Dap

As critics and hardcore soul fans around the world praised her latest album, 100 Days, 100 Nights, Sharon Jones was often crying alone in a hotel room. Last year was personally rough for the New York-based singer, as 24 friends and family members died, including her brother, who passed away on New Year's Eve. All the while, Jones toured the globe with her backing band, the Dap-Kings. The music was her therapy. "You gotta do what you gotta do," she says. "It was hard, but we have a band and folks need to get paid.

Although the Kimco plan for the Wilde Lake Village Center has faults, we want to see the project move forward for the future of Wilde Lake Village. However, we strongly oppose demolition of the Central Building part of the horseshoe shaped building enclosing the Village Green Courtyard. Kimco proposes demolition to open up the courtyard, exposing the stores to the parking lot to make store leasing easier. Yet in fully leased stores in Kimco's three Village Centers, Hickory Ridge, Kings Contrivance and Dorsey's Search over one half of the stores cannot be seen from parking.

ANNE ARUNDEL County is on the cutting edge of one of the most pressing national issues, welfare reform. The Department of Social Services, mainly a check-dispensing service not so long ago, now focuses on employment and empowerment. In the last two months, one-third of applicants for Aid to Families with Dependent Children found jobs. The key word here is flexibility. Local caseworkers have been tailoring assistance to an individual family's needs instead of handing out money based on rigid formulas.

Four companies with local factories here will be honored tonight for their contributions to the manufacturing industry. The Regional Manufacturing Institute will honor McCormick and Co. Inc., Unilever, Dap Inc. and Northrop Grumman Corp. The World Trade Center Institute, an association of more than 300 world trade centers around the world that promotes economic development and international trade, will also be recognized at the event at the Baltimore Museum of Industry. The companies and the institute are being honored for their participation in the Inside Series, a program in which companies invite other manufacturers to their facilities and talk about how they succeeded.

College to sponsor breakfast seminar on worker retention Howard Community College will sponsor a free breakfast seminar for mid- to large-size companies, "Motivating and Retaining Employees," at 8 a.m. Oct. 14 in Dining Room A of the college's Science and Technology Building, 10901 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia. Betty Noble, a work/life coach and adjunct faculty member at the college, will be the presenter. The event is part of the college's Business Leader Development and Networking Breakfast Series.

Spinning the wheels back and forth with her tired hands, Aleasha Nisbeth crossed the finish line first while her classmates, also in wheelchairs, trailed behind her. Moving around in a wheelchair wasn't as easy as Aleasha thought. "We couldn't move our legs, and that's how it is," said Aleasha, 11. Aleasha was one of hundreds of students at Ellicott Mills Middle School who got a glimpse of life in a wheelchair as part of a disability awareness program called "dAp Day." The daylong program at the Ellicott City school Friday also featured dozens of speakers on physical and cognitive disabilities, including autism, mental retardation, brain injuries, cerebral palsy, and multiple sclerosis.

SOMETIMES, IN youth, we find a niche that give us an upper hand in making friends and adding enjoyment to life. Perhaps it's the ability to tell a good joke or be a good listener, or to be seen as an accomplished athlete or simply a nice guy. Directing and acting in plays did it for Owen Brown resident David Harter, who discovered theater as a preteen, while living in London. "I was really jazzed by it," says Harter, who won a playwriting contest in high school and directed a school production of his work.

Samala Mason and Douglas "Squirt" Blake might seem a classic case of young people headed for poverty.Sam, 18, unmarried and pregnant, product of a broken home, lived with her mother and sister in Freetown Village, a public housing complex in Anne Arundel County. Doug, 21, a high school dropout, unskilled and unemployed, lived with various relatives.They wanted to get married but delayed their plans so Sam would qualify for Aid to Families with Dependent Children and medical benefits. It seemed the only option.

Bring a touch of autumn indoors with some new outdoorsy products from Smith & Hawken. Store tools, pots, hats and knickknacks in the new Chicken Coop Cubbies (right, $129 small; $149 large), with upturned lip on each bin to keep items stowed. Or install the Flagstone Falls Fountain ($249, available through catalog and Web site only) to your wall for a natural and decorative home piece. The copper and slate fountain, with recirculating pump, plugs into any standard outlet. Decorate your home with the hand-carved black, green or white Teak Ducks (left, $59 each)

Maryland businesses have come up with their wish lists, with some expensive and perhaps contentious items on the roster of goodies.The General Assembly has received requests for the next round of Sunny Day Funds, state government loans that companies can use to bolster their operations.The loans are desirable because they offer below-market rates and may be deferred or even forgiven entirely if the company meets agreed-upon employment or capitalization goals.According to information provided by the Department of Legislative Services, the current Sunny Day applications vary widely in size and purpose.