East Baltimore

H&S Properties Development Corp. plans to push its Harbor East development east across Central Avenue with an expanded Whole Foods Market, a possible department store and apartments on two sites, baker-turned-developer John Paterakis Sr. said Friday. The developer will convert the one-story, brown-painted H&S Bakery distribution center into one or two floors of retail space, with apartments above, Paterakis said. H&S Bakery revealed intentions last month to move the center to an East Baltimore office park, freeing up the real estate by the end of 2014, he said.

A Baltimore judge sentenced a man convicted of repeatedly raping a 13-year-old girl in an East Baltimore vacant home to life in prison four times over plus an additional 25 years. Alvin Ray Wright Sr., 50, was convicted at trial in February on three rape counts, three sexual assault counts and a first-degree assault charge. He dragged his victim from the street, into the vacant home. It had no floor so the girl tumbled into the basement, knocking her glasses off. Then Wright attacked her repeatedly.

Sitting in front of a Chinese-made MAK-90 assault rifle, a member of a notorious East Baltimore drug ring testified yesterday that his group became so murderous that he and two other enforcers patrolled the streets with orders to kill enemies on sight.Dartania "Darty" Norton, 24, identified the assault rifle -- tagged as evidence and placed unloaded in front of him on the witness stand -- as one of the weapons he and the other men carried while hunting down the rivals of suspected kingpin Anthony Ayeni Jones.

A man was found badly injured outside a home on fire in East Baltimore on Monday night, and he may have been injured escaping from the flames, the city Fire Department said. The fire was underway at a home in the 800 block of North Luzerne Avenue in the Milton-Montford neighborhood about 9 p.m., Fire Department spokesman Capt. Roman Clark said. The injured man was taken to a hospital in serious condition, and the fire had not spread beyond the house, Clark said. cwells@baltsun.com twitter.com/cwellssun

Jacqueline M. "Jackie" Zajdel, a popular Canton cosmetologist who was a maestra of the shag, beehive, French twist and teased hair for decades, died Aug. 24 of cancer at Mercy Medical Center. The longtime Highlandtown resident was 67. Jacqueline Mary "Jackie" Zajdel was born in Baltimore and raised on Old North Point Road in Dundalk. She graduated in 1962 from Sparrows Point High School. "When she got out of high school, hairstyling was what she wanted to do, and she worked in a couple of shops in Dundalk," said her brother, Edwin "Zip" Zajdel, who lives in Joppa.

Rosie Stewart Keene, an East Baltimore political activist who helped plan the construction of Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, died Thursday of cancer at her Preston Street home. She was 78. The former secretary of the Eastside Democratic Organization also was an insurance examiner with the Social Security Administration, where she worked for 43 years. In the 1960s, she became an advocate for the East Baltimore neighborhood called Oliver - a community south of North Avenue and east of Broadway.

A man was fatally shot Monday afternoon in the Ellwood Park neighborhood of East Baltimore, police said.  The victim's clothing, including his shoes and other items, could be seen on the sidewalk in the 500 block of N. Decker Ave. as school children, still wearing their backpacks, looked on.  Police did not immediately identify the victim, but said he was a 25-year-old who court records show lived in the block. The shooting was reported at about 2 p.m., police said. Anyone with information was asked to call homicide detectives at 410-396-2100.

Baltimore police have identified a man who was found shot early Tuesday morning in East Baltimore. An officer had found Vance Williams, 19, of the 1600 block of W. Preston Street E. Hoffman and N. Caroline streets in the Oliver neighborhood at 2:45 a.m. Tuesday morning. Medics pronounced him dead at 2:53 a.m. The medical examiner's office is performing an autopsy, according to police. Text BUSINESS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun Business text alerts

Medical waste disposal company Daniels Sharpsmart Inc. said Friday it has opened a facility in East Baltimore. The facility, which became fully operational this month, will serve hospitals, clinics, medical and dental offices in Maryland, Washington, D.C., Delaware and Pennsylvania from the plant. The company said in a release that it was attracted to the area in part because of the quality of the region's hospitals. The company is known for its Sharpsmart system which allows for the safe disposal of needles and other sharp objects.

