Hair Salon

Just weeks after Baltimore's historic preservation board approved a list of Mount Vernon properties deserving of protection, a developer is asking for approval to demolish four of them, small carriage houses that date to 1895. Though Mayor Martin O'Malley, City Councilman Keiffer J. Mitchell Jr. and Baltimore's planning director support the demolition and the construction of condominiums, preservationists are poised for a fight as the Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation considers the plan Nov. 8. "To me," says former Baltimore Heritage President John Maclay, "it doesn't send a good message about the city's interest in historic preservation."

Blas A. Alfaro, a retired Howard County educator who had owned several hair salons and a beauty academy, died Sunday of prostate cancer at his Mount Airy home. He was 75. Mr. Alfaro was born and raised in the Bronx, N.Y., where he graduated from high school. He served in the Marine Corps and Army from 1946 to 1952, and later wrote a privately published memoir, Stories of GIs in Japan, chronicling his experiences serving with the Army's occupation forces in Japan. Mr. Alfaro wrote that memories of those years would surface occasionally "without rhyme or reason" and then "you are transported to the land you left behind through music, odors or food."

Uprising reveals Iraq occupation is doomed to fail As Iraq degenerates into a general uprising against American occupation, it is time to ask at what point the United States realizes its policy is doomed to failure ("U.S. forces battle for Fallujah," April 8). Last week, The Sun suggested that the occupation of Iraq may come to resemble Israel's occupation of the West Bank ("A lynching," editorial April 2). Is this what Americans want? The Israelis have pursued their failed occupation policies for 37 years, with no end in sight.

Albert Clark never thought hairdressing would be his business. The Washington native had a passion for theater and a background in military service. But nearly 30 years after opening the Victoria & Albert Hair Studio with his wife, Victoria, Clark has found success in helping the business grow in its Columbia location to serve more than 12,000 clients and train dozens of stylists. The salon recently was nominated for an international honor from the Global Salon Business Awards. The 40-employee operation has seen profits and revenue increase 7 percent to 9 percent annually, Clark said.

James Earl Winkler, a barber for more than 40 years and co-owner of W&W Hair Salon and Barber Shop in Woodlawn, died of lung cancer Sunday at University of Maryland Medical Center. He was 53. Affectionately known as "Mr. Wink," he worked in the shop alongside his wife and co-owner, Wanda, until he became ill about 18 months ago. It was his lifelong dream to own his own barbershop, which he filled with laughter and a family atmosphere, patrons and co-workers said. "If you ever came to the shop, you'd see it was an extension of him, personality-wise," said Robert L. Bostic, whom Mr. Winkler hired as manager more than a decade ago. "He enjoyed the lives that he touched and the people that he met. He enjoyed giving them service."

A small fire on the first floor of a Johns Hopkins University dormitory in North Baltimore filled the six-story building with smoke and forced the evacuation of students, office workers and shoppers at several street-level stores.No injuries were reported.Inspector Michael Maybin, a Fire Department spokesman, said sprinklers extinguished the fire, which began about 2 p.m. in an electrical panel in the Homewood Apartments in the 3000 block of N. Charles St. Officials said the panel was being repaired by Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. workers.

Edna Kenny, 89, owned Reisterstown hair salonEdna Kenny, who ran a hair salon in Reisterstown that was a Main Street gathering place for decades, died Wednesday at Northwest Hospital Center of pulmonary problems after being hospitalized for several weeks. She was 89.The former Edna Marquess, three times married and long divorced, opened Edna Kenny's Hair Salon at 226 Main St. in 1952 and lived at that address until moving recently to her daughter's home in Owings Mills."She was still doing hair into her 80s," said her youngest granddaughter, Marsha Derrickson of Baltimore.

DREAMING entrepreneurial dreams, a hairdresser I know wondered aloud about the kind of business that could work well in tandem with a hair salon. "A coffee bar," she said. "Yeah, a coffee bar would work. Or how about a sushi bar? Or a book store maybe. How about an ice cream parlor?"Sorry, my dear. That's been done.You can find such a place in Locust Point. (But you can't find it on Mondays. It's closed Mondays. Scott Erickson, the Orioles hunk, went there for a haircut on a Monday, and the women of the shop have been sick about missing him ever since.

For the second time in a year, vandals destroyed lights and a sign of a home-based hair salon in West Friendship, costing the owners an estimated $1,000 each time.The shop, Revelations in Hair Design on Pfefferkorn Road, has drawn sharp criticism since it opened in 1995 from neighbors who say the business ruins the rural character of the area.Owners Robin and Patrice Davidson said it appeared that someone used a sledgehammer to smash two 60-watt lights and a 2-foot-by-3-foot sign with a picture of their house and name on it."

Three Hampstead hair salons have been burglarized since May 28, according to town police.The most recent burglary occurred Sunday at Creative Hair Dressers in the 700 block of Hanover Pike. Employees told police about $250 was stolen. The shop's front door was pried open.On May 30 or early May 31, someone broke into A Flair with Hair in the 4500 block of Lower Beckleysville Road and stole about $75 and prescription drugs, police said.Police said someone broke into Creative Cuts in the 1000 block of S. Main St. on May 28 and stole $25.If you have information, call Hampstead police at 410-239-8954.