Cotton

How you feel about Kolpers, a tavern with upscale aspirations in Hampden, is going to depend a lot on how you felt about the old Frazier's, before it moved to the Avenue. Kolpers gives off the same sort of vibe. The building's owners, David and Connie Kolper, spent three years renovating an 18th-century cotton mill, located in such an out-of-the-way place that even some people who live in Hampden don't realize it's there. At the moment, the place is mired, almost literally, in construction on all sides, which can't be good for business.

Rhonda Fish returned Monday night to the White Marsh hotel where she has been living to find that her beloved Yorkshire terrier had run away. The 44-year-old woman was devastated. The not-quite-3-year-old pooch named Reilly is like a son to her. Fish, her fiance and their friends prowled the area for hours but did not find Reilly. Their efforts transcended the realm of the typical missing-dog search yesterday when they called in private investigators. And then the helicopter pilot. And then the psychic.

As reported July 20, 1887, in The Sun: A survey has been made by the B. and O. Railroad Company from the Washington Branch to the Village of Savage, a distance of two miles with a view of building a track to connect with the latter place. The matter has been in contemplation for some time, and has been an interesting object of conjecture to the Messrs. Baldwin, owners of Savage and the operators of extensive cotton factories at that place. The raw material, as well as their manufactured goods has heretofore been conveyed in wagons and great inconvenience has been experienced, especially in the winter season.

On July 5, 2007, BETTY B. COTTON. Frends may calll thte FAMILY OWNED MARCH FUNERAL HOME WEST INC., 4300 Wabash Avenue on Wednesday, where family will receive friends from 5 to 7 P.M. The family will also receive friends on Thursday at Providence Baptist Church, 1407 Pennsylvania, at 10 A.M. followed by funeral service at 10:30 A.M.

Public hearings on budget slated Two public hearings will be held on the fiscal 2008 budget proposed by County Executive John R. Leopold, which calls for schools to receive about $867 million, a $60.6 million increase from last year. The budget approved by the Board of Education in February requested $941 million, an increase of $135 million. The hearings will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Old Mill High School and May 14 at the Arundel Center. Speakers are limited to three minutes. Author to lead writing club A noted children's author will lead a writing club Thursday at Central Elementary in Edgewater.

Saturday evening, I sat on the porch of a little shotgun house on Seventh Street in Columbus, Ga.

A 14-year-old black girl from tiny Paris, Texas, was sent to a youth prison for up to seven years for shoving a hall monitor at her high school. The same judge sentenced a 14-year-old white girl to probation for burning down her family's house. Bigger offense, lighter sentence, lighter skin: the ingredients of injustice. That's how it sounded to my friend and colleague Howard Witt, the Chicago Tribune's Houston-based Southwest bureau chief. He heard about the girl from Gary Bledsoe, an Austin, Texas, attorney who is president of the Texas branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

On Thursday, July 27, 2006, LUCILLE PEARSON COTTON; beloved wife of the late James Cotton departed this life from the Jewish Hospital Center, Cincinnati, OH. Public viewing will be Friday, August 4, 2006 from 3 to 7 P.M. at the family owned Howell Funeral Home, 4600 Liberty Heights Avenue. Services will be held on Sunday, August 6, 2006 at 4 P.M. at Mt. Nebo Holy Church, 240 Franklintown Road. Interment, Monday, August 7, 2006, 11 A.M. at Garrison Forest Veterans Cemetery. She is survived by 2 daughters, Corolina Nelson and Sharon Cotton; three grandchildren, Shauna, Earl, IV and William Pinkett; three sisters, Doris Collins, Nina Ringgold and Laura Williams.