East Baltimore Community

Heavy rains caused three sanitary sewers in Baltimore to overflow last week, a city agency said Wednesday. Two of the overflows occurred in the East Baltimore community of Middle East, according to a statement from the Department of Public Works. A 75,500 gallon overflow took place in the 1700 block of E. Chase St. and a 66,250 gallon overflow happened near the intersection of E. Eager and Durham streets, the statement said. The third overflow, of 110,000 gallons, arose in the 1900 block of Falls Road in the Jones Falls Area just west of the Charles North neighborhood.

Beyond the biotech high-rise, the townhouses and the condominiums sits what developers call the real centerpiece of the new East Baltimore Development Inc. - a school. The East Baltimore Community School has been open for only half a school year, housed in an assembly of temporary buildings at Washington and Chase streets. But almost everyone involved in the sprawling $1.8 billion EBDI redevelopment project - which aims to rebuild the area north of Johns Hopkins Hospital - refers to the school when discussing the neighborhood's odds of success.

World-renowned surgeon Benjamin Carson has been named president of the board overseeing the East Baltimore Community School Inc.--the educational institution spurred by the revitalization of the city's Middle East community, including a new elementary/middle school that will anchor the community. The appointment of Carson, director of the pediatric neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, was announced by Hopkins on Monday.  He started his new post effective Dec. 1, and took over for David Nichols, former vice dean for education at Hopkins' School of Medicine.

For decades, tensions have brewed between residents of the city's Middle East community and neighboring Johns Hopkins institutions, as generations watched its prosperous past fade to blight while Hopkins continued to build its august future. But on the site of a small classroom trailer this year, their fates will converge. Johns Hopkins' and Morgan State's schools of education will assume operation of the East Baltimore Community School in a unique partnership of two universities.

Cathy Miles is talking about "the children," and seven mothers sitting in the lunchroom of the East Baltimore Community School are gazing at her intently and nodding in agreement. "Every child deserves the opportunity to succeed," Miles says on this autumn evening. "That's our commitment to our students." And the women nod again. It's community engagement night at the school, and although only seven mothers have come - down from 50 parents last month - Miles, the principal of this new school set in a redevelopment project, stands in the center of the room talking about achievement and discipline.

Standing in front of a pile of debris near a street in West Baltimore, Mayor Martin O'Malley launched a reward program yesterday to help curb illegal dumping. "One person's trash is another person's cash," O'Malley said, announcing the launch of the campaign to target grime. Anyone who spots someone illegally dumping trash should immediately call 911, O'Malley said. If they find a pile of debris that has been dumped, they should call 311, the mayor said. People who provide tips-- the more detail, the better -- will be eligible for a $100 cash reward if the information leads to an arrest, O'Malley said.

There are four Baltimore City Council members who have said they are interested, or are believed to be, in being president. The following two councilmen are probably the front-runners at this point: William H. Cole IV Current position: District 11 council member Age: 37 years old Education: Graduated from the University of Maryland College Park, master's degree from University of Baltimore. Family: Married to Michelle, an assistant Maryland attorney general, three children.

Possible council president candidates There are four Baltimore City Council members who have said they are interested, or are believed to be, in being president. The following two councilmen are probably the front-runners at this point: William H. Cole IV Current position: District 11 council member Age: 37 years old Education: Graduated from the University of Maryland College Park, master's degree from University of Baltimore. Family: Married to Michelle, an assistant Maryland attorney general, three children.