Editors

Joseph E. "Joe" Gross, former sports editor of The Capital in Annapolis who abandoned an engineering career to become a sportswriter, died Wednesday of heart failure at Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis. He was 72. "Joe was just a delightful person. He enjoyed what he was doing, and it showed," said Jerry Jackson , current sports editor of The Capital. Joseph Emmanuel Gross was born in Philadelphia and raised in Langhorne, Pa., in Bucks County, where he graduated in 1958 from Neshaminy High School.

I really don't expect the Catonsville Times to publish anything that might lend credence to the charge that President Barack Obama's words and deeds arguably warrant his being impeached (see Article III, Section 3 of the Constitution of the United States). So I understand why the editorial in recent edition ("World now sees championship city we know so well," Catonsville Times, Feb. 6) is an irrelevant, cotton-candy tribute to Baltimore's professional sports teams. It's timely and fills all of the letters space available.

Who among us has done something of which we are not particularly proud? Why does one misdeed overshadow the goodness of an individual? I have known the Whalen family for over 30 years and have seen their goodness and the contributions they have made to the Catonsville community. First and foremost, Mr. Whalen has provided thousands of jobs for Catonsville and Baltimore area workers — from construction folks and office workers to those who keep parking lots swept of snow.

Get full picture of how Catonsville developer broke the law Go to the website of the Office of the Maryland State Prosecutor (www.ospd.org) and read the press release on the statement of facts to which Steve Whalen pleaded guilty. It can be found on the left hand column of the home page. It paints a vivid picture of how Steve Whalen and Councilman Tom Quirk do business with one another. It's not a pretty picture. Mr. Whalen stepped into that long line of developers who broke the law for their own gain.

A local developer recently pled guilty to a minor political campaign contribution infraction. The developer received a considerable fine and was given probation before judgment. One of the recipients of the illegal contributions was Baltimore County 1st District Councilman Tom Quirk. Councilman Quirk was not aware of the contribution and, upon discovery, immediately returned the funds. He also fully cooperated with state prosecutors and voluntarily turned over all of his records.

Over the past several years, Baltimore County has made steady progress as it seeks to air condition all its public schools. Despite limited funding, the county is on track to reduce the number of schools lacking air conditioning from 54 percent in 2010 to 36 percent within two years. Unfortunately, that progress is not shared uniformly throughout Baltimore County. There is a significant disparity between the western, northern and eastern parts of the county. Looking at schools by County Council district, after the current round of air conditioning, the number of non-air conditioned schools will stand at 28 percent in the 1st District (Catonsville)

Here in Wordville, news of the discovery of a fresh superstition about language is as exciting as the discovery of a hitherto-unknown tribal society in Borneo would be to an anthropologist. And, as with the anthropological discovery, the novelty will be found to coincide with certain human universals.  A correspondent has informed Arnold Zwicky of an invented rule of grammar and usage that he had never encountered. (Nor had I.) A teacher in Germany, a Briton, solemnly informs students that " there  was used for relatively short distances,  over there  for significantly longer distances.

Last week, when I posted about training oneself to be an editor , someone commented on Facebook: " I'm curious, does any part of editor training involve breaking it to people gently? I would be surprised if it did, but I think that would be the hard part of editing, handing/sending back the document without making the writer want to quit writing. " Writer and editor experience an odd intimacy. Much as professionals school themselves to think that the text is an artifact, a product rather than an extension of the self, that text is still a personal expression.

Editor: Harford County once had connections to the Kennedy Camelot. The Shrivers of Olney Farms, at Wilmer, were relatives of President Kennedy. President Kennedy also had friends at the Oakington Estate in Havre de Grace. Each of us can live in our own Camelot, not the magic Camelot with the round table and beautiful women and knights with swords and horses, but we can live in our Camelot of today. Electronic gimmicks and gadgets dominate our world today. Everyone, from the wise to the not so wise, is able to express their opinion about any and all events, and yet we are isolated from each other.