Druid Hill Park

Rob Kasper wrote a heartfelt editorial on Saturday about the beauty and charm of Baltimore's largest and most vital public park, Druid Hill ("Heart of a city," Sept. 4). Unfortunately, Druid Hill Park's heart, and greatest asset, was hardly mentioned. The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore , formerly known as the Baltimore Zoo, is literally in the center of the park, encompassing 135 acres of the park's 745. It employs 240 people and cares for more than 1,200 animals representing more than 175 species.

A man who was shot while trying to rob a business Wednesday was later located by police at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center, police said. Officers responded to the hospital at 9:10 p.m. after receiving word that a man with a gunshot wound to the chest had walked in. An investigation showed the man had been shot while attempting to rob a store in the 3600 block of Parkdale Drive, just north of Druid Hill Park, police said. No further details were immediately available.

A 29-year-old man was fatally shot early Monday a few blocks south of Druid Hill Park, according to Baltimore police. An officer responded about 2:49 a.m. to the 2700 block of Parkwood Ave. for a report of gunshots and found the man suffering from gunshot wounds. The victim, identified as Louis Scott of the 2700 block of Parkwood Ave., was taken to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where he was pronounced dead at 3:29 a.m., police said. Homicide detectives were investigating, and anyone with information was asked to call 410-396-2100.

There's a new champion in Baltimore. Not a sports team, a tree. Tucked amid a clump of loblolly pines in Druid Hill Park stands Maryland's largest striped maple. Acer pensylvanicum , as scientists know it, looks striking in winter, when its bare branches show off its greenish bark painted with orange and gray stripes. It isn't particularly big, as trees go. It's an understory tree, like a dogwood. This one stands 47 feet high, with a trunk that measures 21/3 feet around.

She's a regal 70-something these days, and among her other accomplishments, she was named the first African-American director in the history of the Enoch Pratt Free Library . But ask Anna Curry to name the most wonderful experience of her life, and she doesn't hesitate. It came when she was 6 and had her birthday party at Druid Hill Park. She wore patent-leather shoes and a dress hand-sewn by her mother. Her father somehow got hold of a car and took all her best friends.

Baltimore City recorded its first homicide this year when a man was fatally shot Sunday afternoon near Druid Hill Park, said a city police department spokesman. The victim's name was withheld pending notification of family members, said Detective Donny Moses, the spokesman. No arrest had been made. Shortly after 3 p.m., Northwestern District police and the crew of a city Fire Department ambulance responded to an alley in the 2300 block of Ocala Ave., about two blocks west of the park, for a report of a shooting, Moses said.

WJZ sports director Mark Viviano was assaulted by teens as he jogged through Druid Hill Park on Tuesday afternoon, police said. Viviano was wearing headphones as he ran through the park and past three teens when one struck him in the head from behind, said Agent Donny Moses, a spokesman with city department. Viviano said he did not hear the teens come up behind him about 1 p.m. He said a second teen tried to hit him but missed. He said they exchanged words, but Viviano continued to run, while the teens ran the other way. Viviano said he was not injured.

The family of a 14-year-old girl who was electrocuted on a Druid Hill Park softball field in 2006 has settled a lawsuit with a private contractor, but is seeking to revive litigation against the city that a judge had previously dismissed. An attorney for Douglas Electric and Lighting confirmed the settlement but said the amount was confidential. The lawyer for the company, Thomas V. McCarron, said executives decided to negotiate after a judge granted the city immunity but allowed the family to pursue the electrical company in court.

If those attending Baltimore's Stone Soul Picnic yesterday couldn't find something to do, it wasn't for lack of opportunity. Held at Druid Hill Park and sponsored by Radio One, the annual free event featured food, games, live entertainment, contests, vendor and numerous educational booths. Nationally syndicated disc jockey Tom Joyner, whose morning radio show raises money for historically black colleges and universities, was on hand to liven up the crowd. Stone Soul Picnics have been going on across the country for years as a way to promote family fun. For some at Druid Hill Park yesterday, it was their first taste of the event.

