouse.

A 55-year-old Virginia man who fatally shot his cousin in anger in a Jessup hotel room 12 years ago was sentenced to the 3 1/2 years he served in state custody while his case wended its way through trial and appeals, ending with a manslaughter plea this year. Adel George Hagez, a restaurateur whom friends and family praised as a "pillar of society" and "an asset to the community," will have to pay "restitution for society as a whole," performing 2,000 hours of community service during his five-year probationary term, Howard Circuit Judge Lenore R. Gelfman said yesterday.

FROSTBURG -- If a child needs tutoring, a bird's wing mending, a day care center tending, a hospital's walls brightening, or if other such good deeds need doing in this Western Maryland community, people know whom to call: the students in Allen Hall. An otherwise unimpressive three-story brick building on the campus of Frostburg State University, Allen Hall is gaining a national reputation as what might be called a full-service dormitory. It is the home of the Allen HallSTARS!, an innovative program that combines the growing interest in social service among college students with academic programs and residential life.

Ravens veteran center Matt Birk was named the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year on Saturday night, recognition for his consistent play on the field and his commitment to community endeavors. Birk is the first Ravens player to win the award, given annually to recognize a player's community service and playing excellence. The announcement was made at the “NFL Honors” award show in Indianapolis, site of Sunday's Super Bowl. "I am honored and truly humbled to be named the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year," Birk said in a statement released by the Ravens.

One freckled-face South Carroll youngster has taken a school science project about potatoes, turned the soil a few times and is harvesting a bumper crop of community service hours."