Eastpoint Mall

Stephon Marbury calls the tour that comes to Eastpoint Mall this afternoon the Starbury Movement Tour, because he wants the basketball shoes and clothing he is promoting to clear a path to a new way of marketing and selling such popular gear to lower-income buyers. "To really be honest, this is a people story more than a basketball story," Marbury, the New York Knicks guard, said by phone yesterday. "For us, we don't see it in that [basketball] sense; we see it as being a movement for the people ... a movement for the people who want to have shoes and gear they can afford.

Eastpoint Mall in eastern Baltimore County will likely get an overhaul and some new retailers under a new owner, a New York-based private equity fund that announced the acquisition yesterday. The Thor Urban Property Fund, a unit of Thor Equities LLC, said it acquired the 844,463- square-foot regional mall anchored by Sears, Value City, J.C. Penney and Steve & Barry's University Sports- wear. Officials of Thor, who were not available yesterday, did not release the purchase price. But the mall, which had been owned by a partnership of Lehman Brothers and mall operator Shopco Advisory Corp.

Two slices of Home A little slice of the 2005 Warped Tour, in the form of five-member Between Home and Serenity, will perform at Sonar at 8 p.m. Saturday. The band has also scheduled an in-store appearance that afternoon at the FYE at Eastpoint Mall. The appearance and performance follow last week's release of the band's second CD, Power Weapons in the Complex, which Ian Ver, Anthony Dargaj, Adam Kraft, Mike Mealey and Brian Weir classify under the "rock-screamo" genre. Between Home and Serenity will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday at Sonar, 407 E. Saratoga St., after appearing at FYE at 2 that afternoon at 7839 Eastpoint Mall, No. 10. Sonar tickets are $10, and the mall appearance is free.

Baltimore County Executive James T. Smith Jr. is set to visit the exhibition of local black history expert Louis Diggs on Saturday at Eastpoint Mall in eastern Baltimore County, Smith's office announced today. Smith will visit Diggs' photographic display at 11 a.m. near the entrance to Value City at Eastpoint Mall. The exhibit, showing on Saturday and Sunday, highlights the histories of the eastern Baltimore County communities of Turners Station and Edgemere. Diggs, considered the first historian to research and document Baltimore County's African-American heritage, has penned seven books that detail the histories of African-American enclaves around the county.

Police Blotter is a sampling of crimes from police reports in Baltimore City and Baltimore County. Baltimore City Southwestern District Homicide: An unidentified man died last night at Maryland Shock Trauma Center after being shot in the head and chest about 6 p.m. in the 3100 block of Normount Ave. by an occupant of a passing vehicle. At least two men were arrested a short time later and were being questioned by police. Southern District Arrest: Robert Ballesteris, 29, of the 100 block of Hollywood Drive in Glen Burnie was arrested yesterday in the 1700 block of Hollins St. by members of the Warrant Apprehension Task Force on warrants charging him with the armed robberies of two Yellow Cab drivers in the 1900 block of Frederick Ave. on Dec. 15 and Thursday.

Man found fatally shot on apartment steps A West Baltimore man was found fatally shot early yesterday in the 2100 block of Garrison Blvd., police said. Carl Joseph Allen Jr., 23, who lived in the 1200 block of Edmondson Ave., was pronounced dead at the scene at 4:10 a.m. when medics arrived, police said. Allen was discovered on the rear steps of an apartment complex, according to investigators. Police said they have no suspects, and they did not know why Allen was near the apartment complex.

The Maryland Public Service Commission said yesterday that it will not block Baltimore Gas and Electric Co.'s plan to close its last two payment centers, but ordered the company to establish customer safeguards. In a letter sent to BGE and the Office of the People's Counsel yesterday, the commission directed BGE to set up a formal procedure to protect customers from inadvertent service shut-offs or delayed service restoration because of payment mix-ups. BGE must also monitor the effects on quality of service that customers receive at non-BGE payment sites and submit reports about complaints and problems caused by the closures, according to the PSC letter.

After several complaints from local businesses and consumer advocates, Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. is proposing to keep its downtown bill payment center open for another year to give its customers time to adjust to the center's eventual closing. In a letter filed with the Maryland Public Service Commission late Wednesday, BGE said the payment center at its West Lexington Street headquarters will remain in operation until July 1 next year but that an Eastpoint Mall payment site will close at the end of the month as scheduled.

Police Blotter is a sampling of crimes from police reports in Baltimore City and Baltimore County. Baltimore City Western District Burglary: Someone entered the underground garage at Mondawmin Mall between Saturday and Monday and removed tools valued at $7,500 from two trucks owned by a plumbing firm. Southeastern District Robbery: Police were seeking a gunman who robbed Simon's Pub & Eatery in the 2000 block of E. Fairmount Ave. of an undisclosed sum about 10 p.m. Sunday. Burglary: Two televisions, two videocassette recorders and a stereo system - all valued at more than $1,000 - were stolen Monday from a house in the 6200 block of Shipview Way. Northwestern District Stolen vehicle: A 1998 Nissan Pathfinder with tags M318250 was stolen Monday in the 4300 block of Maine Ave. Theft/arrest: A woman, 42, was arrested Monday when she tried to leave Family Dollar in the 5900 block of Reisterstown Road without paying for a dress valued at $10. Theft: Tools and 20 compact discs - all valued at $450 - were stolen Monday from a 1987 Chevrolet pickup truck parked in the 6300 block of Wirt Ave. Southwestern District Robbery: A man, 45, was walking in the 200 block of S. Hilton St. about 6:45 p.m. Monday when a gunman robbed him of cash and property, all valued at $700.

A farmers' market that was once a staple at the now-defunct Golden Ring Mall will be resurrected 10 minutes away in eastern Baltimore County. The Eastpoint Mall farmers' market will open Wednesday. Organizers say it will operate from noon to 3 p.m. every Wednesday until October, selling items such as sweet corn, tomatoes, squash, pears and strawberries, most of it produced by Baltimore County farmers. The state has seen an explosion in the number of such markets since 1990, when there were 20. Today, there are an estimated 65, two-thirds of which get support from the state Department of Agriculture.