Constellation

Out of the water for the first time since 1998, the 1854 sloop of war Constellation looked pretty good to its caretakers Thursday as they walked beneath its grimy hull, now propped up in dry dock at the Sparrows Point Shipyard. "I think we're surprised she's as clean as she is, for being in the water for 13 years," said Chris Rowsom, executive director for Historic Ships in Baltimore. "It shouldn't be too difficult to get her washed up and painted. " High on blocks just aft of Constellation is the 1944 submarine Torsk, which faces much more extensive work.

Watch the Eta Aquarid meteor shower in the wee hours of Saturday and Sunday mornings. The shower can produce as many as 20-40 meteors per hour at its peak, which falls around May 4-5. SpaceWeather.com suggests to expect 30+ meteors per hour, given the light of the waning moon. Like those in other annual showers, the Eta Aquarids get their name from the point from which they appear to radiate. In this case, it's the star Eta Aquarii, part of the constellation Aquarius. According to EarthSky.org, the meteors appear to emanate from a part of the constellation known as the Water Jar. Check out EarthSky's charts of how to spot the constellations here . The best time to look for the meteors is in the darkest hours of the morning, around 2-4 a.m. Best to look from a spot with a wide view of the sky and away from bright city lights.

Workers repairing the 1854 sloop of war Constellation have uncovered significant rot in the ship's hull. The damage, attributed to rainwater seeping into the hull from the gun ports, is expected to lengthen the ship's time in dry dock at the Sparrows Point Shipyard by 10 to 14 days and add about $70,000 to the $500,000 repair bill. The water intrusion has been stopped, and some of the rotted wood has been cut out and replaced. But Chris Rowsom, executive director of Historic Ships in Baltimore, said the Constellation will need more extensive repairs in two to three years that could take it away from the Inner Harbor for up to six months.

Constellation said Thursday that it is giving Teach For America $1 million for efforts in Baltimore over the next four years, from training teachers to helping program alumni fight poverty. The Baltimore division of Chicago-based Exelon Corp. said it has donated about $465,000 to Teach For America since 1994. Exelon agreed to donate an average of $7 million a year in Maryland for a decade as part of its acquisition of Constellation Energy Group. Constellation said its CEO, Kenneth Cornew, is guest-teaching in a science class at East Baltimore's Commodore John Rodgers Elementary/Middle School Thursday in honor of Teach For America Week.

When Constellation Energy Group and EDF Group teamed up three years ago, the economy was riding high, and so were they. Rising energy prices and a growing economy prompted them to propose the once unthinkable: developing, building and operating the first new U.S. nuclear energy plant in three decades. EDF, owned by the French government and operator of one of the largest fleets of nuclear plants in the world, would gain prestige and profit by bringing its expertise to America through the companies' UniStar joint venture.

Baltimore's Inner Harbor will look a little bare this week after two of its premier attractions — the submarine Torsk and the 1854 sloop of war Constellation — are towed away for a month of repairs in dry dock. The Torsk will be the first to go as tugs move in around 9 a.m. Sunday to escort the World War II veteran down the harbor to the Sparrows Point Shipyard. The Constellation will follow at about 9 a.m. on Monday, according to Chris Rowsom, executive director of Historic Ships in Baltimore, part of the Living Classrooms Foundation and the ships' caretaker.

Constellation Energy Group worked to reassure Wall Street yesterday that its wholesale energy and credit relationships with Lehman Brothers will not have a "material adverse effect" on the Baltimore company, which saw its shares lose 18 percent amid a broader market sell-off. Constellation's stock closed down $10.38 to $47.99 on the New York Stock Exchange. Even though Constellation conducts energy deals with Lehman, the New York investment banking company that entered bankruptcy proceedings yesterday does not owe it a substantial amount of money, according to a document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission after financial markets closed yesterday.

State energy regulators will investigate whether Constellation Energy Group's proposed nuclear-power venture with France's largest utility would have enough impact on the region's regulated utility, Baltimore Gas & Electric Co., to require their approval of the deal. The Public Service Commission concluded yesterday that the company's proposal with Electricite de France raises questions about the potential impact on BGE and its ratepayers, including whether EDF's ownership of Constellation preferred stock places "substantial influence" over the company and BGE's operations.

PACIFIC CORAL REEFS. Spencer Tracy. Cloudscapes. R. Buckminster Fuller. The Chinese Year of the Monkey. Lewis and Clark. Sickle cell anemia. The Constellation. What do the above have in common? (No, this is not a question rejected by the writers of Who Wants to be a Millionaire.) Answer: A 37-cent commemorative stamp to be issued next year by the U.S. Postal Service. The service's Citizen Advisory Committee, a 15-member panel that prefers to keep its deliberations private, chooses the stamps from thousands of requests.

- Sloane Brown Benefit for Constellation Maybe Mother Nature just wanted the crew of the USS Constellation to feel at home by surrounding them with water - again. Here it was, "The Second Annual St. Patrick's Day Blast" benefiting the ship from the Civil War era. And, for the second straight year, it was raining. But that didn't keep any of the 155 guests from having a good time inside The Brass Elephant Restaurant. They drank a little Irish whiskey, nibbled on Irish and Italian fare, and enjoyed Irish music.

