Fort Mchenry

After nearly 200 years, Francis Scott Key has come back to Fort McHenry. A life-sized bronze statue of the Maryland lawyer who wrote "The Star Spangled Banner" stands in the $15 million Visitor and Education Center that opens Thursday. Other elements include a film told from Key's perspective and touch-screen panels providing details about his life and views. It's a fitting tribute to man whose words help draw about 650,000 visitors a year to the site of the 1814 Battle of Baltimore at the tip of Locust Point, said Vincent Vaise, chief of interpretation for Fort McHenry.

The algae blooms fouling Baltimore area waters apparently have claimed more victims, as more dead fish have been spotted floating in the Inner Harbor and washing ashore at Fort McHenry just south of downtown. Investigators with the Maryland Department of the Environment , who saw upwards of 100,00 dead fish in creeks south of the city Wednesday and hundreds more in Dundalk, confirmed the Inner Harbor die-off today. MDE spokesman Jay Apperson said the harbor's mahogany colored water fit the same recipe for a fish kill.  He offered no estimate of how many dead fish there were, noting that the city's trash-skimming boats were scooping them up, "but as soon as they go by, there's more.

The algae blooms fouling Baltimore area waters apparently have claimed more victims, as more dead fish have been spotted floating in the Inner Harbor and washing ashore at Fort McHenry just south of downtown. Investigators with the Maryland Department of the Environment , who saw upwards of 100,00 dead fish in creeks south of the city Wednesday and hundreds more in Dundalk, confirmed the Inner Harbor die-off today. MDE spokesman Jay Apperson said the harbor's mahogany colored water fit the same recipe for a fish kill.  He offered no estimate of how many dead fish there were, noting that the city's trash-skimming boats were scooping them up, "but as soon as they go by, there's more.

Joe Queenan is nobody's Mr. Nice Guy. But the deliciously cutting columnist has a soft side for, of all things, Baltimore. In fact in the Wall Street Journal, Queenan rides like a white knight to the city's defense after what he sees as slight after slight from Hollywood. Exhibit A: John Cusack movie "The Raven. " "In the new film "The Raven," innocent people - some of them really nice, innocent people - find themselves buried alive, or garroted, or sliced in half by a pendulum, or missing a tongue, with no reason why such misfortune has befallen them," he writes.

The Baltimore Department of Transportation has agreed to purchase four new buses to expand its free Charm City Circulator service to a new line extending to Fort McHenry. On Wednesday the department will seek approval from the city's Board of Estimates for a $1.2 million contract to buy the hybrid diesel-electric buses from Daimler Buses North America. The new Fort McHenry service is to begin next summer in time for the commemoration of the bicentennial of the War of 1812, said Sara Husain, transit coordinator for the Circulator service.

A few hours after the dawn's early light Monday, the state Motor Vehicle Administration will begin issuing a new Maryland license plate — replacing the generic black-and-white version with a design commemorating the War of 1812 and the defense of Fort McHenry. The plate, which will become the standard issue for newly registered cars, will be introduced today at the MVA's 100th anniversary celebration at its Glen Burnie headquarters. It depicts the Fort McHenry ramparts and bombs bursting in air during the 1814 struggle that inspired Marylander Francis Scott Key to pen an ode — later set to music — he called the "Star-Spangled Banner."

At Fort McHenry, even in winter, Greg McGuire and his platoon have enough work to keep busy from dawn's early light to the twilight's last gleaming.Their orders: to defend the fort against aging, the elements and a human tide that scours every surface, from grass to glass, and compresses the earthworks.The number of visitors always increases as spring approaches, and the fort's National Park Service protectors have mixed emotions about this year's coming invasion."The British were a one-shot deal," says Mr. McGuire, the maintenance chief, but tourism is relentless and "can be an even bigger challenge than what the elements do to the place."

A second of Baltimore's historic treasures on the Inner Harbor is in serious need of repair. Unlike the Constellation at the heart of the harbor, Fort McHenry at its mouth has the funds to correct its deterioration. And it can be fixed without disturbing the 600,000 tourists who visit the historic fort each year. The Constellation, unfortunately, will have to be placed in drydock for at least the most urgent repairs -- when, and if, the money to do the work is raised.Thanks to the fact Fort McHenry is part of the National Park Service -- a national shrine as well as a national monument -- federal funds are available for the $3 million of work required to rebuild crumbling or eroded walls.

CURRENT volunteers' news and needs:The Fort McHenry guard needs volunteers for its many summer programs, particularly helping to depict a soldier's life at Fort McHenry in 1814. Those who can volunteer to the guard should call Hugh Manar, 962-4290.The Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital needs volunteers to lead tours of its historic buildings, to work in its gift and thrift shops and to help with patient care. Day, evening and weekend hours are available and training is provided. Call Betsy Simons, 938-4850.

Betcha didn't know this -- but it's the opening days of the Civil War, and Fort McHenry is a Union fort, surrounded by a city whose sentiments are openly sympathetic to the South.And you thought this was 1996 with the Civil War far, far behind us. Well, on Saturday and Sunday, the 1861 Civil War Encampment takes over Fort McHenry. The park will be open to visitors who wish to experience that period in the life of Fort McHenry. About 7,000 people are expected to attend over the two days."There are 150 people involved," says Scott Sheads, the park historian at Fort McHenry.

