Hamm

THE BALTIMORE Police Department's experiment with out-of-town commissioners has ended abruptly with the firing of New Yorker Kevin P. Clark. Mayor Martin O'Malley's choice of Baltimore native Leonard D. Hamm to head the agency makes sense right now for a department that has worked under three commissioners in four years. A well-liked former city police major who advocates a return to basics, Commissioner Hamm, 55, represents a stable, calming influence - for the department, which has undergone numerous changes at the top with each new commissioner; for the city, which is watching the murder rate climb toward 300; and for the mayor, who made fighting crime and knocking down that murder rate the No. 1 priority of his administration.

Gregory F. Hamm, for three years the public face of Columbia's hotly contested downtown redevelopment plan, was fired Thursday by his new Dallas-based bosses, who were apparently unhappy with the slow pace of the project, still more than a year from groundbreaking. The abrupt manner in which the move was made has raised doubts among some about where the project is headed, though Howard Hughes Corp. executives went to great pains to reassure local officials during a series of meetings Thursday, the officials said.

On January 4, 2004, WILLIAM J. HAMM; husband of Brenda Hamm; loving father of Faye Ficarro; devoted grandfather of Paul Ficarro; beloved brother of Bobby Hamm, Betty Heck, Bill Hamm, Bonnie Vincent, Barry Hamm, Stella Shorter, Barbara McDonald and Bruce Hamm. The family will receive friends at the Burgee-Henss-Seitz Funeral Home, Inc., 3631 Falls Road, on Wednesday, from 7 to 8 P.M., at which time a Memorial Service will be held.

On September 2, 2009, FREDERICK LONESOME (BUS); devoted husband of 51 years to the late Mary Lonesome (nee Hines). He is survived by his daughter, Zara Hamm of Baltimore, MD, and son and daughter in law, David Michael and Carlene Hamm of Rancho Cucamonga, CA; and two grandsons, four granddaughters, seven great-grandchildren and one great-great-granddaughter. Out of nine brothers and sisters, he is survived by his sister, Grace Shelton (nee Lonesome), four sisters-in-law, and a host of nephews, nieces, grand-nephews and grand-nieces.

Suddenly on March 26, 2006, TIMOTHY L. HAMM, beloved son of Barbara Jones and Delmar Hamm; step-son of Donald Jones; grandson of Bertha Hamm; devoted brother of Vickie Jackson and her husband Jack and Jennifer Marsh and her husband David; step-brother of Rick Jones and Melissa Rabon; uncle of Jack, III and Kristen Jackson and David Marsh, Jr. Also survived by several aunts, uncles and cousins. A Graveside service will be held at Bel Air Memorial Gardens on Saturday at 11:30 A.M. Arrangements by E.F. Lassahn Funeral Home, P.A., 410-592-6100

On August 5, 2005, BRENDA JEAN (nee James) HAMM, beloved wife of the late William Hamm, devoted mother of Faye Ficarro and her husband Paul, cherished grandmother of Paul J. Ficarro, devoted daughter of Kathleeen and the late Archie James, loving sister of Wanda Jenkins, Diane, Lawrence and Velvet James. Also survived by other relatives and friends. Friends may call at the family owned HARTLEY MILLER-STELLA FUNERAL HOME CHTD., 7527 Harford Rd on Monday from 4 to 8 P.M., where services will be held on Tuesday at 11 A.M. Interment in Oaklawn Cemetery.

On September 3, 2008, MICHAEL ALLEN HAMM; devoted father of the late Blayre Marie Hamm; loving son of Robert D. Garner and the late Dawn Marie Lewis; dear brother of Amanda Shell and Jennifer Garner; uncle of Hailey Shell. Also survived by many other relatives. A funeral service will be held at the family owned Duda-Ruck Funeral Home of Dundalk, Inc., 7922 Wise Avenue on Sunday at 8:30 P.M. Interment private. Friends may call on Sunday from 5 to 9 P.M. Please omit flowers, contributions may be made to the UMMS Foundation, R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, 110 S. Paca Street, 9th Floor, Baltimore, MD, 21201.

LANCASTER, Pa. - Western Maryland College quarterback Mike Hamm has become the fourth Green Terror in four weeks to earn Centennial Football Conference Player of the Week recognition.Hamm received the CFC Offensive Player of the Week honor after completing 15 of 23 passes for 273 yards and one touchdown in Western Maryland's 14-3 win at home over Muhlenberg Saturday. The senior from Manheim, Pa., was six for 10 passing in third-down situations and two for two on fourth downs.The two-year captain, who entered Saturday's game seventh in Division III of the NCAA in passing efficiency, also set a new Western Maryland career record for passing yards with 3,463 and attempts with 543.Western Maryland is 3-1, the team's best start since going 2-1-1 in the first four games of the 1981 season.

Baltimore police Commissioner Leonard Hamm is dying in increments. "When the pager goes off and I look at the location of [a homicide]," Hamm said yesterday, "I know [the victims] are black men and I know the perps are black men. A little bit of me dies each time it happens - as a black man, as a father, as an uncle and also as a police commissioner." Death was the topic yesterday when I spoke with Hamm at police headquarters. At the time we met, Baltimore's homicide count was 152 compared with 133 at the same time last year.

