Downstairs

Carlos O'Charlie's Carlos O'Charlie's, a huge new bar and restaurant, opened in Highlandtown this summer. It consists of a long, wide main floor with a bar along one side and an equal-sized downstairs lounge. Where -- 3508 Eastern Ave. Call -- 410-675-1485 Web site -- carlosocharlies .com Notable -- Upstairs is divided into a couple of sections, one of which has couches facing a large stone fountain. Tall black metal chairs sit at the main bar. There are pool tables downstairs, a tiki bar and plenty of TVs. Vibe -- Clean.

A 14-year-old girl was shot in the head and killed last night by another teen-ager who was showing a pistol to his friends in an East Baltimore rowhouse, police said.Ivy Jones of the 1200 block of N. Montford Ave. died after being shot once in the head about 6:30 p.m. in an upstairs bedroom in the 2300 block of E. Biddle St., where she and three other friends were watching a 15-year-old boy handle the weapon."The boy pulled out a gun and was showing it to them. It's unclear whether he was unloading it or was fumbling with it," said Sam Ringgold, a police spokesman.

The person who beat and stabbed a 27-year-old woman yesterday in her Owings Mills apartment escaped while two police officers were at the front door, Baltimore County police said. Cheri Luzer, a teacher at Dundalk Middle School, was in critical condition after undergoing surgery at Maryland Shock Trauma Center, said Cpl. Vickie Warehime, a police spokeswoman. Last night, police issued an arrest warrant charging a 19-year- old man with attempted first-degree murder in the attack. Asked if an officer should have gone to the back of the apartment building when police arrived, Warehime said department policy states the two officers acted appropriately by going to the front door in a pair.

Well, he'd done it. He came downstairs and cut himself a piece of chocolate cake. Ate it with a fork, not his fingers, a sort of celebration.Upstairs he'd committed the deed, stood before the mirror and did away with whatever-it-was. Stood for a last look, lathered, pulled the blade. It was not easy, it pulled hard. He knew it would.He decided rather suddenly. He'd had three weeks of it, he wanted it gone now, the whatever-it-was. It was a mustache, or the semblance of one, the best he could afford.

An Ellicott City tanning salon where three women were arrested and charged with prostitution nearly two months ago has closed its doors.The Miami Spa Tanning Salon in the 9200 block of Baltimore National Pike had reopened briefly after a May 13 raid by county vice and narcotics detectives, the FBI and immigration agents, but the second-floor business was vacated "within days of the arrest," said Herbert Thaler Jr., an attorney representing V and P Associates,...

Annapolis man faces firearms chargeAn Annapolis man was charged Monday night with allowing his 6-year-old granddaughter to play with a loaded shotgun, after the weapon went off and tore a hole through the floor, injuring a boy in the downstairs apartment.Annapolis police arrested William C. Stansbury, 67, of Marcs Court under a new state law designed to protect children from firearms accidents.Mr. Stansbury acknowledged that he kept his 20-gauge shotgun loaded, with its muzzle pointing to the floor, in the bedroom of his apartment in Bay Ridge Gardens, a low-income housing complex in Eastport.

Let's say you're going to see a play at the Hippodrome Theatre. The Hipp Cafe inside the building is jampacked, and you're in the mood for something more casual than Maggie Moore's, the Irish restaurant and bar across the street. Until a few weeks ago, you didn't have another nearby bar to hang out pre-show. But now that Bedrock Billiards is open, there's a more colorful, casual member of the growing west side nightlife family. Think of Bedrock Billiards as the laid-back uncle who wore suits with wild colors to weddings but somehow pulled it off. It was probably his attitude - constant, utter coolness - that let him get away with almost anything.

Now that winter's (finally) here, having a cigar on the deck out back sounds a lot less relaxing. You bundle up like an Eskimo, totter outdoors, dig through your jacket for the smoke, try to light the matches with gloves on, drop them and curse the cold. By the time the darn thing's lit, you're shivering and asking yourself if it was worth all that. It's not. If you can't light up indoors but still crave a stogie, try one of these cigar bars downtown. The first spot, Max's on Broadway (737 S. Broadway, 410-675-6297)

Halfway through a set at Simon's of Butchers Hill, the drummer of the David Wells Trio was onstage tapping and grinning with his mouth shut. Anyone sitting in the upstairs dining room with him could read his mind: "Man, this is some smooooth jazz." And if owner Eugene Jones can lock down a consistently solid lineup four nights a week, Simon's upstairs room will be a routine stop for local jazz lovers. Jones is pretty close right now but still has a kink or two to work out. Jones, formerly the manager of Fat Lulu's, opened the upstairs in November.

IT WAS 2 a.m. and I was having this weird dream in which Sammy Davis Jr. returned from the dead and was having breakfast at my house. ("Hey, man, could you pass the pancakes? Man, you cats are the most, man! I mean it, man, this is a primo spread. This is Numero Uno, man, this is . . ." )I was telling Sammy to knock it off, that it was too early for that stuff, and then all of a sudden my wife was shaking me awake."I heard a noise downstairs!" she whispered.My wife, she hears noises all the time in our house.