Deterioration

WASHINGTON -- The common assumption that old age in the United States brings with it unremitting deterioration is being challenged by a new study that shows disability rates among the elderly decreasing during the 1980s.Findings by three Duke University researchers -- Kenneth G. Manton, Larry S. Corder and Eric Stallard -- being published in the forthcoming issue of the Journal of Gerontology, have generated a whirlwind of discussion. Demographers were taken aback by the extent to which the disability rates had shifted.

On a recent cold, gray morning, state bridge inspector Van Swift jumped into his office: a 4-by-3-foot white bucket at the end of a 60-foot hydraulic arm anchored to a flatbed "snooper" truck. Working a cluster of joysticks, he swung the bucket away from the truck and over the side of the 800-foot Interstate 70 bridge spanning the Patapsco River between Baltimore and Howard counties. As the bucket descended, the whoosh of highway traffic gave way to the rumble of tires overhead. Swift maneuvered the bucket toward a web of girders, beams and turnbuckles about 120 feet above the rushing water.

Residents along a two-mile stretch of Harford Road, which for years has been in a downward spiral of urban blight, took a glimpse into the future of what could be done to revitalize their area and preserve property values.Last Tuesday night at Morgan State University, the Harford Road Partnership (HARP) ended a weeklong master planning workshop for the revitalization of Harford Road south of the Hamilton Business district. Residents and business owners listened as Mike Watkins, senior designer at Duany Plater-Zyberk & Co., and Robert Gibbs, a retail consultant with the same firm, showed renderings of how the commercial strip could be rejuvenated and returned to the surrounding neighborhoods.

As Alan Gross neared his third anniversary behind bars in Cuba, his wife gave new details of his deteriorating health and issued an impassioned plea to officials in Washington and Havana to negotiate his release immediately. Judy Gross, who visited her husband in September, said the Montgomery County man has lost 110 pounds since his arrest in December 2009, is suffering chronic pain from degenerative arthritis and now has a mass behind one shoulder. She said their American radiologist has told her the growth could be cancerous and should be assumed to be malignant until tested and proved otherwise.

BILBAO, Spain - Rarely has a new building enjoyed as much acclaim as the Guggenheim Museum's newest branch did when it opened on the esplanade along the River Nervion here in 1997. Its shining fish-scale exterior was lavishly praised by international critics, putting this industrial port city on the map for thousands of tourists. Architect Frank O. Gehry's bold design earned him near-mythic status in his profession, and one of his most eminent rivals, architect Philip Johnson, called it the "greatest building of our time."

On a recent cold, gray morning, state bridge inspector Van Swift jumped into his office: a 4-by-3-foot white bucket at the end of a 60-foot hydraulic arm anchored to a flatbed "snooper" truck. Working a cluster of joysticks, he swung the bucket away from the truck and over the side of the 800-foot Interstate 70 bridge spanning the Patapsco River between Baltimore and Howard counties. As the bucket descended, the whoosh of highway traffic gave way to the rumble of tires overhead. Swift maneuvered the bucket toward a web of girders, beams and turnbuckles about 120 feet above the rushing water.

NEW YORK -- The deterioration of corporate credit may be slowing -- which might point to a decline in bankruptcies and an improvement in overall business health.4.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. RatioYear.. .. .. ..Down.. .. .. Up.. .. .. .. down/up1986.. .. .. ..246.. .. .. 143.. .. .. .. .. 1.71987.. .. .. ..176.. .. .. 100 .. .. .. .. .. 1.81988.. .. .. . 237.. .. .. 138.. .. .. .. .. 1.71989.. .. .. . 339.. .. .. .138.. .. .. .. .. .2.51990.. .. .. . 433.. .. .. . 98.. .. .. .. .. .4.419911st qtr..

WASHINGTON -- Federal labs in Maryland and around the nation are suffering from leaky roofs and other physical deterioration that threaten to undermine their scientific work, warned Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes, who has called for an investigation by the General Accounting Office."

Ediciones Vigia uses standard Cuban government-issued tan paper, which is easy to tear and highly acidic. Many of the books have a short shelf life: 50 years at the outset, though temperature and humidity control can help. Deterioration shows almost right away; some page edges are frayed and curled.This concerns local book artist Jeanne Drewes, head of the preservation department at Johns Hopkins University. Drewes visited Cuba in May, one of several people to bring book-art supplies, including high-quality paper, to the artists.