Mayo A. Shattuck III, who coordinated the sale of two Baltimore institutions to out-of-state concerns and ran the region's power company for a volatile decade, has retired from the parent of Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. Chicago-based Exelon Corp. didn't announce his retirement so much as mention in passing — in a hefty securities filing Thursday — that Feb. 28 was his last day as an employee. But Shattuck, 58, isn't cutting ties with the company. Previously executive chairman, he is now non-executive chairman of Exelon's board.

Valorie Cooley was "in a really bad place" a year ago, with a broken furnace and past-due heating bills she couldn't pay. Now her Baltimore home has a new furnace and a raft of energy-efficient improvements - including insulation in the attic and caulking around the windows - that pulled her Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. bill down to a level she can afford. All coordinated by city government. That's one example of how Baltimore agencies have attacked energy costs in recent years - their own as well as residents' and businesses'.

The Quadrantid meteors, less well known than other meteor showers but a decent show for the Northern Hemisphere, reached their narrow peak early Thursday morning. There is a chance more could be seen before dawn Friday. The shower actually peaked around 8 a.m. Eastern Standard Time and only lasts for a few hours, according to NASA. The shower is named for the former constellation from which it appears to radiate,  Quadrans Muralis. The constellation was not included in an  International Astronomical Union official list of constellations in 1922, as EarthSky.org explains.

Exelon Corp. cut about 170 jobs in Maryland earlier this summer, just over half through layoffs and the rest through voluntary buyouts, the energy company said Monday. Exelon — which acquired Baltimore-based Constellation Energy Group in March — said it also has moved jobs from Pennsylvania to Maryland, characterizing the number as enough to largely offset the cuts. Exelon said the reductions were made on June 22, with none of the layoffs occurring at Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. The company promised a two-year freeze on BGE layoffs as part of the merger.

James and Teresa Crumpler, of Forest Hill, announce the engagement of their daughter, Jamie Teresa Crumpler, to Christopher Sean Kalck, son of Lawrence and Geraldine Kalck, of Fallston. Crumpler is a 1997 graduate of Fallston High School and a 2001 graduate of Towson University, where she earned a bachelor of science in mass communications. She is an executive assistant with Constellation in Baltimore. Kalck is a 1995 graduate of Fallston High School and a 1999 graduate of Goucher College, where he earned a bachelor of arts in applied mathematics.

SATURDAY'S HIGHLIGHTS NASCAR Sprint Cup: Quaker State 400 TNT7:30 MLB White Sox@Yankees MLB1 Washington@Atlanta MASN4 Cleveland@Orioles MASN24 Houston@Cubs WGN-A4 Detroit@Tampa Bay 457 Mets@Dodgers 57 Boston@Seattle MLB10 WNBA Seattle@New York NBA4...

Whether the USF Constellation, moored off Pratt Street these days, is the same frigate that was built here in 1797 or an 1853 reconstruction is immaterial. In the past 25 years, this old ship has become an important visual symbol of the city's rebirth and Inner Harbor renewal. For that reason, news that the Constellation is badly rotted and in need of expensive repairs is alarming.Thanks to Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke and Gail Shawe, a community-wide campaign is now under way to save the Constellation, the first ship commissioned in the U.S. Navy.

The U.S.F. Constellation, be it a frigate built here in 1797 or a sloop-of-war using the old name and a timber or two built in 1853, is a major symbol of Baltimore.The Constellation is the silhouette of Inner Harbor revitalization. It is a sign of self-respect, a statement that Baltimore counts for something.It may not be as important in these respects as Fort McHenry, but its loss -- a realistic possibility -- would be a great setback.A void would be created, which would hardly be relieved by the continued presence of the two-story ticket pavilion, built in 1990 on Pier 1, as the permanent legacy of the Constellation Foundation after the ship had vanished.

Nearly two dozen companies will sponsor Maryland's bicentennial commemoration of the War of 1812, contributing more than $5 million, the nonprofit group planning the events said Monday. Constellation Energy will become one of the biggest corporate sponsors, joining previously announced companies AT&T - the top sponsor, with a more than $1 million contribution - and Papa John's. Other sponsors announced Monday include Legg Mason, M&T Bank, Pepsi and Under Armour. In addition, the state government has pledged $6 million for the three-year effort, said Star-Spangled 200, the nonprofit affiliate of the Maryland War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission, which is planning the commemoration.

Exelon Corp. and Constellation have donated $1.8 million for a new energy exhibit at the Maryland Science Center , the first public display of their charitable commitment to the city and state since the merger between the energy giants closed in March, the companies announced Tuesday. In acquiring Constellation, Exelon promised to maintain the Baltimore company's annual charitable contribution of $7 million in Baltimore and Maryland for at least a decade. The financial commitment was part of a $1 billion package of concessions associated with regulatory approval from the Maryland Public Service Commission.