Harbel

Sauerbrey to address anniversary dinnerRepublican gubernatorial candidate Ellen R. Sauerbrey will be the guest speaker at the third anniversary dinner of Historic Baltimore Housing, a coalition of property owners in historic districts in Baltimore and Baltimore County.Sauerbrey is to discuss her plans for Maryland's business and economic development and how her policies would improve the business climate for small businesses and property owners.The event is scheduled at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Frazier's-on-the-Avenue in Hampden.

Bank volunteers help Habitat for Humanity Bank of America volunteers participated last week in beginning construction on a Habitat for Humanity home in the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood of West Baltimore. The project is part of a national homebuilding project named in honor of Hugh McColl Jr., Bank of America's former chairman and chief executive officer. The McColl Habitat for Humanity project is a community effort that is expected to produce 120 new homes over the next five years in cities where Bank of America does business.

TC CURRENT volunteers' news and needs:Sexual Assault Center of Howard County in Columbia needs volunteers for its hot line and for help with victims of assault. A training session will be held at 7 p.m. Nov. 27 at the center. Call for interview, 964-0504.The Hearing and Speech Agency wants used toys in good condition for its Parent-Infant-Toddler Program. Toys that make sounds are preferred. To donate toys, call K.C. Docie, 243-3800, or take them to 2220 St. Paul St.The Baltimore County Department of Recreation and Parks Office of Therapeutic Recreation Services needs volunteer assistant directors for the Musical Theatre Programs for intellectually limited young adults.

Why are 10 additional poor families 10 too many for Northeast Baltimore's Hamilton neighborhood, an area struggling to maintain the middle-class way of life it has long enjoyed? Last week, away from television cameras that showed hundreds of Hamilton residents cursing city officials over the plan to move public housing residents into their neighborhoods, people who live along the Harford and Belair Road corridors explained why the idea disturbs them. According to Mayor Martin O'Malley - who cautioned that social problems spring from poverty and not from race - Northeast Baltimore has already absorbed more than 200 former residents of recently demolished public housing in the past four years.

On the day the City Council took its first vote on a new councilmanic redistricting plan, Councilman John A. Schaefer, D-1st, made a comment that is likely to haunt him on primary election day.After looking at a map showing the new boundaries of the 1st, Mr. Schaefer said: "This district is so big, I'll need a helicopter to get from one end of it to the other."Mr. Schaefer's comment alienated many 3rd District residents who were shifted to the 1st because of redistricting. During the council's debate over the new council district maps, much of the attention was focused on the majority white 3rd and 6th districts.

About 220 Baltimore drug treatment slots threatened by cuts in city spending will be preserved at least through July using $250,000 from the city health department, Health Commissioner Dr. Peter L. Beilenson said yesterday. And Mayor Martin O'Malley said he is working to find another $1 million to keep the slots open for the entire fiscal year, though that may require trimming a number of other city programs. "We're still scrambling around for a way to make this work," O'Malley said. The mayor, who has fought for greater state funding for treatment, said he does not want "to give up the high ground" by reducing the city's contribution.

Baltimore police were forced to cancel a meeting over city public housing plans last night, after a large crowd of about 200 Northeast Baltimore residents was turned away from an already packed meeting hall. By the time the meeting was supposed to begin, at 7:30 p.m., the Harford Center for Senior Citizens had reached its 200-person seating capacity, and leaders from the Harbel Community Organization Inc. closed the doors. Those left outside the building in the 4900 block of Harford Road began pushing up against the front door and demanding to be let in, when Baltimore police urged city officials to cancel the meeting, before it even started.

Homeownership workshop to be held in ColumbiaThe Affordable Housing Alliance Inc. and Norwest Mortgage are presenting a free homeownership workshop from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Nov. 8 at 10320 Little Patuxent Parkway in Columbia.The workshop is designed to provide potential homebuyers information on the entire process, from budgeting for the down payment to finding a home to obtaining a mortgage, according to Alliance Chairman William A. Ross Sr.Workshop participants will be able to register for confidential homeownership and credit counseling sessions at the Affordable Housing Center.

Free housing seminar is Thursday eveningTri-Churches Housing and First National Mortgage will conduct a free housing seminar from 6: 30 p.m. to 8: 30 p.m. Thursday in the lower hall of St. Jerome's Head Start Center, 765 W. Hamburg St.Seminar topics include an overview of the home-buying process, information about programs such as "Live Near Your Work" and Empowerment Zone grants and an introduction to the free counseling services offered by Tri-Churches.After...

People interested in participating in a national alcoholism screening project will be able to do so at a dozen Baltimore-area sites April 8. The National Mental Illness Screening Project Inc., a nonprofit organization, has set up testing at 1,700 locations for National Alcohol Screening Day. The program is open to all ages, but organizers want to focus on college students who are susceptible to binge drinking and alcohol poisoning. Five hundred of the 1,700 sites are colleges.