Foot

THE ROLAND PARK Second Presbyterian Church looked absolutely stunning last Saturday for the wedding of Natalia Pia Melanie Sommer and Richard Matthew Dohler. Thousands of wildflowers, miles of lace ribbons and tulle, and window sills decorated with Singapore orchids set the stage for the nuptials of the daughter of pop music star Donna Summer and her first husband, Helmut Sommer,and the son of Dick and Bonna Dohler, he's an Ellicott City builder.The church was filled with the music of German trumpeteer Langston Fitzgerald and selections of Bach, Beethoven and Vivaldi, played by the church's music director Margaret Budd on the organ.

This is the season when local governments finalize their budgets for the next fiscal year, and the grousing about their penurious circumstances is in full swing. Some are even complaining that the state's revised budget and tax plan - signed into law by Gov.Martin O'Malleythis week - has put a serious crimp in their finances. In particular, they blame the state's decision to shift a portion of the cost of teacher retirement contributions to Baltimore City and the counties as ruinous to their own budgets.

If all goes as planned, sometime this morning a spacecraft will blast off from its launchpad in Cape Canaveral, Fla., and ride a fiery plume of contrails upward through the pre-dawn darkness to begin a two-week journey to the International Space Station and back. But the flight won't be just another NASA resupply mission. Instead, the Falcon 9 rocket and its unmanned Dragon cargo capsule built by Space Exploration Technologies Corporation - SpaceX for short - will be the first commercially owned and operated vehicle ever to rendezvous with the station's orbiting astronauts.

A water rescue of four people from a boat offshore from Hawkins Point in Baltimore late Sunday night resulted in three people being taken to area hospitals, two of them in critical condition, the United States Coast Guard said Monday. The rescue occurred near the south end of the Key Bridge after a local fisherman called the Coast Guard about 9:45 p.m. to report a 40-foot recreational boat had crashed into concrete pilings in the water, said Petty Officer 1st Class Nathan Henise.

After a seven-year delay, Randallstown residents cheered Monday over an announcement that a Walmart will open on Liberty Road next year. Officials and residents have long hoped that the store — a planned $9 million, 160,000-square-foot supercenter with groceries and a pharmacy — would revitalize the aging commercial corridor, encouraging other national retailers and restaurants to set up shop in the affluent, largely black community....

Ryland Homes has 15 home sites remaining at Ecker's Hollow, a community of single-family homes in Columbia. A model will open in four months. The community offers two-story transitional homes on eighth-of-an-acre lots, with wooded home lots available. The homes are on public water and sewer systems and come with gas heat. Gas cooking is optional. Standard features among the six floor plans include 9-foot first-floor ceilings, two-car garages, hardwood foyers, colonial trim package and garden baths with ceramic tile.

Kevin Plank can't help himself. The Under Armour CEO might know, in his heart of hearts, that his horse is a long shot against the world's finest 3-year-old thoroughbreds. His farm manager, Tom Mullikin, describes the dark bay colt as more "grinder" than star. But Plank's own rise, from blindly ambitious college kid to billionaire apparel mogul, is an underdog tale. So he can't help but play Joe Namath and talk big about his colt's chances in the 137th Preakness Stakes. "Tommy, did you guarantee on Tiger Walk?"

Pacers forward Danny Granger , the team's leading scorer, will be out for at least four weeks with a foot injury. The team said Tuesday that Granger would miss a minimum of four to six weeks with a torn right plantar fascia, the tissue across the bottom of the foot connecting the heel and toes. The Pacers say Granger won't need surgery and is starting rehabilitation. Granger left the floor in the third quarter of Saturday's game against the Clippers. Granger is averaging 24.4 points a game this season for the Pacers, who have lost nine of their last 10 games following a five-game winning streak.

A man was shot in the foot shortly before 8:30 p.m. Thursday in the 2800 block of Boarman Ave. in Northwest Baltimore, according to police. The location is in the Towanda-Grantley neighborhood, east of the West Coldspring Metro Station. The victim was transported to an area hospital, according to Det. Jeremy Silbert, a police spokesman. Detectives were still investigating the incident late Thursday, Silbert said. No further details were available. krector@tribune.com Twitter.com/rectorpatuxent

In response to Randall Miller's letter about the Baltimore Grand Prix, I feel I must defend The Sun ("Why is the Sun determined to kill the Grand Prix?" May 15). Baltimore is also my hometown of 56 years. For the past three years I have been a Delaware resident, but I still can't completely break ties, so I buy The Sun every day. Of course Mr. Miller may feel good about sitting back and watching the race on television for free. Who could possibly be against that? Except maybe the taxpayers of Baltimore, who are footing the bill.

