Front Porch

Three teenage boys were shot last night while sitting on the front porch of a rowhouse in Northeast Baltimore's Coldstream-Homestead-Montebello neighborhood, city police said. The victims, whose wounds did not appear life-threatening, were being treated at the pediatric intensive care unit at Johns Hopkins Hospital, said Maj. Antonio Rodriguez, commander of the Northeastern police district. Shortly after 9 p.m., an unknown male armed with a semiautomatic handgun approached the youths - two 16-year-olds, the other 14 - as they sat on the porch of a two-story house in which one of the victims lives in the 1500 block of Homestead St. and fired several rounds, Rodriguez said.

Baltimore County Police are searching for several suspects in connection with a shooting in Reisterstown yesterday afternoon that sent a man to Maryland Shock Trauma Center. The incident occurred at 3:53 p.m. on the front porch of a home located in the first block of Brookshire Drive, police said. The man, who police said is in his 20s, was shot at least two times in the shoulder. His condition is unknown. "It wasn't random," said Baltimore County Police Cpl. Patrick Wilhelm, who added that he did not know a motive for the shooting.

Pick up, hon. Please pick up. "It's the last time I'm calling him, then I'm making my own decision," the holiday shopper says. Hope Johnson of Hampden is on the brink of a pivotal choice at the Lowe's in Timonium. Does she buy a plastic light-up angel or the 30-inch, fiberglass triple candle? The candle would look good on her front porch near her nativity scene, but her husband, Ed, is not picking up. The candle is 60 bucks. Another adult probably should sign off on this. Seriously, what do you buy a rowhouse on 34th Street in Hampden that has every holiday decoration?

Joan Dolina and her husband have a consuming passion, one that has led to the restoration of eight homes. "We find a house that's falling down and we feel we have to save it," she said. "And this house was definitely falling apart." The home in question is a Roland Park behemoth - an 1895 three-story stone and cedar-shake Edwardian with more than 4,000 square feet. It's embellished with a stone and cedar turret complete with three large stained-glass windows. A small front porch nestled under a sloping roof is one of the home's three that have been comfortably outfitted with tables and cushioned chairs.

A 47-year-old man was fatally stabbed early yesterday on the porch of his house in the Coldstream Homestead Montebello community, according to Baltimore police. Gary M. Nelson of the 1700 block of E. 30th St. was stabbed multiple times in the face and upper body around 1 a.m., said Officer Troy Harris, a city police spokesman. Nelson attempted to run into the house but collapsed before he got though the door, police said. Nelson was taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 2:20 a.m., Harris said.

While running a long-shot U.S. Senate campaign and still recovering from a brutal attack last year, A. Robert Kaufman did something unexpected this week: He inadvertently helped catch a man wanted in a killing. Kaufman, 75, called police to his West Baltimore home to complain about three apparently homeless men on his property. An officer questioned two of the men and ran background checks, and found that one was charged in a warrant in the killing of a man in a hair salon. Antoine Oliver, 22, of no fixed address, was charged with murder, assault, theft, burglary, armed robbery, conspiracy and handgun violations in the May 13 killing of Justice T. Georgie, a 36-year-old man who was visiting his wife at her Walbrook salon when it was robbed.

A 16-year-old boy was being sought yesterday in the shooting death of a man at a "Sweet 16" birthday party for his daughter, Baltimore police said. Bryan Jones, 42, was holding a party for his daughter in the 1000 block of N. Augusta Ave. about 9:45 p.m. Friday when a partygoer started causing trouble, police said. Jones escorted Jamal Charles, 16, of the 4000 block of Edmondson Ave. to the porch and asked him to leave when an argument ensued, police said. Charles pulled out a handgun, shot Jones in the head and then fled, police said.

A man and his estranged wife were in serious condition at Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore yesterday after the man stabbed the woman and himself repeatedly in Annapolis on Sunday night, city police said. According to police, the man stopped at the home the couple used to share at the 100 block of Rosecrest Drive at 9:30 p.m. to get water for his overheating car. He saw his wife on the front porch and attacked her with a pocketknife, stabbing her in the torso, shoulder and neck, police said.

For 10 years, Jerry and Sandra Jenkins enjoyed the bustling maritime activity of downtown Annapolis from their rented first-floor apartment in a rambling house on Randall Street near the Naval Academy. Empty-nesters back in the early 1990s, the couple had sold their large home in Crofton and headed for Annapolis. They quickly made friends and new lives for themselves. When a two-story, 1879 Victorian-Italianate frame house across the street went on the market, the Jenkinses did not hesitate to buy it. Zoned as a bed and breakfast and operated as such by the previous owners, it seemed logical to Sandra Jenkins to continue the tradition.

BALTIMORE HIGHLANDS Man, 22, charged in attack on couple during break-in A 22-year-old man was arrested and charged with attempted first-degree murder a few hours after a break-in by three men late Friday night at a home in Baltimore Highlands, where a woman was struck on the head with a hammer and a man was cut with a knife, Baltimore County police said. The three men - all dressed in black - broke into the home of Amy Gaffney and Michael Mullin in the 4400 block of Annapolis Road about 10:20 p.m., police said.