Flags

Have you noticed the beautiful yellow bows and American flags hanging from the street signs on Belle Grove Road and in Olde Brooklyn Park? A great big "Thank You" goes to Nellie Lewis of Olde Brooklyn Parkfor making all these bows. They help to show the tremendous support the community has for our troops overseas. Everywhere you look, you see flags and yellow ribbons flying.Let us hope we can take down the yellow ribbons soon.Thanks also go to members of the Olde Brooklyn Park Improvement Association and the Belle Grove Improvement Association, who took the time to hang the bows and flags.

If you're into grapevine wreaths, Williamsburg blue and Chemlawn, you're more likely to have one.If you're into John Waters, probably not.Love 'em or hate 'em, decorative banners have taken hold. In a culture where stress is a given and busy schedules make strangers of neighbors, they go beyond mere decoration. The brightly colored flags have become fixtures, sending messages to the world from the households they adorn."It may not be a fad," said Nijole Benokraitis, a sociologist of pop culture at the University of Baltimore.

VATICAN CITY - John Paul Sonnen brought an American flag to St. Peter's Square last week to celebrate the election of Pope Benedict XVI, a banner that the 26-year-old theology student from St. Paul, Minn., waved back and forth to show the new pontiff that many Americans were "supportive of the church." But he might have saved his effort, for the dearth of U.S. flags here the past three weeks - and of flags from any Western nations - was indicative of an issue that has affected the church worldwide and altered the Vatican's course.

Flags at the State House and all state facilities were lowered to half-staff Friday afternoon in honor of Tanja Brown-O'Neal, the Baltimore social worker who was stabbed to death by one of her clients last week.Gov. William Donald Schaefer ordered the flags down at approximately 2:30p.m. The flags will remain at half-staff until O'Neal's funeral tomorrow at 11:30, a press office spokeswoman said.O'Neal, 29, was a caseworker at the Rosemount Multipurpose Centerand the mother of little boy. She was stabbed to death Tuesday in the crowded third-floor reception room of her office.

Kurt Warner's storybook season has him on pace to become the 10th NFL quarterback to pass for 4,000 yards and 30 touchdowns in the same season.What has gone overlooked is that Steve Beuerlein has the chance to become the 11th.Warner's rise from Arena League quarterback to the Pro Bowl for the St. Louis Rams has been remarkable; Beuerlein's rise from the scrap heap of NFL journeymen to the Pro Bowl is almost as surprising.Beuerlein assumed his starting days were over when, with the Phoenix Cardinals in 1994, Buddy Ryan benched him for one of his old favorites, Jim McMahon.

Like Betsy Ross, I sew American flags. But I do my work for 55 cents an hour in an assembly line inside the Central California Women's Facility, one of the largest women's prisons in the world. I was sentenced to prison for 15 years after being convicted of selling $20 worth of heroin to an undercover cop. I sew flags to buy toiletries and food. s Facility in Chowchilla, Calif. She may be reached via e-mail through the Progressive Media Project at pmproj@progressive.org. Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services

Olympics Opening ceremony 7:30 p.m [CHS. 11, 4]: For some folks, the opening ceremony is their favorite part of the Olympics. The parade of athletes walking behind their countries' flags, the introduction of the story lines of individual athletes and the performance pageantry make for great television.

Los Angeles -- Shortly after entering the Pound-4-Pound Gym located a few miles south of Hollywood, Baltimore native Hasim Rahman donned one of two American flags draped over the red, white and blue ring ropes -- much like a comic hero would his cape. Rahman had looked the part the day before at his training camp. Hasim Rahman vs. Oleg Maskaev For Rahman's WBC heavyweight title, Aug. 12, Las Vegas, HBO pay per view

In Alison Knezevich's recent article on Fort Howard ("Fort Howard multi-use project marches on," March 18), there are many red flags that should alarm not only the citizens of the area but other communities who face the same peril. In numerous editorials, The Sun has expressed concern over the cozy relationship between developers and politicians, and this proposed development is no different except its supporters are waving the veterans flag around it to gather public support. Some of the troubling issues include the failed promises of the developers to inform the community of the required studies and meetings and the fact the residents have filed a Notice of Intent with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs that must be addressed, despite Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger's rhetoric to the contrary, before a shovel goes in the ground.

SO IT'S THE Star-Spangled Banner and not the Stars and Stripes flying in front of City Hall these days. Pardon us for not hooting and hollering. Under Mayor Martin O'Malley's executive order, signed on Monday, all city office buildings, parks, police stations and firehouses eventually will swap their standard American flags for the 15-star, 15-stripe one that waved over Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore 190 years ago. Waving the old banner is...