Flag House

A man accused of killing two East Baltimore youths declared his innocence yesterday and said he in fact "loved" one of the boys he allegedly strangled.In an interview at the Baltimore City Detention Center, Shawn E. Brown asserted he was arrested solely because of a conviction in New York for assaulting a boy, which enabled Baltimore police to "link everything together."Mr. Brown's account was at odds with police and court records.Mr. Brown said he was able to lead police to a vacant school building where one victim was found because he overheard several homeless men talk about the body while he visited a day shelter.

It would be silly and simplistic to suggest that the recent $208,000 cleanup blitz at East Baltimore's Flag House Courts has ended long-standing problems there. Only one of the three troubled high-rises was cleaned and fixed up, after all. Yet the symbolic importance of this remarkable operation should not be discounted.A new standard of order and cleanliness has been established for all to see. Any deviation from it should now raise immediate questions and action by the Housing Authority.

Scene Frazier's on the Avenue draws a varied -- but very devoted -- crowd to its Kamikaze Karaoke events, organized by Landis McCord of the All Mighty Senators and Jeff Bradford of landspeedrecord! page 33. Eats The Wild Duck Cafe on Frog Mortar Creek has a water view and beachy atmosphere that draw customers from all around. page 16. Stage Three of the big names behind Hairspray team up Monday at the Mechanic Theatre for a program called "An Evening With John Waters, Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman."

With Fort McHenry's huge banner waving behind him, Mayor Martin O'Malley signed an executive order yesterday that called for replacing the modern American flag at city buildings with the 15-star, 15-stripe version that inspired the national anthem in 1814. "From this day forward, the star-spangled banner will be flown from all city buildings in the greatest city in America," O'Malley said. The mayor's order is intended to call more attention to the city's military and cultural contribution to the nation in 1814.

A Mass of Christian burial for Yvonne Marie Langan, a former secretary who was active in genealogy and history groups and as a repairer of dolls and other collectibles, will be offered at 9:30 a.m. today at St. Dominic's Roman Catholic Church, Harford Road and Gibbons Avenue.Mrs. Langan, who was 62 and lived in Rosedale, died Monday at St. Joseph Hospital of complications after surgery.She was a former secretary at the School of Hygiene and Public Health at the Johns Hopkins University.As part of her avocation, she was a member of the Maryland Historical Society, the Maryland Genealogical Society and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

America has had dozens of different flags over the years, but it's never had anything quite like the one taking shape near the Inner Harbor. For the past two weeks, workers have been slowly piecing together a 30-by-42-foot banner based on the one Mary Pickersgill made to fly over Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore in 1814. Like the Pickersgill flag, the new one has 15 stars and 15 stripes - reflecting the number of states in the Union at that time. It's exactly the same size as the original, which inspired Francis Scott Key to write the poem that became the national anthem.

Animal-rights group sues NIHPeople for the Ethical Treatment of Animals filed a federal lawsuit in Baltimore yesterday against the National Institutes of Health in an attempt to force the agency to release records of tests conducted on animals in a head-injury study.PETA, in the suit filed in U.S. District Court, is requesting copies of documents from the study, being conducted at the University of Pennsylvania with a $523,185 grant from NIH.The animal-rights group from Rockville says the study inflicts high levels of pain and prolonged suffering on animals, including guinea pigs that are allowed to live for two weeks after having their eyes pulled from their sockets and pigs that have their brains scrambled in a device.

On this date in 1777, the Continental Congress approved the Stars and Stripes design for the flag of the new United States. Today is the 225th birthday of the official American flag, but since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, the country has unofficially been celebrating Flag Day every day. Americans by the millions have decorated their cars, houses, mailboxes, gardens and even themselves with flags. Old Glory has been reintroduced to classrooms and businesses, and its colors billow from highway overpasses and glisten on millions of lapels.

Scott A. Davis came to downtown Baltimore Sunday night with his girlfriend, Mia Luff, for a change of pace from his job as a corrections officer in the Harford County Detention Center.The couple of five months had enjoyed dinner at Slapstix Comedy Club on Market Place and a walk around the Inner Harbor before heading home in Mr. Davis' Jeep.They were having a nice evening until a bullet grazed Mr. Davis' temple as he was driving in the 900 block of E. Pratt St."I came into the city to get away from it all, which is kind of stupid," said Mr. Davis, 23, who needed three or four stitches before being released from Johns Hopkins Hospital at 11:30 the same night.

The first of Baltimore's decaying high-rise towers will collapse in August in a series of explosions orchestrated by Controlled Demolition Inc., the company that leveled the bomb-wrecked federal building in Oklahoma City yesterday.Housing Commissioner Daniel P. Henson III announced at noon yesterday that the city had selected the Baltimore County firm, known nationally for pioneering the use of explosives, to demolish the six high-rise buildings at the Lafayette Courts project in East Baltimore.