Downtown Annapolis

Hundreds of workers in downtown Annapolis went home early yesterday after a midday power failure immobilized scores of businesses and government offices. Officials at Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. said water had seeped into an underground electrical box, disrupting power to buildings around West Street, Calvert Street and Church Circle. Power was restored to 96 percent of the affected customers by late afternoon. But BGE spokesman Steven Unglesbee said yesterday evening that the remaining 4 percent would have to wait until work crews found the source of the water, pumped it dry and repaired the electrical line.

Since 1901, Annapolis residents and downtown workers have been dropping off letters and buying stamps at the brick Georgian Revival-style post office on Church Circle. But not for much longer. A vote by the state's Board of Public Works on Wednesday seals the eventual fate of the post office. The state is buying the office for $3.2 million, with eventual plans to use the building for government offices. "The state saw an opportunity to retain the historic value of the building, particularly because it's in the footprint of other state-owned facilities.

Two decades of change have left some of Annapolis' historic streets at risk of being overwhelmed by commercial traffic, a consultant has found.Frances Phipps, president of The Phipps Group, told residents of the historic district Wednesday night that the downtown now has at least four residential streets "under stress." She also said trees and flowers should replace the parking meters at City Dock to ease traffic congestion and upgrade the waterfront.The consultant has been working for six months with an ad-hoc committee studying the city's Ward 1. She and Eileen Fogarty, director of Planning and Zoning, briefed residents on the group's findings Wednesday night.

Top state officials will decide Wednesday whether to buy the Annapolis post office on Church Circle to use it for government offices. The Board of Public Works -- comprised of the governor, comptroller and treasurer -- will vote on spending $3.2 million to buy the building. Appraisals for the building at 1 Church Circle range from a low of $950,000 to a high of $3.55 million, according to the state. The property is less than one acre and the building is 13,058 square feet.

Orlando Ridout V, a historian of early Maryland buildings who explored crawl spaces and attics for their social and architectural details, died of pancreatic cancer complications April 6 at Anne Arundel Medical Center. The lifelong Annapolis resident was 59. "He literally wrote the book on Annapolis and its 18th-century architectural history," said Pete Lesher, chief curator at Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels. "He was one of those persons whose reputations literally did precede him. When I first met him, I expected a button-down look.

Rookie's Market, the last grocery in downtown Annapolis, is closing after more than 45 years in business.Owners Dennis Lowman and his brother, Ray, had hoped to sell the business to someone willing to continue operating a grocery at the Market Space location, but changing times and higher rents made that impossible.The grocery will close March 12."I think it's horrible," said Louise Hammond, a City Council candidate in the 1st Ward. "Rookie's is pretty much all we've got left for groceries."

Annapolis Art Walk -- The Annapolis Gallery Association will present the 17th annual Annapolis Art Walk from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday at the galleries in downtown Annapolis. Twenty galleries will participate. Visual arts, crafts, live music and refreshments will be included. The event will be held rain or shine. 410-267-7077.

A vacant building in a prime location at Annapolis City Dock is about to be sold. An investment group led by Mark Ordan, CEO of Sunrise Senior Living, has signed a deal to buy the former Fawcett Boat Supplies building at 110 Compromise St. The building sits in a key spot in downtown Annapolis and will figure into the city's plans to redevelop the City Dock area. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed, and Ordan said it won't be final until the proposal passes a five-month study period "to make sure we have the support and cooperation of the city and the various constituents.

Parking in downtown Annapolis will be free for holiday shoppers from Friday through Jan. 2. The program provides free parking at meters on City Dock, Market Space, Main Street, Francis Street, West Street, Maryland Avenue, Prince George Street and the Donner lot, adjacent to Fawcett's on Compromise Street. Though the parking is free, the meters' time limits will be enforced. For longer parking, visitors can park in the Hillman or Gotts Court garages, and many downtown merchants can validate parking for up to four hours.

Annapolis Mayor Alfred A. Hopkins postponed a vote yesterday on whether to legalize sidewalk cafes downtown because of an alderman's illness.Louise Hammond, who represents the historic district, could not attend the meeting because of bronchitis and an ear infection, city officials said.The vote has been delayed until Nov. 13 because the sidewalk cafe legislation deals solely with Ms. Hammond's ward. The expected approval of the measure will end a year of debate and make sidewalk cafes permanent in downtown Annapolis.

