Djs

The death of Hannah Wheeling, a valued Department of Juvenile Services ("DJS") employee, has sent a shockwave of sadness and concern through DJS and communities across Maryland. Understandably, people want answers as to how this tragedy occurred and how it could have been prevented. I assure you that there is no one who wants answers more than I do. But, like everyone else, I have to wait to get my answers. Why? Because the Maryland State Police and local authorities are still investigating a criminal matter that will hopefully enable justice to prevail.

Citing numerous accounts of neighborhood disturbances, the Baltimore Board of Liquor License Commissioners ruled not to renew the license of the Museum Restaurant and Lounge in Mount Vernon after four hours of deliberation Thursday night. Liquor board chairman Steve Fogleman said management of the Museum - which set up in the former Brass Elephant space - presented the business as an “upscale restaurant” when applying for the license, but it was in reality a nightclub. He refuted Museum owner Walter Webb's claims from earlier this month that Webb had been unfairly targeted because he is one of the few African American business owners in Mount Vernon.

THIS YEAR'S budget crisis at the state Department of Juvenile Services isn't unexpected, isn't the first and won't be the last. It could be the next-to-last, though, if DJS and its handler, the Ehrlich administration, come clean on how much the system really costs. The department has had a structural deficit for years. It spends far more than budgeted to place delinquent youngsters in group homes and in far-flung private facilities to give them the specialized care they need. While we agree with the department, the administration, the advocates and most of the nation that treating children closer to home, often in smaller settings, is preferable, until DJS builds up that new infrastructure, it has to make do with what it has. That means it will continue to spend a great deal on "out-of-home placements."

Weddings, along with styles, are constantly changing. Wedding bands used to be very popular in the last generation but lately DJs are the trend. As a very indecisive person, I can tell you that I am really struggling with this decision.  The music and entertainment of your wedding can really make or break the whole celebration. There will be music playing for the ceremony, cocktail hour and, of course, the reception. If it doesn't turn out how you hope it to, it could affect the guests and whether they have a good time or not. If the DJ only plays slow songs, some of the single people may not want to dance.

IT'S HARD TO ARGUE with the latest plan to tinker with Maryland's lumbering juvenile justice system. After all, we've seen much of it before: Calls for smaller facilities, more mental and physical health care before and during incarceration, and more and better training for staff at the Department of Juvenile Services have come from advocates, legislators, this newspaper and DJS itself. Some specifics, though, are worth attention - and action. The 10-point plan offered by Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley reflects lessons learned during the city's running of such services as Operation Safe Kids, an intensive, cooperative intervention program for juveniles in greatest danger of being shot or shooting someone.

Because trip-hop is not band music, some people think it will never succeed in a concert format. As they see it, how exciting could it be to watch a couple of DJs?Obviously, these folks have never seen the Chemical Brothers. Although this British duo -- Ed Simons and Tom Rowlands -- work with the usual assortment of samples and loops, they approach trip-hop with a rock and roll attitude, emphasizing aggression as much as groove. In fact, the group's current single, "Setting Sun," quotes "Tomorrow Never Knows" and boasts a vocal from Oasis' Noel Gallagher.

MARYLAND'S beleaguered juvenile justice system needs more money, more transparency, better focus on the basics and a greater sense of urgency. A revised House bill would help with the last three, as well as enforce the idea that it also is the legislature's duty to ensure that the state helps, not harms, its wards. It is not acceptable, for example, that the Department of Juvenile Services has been reminded repeatedly, for years, to fix the broken locks on cell doors at the Charles H. Hickey Jr. School.

"It's raw, simple, almost primal music that is meant to be the soundtrack to the time of your life. " That's DJ James Nasty talking about Baltimore club music. He's a longtime fan. But for an upcoming gig, he's been researching it and other historic Baltimore sounds more meticulously than he would for his weekly Mustache party at the Ottobar . The online magazine Gutter asked him and DJ Benny Stixx to come up with a dance party where they'd spin only Baltimore music. The two will finally show off their set lists tonight at the Windup Space at a party where they'll play songs that stretch as far back as the 1940s.

Rock and roll is here to stay. Unless you're in the habit of listening to WGRX-FM (100.7), where its days are definitely numbered.Reacting to persistently low ratings that have left it one of the least-heard stations on Baltimore's FM dial, management at the modern rock station has fired its program director and its six disc jockeys in preparation for a major format change.General Manager Roy Deutschman said he is not ready to announce the format, but confirmed it would be announced soon, and would have nothing to do with rock.

AT THE RELATIVELY new juvenile holding tank at the Baltimore Juvenile Justice Center, where the staff is supposedly freshly trained in best practices and state law, children have been badly, apparently illegally, treated. At the well-established Alfred D. Noyes Children's Center in Rockville, there are new reports of the old, familiar "fight clubs," as well as allegations that a staffer ran a gang -- with shame and physical abuse as hazing -- in one of the units. Apparently, not much has changed as the Ehrlich administration rolls into its third year of juvenile justice "reform."

