Gilmer

Linus, the Charles Schulz cartoon character, has shuffled his way through many an episode deriving comfort from his blanket. Now, thousands of tiny cancer victims across the country are realizing some comfort from blankets provided by Project Linus.The project was founded barely five months ago by Karen Loucks-Baker, a Parker, Colo., woman who was inspired by a Christmas Eve Parade magazine story about a downy-haired 3-year-old with cancer.Since then, the nonprofit organization has grown to include more than 40 chapters, from Bakersfield, Calif.

Four secret votes have put a confused Annapolis city council on a collision course with Anne Arundel County over a proposed property tax increase.Yet, even as they prepare to wage what could be a costly tax battle on behalf of city residents, Annapolis aldermen are keeping their decisions and tactics from them.Council members have offered vastly different versions of a Monday night closed meeting. Three aldermen -- M. Theresa DeGraff, Dean L. Johnson and Samuel Gilmer -- initially denied that any voting took place.

Lisa Gilmer quit her job in a computer store in Annapolis two years ago to become a stay-at-home mother.She and her husband Frank, 30, a computer programmer, thought staying at home would be like a vacation for Mrs. Gilmer.But the Glen Burnie woman felt isolated from other adults and her daughter Lauren, 3, was lonely, with no playmates nearby."You're cut off from society. You live in a complete vacuum and you may not know what's going on in the real world," said Mrs. Gilmer, 31.Then a year ago, while she was reading a book, "Staying Home," the Glen Burnie woman learned of the Moms Offering Moms Support club.

After Lisa Gilmer's daughter, Lauren, was born she did what most of her friends did -- went back to work. Returning to her job as the assistant manager of a computer store was expected of her."There seemed to be an emphasis to have the baby, get down from the delivery table and go off to work," explains Mrs. Gilmer. "At two weeks, I left my daughter at the baby sitter's and went off to work, worrying."Two and a half years later, Mrs. Gilmer is a stay-at-home mom and the founder of the Glen Burnie chapter of MOMS -- Moms Offering Moms Support.

Conductor Steven Gilmer, who most recently led the music for Anne Arundel Community College's production of "Cabaret," makes his debut Sunday as music director of the college's Community Orchestra.At 4 p.m., he will take the podium at the Pascal Center to conduct Rossini's overture to "The Barber of Seville," the Symphony No. 90 of Haydn and selections from Beethoven's "The Creatures of Prometheus."Jean Joseph Mouret's "Rondeau" -- better known as the theme from "Masterpiece Theater" -- will round out the program.

Charges of racial discrimination in the Maryland Natural Resources Police have resurfaced in federal court in Baltimore, where eight years ago an agreement promising improved race relations eased black officers' concerns.Sgt. John I. Gilmer, a black officer who was a complainant in a successful 1985 class action suit against the Department of Natural Resources, claims his role then only aggravated his superiors. In the years since, their racial comments and insults have intensified, he contends in a lawsuit filed Aug. 18 in U.S. District Court in Baltimore.

Truffles, the popular Annapolis eatery known for its sinfully sweet desserts, closed this week, the latest victim of the economic downturn on West Street.Michelle O'Brien, owner of the quaint, upscale restaurant at 50 West St., said yesterday that her business was struggling because of poor parking and the growing number of empty shops in the first block of the street."The problem on West Street, as you know, is half the places are vacant on the block," she said.Truffles is one of at least four shops to leave Inner West Street in recent months.

Three people remained hospitalized today following a bizarre traffic accident on Interstate 295 near Waterview Avenue in the Westport section over the weekend, police said.Officer Tony Petralia, a traffic investigator, said a stolen 1987 Jeep pickup truck was southbound on I-295 about 2:30 a.m. yesterday when its left front wheel came off. The unidentified driver left the roadway when the axle struck the pavement and the vehicle was abandoned, Officer Petralia said.The Jeep's wheel, which was lying in the fast lane, was struck by a 1990 Honda driven by Jerry Gilmer, 22, a soldier stationed at Fort Meade, Officer Petralia said.

A coalition of black leaders is calling on Annapolis Mayor Alfred A. Hopkins to appoint Alderman Samuel Gilmer acting mayor while Mr. Hopkins recuperates from heart surgery.The Black Political Forum issued a statement yesterday faulting the mayor, a Democrat, for selecting a Republican instead of a fellow party member to temporarily take his place.Three days before he underwent triple bypass heart surgery, Mr. Hopkins appointed Alderman John Hammond, a staunch conservative representing Ward 1, as acting mayor.

Residents of the Forest Villa community of Annapolis demanded satisfaction from the State Highway Administration -- and got it.At a news conference yesterday, Annapolis Ward 3 Alderman Sam Gilmer and Forest Villa residents praised a plan that will allow eastbound vehicles from Forest Drive to enter the community directly.A previous plan called for an unbroken median island on Forest Drive, extending from Chinquapin Round Road to Bywater Road. The island would have forced Forest Villa residents to make U-turns at either end of the island to enter their community by Louis Drive.

