Hampden

Emily Flake is growing up. True, it's in a kicking-and-cartooning, still-gonna-smoke (but not as much) kind of way. But 30 is 30, Ms. Flake. These mile markers do something to the soul. The onset of adulthood. Talk of, well, a family. If she's not careful, Flake could end up happy and just might have to tone down or retire her comic alter ego, Lulu Eightball. Our dear, plump heroine, Lulu, could face extinction or happiness herself! Wait, who is Flake? Or, for that matter, Lulu? Emily Flake is the self-described illustratrix of the Lulu Eightball comic strip that runs in City Paper and other alternative weeklies.

Earth Alley 3602 Elm Ave., Hampden 410-366-2110 Hours: 5 p.m.-8 p.m. Wednesday; 4 p.m.-8 p.m. Thursday; noon-7 p.m. Friday & Saturday; noon-5 p.m. Sunday Just in time for an eco-friendly holiday, Earth Alley has opened in Hampden. The gift and home accessories shop with the grass-green facade is one with the planet, so to speak, and features sustainable design and fair-trade items. Owner Eva Khoury likes to think of many of the things in her store as "upcycling" - things like purses made of old records, tires and magazines; picture frames from parts of old boats; and tree-free greeting cards created with sugar cane fiber.

THE COUNT Homicides since Jan. 1: 225 THE VICTIM An unidentified man in his 40s was found dead of blunt-force injuries Saturday under a bridge in Hampden. Police are treating his death as a homicide. LAST YEAR: Baltimore had recorded 199 homicides as of Sept. 23, 2006. ONLINE: Details and locations of this year's city homicides are at baltimoresun.com/homicidemap.

STORE OPENING ATOMIC POP 3620 Falls Road, Hampden, 410-366-1004 Open Monday, Wednesday and Thursday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed Tuesday. When the designer art toy trend threatened to overwhelm their bookstore, Benn Ray and his partner Rachel Whang decided to go with the flow. "It was time to give the toys their own space," Ray says. The result is Atomic Pop, located in Hampden around the corner from their incredibly cool bookstore, Atomic Books (not to be confused with Atomic Comics or any other Atomic anything)

Galen and Bridget Sampson, owners of the new-and-growing Dogwood Deli on The Avenue in Hampden, have brought many lofty ideas to their new venture. They sell only what's in season and purchase their produce and meats from local good-to-the-earthniks like One Straw Farm in White Hall and Springfield Farm in Sparks. Poor:]

DINNER AND A SHOW" REACHED new heights at the Lyric Opera House recently, as Coppin State University held its Second Annual Vision Award Celebration there. Hundreds of formally dressed folks gathered on the mezzanine level for a pre-show party before they would head into the theater to see performances by singer Nancy Wilson and comedian Bill Cosby. Guests browsed the dinner buffet and caught up with old friends. For incoming Coppin president Reginald Avery and his wife, Esther, it meant meeting a lot of new friends.

Two hours after Scott Finman put three pumpkins on his front steps in Wyman Park, neighborhood miscreants had stolen two and smashed them to the sidewalk - the latest in a string of pumpkin-pilfering and flower-pot-breaking to sweep the tranquil community. But unlike other residents who can do little but curse the kids and sweep up the wreckage, Finman could turn to the videotape. He had installed cameras over the front and back entrances to his home, and they captured the crime as it happened.

Two burning rowhouses sent a cloud of billowing smoke over Baltimore's Hampden neighborhood yesterday in a fire that left one firefighter slightly injured, a fire official said. Chief Kevin Cartwright, a Fire Department spokesman, said firefighters were called to the 1200 block of Dellwood Avenue about 11 a.m. About two hours later, the firefighters had the blaze under control. The cause of the fire is under investigation, he said. The blaze heavily damaged two rowhouses at 1207 and 1209 Dellwood Ave. Loveus Whyte, 70, owns the house at 1207 Dellwood where the fire started.

SEEDS 3600 Roland Ave., Suite 4, Hampden 410-235-1776 Hampden is always full of surprises. The newest one is Seeds, an oasis of calm above Cafe Hon and the pink flamingo on the Avenue. (The entrance is around the corner on Roland Avenue.) There's nothing else quite like Seeds in Baltimore. You could think of it as a kind of holistic wellness spa where you can get wonderfully relaxing aromatherapy massages -- or nutrition counseling. Acupuncture, energy healing and herbalism are also on the menu.

Russia and the United States are shocked to discover that the other is still spying. Shocked.The Christmas lights on 34th Street between Chestnut and Keswick in Hampden are the best, again.Moscow's thinking is that when Grozny no longer exists, Chechens will be better Russians.The West Side plan calls for removal of businesses that work. What's to understand?

