Facebook Page

Local firefighter and former Sykesville Volunteer Fire Department Chief William “Mr. Bill” Frank Luebberman, 66, of Sykesville, died, Nov. 18, at the Carroll Dove House in Westminster. News of the death of the popular life member of Sykesville Freedom District Fire Department spread quickly through the Carroll County emergency response community. According to his obituary on the Haight Funeral Home website, he was born July 6, 1946, in Annapolis. He was the son of William E. and Betty Metzger Luebberman of Westminster.

We'll be posting Black Friday dining specials here. The Breakfast Shoppe in Severna Park is giving away a diamond. That's right, a half-carat diamond worth $1,200. The first 101 guests to check-in on the Breakfast Shoppe Facebook page will reach their hand into a bowl filled with cubic zirconium and ... one real diamond. They then take their stone to Severna Park's Mercado Jewelers to find out if they have the real diamond. Doors open at 6 a.m. RA Sushi will be offering day-long "RA Retail Therapy" - an extended happy hour from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. There will be more than 35 sushi, appetizer, and tapas selections, ranging from $2.25 to $7.25, plus a wide variety of beer, wine and signature cocktails ranging from $3 to $7. The Oceanaire in Harbor East is running a "Buck a Shuck" special for Black Friday - $1 "chef select" oysters, from 5 p.m. to close.

While a relatively mild Thanksgiving week is expected, colder air is expected to move in for the last few days of the month and the start of December. The Climate Prediction Center in College Park is predicting a 40 percent chance of colder-than-normal temperatures in Maryland from about Nov. 27 to Dec. 3. The center uses overall climate patterns to predict general conditions from as near as about 6 days out to as far as a month or a whole season. The climate indicator known as the North Atlantic Oscillation is expected to turn negative around that time, which means blasts of Arctic air can come southward into the mid-Atlantic and other areas of the U.S. Normal temperatures in Baltimore for early December are highs in the upper 40s and lows around freezing, or just below.

Mother's Federal Hill Tavern has announced the date for what it's calling the First Annual Charm City BACON Wars. It's Sunday, Feb. 10, 2-6 p.m., and in case you were wondering, that's the Sunday following Super Bowl Sunday. The challenge is out to any restaurant in Maryland to come up with its "most creative, most tantalizing bacon dish. " The announcement was posted on the restaurant's Facebook page . The public will be the judge. Restaurants interested in participating should email Mother's Federal Hill Grille at colleen@mothersgrille.com Follow Baltimore Diner on Twitter @gorelickingood

After complaints from several people, Cafe Hon removed a picture early Thursday morning of one of its staff members in blackface for Halloween. The Hampden restaurant had posted the photo on its Facebook page. It showed an employee, in blackface, apparently dressed for Halloween as Whitney Houston, singing with a smudge of white powder around the nose. "We humbly apologize for our misjudgement in posting a Halloween picture, we have removed the picture," Cafe Hon said on Facebook early Thursday.

As J.C. Barbely looked at Assateague Island in his rearview mirror Saturday night, he was pretty sure his seaside home away from home wouldn't escape Sandy's fury. But Wednesday morning, the assistant manager of the Maryland Park Service's biggest money-maker readied to reopen the park for day use before the week was out. Bulldozers plugged ragged holes in the dunes with sand washed into the parking lots, inspectors checked buildings, bridges and walkways, and crews gathered debris and counted wild ponies.

Dennis Pitta keeps getting friend requests on Facebook from hot-looking women, which is all very flattering, although it probably doesn't go over real well with his wife. The only problem is, he's not THAT Dennis Pitta. Not even close. "After I tell them I'm over 60, 5-feet-6 and 180 pounds, I never hear from them again," he says with a laugh. "They don't even bother to write back and say 'I'm sorry!'" That's because this Dennis Pitta is the genial, long-time marketing professor at the University of Baltimore and not the Dennis Pitta who's built along the lines of a stand-up freezer and plays tight end for the Ravens.

On Sept. 25, a new Facebook page celebrating a legendary (or infamous, depending on whom you ask) Baltimore party-spot from years past made an announcement: " Bohager's Bar and Grill opened [its] doors on July 2, 1992 and served [its] last customer on October 31, 2004. Twenty years later, Bohager's will hold a reunion for all of the employees and customers who enjoyed the craziness known simply as 'Bohager's.'" The at-times controversial Fells Point megabar - which hosted foam parties, college nights, concerts and was the city's version of Seacrets before shutting down in 2004 - will host a 20-year reunion at the Gameday Warehouse (1400 Warner St.)

Bullying is in the news a lot lately, and for good reason. Being bullied can be a searing, scarring experience, and in some ways, it might be a bigger problem than it ever was. In adulthood, we often push aside the memories of being bullied, try to forget it ever happened. But for those who've gone through it - and there are many - the dread, shame and even panic at being the butt of childhood bullying can last a lifetime. We live in an age when consciousness has been raised about the humiliation one youngster can inflict on another.

Filling the shoes of the former Brass Elephant, which closed in August 2009, is like slipping into an $800 pair of Christian Louboutins. Located in the heart of Mount Vernon, the building is so elegant and beautiful that it immediately demands to be taken seriously. Unfortunately for Museum, the new restaurant and lounge that held its grand opening in June, that type of scrutiny did not exactly help its case on a recent Friday night. It's a shame because the night was filled with dancing to a solid DJ. But there was no mistaking the red flags.