Three men were shot at about 6:40 p.m. Sunday at East 20th Street and Kennedy Avenue in East Baltimore, according to Baltimore City police. The cause of the shooting and the names of the victims were not known. One man was shot in the torso, a second in the leg and a third in his leg and stomach, police said. All men are expected to survive. A fourth man was shot in the arm and the chest at 5:30 p.m., in a robbery at a store in the 300 block of N. Warwick St. near Warwick and Franklin Streets in south Baltimore.

A man was fatally shot Monday afternoon in the Ellwood Park neighborhood of East Baltimore, police said.  The victim's clothing, including his shoes and other items, could be seen on the sidewalk in the 500 block of N. Decker Ave. as school children, still wearing their backpacks, looked on.  Police did not immediately identify the victim, but said he was a 25-year-old who court records show lived in the block. The shooting was reported at about 2 p.m., police said. Anyone with information was asked to call homicide detectives at 410-396-2100.

John Paterakis Sr. didn't believe it when Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke told him nearly two decades ago that Harbor East's Marriott Waterfront Hotel would spur revitalization from the Inner Harbor to Canton. The city had picked Paterakis' H&S Properties Development Corp. to build the hotel, launching a parallel career for the baker and developer. Today, Paterakis marvels at the upscale shops, luxurious living spaces and top-flight office space set to line the southeastern Baltimore waterfront - and already booming along it. "You have to give a lot of credit that he was right," said Paterakis, president of H&S Bakery Inc., which grew from a two-man operation that opened in 1943 to a baking empire spanning more than two dozen states.

H&S Properties Development Corp. plans to push its Harbor East development east across Central Avenue with an expanded Whole Foods Market, a possible department store and apartments on two sites, baker-turned-developer John Paterakis Sr. said Friday. The developer will convert the one-story, brown-painted H&S Bakery distribution center into one or two floors of retail space, with apartments above, Paterakis said. H&S Bakery revealed intentions last month to move the center to an East Baltimore office park, freeing up the real estate by the end of 2014, he said.

Federal officials announced Friday a major expansion of the “ urban waters ” initiative they kicked off in Baltimore nearly two years ago, adding 11 new blighted water ways around the country to the seven they've already pledged to help clean up and redevelop, including the Patapsco River. Representatives of the Environmental Protection Agency and 12 other federal agencies gathered for the announcement this time in Grand Rapids, Mich. A group of kayakers there has teamed up with a private engineering firm to push a $27 million white-water park on the Grand River flowing through the city's downtown.

Three men were shot in East Baltimore on Sunday night, and all are expected to survive their injuries, city police said. The men were shot in the 2900 block of East Monument Street after 7 p.m., police said. One man was shot in the hand, one in the abdomen and one shot in the leg, said Detective Vernon Davis, a police spokesman. Two of the victims left in a car and were stopped by police about a mile away, near the intersection of Orleans Street and North Duncan Street, and taken to a local hospital.

Constellation said Thursday that it is giving Teach For America $1 million for efforts in Baltimore over the next four years, from training teachers to helping program alumni fight poverty. The Baltimore division of Chicago-based Exelon Corp. said it has donated about $465,000 to Teach For America since 1994. Exelon agreed to donate an average of $7 million a year in Maryland for a decade as part of its acquisition of Constellation Energy Group. Constellation said its CEO, Kenneth Cornew, is guest-teaching in a science class at East Baltimore's Commodore John Rodgers Elementary/Middle School Thursday in honor of Teach For America Week.

I remember the faded photograph my aunt kept in a place of honor in her home. My grandfather was 5, sitting atop a pony at the corner of North Patterson Park and Ashland avenues. He wore a petticoat and cap. It was about 1925. I remember the stories about "Pop" Schoppert, my grandfather's father, making the trip from West Virginia to Baltimore to seek a better life. The trunk with which he traveled sits in the basement of my parents' house. I remember, as a child, examining it, imagining that journey.

A Northeast Baltimore community leader said Wednesday he plans to step down from the city's Board of Elections to run for a state delegate seat. Cory McCray, 30, who lives in Overlea, said he plans to run for the 45th District legislative seat formerly held by Del. Hattie Harrison. In February, Nina R. Harper, 60, was sworn in to succeed Harrison, a Democrat who died Jan. 28 at 84 after nearly 40 years in office. Harper, the executive director of the Oliver Economic Development Corp., was chosen as Harrison's replacement by Baltimore's Democratic State Central Committee and was automatically appointed by Gov. Martin O'Malley under the state Constitution.