The coastal flood advisory that has been in effect for parts of the Chesapeake Bay the last two mornings is a result of the full moon and sustained winds, according to the National Weather Service. Tides a foot higher than normal are expected, and have already been seen in lower parts of the bay. The U.S. Naval Academy's first high tide was at 7:47 a.m., Fort McHenry's was at 9 a.m. and Havre de Grace's around noon. High tides are expected again at 7:51 p.m. in Annapolis, 9:26 p.m. at Fort McHenry, 10:18 p.m. at Bowley's Quarters and 12:46 a.m. at Havre de Grace.

WEATHER Today's forecast calls for mostly cloudy skies in the Baltimore area, with showers and a high near 81 degrees. Tuesday night is expected to be mostly cloudy, with a low around 60 degrees. TRAFFIC Check our traffic updates for this morning's issues as you plan your commute. FROM LAST NIGHT... Henson suggests 'robocall' prosecution politically motivated : Political consultant Julius Henson plans to suggest in court this week that he is being prosecuted by the state's Democratic establishment only because he dared to work for Republicans, his attorney said Monday.

Free circulator bus service will be extended to Fort McHenry in Locust Point, city officials said Monday. Called the Banner Route, the new service will provide a free bus link to the historic site beginning in June, in time for bicentennial celebrations of the War of 1812. U.S. Rep. John P. Sarbanes joined Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and his father, former Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes, in announcing the Charm City Circulator service to Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine on Fort Avenue.

Baltimore's two-year commemoration of the War of 1812 began dramatically Saturday at the site of the British bombardment of Fort McHenry. Students from the Baltimore School for the Arts chose the fort for their open-air staging of "Fighting for Freedom," a three-scene play that looks at the war's impact on everyday life. They delivered thought-provoking plots to an audience of several hundred who spread across the grass, where a moat had once helped protect the fort. The sun shone on the actors and the sound crew adjusted quickly to the brisk winds.

The Orioles announced their lineup of pre-game activities for Friday's Opening Day today, with a nod to the 20th anniversary of Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Fans are encouraged to be in their seats by 2:30 p.m., when ceremonies will begin. Gates open at noon. The first pitch The same pitcher and catcher who opened the stadium in 1992 will be on the mound and behind the plate for the anniversary pitch. Rick Sutcliffe, the tall right-hander who threw a five-hit shutout in the O's 2-0 win over the Cleveland Indians on April 6, 1992, will deliver the ceremonial first pitch to catcher Chris Hoiles.

Barb and Greg Damon traveled to Maryland from Oregon to run a marathon and left with an unusual souvenir. The Damons were among the first people who went to Fort McHenry Monday to purchase commemorative coins created by the United States Mint to mark the bicentennial of the War of 1812. Barb Damon said she and her husband ran in the B&A Trail Marathon over the weekend as part of a quest to complete a marathon in every state. She said they also collect coins and couldn't pass up the chance to purchase a coin on the first day it was issued.

In a preliminary September 1862 proclamation, President Abraham Lincoln announced his intention to free all slaves in states that were in rebellion against the Union. The historic action taken by Lincoln signaled to the world that the Civil War was about more than simply preserving the Union. It was also about ending the cruelty of slavery. Lincoln's proclamation stated in part: "That on the 1st day of January, A.D. 1863, all persons held as slaves within in any State or designated part of a State the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States shall be then, thence forward, and forever free."

The walls that saved Baltimore from the British now need to be saved themselves.And soon they will be: Congress has allocated $3 million to restore the cracked and crumbling brick walls of Fort McHenry, the military bastion where U.S. troops repulsed a British naval attack on Baltimore in 1814 and a young lawyer named Francis Scott Key was so moved that he wrote "The Star-Spangled Banner."Set to begin next month, the three-year project will be the most comprehensive reconstruction of the famous "star fort" since the 1930s, when the Army turned the South Baltimore landmark over to the National Park Service.

An article in The Baltimore Sun  by Chris Kaltenbach recounts how documents from 1917 on the musical arrangement of "The Star-Spangled Banner" came to be donated to Fort McHenry.   The tune to which Francis Scott Key's poem (originally titled "Defence of Fort McHenry") is that of "To Anacreon in Heaven. " Anacreon, the Greek lyric poet, was the patron of The Anacreontic Club of eighteenth-century London, which celebrated food and drink. The melody is attributed to the British musicologist and composer John Stafford Smith.  But it is probably not the text of   "To Anacreon in Heaven"*  that buzzed in Key's head as he wrote his verses, but a different set of words, "Adams and Liberty,"  a patriotic text by Robert Treat Paine also set to Smith's tune:  YE sons of Columbia, who bravely have fought,          For those rights, which unstained from your Sires had descended,      May you long taste the blessings your valour has brought,          And your sons reap the soil which their fathers defended.                          'Mid the reign of mild Peace,                          May your nation increase,      With the glory of Rome, and the wisdom of Greece;          And ne'er shall the sons of Columbia be slaves,          While the earth bears a plant, or the sea rolls its waves.

A key document in the transition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" from popular song to national anthem is coming home to Fort McHenry. A draft of the song's arrangement, drawn up in the early 20th century by a committee that included composer and bandleader John Philip Sousa, has been donated to the national monument and historic shrine by the woman whose father obtained it from his music teacher. "The Star-Spangled Banner" was adopted as the national anthem by an act of Congress in 1931.