On a partly sunny and breezy Saturday, a crowd gathered in Druid Hill Park to learn about solar panels and wind energy. They also heard about rain barrels, public transportation and saving the Chesapeake Bay at the seventh annual EcoFest, a day to share the latest green information and products. It's hosted by Baltimore Green Works, a nonprofit that promotes sustainable ways of living. The festival kicks off a week of environment-themed events throughout the city. A few thousand people from across the city and surrounding area were expected to peruse the tables set up by environmental groups and companies interested in hooking more people.

A Baltimore police officer out walking his department dog in Druid Hill Park Wednesday afternoon shot and killed a pit bull that he said was attacking him, according to a police report. Police said Officer Jake Corbett was near the department's K-9 headquarters near Swann Drive when he noticed a pit bull running off the leash. The police dog, Thoda, was wearing a harness with Baltimore police patches and a neon police identification tag on a six-foot leash. Corbett said in a report that a black dog stared down Thoda from atop a hill about 100 yards away.

A man was shot in the back early Thursday in Baltimore's Penn North neighborhood, near Druid Hill Park, according to city police. The shooting was reported at 3:38 a.m. in the 2500 block of Woodbrook Ave. The 43-year-old victim was shot in the shoulder and was in stable condition at last check, police said.

During an emotional hearing Friday, the Maryland Public Service Commission adopted new regulations intended to prevent accidental electrocutions like the one that killed 14-year-old Deanna Green at a church softball game in Druid Hill Park more than five years ago. The requirements will force state electric companies to find — and eliminate — dangerous "contact voltage" in public objects that can transmit electricity, such as streetlights, traffic...

This week, Watchdog updates readers about an unresolved problem. Update: The fountain in the Druid Hill Park reservoir is going to remain out of commission for the time being. Watchdog last updated the condition of the landmark in 2009, explaining that phragmites, an invasive water plant, had clogged the fountain's lines. At the time, officials with Baltimore's Department of Public Works had planned to have the fountain restored to working order in 2010. But more than two years have passed, and nothing has changed.

Submit notices via email: owingsmillstimes@patuxent.com ; fax: 410-332-6336; or mail: Owings Mills Times, 501 N. Calvert St., third floor, Baltimore, MD 21278. Include sponsor or host, date, time, address of event, contact name and phone number. Deadline is noon the Wednesday before publication. Arts and Entertainment Summer Carillon Concert Series — McDonogh School, 86 McDongh Road, Owings Mills, Tagart Memorial Chapel Fridays in July, 7-8 p.m. Tours of the bell tower available after each recital.

For years, St. Paul's Cemetery, a Victorian city of the dead on a knoll in a remote corner of Druid Hill Park, was nothing more than a nearly forgotten, weed-choked, overgrown burial ground that had been subjected to mindless vandalism through the decades. Today, it's brimming with new life as volunteers and members of Martini Lutheran Church man humming lawn mowers and screaming chainsaws as they cut grass and remove felled trees. Their common goal is to restore the cemetery, which dates to 1854, to its former glory.

For years, St. Paul's Cemetery, a Victorian city of the dead on a knoll in a remote corner of Druid Hill Park, was nothing more than a nearly forgotten, weed-choked, overgrown burial ground that had been subjected to mindless vandalism through the decades. Today, it's brimming with new life as volunteers and members of Martini Lutheran Church man humming lawn mowers and screaming chainsaws as they cut grass and remove felled trees. Their common goal is to restore the cemetery, which dates to 1854, to its former glory.

Once again. African-Americans and poor people are the victims of politics. First, they closed the pool in Druid Hill Park on weekdays. It was only open on the weekend until late June so children who can't afford to go to swim clubs had to suffer. Next, they combined Stone Soul Picnic with the African-American Festival. They have also moved the Caribbean Festival out of Druid Hill Park. The sad part about what's been happening is that it's coming under the watch of an African-American mayor.