Boy, 14, and man, 43, shot on Mosher St. A boy, 14, and a man, 43, were shot about 5 p.m. Friday in the 600 block of Mosher Street near Pennsylvania Avenue, said Donny Moses, Baltimore police spokesman. Names were not released for the teen, shot in the right ankle, or the man, shot in the left side. Both, at Maryland Shock Trauma Center, should survive. Melissa Harris Man charged in Laurel bank armed robbery A man wearing a bulletproof vest robbed a Laurel bank Thursday afternoon and ran to a nearby hotel, Anne Arundel County police said.

A Randallstown High School football player has been charged with stabbing one person and robbing three others at gunpoint in Baltimore County in the past two weeks, according Baltimore County police. Police say that Vaschon Gilmer, 18, randomly walked up to three people on the street March 19 and March 20, displayed a handgun and robbed them of money, iPods and cell phones. The first robbery occurred near the 4400 block of Old Court Road. Police believe he stabbed a man March 23, as he walked down the street near Offutt and Liberty roads, said Baltimore County spokesman Bill Toohey.

Samuel L. Gilmer, a former Annapolis alderman and civil rights activist who helped organize Anne Arundel County's NAACP chapter, died of lung cancer Tuesday at Anne Arundel Medical Center. He was 86. "Like many of his generation, Samuel Gilmer was awakened to the civil rights movement in the 1940s, when he returned home after military service in World War II to find himself and other former black soldiers treated as second-class citizens in segregated states such as Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina," a 2004 Sun article said.

In trying to dupe an unsuspecting citizen with a phony check scheme, scammers probably could've picked a better mark. Last Thursday, Anne Arundel County police Chief James P. Teare Sr. received, via FedEx, an unexpected check for $4,200 at his office at county police headquarters. He turned it over to investigators, who later determined it was fraudulent. They believe the check was sent as part of a scam in which victims are sent a large sum of money - often described as prize winnings - with instructions to deposit the check and send a portion of the proceeds to an address, typically out of the country.

Like many of his generation, Samuel Gilmer was awakened to the civil rights movement in the 1940s, when he returned home after military service in World War II to find himself and other former black soldiers treated as second-class citizens in segregated states such as Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina. "That's what made me get involved in the fight for freedom," said Gilmer, 82, a former Annapolis alderman who helped organize Anne Arundel County's NAACP chapter, which turns 60 today.

On April 3, 2003 EDWARD WILLIAM MARTIN, of Bel Air, MD. Beloved husband of the late Clara H. Martin; devoted father of Norma Jean Beavers and Karen D. Gilmer; loving brother of Paul J. Martin. Also survived by five grandchildren Terri L. Beavers, Steven R. Beavers, Carrie L. Gilmer, Crystal D. Gilmer, and Michael S. Yingling and two great-grandchildren Carissa and Alexa D. Yingling. A service will be held at Mt. Zion United Methodist Church, Bel Air, MD on Monday April 7, 2003 at 11 a.m. Interment will be in the adjoining cemetery.

Alderman honored for 20 years' service on city council Alderman Samuel Gilmer, the Democrat who has represented the 3rd Ward in Annapolis for 20 years, was honored by his council colleagues Monday night when they renamed the Transportation Building at 308 Chinquapin Round Road for him. The resolution, sponsored by the rest of the council and Mayor Dean L. Johnson, was introduced with feigned urgency, catching Gilmer off guard and moving him to tears....

For two decades, Annapolis' 3rd Ward has been represented on the city council by World War II veteran Samuel Gilmer. But Tuesday, Gilmer, 79, lost his seat to a former college administrator who challenged him for the second time. Classie Gillis Hoyle, 65, defeated Gilmer by 98 votes in the Democratic primary. She had lost to Gilmer by 152 votes in 1997. Because no other candidates have said they will run for the position in the general election, Tuesday's vote essentially assures Hoyle the seat.

Linus, the Charles Schulz cartoon character, has shuffled his way through many an episode deriving comfort from his blanket. Now, thousands of tiny cancer victims across the country are realizing some comfort from blankets provided by Project Linus.The project was founded barely five months ago by Karen Loucks-Baker, a Parker, Colo., woman who was inspired by a Christmas Eve Parade magazine story about a downy-haired 3-year-old with cancer.Since then, the nonprofit organization has grown to include more than 40 chapters, from Bakersfield, Calif.

Four secret votes have put a confused Annapolis city council on a collision course with Anne Arundel County over a proposed property tax increase.Yet, even as they prepare to wage what could be a costly tax battle on behalf of city residents, Annapolis aldermen are keeping their decisions and tactics from them.Council members have offered vastly different versions of a Monday night closed meeting. Three aldermen -- M. Theresa DeGraff, Dean L. Johnson and Samuel Gilmer -- initially denied that any voting took place.