Earlene

Army Cpl. Lloyd Gaither III, son of Elizabeth Mott of Columbia, has graduated from the U.S. Air Force cable-splicing specialist course atSheppard Air Force Base, Texas.He is a 1984 graduate of Hammond High School.LANGE TAKES TRAININGPvt. Eric Lange, son of Allan Lange of Columbia, has completed training at the U.S. Infantry School at Fort Benning, Columbus, Ga.BRODEUR ON FLA. DUTYAirman 1st Class Dorothy F. Brodeur, daughter ofDonna and Raymond Masterson, has arrived for duty at Homestead Air Force Base, Fla.The airman, a law enforcement specialist, is a graduate of Atholton High School.

Cold wind nearly snuffed the flame on the 7-foot-tall candle that drips red and carries the message, "STOP THE KILLING."The candle mock-up has followed the trail of violence through the city for a year, and yesterday it stood in front of a school where a cleaning woman was stabbed to death in a classroom last month.Maybe 45 people huddled around the candle in front of Calverton Middle School, as crowds have gathered at the scene of killing after killing in Baltimore."We want to send a message that we're tired," said the Rev. Willie Ray of Mt. Lebanon Baptist Church in Reisterstown.

Inside a hot auditorium yesterday in East Baltimore, three purple-draped picnic tables brimmed with the community's family treasures. Among items on display were Joyce Dean's Woman of the Year Award, Elsie Gary's nursing certificate, crotchet works by Evelyn Turner, published writings by Brenda Brown, and -- under a card that read, "My trip to Africa" -- Bettye Brinkley's ebony carved mask from Senegal. But the treasures weren't just on the tables. They also were the people who brought them -- grandparents.

Travis Hardy wasn't sure he was making a statement -- fashion or otherwise -- with his tuxedo pants and vest as he twirled on the stage of Alexander Hamilton Elementary School yesterday. But, for the adults in the audience, his performance and those of his 23 fellow student-models spoke volumes."Three-quarters of these kids did 80 percent of the work on these garments themselves -- that shows that they listened, they learned and we see the results," said Gregory Hardy, Travis' father and a master tailor who began teaching weekly sewing classes at the West Baltimore school in January.

Harry E. BraimosShoe repairmanHarry E. Braimos, a retired shoe repairman, died Sunday of cancer at Franklin Square Hospital.The 75-year-old Dundalk resident worked for George's Shoe Repair on Howard Street for 15 years and earlier in New York City.A native of the Greek island of Limnos who was in the Greek army in World War II, he first came to New York in 1957 but returned briefly to Greece the next year and married the former Toula Binos.Services were set for 11 a.m. today at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, 520 S. Ponca St., Baltimore, where his son-in-law, the Rev. Manuel J. Burdusi, is pastor.

The Virginia company that holds the contract to enforce child-support orders in Baltimore has accused a leading state official of undermining its efforts in the city, telling her boss and legislators that the situation has become "untenable." David R. Francis, general counsel of Maximus Inc., wrote a letter to Human Resources Secretary Emelda P. Johnson on Monday complaining about Teresa L. Kaiser, executive director of the state's Child-Support Enforcement Administration. He sent copies to the two General Assembly committees handling bills that would extend privatization in Baltimore and Queen Anne's County.

OYSTERBACK -- Chelsea Redmond has set up a snow cone stand down by the harbor this summer, and it's been quite a hit with both the watermen and the tourists, especially when the temperature reaches for 100 and the humidity lies so thick on the ground that you could take a jackhammer to it and make a dent in the atmosphere.For 75 cents, you can get a wax paper cup full of chipped ice and some exotic, sugary flavoring like Mango Peach or Limon Breeze or Blue Hawaii, then sit in the shade of a few sullen pin oaks at one of the picnic tables watching life pass you by, spooning in icy chemicals you'd probably rather not know the names of, even if you could pronounce them.

Five shows that played the Mechanic Theatre were among the honorees at the National Broadway Theatre Awards, the new people's-choice-type awards for touring productions, presented in New York Monday night. "Ragtime," seen at the Mechanic in March, was named Best Musical and also received the award for best song for its rousing act-one finale, " 'Til We Reach That Day." "Beauty and the Beast," which came to the Mechanic in 1999 and will play a return engagement next spring, garnered awards for best visual presentation (shared by set designer Stanley A. Meyer and lighting designer Natasha Katz)

MOUNT AIRY, N.C. -- Ralph Epperson, the founder of WPAQ-740 AM, is telling a story about how he and the community once tried to give the radio station a name to go with its call letters. "We actually held a contest, but we never got anything that seemed to suit." Someone suggested that WPAQ might stand for "We Piddle Around Quietly," Epperson says, chuckling. "I don't think that was what we were looking for." So the station, which began broadcasting Feb. 2, 1948, became known as the Voice of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

A bay is expected to have boats, but the Chesapeake is attaining more and more distinction for its books. True, no Pulitzer Prizes since 1977 (William Warner's Beautiful Swimmers), but by now a private, comprehensive bay library would pile higher than many a mast. Your latest need is Window on the Chesapeake: The Bay, Its People and Places, by Wendy Mitman Clarke (Mariners' Museum, Newport News, Va., 152 pages, $24.95). Window ties into the Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network, a Clinton-era assemblage of 100-plus parks, wildlife refuges, museums, ancient settlements and water trails, under National Park Service aegis.