Fallen

Baltimore: Concert Event today to honor fallen city officers The third annual concert to remember Baltimore City's fallen officers is set for 4 p.m. today at the New Metropolitan Baptist Church, 1501 McCulloh St. The free concert is sponsored by the Baltimore City state's attorney's office and the Baltimore City Police Memorial Fund Board. The concert shows appreciation to fallen officers and their relatives, friends and co-workers; money collected during the event will benefit the memorial fund.

People get sick, even in recessions. Medicare and insurance companies pay for treatment in recessions. Which helps explain why medical stocks have fallen much less than the market as a whole. The health care segment of the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index is down about 30 percent in 2008. Steep though that is, it's less than any other sector except consumer staples, represented by companies such as Procter & Gamble. Consumer-staple shares are down by about 20 percent, while the S&P 500 as a whole has fallen 40 percent.

To honor the fallen of the nation's wars is the least that posterity owes them. Some more practical obligations ensue, such as insuring decent education, health and opportunities for the children and heirs of those who sacrificed. But honor and remembrance are not without value.Memorial Day began with decorations of the new graves of the fallen during and after the Civil War and took on a national character in 1868. Antietam battlefield has always been one of the more important sites of commemoration.

The most under-covered story the last two weeks is the plunge in the price of energy other than crude oil. It offers a little hope for lower future heating bills than we once might have expected. Prices for electricity and natural gas have fallen even more than those of crude, which has won all the headlines and gone from $145 to $125 a barrel. Mid-Atlantic electricity for January delivery has fallen by 24 percent since early July. Natural gas is down about 20 percent. To be sure, even declines of that magnitude won't free cash for a shopping spree or vacation.

An Annapolis police officer helping to keep out traffic as crews cleaned up a fallen tree and power lines was momentarily knocked unconscious yesterday evening when a wooden utility pole crashed onto the roof of his patrol car in a residential waterfront neighborhood. Although city Officer Carl Bouie, an eight-year veteran, did not appear seriously hurt, he was flown by MedEvac helicopter to Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore as a precaution, said police Lt. Timothy Seipp. He was reported in fair condition shortly after arrival there.

Opponent: San Diego Stingrays Site: San Diego Sports Arena Time: 10 Outlook: The BayRunners have fallen to last place in the East Conference, percentage points behind Richmond. The team is 0-4 on this road trip. San Diego is a team the BayRunners have had success with this year, winning four of five games. The Stingrays (8-32) do not have any players ranked in the top 10 in scoring and are the only IBL team with fewer wins than the BayRunners (13-27), who lost in Las Vegas on Tuesday night.

How many remember March 29-30, 1942, when a Palm Sunday rainstorm changed to snow and dumped 22 inches on Baltimore? Up to 36 inches fell on streets and fruit blossoms across the state before it ended. March here averages 2.4 inches of snow, and flakes have fallen on every date. But relax: It's normally more benign. Average highs climb from 49 to 59 degrees. Lows rise above freezing again. Spring arrives on the 20th, and daylight-saving time starts on March 11 this year.

With Baltimore's homicide rate slowing since mid-July, Police Commissioner Kevin P. Clark released statistics at a criminal justice meeting yesterday that, he says, indicate his crime-fighting strategies are working. From Jan. 1 through Sept. 6, the number of 911 calls has dropped about 9 percent vs. the same period last year, from 896,852 to 819,401, Clark said. Disorderly conduct calls have fallen 21 percent, drug dealing calls have fallen 9 percent, reports of guns discharging have fallen 14 percent and gambling calls have fallen 21 percent.

With Sister Wendy Beckett back to living quietly in her trailer and Robert Hughes having moved on to the subject of himself, it has fallen to Simon Schama to lead the art-appreciation class this summer. Simon Schama's Power of Art has an extension-course snap to it, the kind of thing from which you would expect to learn something interesting without being especially taxed or worrying about grades. On TV Simon Schama's Power of Art airs at 10 tonight on MPT (Channels 22/67).

Rex Allen Sr.,77, a singer and actor in Western movies, died Friday in Tucson, Ariz., several hours after his caretaker accidentally ran him over with a car, police said.Police believe his caretaker did not realize Mr. Allen was behind the car when she began to back it up. Detectives were attempting to determine whether Mr. Allen had fallen before he was struck.Mr. Allen starred in several western movies, including "The Arizona Cowboy" in 1949, and in the television series "Frontier Doctor."