Corner

It's an ongoing debate among Baltimoreans: Are the best bars in Canton off O'Donnell Square? If you've been to the Irish pubs or sports bars around there even once, you know what you're in for - a night that's not always pretty but comforting in its predictability. There's the familiar aroma of too many people, the flowing Red Bulls and the awkward grinding. Want to have a conversation without straining your voice? Good luck. But hang around Canton long enough and the truth quickly emerges: The corner bars away from the Square lack the crowds but make up for it with personality and character.

Officers representing the police agencies throughout Carroll County hit the streets of Sykesville, Taneytown, Manchester, Westminster and Mount Airy on Wednesday, taking part in the annual Law Enforcement Torch Run Relay for Special Olympics Maryland. The officers escorted the Special Olympics Flame of Hope - and a crew of hearty atheletes - in preparation for the opening of the 42nd anniversary Summer Games at Towson University, June 8-10. This year marks the 27th anniversary of the Maryland Torch Run, a movement that began in 1986 with a handful of officers raising $5,000.

It was almost deja vu. Tuesday, May 22 was the annual meeting of the Roland Park Civic League. Many of the same people who spoke at the October 2008, standing-room-only meeting at Roland Park Elementary/Middle School, spoke there again: Civic League President Philip Spevak; Libby Bowerman, former CEO of Keswick Multi Care Center; Mary Page Michel, a community leader and Councilwoman Sharon Green Middleton. Baltimore Country Club officials were on hand, too. Ditto the press and other elected officials.

Bodemeister will hang on Joseph Schwerdt Sun Sentinel Had the Kentucky Derby (at 1 1/4 miles) been the same length as the Preakness Stakes (1 3/16 miles), we might be talking about Bodemeister winning the Run for the Roses. But that last sixteenth of a mile was just enough for I'll Have Another to win at Churchill Downs. This time around Bodemeister will hold off the challenge to take the Preakness and we'll have to wait yet another year for a Triple Crown winner.

Not everything in childhood is bowls of mush and little old ladies whispering "Hush," and Maurice Sendak understood that. Our children understand that, too. Instinctively. That's what makes his books, like "Where the Wild Things Are" and "In the Night Kitchen" such a delicious experience for them. They could feel that frisson of fear and adventure without ever leaving the crook of Mommy's arm. This was especially true for our sons, who found kindred spirts in the unruly little boys of Sendak's stories.

OK, so Dylan Bundy is better than the other boys at Low-A Delmarva . The Orioles' top pick last year (fourth overall) has demolished the competition in the South Atlantic League. On Monday, he pitched four more scoreless innings - for a total of 17 in his pro career. In his first four pro games, Bundy has allowed one hit, two walks and struck out 25 batters.      The Orioles will stretch him out a little bit more, with at least one more four-inning stint at Delmarva, but one has to assume the 19-year-old will be at High-A Frederick soon enough.

Corner Bakery Cafe, a Dallas-based fast-casual chain, will open its first Baltimore store on Monday. The Baltimore location is in Lockwood Place, across from the aquarium, where the Best Buy is. "Feed the Day" is the motto at Corner Bakery Cafe, which serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. The first 100 customers on Monday will receive a commemorative Corner Bakery Cafe travel mugs and free daily refills for the remainder of the year. The specialties at Corner Bakery Cafe, which had its start as small bread bakery in downtown Chicago, are breakfast scramblers, panini and made-to-order sandwiches and pastas.

The two men, wearing slacks and ties, are standing on an East Baltimore street corner in front of a vacant lot. Raymond Staubs, 29, squats down and flips on a guitar amp. In one hand is a Bible, in the other a microphone. "It's time to repent - commit to God!" Staubs shouts. "Keep the Ten Commandments - thou shall not kill! Holler it from the rooftops! Put away the guns, put away the dope. Hallelujah!" It's the middle of the afternoon, and Staubs' words are mere background noise as city police investigate another fatal shooting.