Highlandtown

Paul Jan Zdunek's grandmother in Highlandtown doesn't understand too much of this orchestra conducting business.She says to him: "What do you need to get up there for? They're playing the instruments. They don't even look at you."But Mr. Zdunek, who in a few weeks will leave South Conkling Street for graduate studies in conducting at the Cleveland Institute of Music, knows enough about the art to give his grandmother and anyone else an adequate answer."A lot of what a conductor does goes on in rehearsal.

Peter Angelos is reclining comfortably in his luxury suite at Camden Yards, with a waitress named Michelle hovering nearby, a luscious dinner menu awaiting his choosing, and various men in expensive suits hoping to grab little increments of his time when third baseman Chris Sabo sprawls to interrupt a sharp ground ball on its way to left field."

It seems that everybody in this part of East Baltimore knows "the priest."He is the Rev. Manuel J. Burdusi, the 33-year-old pastor of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, the spiritual home of many Highlandtown families.Father Manuel, as he is called, is the former altar boy who came back to his home parish wearing a cleric's black robes. He grew up on Bonsal Street near Francis Scott Key Medical Center. His church is in the 500 block of S. Ponca St. He is one of the pivotal personalities here.

THERE ARE a number of reasons not to vote for Democratic gubernatorial candidate American Joe Miedusiewski.For one thing, his wacky radio campaign commercials are amateurish. One that spoofs the old TV series, "The Andy Griffith Show," includes a sound-alike Barney Fife character; it's supposed to be a dig at rival candidate Parris Glendening's claim of being a police commissioner. As a Hyattsville city councilman Mr. Glendening helped oversee the police department.Commercials aside, a decision on state Sen. American Joe Miedusiewski ought to be made by looking in his own legislative district.

Watch out Napa, look out Bordeaux. Here comes ... Highlandtown. The East Baltimore neighborhood may not resemble more famed winemaking regions, with their sweeping vistas of endless rows of grapevines basking in the sun. Highlandtown remains classic urban Baltimore, with its Formstone rowhouses and multiple bridal shops. But behind that facade, it turns out, is a long-standing tradition of amateur winemaking. Tomorrow, these basement vintners will be celebrated by the oxymoronic-sounding Highlandtown Wine Festival.

Highlandtown is an artists' haven and a city arts and entertainment district bounded by Haven Street on the east, Pratt Street to the north, Patterson Park to the west and Eastern Avenue to the south. The neighborhood has a blue-collar, small-town America feel. But, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, 70 percent of its workforce is white-collar, 65 percent of the households don't have children and the median age is 36. It was traditionally a German-American blue-collar working neighborhood that is now a Polish, Italian, Irish and Latino community of artists.

A Highlandtown man was struck and killed by a car about 3: 30 a.m. yesterday as he ran across southbound lanes of Interstate 95 in Harford County.Brian K. Steele, 36, of the 1000 block of S. Potomac St., was struck near the Fallston-Joppa exit by a 1990 Acura driven by Brian Jones, 29, of Abingdon.Steele was pronounced dead at the scene. The accident remains under investigation, state police Sgt. Denard D. Allen said.Pub Date: 7/25/99

A 15-year-old Highlandtown girl was fatally shot near her home early yesterday, police said. Police responded about 3 a.m. to a shooting in the 3100 block of Gough St. and found Lauren Zinsavage lying in the street, officers said. The girl had been shot in the upper chest. She was taken to Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead at 3:48 a.m., police said. Zinsavage lived in the 300 block of S. Bouldin St., not far from where she was shot. No arrests have been made, police said.

The first really warm spring weekend enticed 600 sippers to the second Highlandtown Wine Festival Sunday afternoon to taste hand-crafted urban wines created in this ungentrified East Baltimore neighborhood. Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. turned up to dance a tarantella, while festival-goers tasted the offerings of about two dozen winemakers. In the judging of the homemade wines, a father-son duo, Dominic and Davide Parravano, took first in the white-wine category with a blend of Chenin Blanc and Thompson Seedless grapes.

Two of three Highlandtown rowhouses that burned yesterday morning were targeted last week by police, who raided them and arrested six people charged with running a drug operation.Baltimore fire officials said they had not found a cause of the two-alarm blaze that caused extensive damage to the adjoining houses in the 3300 block of Marshall Court, an alley near Eastern and Highland avenues.Firefighter Donald Schaefer was injured fighting the blaze, which began about 8: 30 a.m. at 3305 Marshall Court and spread quickly.