The independent watchdog agency that oversees Maryland's Department of Juvenile Services recently released a report showing the state made important progress last year toward improving conditions for youths held in its three largest juvenile detention facilities. That's good news given the years of problems the system has encountered with overcrowding, incidents of violence, high staff turnover and aging facilities. Now the state needs to build on those gains by replicating the successful programs at its largest institutions in smaller facilities statewide.

State officials were right last week to postpone approval of a Department of Juvenile Services contract to increase the capacity of the privately owned Silver Oak Academy juvenile residential treatment facility in Carroll County. The department wants to double the number of beds there, from 48 to 96, in order to reduce the backlog of youthful offenders awaiting treatment in overcrowded lockups. Getting more troubled young people out of detention centers and into treatment where they can receive the help they need is certainly a worthy goal.

When you become the most decorated Olympian of all time what do you do --  head to Disneyland? Not Michael Phelps. He's going to Atlantic City. Phelps will be headlining a pool party at Harrah's Resort on Sept. 22. And from the looks of photos of past "Pool After Dark" parties on the resort's website , these things can get pretty wild. You think you can handle hanging with the king of chlorine? Well, all you have to do is head over to the New Jersey boardwalk and pony up $20 -- that's what admission costs.

For years, lawmakers and child advocates have been urging Maryland's Department of Juvenile Services to speed up the process of getting troubled youths out of the state's overcrowded juvenile lockups and into residential treatment facilities where they can get help. And year after year, the answer is always the same: There aren't enough treatment slots for all the kids who need them. So it was already more than a twice-told tale when DJS Secretary Sam Abed appeared before the state Board of Public Works recently and said he is considering expanding the size of some privately run residential treatment programs because of the shortage of beds at state facilities.

T o say the legacy of Khia “K-Swift” Edgerton lives on is about as big an understatement as you can make in Baltimore.   Three years after her death, the 92Q DJ and radio host's work has motivated a new wave of female artists, popularized a lasting genre of Baltimore club music, draws crowds to memorials and is the inspiration for scholarships and a new school of music and technology.   Hundreds gathered Sunday at Riverside Park Pool in South Baltimore to celebrate 92Q's annual K-Swift Day.  There, attendees said Swift's legacy has spawned an upsurge of female DJs in an industry once dominated by men.  “There weren't a lot of female DJs when Swift started,” says 92Q's Pork Chop, a longtime friend and colleague.

Gay Pride festivals are in season. Washington's Capital Pride was last weekend, and so was Philadelphia's. Chesapeake Pride is coming up in mid-July at Anne Arundel County Fairgrounds. But this weekend, it's time for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Baltimoreans to celebrate. The Baltimore Pride festival , which officially kicks off Friday and ends Sunday, includes an opening garden party, a performance by Deborah Cox, a block party, a high-heel race and the annual parade.

Remember when the latest dance party wave hit Charm City? It was four or five years ago, when Underground and Taxlo sprung up, among others. Around that time, The Sidebar Tavern started hosting a soul night, though the party moved to another location soon thereafter. Now The Sidebar's back in the game with Reaction, a monthly Mod dance party with resident and guest DJs and live bands. The Things, a local psychedelic garage punk band, play tomorrow night, and the Dansettes, a '60s soul band fronted by three female singers, headline the July 14 Reaction.

Steve "Phlash" Phelps and Kurt Gilchrist are winging their way through the continental 48 states in just 14 days, making stops throughout in a customized Cadillac SUV as they broadcast songs from the '60s and '70s on XM Satellite radio. Yesterday was Day 2, and they pulled up mid-afternoon in Owings Mills, at a Tweeter electronics store where XM-compatible equipment can be found. The SUV was covered in logos for the satellite radio service and some of its 101 channels. A red transmitter disk sat atop the SUV, resembling nothing so much as a misplaced giant clown nose.

"It's raw, simple, almost primal music that is meant to be the soundtrack to the time of your life. " That's DJ James Nasty talking about Baltimore club music. He's a longtime fan. But for an upcoming gig, he's been researching it and other historic Baltimore sounds more meticulously than he would for his weekly Mustache party at the Ottobar . The online magazine Gutter asked him and DJ Benny Stixx to come up with a dance party where they'd spin only Baltimore music. The two will finally show off their set lists tonight at the Windup Space at a party where they'll play songs that stretch as far back as the 1940s.

Sam Abed, Gov. Martin O'Malley's choice to lead the state's troubled Department of Juvenile Services, is a young man with lots of energy and fresh ideas about how to meet the needs of troubled youth — but not a lot of experience actually doing it. Mr. Abed, 35, is a former prosecutor and juvenile justice official from Virginia, where he served just under five years as deputy director of Virginia's Juvenile Justice Agency, which is part of...