The Annapolis Democratic Central Committee will pick a replacement for former Alderman Richard E. Israel on Tuesday night. Three men have applied to replace Israel, who resigned from the City Council earlier this month because he is moving to an assisted living facility that's outside of the ward he represented. Israel has Parkinson's disease. The replacement alderman will serve the remainder of Israel's term, which runs through this fall's city elections. The applicants seeking to finish Israel's term are Joe Budge, Paul Clar and Thomas McCarthy.

A vacant building in a prime location at Annapolis City Dock is about to be sold. An investment group led by Mark Ordan, CEO of Sunrise Senior Living, has signed a deal to buy the former Fawcett Boat Supplies building at 110 Compromise St. The building sits in a key spot in downtown Annapolis and will figure into the city's plans to redevelop the City Dock area. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed, and Ordan said it won't be final until the proposal passes a five-month study period "to make sure we have the support and cooperation of the city and the various constituents.

Orlando Ridout V, a historian of early Maryland buildings who explored crawl spaces and attics for their social and architectural details, died of pancreatic cancer complications April 6 at Anne Arundel Medical Center. The lifelong Annapolis resident was 59. "He literally wrote the book on Annapolis and its 18th-century architectural history," said Pete Lesher, chief curator at Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels. "He was one of those persons whose reputations literally did precede him. When I first met him, I expected a button-down look.

Some houses sell because the new owner falls in love with one particular element: a deluxe kitchen, an oversize bathroom or maybe a spectacular view. Others, like the one at 1916 Hidden Point Road in Annapolis, sell because there's nothing for buyers to dislike. "Sometimes, when you get into this price range, you're dealing with people who want everything to be right," said Frank Livingston, the listing agent who completed the sale of the home for $2.75 million in August. "This house didn't have any weaknesses, really.

Annapolis police are looking for a man who pulled a 21-year-old woman into an alley in downtown Annapolis and sexually assaulted her early Saturday morning. About 1:30 a.m., the woman was walking alone in the 100 block of Duke of Gloucester St. near the heart of the downtown area when a man walking behind her grabbed her and dragged her into a nearby alley, according to police. The man threw the woman to the ground and sexually assaulted her, police said. The woman, who had been walking home from West Street, was eventually able to fight off the man, who then fled, police said.

Protesters held signs reading "Leopold must go!" "Spying un-American" and "Resign now" outside Anne Arundel County government headquarters Monday, criticizing an embattled county executive who faces allegations that he used his county police detail to investigate political opponents. About a dozen people attended the protest near the Arundel Center to voice their disdain for County Executive John R. Leopold. He was indicted and charged March 2 with four counts of misconduct in office and one count of misappropriating county funds.

Starting tonight, 40 artists and 25 high school students from Anne Arundel County schools will set up and paint around Annapolis as part of Paint Annapolis 2006. There will be a tent at the City Dock where you can obtain a map detailing all of the artists' stations. Works created by the high school students and about 25 of the plein air artists this weekend will then go on display Sunday at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts. Paint Annapolis 2006 starts at 5 p.m. tonight at various locations in downtown Annapolis and runs dawn to about dusk tomorrow and Saturday.

A small deer shook up downtown Annapolis residents yesterday when it bounded down city streets and leaped over fences as it was being tailed by police officers.About 6 p.m., residents of a neighborhood near St. John's College and the Naval Academy spotted the deer, not a common sight so near the City Dock.Causing no damage -- except to the ego of a neighborhood German shepherd -- the deer ran through the car-packed streets and eluded officers."What's a deer doing in the middle of downtown Annapolis?"

Anne Arundel County officials have scuttled a plan to sell a downtown Annapolis park for possible development, hoping that the city will be willing to take over management of the county-owned land. Alan R. Friedman, county director of government relations, asked the council at its Monday meeting to withdraw a plan submitted in December by County Executive John R. Leopold. Annapolis Mayor Joshua J. Cohen said he is reviewing a draft agreement that calls for the city to lease the land at no cost for the next three years, though he said he's open to potentially developing the land.

On May 28, after a three-month absence of major jazz concerts in downtown Annapolis, local music enthusiasts celebrated the appearance of major jazz artists at a new venue, O'Callaghan's Hotel, where the vocal jazz quartet Mad Romance played to a capacity audience, filling all seats at every table. In setting up the show, legendary bassist Joe Byrd, who retired from performing in December 2008, continues to keep jazz alive in Annapolis with his wife, jazz entrepreneur Elana Byrd.