Fells Point

The annual Olde Tyme Christmas Eggnog Contest is Saturday, part of the 9th Annual Fells Point Olde Tyme Christmas weekend. Participating taverns and retailers will offer free tastes of their special recipe eggnog to strolling sippers. This year's participants include Todd Conner's , One Eyed Mike's , aMuse Toys , the Greene Turtle , Bradley's of Fells Point , Riptide by the Bay , Alexander's Tavern , Cat's Eye Pub , Rye , Slainte , Kooper's Tavern , John Stevens and Party Dress . Strollers should pick up a ballot at the Fells Point Main Street booth on Broadway Square, at the southwest corner of Thames and Broadway, before heading out to their favorite destinations.

Falita Liles marked Thanksgiving eve by inviting some of her best friends to what could be grimly described as a condemnation party. The Upper Fells Point resident hauled possessions out of her tiny historic rowhouse Wednesday, after a city inspector ordered it vacated because an unexplained water flow had undermined the foundation. "You can see I'm not real thrilled right now," she said. Liles' home was one of two condemned in the 200 block of South Madeira St., an alley street of roughly century-old homes near Patterson Park.

When it's not quite 9 a.m. on a Sunday and there's a crowd gathering on the sidewalk, there's a good chance something special is happening. When that crowd is gathering outside the funky facade of Blue Moon Cafe in Fells Point, breakfast is that something special. Here's how breakfast at Blue Moon works: Upon arrival, head inside to track down a waiter and add your name to the ever-growing list. During our visit, at a quarter to 9, the wait was 30 minutes; an hour later when we left, it had swelled to a full hour and a half.

Before its 15 minutes of fame, J.A. Murphy's was a fun, occasionally rowdy but unremarkable Fells Point bar. It was the type of place you stopped by for a quick beer during a pub crawl, but usually left before a second round. In August, J.A. Murphy's made it to cable TV for all of the wrong reasons. It was the subject of "Bar Rescue," a makeover reality show on Spike TV hosted by industry expert Jon Taffer. The show painted the owners - old fraternity brothers Keith Murphy and Joel Gallant - as clueless managers who allowed their bar to erode.

Baltimore City fire crews are battling a four-alarm fire that began Tuesday morning in the 500 block of South Broadway in Fells Point. The fire was reported at 4:25 a.m. in a five-story building that has had a grocery store at street level. According to Captain Roman Clark, spokesman for the Baltimore City fire department, it is the same structure that was damaged by a five-alarm fire in June. Clark said fire fighters responding to the first alarm immediately called for assistance and the fire quickly went to four alarms.

More than 100 Baltimore firefighters battled a four-alarm fire Tuesday that routed residents from their homes, closed businesses and shut down several streets in Fells Point throughout the day. It also raised a few residents' concerns about the neighborhood's third major fire in less than five months. The latest fire, first reported at 4:25 a.m., further ravaged a five-story building in the 500 block of S. Broadway that had sustained more than $1 million in damage during a five-alarm fire June 11. It once housed a grocery store on the street level but has been unoccupied for more than a year.

Two small thrifts founded many decades ago to cater to Baltimore's immigrant population could merge as early as the end of November following approval Monday by a federal regulator. Kopernik Federal Bank in Fells Point and Hull Federal Savings Bank in Locust Point each have one office, and both will remain open and operate under the Kopernik name after the merger. The marriage of these two institutions — opened a combined 189 years — is just another sign of the difficulties of small financial institutions, banking analysts said.

A 32-year-old man is in critical condition after being attacked in the middle of the day on a downtown Baltimore street, according to his family and police.  John Mason has been hospitalized since Friday in an induced coma with three skull fractures as a result of the attack, which police believe occurred at about 2 p.m. on Friday at Lombard and Howard streets, near the Bromo Seltzer tower. Mason's aunt, Christina Jasi, said he had shoe prints bruised into his head. Police said that witnesses said Mason was attacked by a group of four to five males.

City police are investigating a sexual assault of a female jogger, who was attacked by a man armed with a knife in Fells Point Friday morning. Police are unclear of the exact location but say a woman in her 20s was attacked between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. by a man who was possibly wearing a mask and armed with a knife. The victim received medical treatment and has met with investigators, police said. She has met with TurnAround, Inc. a victim advocacy group that has partnered with the police department to investigate sex crimes.

There's a lesson to be learned in Fells Point's past and present along its main business street. South Broadway, between Aliceanna and Fleet streets, looks like a scene out of World War II Eastern Europe. On both the east and west sides of the street, the once-familiar rowhouse businesses are gutted. Steel beams support what remains, a thin brick crust of 19th-century brick facades. Stand on Broadway, and you'll see straight through to Regester or Dallas streets. But not for long. After decades of waiting and unkept promises from past developers, residents are now looking to a rebirth here, with 159 new apartments constructed in two sets of blocks behind the old shop fronts.