In response to Randall Miller's letter about the Baltimore Grand Prix, I feel I must defend The Sun ("Why is the Sun determined to kill the Grand Prix?" May 15). Baltimore is also my hometown of 56 years. For the past three years I have been a Delaware resident, but I still can't completely break ties, so I buy The Sun every day. Of course Mr. Miller may feel good about sitting back and watching the race on television for free. Who could possibly be against that? Except maybe the taxpayers of Baltimore, who are footing the bill.

Gov. Martin O'Malley, House Speaker Michael E. Busch and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller are making the best of the embarrassing situation caused by their failure to pass a balanced budget when the legislature adjourned in April. The special legislative session due to begin on Monday will focus only on the budget and taxes — not casino gambling or any of the other issues that were still on the table when time ran out — and will follow closely the compromise worked out by House and Senate negotiators on the regular session's final night.

Gleaming white with twin black smokestacks and a 23-ton red paddle wheel at its stern, the Queen of the Mississippi is an apparition rising more than five stories above the Wicomico River. Before the month is out, the lines holding it dockside at Chesapeake Shipbuilding Corp. will be cast off and the Queen will churn down the coast on its way to New Orleans, a life on America's most famous river and a showdown with a bigger-name rival. American Cruise Lines, the Connecticut-based owner of the vessel, is betting that the 280-foot riverboat is exactly what the cruising public wants.

It's said good things come to those who wait. But somebody still has to pay for them. On Friday, a contractor commissioned by the city began planting 150 trees around downtown, fulfilling a pledge made - and broken - by the now-defunct organization behind last summer's Grand Prix auto race. Baltimore Racing Development had agreed to plant a total of 198 trees downtown by last fall, after a public furor erupted over trees the city had permitted the group to cut down or move in the Inner Harbor to make way for the three-day event.

Ravens outside linebacker injured his Achilles tendon during a workout last week and is expected to miss most - if not all - of the 2012 season. Suggs, the 2011 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, is scheduled to see a foot specialist in North Carolina next week to determine the extent of the injury. Dr. Lew Schon, the chief of foot and ankle surgery at Union Memorial Hospital, discussed, in general terms, what the surgery and recovery from such an injury entails. How serious is a torn Achilles tendon for an NFL player?

For people-watching, there is no better spot than Joe Caliguro's Columbia townhouse. He and his wife can walk out to the porch and find a stream of people walking by on the path below. Caliguro, a retired television producer, owns one of about 130 houses that border the nearly 2-mile public trail next to Lake Elkhorn. For the residents who live nearby, the man-made lake is also an extension of their backyards, providing picturesque views and lots of foot traffic just beyond their porches.

A 25-year-old man accidentally shot himself in the foot in Reisterstown Wednesday morning, according to Baltimore County Police. The man was shot at 5:13 a.m. at Nicodemus Road near Whispering Oaks Court, police said. He was taken to Northwest Medical Center for treatment. Preliminary reports suggested the man may have been hunting, but further investigation indicates that is not the case, according to a county police spokesman. Text BUSINESS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun Business text alerts

Cornell attackman Rob Pannell sustained a broken bone in his left foot and left during the third quarter against Army on Saturday. He won't play against Canisius tonight, sources close to the situation said. Pannell had surgery Monday to repair the damage and, while a timeline for his return has yet to be clarified, this type of repair typically sidelines athletes for at least six weeks, a source said. Perhaps most significantly, Pannell will not be lost for the season, contrary to widespread rumors.

Cornell's Rob Pannell was the 2011 National Player of the Year, scoring more than five points per game. This season was supposed to be his coronation as he led Cornell to its first NCAA title since 1977. But a broken foot suffered March 3 has put the attackman's season on hold and his future in question. "You ask yourself, 'Why me?' You put in hard work for three years - it was supposed to be my time to share with teammates and classmates," he told me Tuesday. Coming into this season, Pannell and Virginia attackman Steele Stanwick (Loyola)

It will soon be hard to miss the Hollywood Casino Perryville when driving along Interstate 95. The Cecil County casino Friday erected a massive 175-foot sign on its property that will be visible from the highway. The casino's marketing director Marc DeLeo said the sign will make the facility more visible and attract more customers. Some 82,000 cars drive pass the casino's exit off the interstate, DeLeo said. The Perryville commissioners approved the sign late last year after some debate about its aesthetics and other issues.