Warren E. "Libby" Mitzel, a retired physical-education instructor who taught in city public schools, died of cancer Oct. 22 at the Charlestown retirement community. She was 94. Warren Elizabeth "Libby" Mitzel, the daughter of a Pennsylvania Railroad freight conductor and a homemaker, was born at home on Keswick Road in Hampden. She was raised on a family farm in Baltimore County and in 1929 returned to Hampden with her family. To help support her family during the Depression, Miss Mitzel dropped out of school and went to work for Stieff Silver Co., where she became an engraver.

Mayor Sheila Dixon made what appeared to be conciliatory remarks on Wednesday about Hampden's pink flamingo flap. "I know probably my agencies are not going to like my comments, but I was really disappointed that we didn't reach out to the flamingo and work with the" owner, Dixon said. Cafe Hon's owner, Denise Whiting, removed the large pink flamingo that hung above her restaurant on 36th Street early Tuesday rather than pay $800 for a permit that would have allowed the sculpture to continue to hang over the public sidewalk.

The Avenue in Hampden is the capital of Baltimore kitsch, so for years the city got along just fine having that huge pink flamingo mounted above the landmark Cafe Hon. But now some city inspector has suddenly discovered that - gasp! - the big bird may actually be in violation of some silly ordinance or another. Sorry, too late. You should have thought of that years ago. The Big Bird stays. There's no need to pretend this long-necked fowl is great art. It's pure kitsch, as it was intended to be. Kitsch is the opposite of the complex, difficult, provocative and occasionally infuriating art in museums.

If the Old Farmer's Almanac's prediction of a cold winter ahead is correct, at least one tree in Hampden will be snug against the blasts of wintry winds, plummeting temperatures and snow. Monday, while most folks celebrated the unofficial end of summer with a last dip at the beach, a walk in the woods or a backyard picnic, a group of Hampden knitters - young and old - were busy wrapping a flowering cherry tree on 36th Street in a knitted sweater. It replaced a sweater that had been put on last year and removed in June so the tree could "breathe" over the summer, said Sue Caldwell, owner of Lovelyarns, a Hampden yarn and knitting supply shop.

The same day that police arrested a man in a double shooting in Hampden over the weekend, residents and business owners along The Avenue said they do not expect a lingering impact from the incident. William Hyle, 18, of the 1700 block of Yorkland Road in Carroll County was detained Tuesday in North Carolina by city police's warrant apprehension force and U.S. marshals. He is accused of shooting a man and a woman who is sixth months' pregnant on Saturday in the 1000 block of W. 36th St., a block dotted with some of the most notable restaurants and eclectic stores in the city.

Police investigate double shooting in Hampden 1 Baltimore City police were investigating a double shooting that occurred late Saturday on The Avenue in Hampden. The shooting in the 1000 block of W. 36th St. was reported at 11:02 p.m., according to Detective Nicole Monroe, a police spokeswoman. One person was shot in the leg and another person was shot in the arm, Monroe said. Their injuries were not considered life-threatening. Additional information was not immediately available. - Baltimore Sun staff Balto.

Charles Edgar Evans Jr., a retired Aberdeen Proving Ground engineer, died of complications after heart surgery at Keswick Multi-Care Center. The Otterbein resident was 84. Mr. Evans, the son of a Baltimore firefighter and a homemaker, was born and raised in Hampden. He left Polytechnic Institute to enlist in the Navy, where he served aboard a submarine tender in the Pacific during World War II. After the war, he attended evening school at Poly and was awarded his diploma in 1954. He also held a degree from the Maryland Institute.

When I asked Bill Buszinski what kind of food his new restaurant was going to serve, I thought at first he said, "iconoclastic cuisine." What he actually said was "Americana classic cuisine," but iconoclastic food might be just right for his new venue, the quirky American Visionary Art Museum. After more than three years, the space once occupied by the Joy America Cafe has a new tenant. This is very good news. One possible glitch: The cafe's liquor license was allowed to expire, but Buszinski and his wife Maria are in the process of applying for a new one. They are the former owners of the offbeat, now-closed Sputnik Cafe in Crownsville.

When Wayne Laing was planning to open a wine bar in Hampden, he wanted it to be more of a cafe than some wine bars are. It was an ambitious undertaking, given that the kitchen equipment of the new 13.5% Wine Bar consists of a panini grill, two convection ovens and a slicer. Wine and beer are still more important here than food, of course. Laing is the former owner of the nearby Wine Underground, and his new space on The Avenue is a retail shop as well as a place to get a glass of vino.

O n Monday, July 6, 2009, JOHN L. WEINZIRL; beloved husband of Pamela (Nijak) Weinzirl; dear son of the late John F., and Patricia (Migan) Weinzirl; loving father of Melanie Weinzirl Brennan and her husband Keith of Westminster, and John Andrew Weinzirl of Hampden; dear brother of Paul Alan Weinzirl and his wife Barbara Ann of Reisterstown and Gail Agnes Raczkowski of Middle River. Also surviving are many nieces, nephews, friends and a devoted church family. Memorial services will be held on Saturday, July 11 at 9 A.M at the Eline Funeral Home, 934 S. main Street, Hampstead.