Talking to the soft-spoken Mia Hamm, you would never think that this is the 5-foot-5 striker who wreaks havoc on opposing teams.She glides through defenders with ease. She delivers pinpoint passes that sometimes stun her teammates. Even more impressive is the power she packs in her kicks despite her 125-pound frame.U.S. national team coach Tony DiCicco says Hamm is the total package."Mia is obviously extremely dynamic, multi-talented," DiCicco said. "She is a good passer, exceptional dribbler.

General Growth Properties has agreed to county planners' request to provide 15 percent of new housing in a redeveloped downtown Columbia for people who make $80,000 or less annually, but company leaders are resisting another key county suggestion. The firm's executives went before the county Planning Board on Thursday evening at Wilde Lake High School to answer questions raised during the company's presentation two weeks ago and to listen to testimony from residents. "It's all the crossing of i's and the dotting of t's, as you would expect," said Greg Hamm, senior vice president and Columbia general manager for General Growth, Columbia's developer.

General Growth Properties has agreed with all but three county-recommended changes to its 30-year redevelopment plan for Town Center Columbia, but the disagreements are over key points. Still, Columbia General Manager and General Growth Properties Senior Vice President Greg Hamm told county Planning Board members Thursday night that his firm wants to work out the disagreements and go forward. "A collaborative community process yields better communities," he said, as a crowd of about 75 people listened at the Bain Senior Center in Harper's Choice.

A Northwest Baltimore man has been arrested and charged with the strangulation of Nicole Sesker, the 39-year-old stepdaughter of former city Police Commissioner Leonard D. Hamm, whose body was found June 27 outside a vacant house in the 3500 block of W. Garrison Ave. in Pimlico, said a Police Department spokesman. Joseph Antonio Barnes, 35, of the 4900 block of Lanier Ave. was arrested about 10 a.m. yesterday at an undisclosed downtown location on a warrant charging him with Sesker's death, said Agent Donny Moses, the spokesman.

For years, Annie and Eugene Hamm worried about the stairs. Their daughter was physically and developmentally disabled, and it was becoming harder to carry her up and down the front stairs of their Aberdeen house. "It got to be where we couldn't handle the steps," says Annie Hamm, who is 81; her husband 82. "It was dangerous." What the Hamms needed was a ramp so their daughter, Betty, could roll down in her wheelchair. But a ramp would cost thousands of dollars. "More than we could afford, I'll tell you," says Annie Hamm, who is a housewife.

Facing a cash crunch that has it considering selling off properties, developer and multiple-mall owner General Growth Properties is at the same time about to take the next step in what could be a big moneymaker: the makeover of downtown Columbia. The development company is planning to submit rezoning requests this week for perhaps the biggest project the county has seen since Columbia's birth four decades ago. The fate of those requests could determine how much of a financial transfusion the company can expect.

As part of the remaking of central Columbia, the developer hopes to provide about 20 percent of new residences for limited-income people through a private, nonprofit corporation. The idea is to provide "full-spectrum housing" by creating a multimillion-dollar housing fund, said Gregory F. Hamm, vice president of General Growth Properties. The money would come from impact fees charged to developers who buy land in Town Center and from square-foot surcharges on retail and commercial tenants.

Gregory F. Hamm, an executive with nearly 20 years of experience in planning and development, has replaced a veteran Rouse vice president at the helm of downtown development in Columbia, General Growth Properties Inc. announced yesterday. Hamm, 45, replaced Douglas M. Godine, who has served as first vice president, development, with responsibility for Columbia since March 2006. Chicago-based General Growth bought Rouse in 2004. "I do want to follow in the tradition of Jim Rouse and Columbia and make sure that we're on the cutting edge of intelligent and visionary planning," Hamm said yesterday.

The best part of Leonard Hamm's speech to the Baltimore City Council this week was its precise geography. The acting police commissioner talked insightfully about Park Circle and McElderry Street and Harlem Park. He mentioned them by name and pathology. He talked about Greenmount Avenue and North Chester Street and Keyworth Avenue. He knows exactly where they are. Some of our previous police commissioners got the job without knowing how to find City Hall. Hamm is the city of Baltimore's best hope now that all the excuses are done on crime.

On September 3, 2008, MICHAEL ALLEN HAMM; devoted father of the late Blayre Marie Hamm; loving son of Robert D. Garner and the late Dawn Marie Lewis; dear brother of Amanda Shell and Jennifer Garner; uncle of Hailey Shell. Also survived by many other relatives. A funeral service will be held at the family owned Duda-Ruck Funeral Home of Dundalk, Inc., 7922 Wise Avenue on Sunday at 8:30 P.M. Interment private. Friends may call on Sunday from 5 to 9 P.M. Please omit flowers, contributions may be made to the UMMS Foundation, R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, 110 S. Paca Street, 9th Floor, Baltimore, MD, 21201.

When Harriet Fisher's son Jason graduated from Centennial High School in 2000, he could not climb onto the stage at Merriweather Post Pavilion during the procession with his classmates. Jason is a lifelong sufferer of cerebral palsy, and he and his wheelchair had to be brought in separately. That story surprised Gregory F. Hamm, vice president of General Growth Properties. He assured Fisher, a member of the access committee of county's Commission on Disability Issues, that he is professionally and personally committed to involving the committee in planning for the redevelopment of Town Center.