Rust is evil -- almost everyone in America thinks so. That is one reason battling it can be so uplifting.These days, finding such widespread agreement on what is evil is rare. Just this week for example, I read that even though turncoat spy Aldrich E. Ames was regularly drunk, indiscreet, lazy and inefficient, his bosses at the Central Intelligence Agency considered such work habits normal. So, instead of getting fired for bad behavior, Ames got promoted.Living in a such a confused world, I feel the need for some certainty.

The rapid decline in health and ultimate death of a woman from fungal meningitis at Johns Hopkins Hospital after she'd received a tainted steroid injection was outlined by a team of Hopkins doctors in a medical journal article released online Thursday. The article, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, says a 51-year-old woman arrived at a local emergency room at the end of August with a headache "radiating" from the back of her head to her face. She'd received the steroid injection a week earlier.

It is always difficult to write about fans. Well, that is not true. It's actually very easy to write about individual fans. They have wonderful, meaningful memories of how they fell in love with a team. They speak eloquently about what their favorite sports and players mean to them. It is difficult to write about fans as a group. About a "fan base. " Because, really, there is no such thing. Each person's feelings about say, the Orioles, are as unique as their fingerprints.

The Maryland Transportation Authority has begun work on a $43 million project to shore up the foundation of the nearly 50-year-old Millard E. Tydings Memorial Bridge on Interstate 95, where the flow of the Susquehanna River has eroded some of the piers that support the span. The construction work on the bridge, part of the toll stretch of I-95 called the John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway, is not expected to seriously disturb bridge and boat traffic, and no lane closings are anticipated.

Municipal bonds traditionally have been a refuge for the risk-averse, as many are backed by the full faith and credit of state and local governments, but those same investors lately have been bailing out at a record rate. A few factors can be blamed for this sudden retreat, but the one making all the headlines is the fear that cash-strapped states and municipalities issuing the bonds will renege on promises to investors. Those simmering concerns were stoked last month when respected banking analyst Meredith Whitney warned on "60 Minutes" that 50 to 100 or so cities and counties will default on "hundreds of billions of dollars" of municipal bonds.

Baltimore physician Dr. Larry Egbert is currently awaiting trial in both Arizona and Georgia, accused of assisted suicide. The charges are unfounded. Dr. Egbert, a former Johns Hopkins professor, simply counseled patients with incurable diseases about their options as the end of their lives drew near. By talking to these folks, Dr. Egbert was fulfilling his responsibility as a medical professional. To understand why, consider the plight of those suffering from Alzheimer's.

Part of Gay Street had a beauty makeover and became Old Town Mall in the 1970s. This two-block stretch of old commercial stores and a city market made national headlines as an example of urban renaissance more than 30 years ago. Just a few blocks northeast of City Hall, Gay Street was closed to traffic, paved in brick and had a fountain and planters installed in the years after the riots following the death of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr....

DRUID HILL AVENUE used to be one of the finest addresses in Baltimore for African-American professionals. Today, many of its substantial rowhouses are vandalized or boarded up. The same goes for the leafy streets surrounding Lafayette Square. As black families have moved to the suburbs, that area, too, has been abandoned by the middle class.The city is now trying an intriguing program to prevent the same kind of deterioration in three Liberty Heights Avenue neighborhoods that are among Baltimore's most stable residential areas.

Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke ought to waste no time in getting to the bottom of the report that the city Housing Authority has allowed 300 of its 2,800 scattered-site public housing units to be stripped by vandals. Housing officials dismiss this as an aberration caused by complicated factors (such as tenants disappearing into the night), but we see it as a reflection of serious morale and leadership problems within the Housing Authority.We urge Mayor Schmoke to follow in Evening Sun reporter Joan Jacobson's footsteps and size up the impact of this problem on a neighborhood.

A once-endangered Baltimore landmark that defied redevelopment for two decades will finally gain new occupants when the Hotel Brexton reopens in two weeks. Richard Naing of RWN Development Group spent $4.5 million to restore and upgrade the building at 868 Park Ave. for use as a 29-room hotel. He plans to operate it as a sister to another property he owns, the Inn at the Colonnade on University Parkway. Naing is the last of several developers to buy the building and announce plans for its restoration.