Home Owners

An attorney for the owners of an assisted-living home in Columbia says they were surprised by a judge's ruling that will eventually close the facility.Brian Wallach also said the owners might appeal the opinion filed last week by Howard County Circuit Judge Raymond J. Kane Jr."We are considering our options, which obviously includes the possibility of appeal," Wallach said. "We're disappointed with the decision."Kane ruled that the owners of the assisted-living home violated a neighborhood covenant.

When Scott and Jackie Dunkel left Millersville last weekend and headed south to New Orleans, two Super Bowl tickets in hand, they took all the comforts of home with them, including satellite TV, Internet hookups, a king-size bed and the kitchen sink. Actually, these veteran recreational-vehicle road warriors didn't leave "home" at all - at least not their vacation home. They made the 1,000-mile jaunt in their 45-foot, 45,000-pound, seven-miles-per-gallon Holiday Rambler Navigator.

Gov. William Donald Schaefer's place in Maryland history, despite his many accomplishments, will rest largely on his ability to enact the far-reaching tax reforms of the Linowes commission. Given the sweeping nature of these tax and spending changes, it will take a determined effort by the governor to win legislative support for these proposals during his final four years in office.Never has there been such a comprehensive look at Maryland's modern tax system. No one should expect the General Assembly to embrace the changes quickly.

 In many of the letters that have been published, the statement has been made that if you move close to Merriweather, you should not complain about the noise. Let me tell you the other side of the problem. Fifteen year ago, my lady and I thought we had found our perfect retirement home at Wyndham Condominiums. We perceived no problem with Merriweather; and at first, there was none. Sometimes you could not tell there was even a concert. Over the years, the volume of Merriweather has gotten louder so that even with the doors and windows closed, the noise is barely tolerable, but this is not the main problem.

 In many of the letters that have been published, the statement has been made that if you move close to Merriweather, you should not complain about the noise. Let me tell you the other side of the problem. Fifteen year ago, my lady and I thought we had found our perfect retirement home at Wyndham Condominiums. We perceived no problem with Merriweather; and at first, there was none. Sometimes you could not tell there was even a concert. Over the years, the volume of Merriweather has gotten louder so that even with the doors and windows closed, the noise is barely tolerable, but this is not the main problem.

As tension started to rise in June over proposed housing construction in North Laurel Park, Brian Boy, one of the project's builders, hit the streets.Knocking on doors and talking with home owners, the 32-year-old vice president of Baltimore-based Cornerstone Homes tried to win support for construction of 62 homes in two projects."Mr. Boy was out here on foot, talking to me," said James Gordon, whose house is off Baltimore Avenue, in front of a proposed development of 35 single-family, detached homes.

Fitness Together 3570 St. John's Lane, Suite 108 Ellicott City  410-750-2228 http://fitnesstogether.com/ellicottcity WHAT'S IN STORE: This fitness training operation not only has a new owner in Joan Schnorf, it moved to a new location in April. Schnorf got results through Fitness Together as a client, motivating her decision to buy the business. One-on-one private fitness programs with a personal trainer are based on individual body type, diet, daily routine, physical abilities and other factors.

In an article about natural gas drilling ("Md. environment chief wants more U.S. oversight of fracking," April 13), The Sun's John Fritze reports that to "extract natural gas through fracking, companies use millions of gallons of liquids," but that explanation is inadequate. Anyone interested in information about fracking for gas extraction should watch the HBO documentary, "Gasland," or drive up to Bradford County, Penn. and see the devastating results of this process. Toxic chemicals are pumped into the ground with water and sand to force the gas up. Sixty-five of the chemicals used are considered dangerous to human health.

I wonder if those who criticize BGE for the way it responded to the storm-related power outages, particularly politicians like Gov.Martin O'Malley, have ever done the job themselves ("PSC pressed over outages," July 11)? I've been there, done that, and until you have tried it yourself, how about cutting the linemen a little slack? Rolling up on a huge, downed maple tree with 2,400-volt wires tangled in the branches is not something you want to jump right into. Doing it in the middle of a rain storm doesn't make it any easier.

When Michael J. Francus applied to build a nursing home in Baltimore in 1988, banks were only too happy to finance a project whose patients were certain to bring government dollars. But by the time he got the necessary approvals from regulators two years later, the government had slashed reimbursement levels, and bankers shut their doors.He was left with the rights to build a 136-bed unit -- and the prospect of a "razor-thin" profit margin. "You don't go in the hole $5 million or $6 million to make $50,000," he decided.

Next Saturday, the Baker family home will be full of light. On the first night of Hanukkah, the Bakers - Liz, Steve, and 7-year-old Matthew - will celebrate by lighting several menorahs in their home and in the Hampden studio where Steve Baker creates artwork, including menorahs, out of glass. "My son will light one," says Liz Baker. "I'll light one, and we'll walk down to my husband's studio, where Steve keeps menorahs in the window, and we'll light them as well. " Like many members of the Baltimore Jewish community, the Bakers have amassed a small collection of menorahs that's growing over time.

Anne Arundel police and animal control officers have removed 40 animals from a Pasadena property whose owner was not meeting their basic needs for food and shelter. When officers served a warrant Thursday at the home in the 8000 block of Lockwood Road, they found animals that lacked food, water and appropriate shelter, police said. They removed two dogs, a cat, two turtles, seven birds, four chickens, a goat, a pig, a chinchilla, three snakes, 12 aquatic animals, three geese, a duck, a kinkajou or honey bear, and a tarantula.

I wonder if those who criticize BGE for the way it responded to the storm-related power outages, particularly politicians like Gov.Martin O'Malley, have ever done the job themselves ("PSC pressed over outages," July 11)? I've been there, done that, and until you have tried it yourself, how about cutting the linemen a little slack? Rolling up on a huge, downed maple tree with 2,400-volt wires tangled in the branches is not something you want to jump right into. Doing it in the middle of a rain storm doesn't make it any easier.

Elizabeth L. "Bobbi" Phillips, who co-founded and operated a West Baltimore funeral home, died of congestive heart failure Dec. 28 at her home. She was 93. Born Elizabeth Lattimore in Baltimore and raised on Schroeder Street, she was a 1936 Frederick Douglass High School graduate. She earned a diploma at the old Cortez Peters Business School on Eutaw Place. She also attended the University of Maryland, College Park and Morgan State University. "She was a woman of amazing fortitude, natural beauty, dignity, strong character, modesty, unrelenting strength and quietness, and calmness of spirit," said Doretha "Dottie" Hector, a co-owner of the funeral business, who worked closely with her for the past 30 years and now runs the business.

The owner of a company that defrauded more than 1,000 homeowners — most from Maryland — in an "egregious" $78 million investment scheme was convicted Thursday in federal court in Greenbelt of conspiracy to commit money laundering and related crimes. Andrew Hamilton Williams Jr., 60, of Metro Dream Homes promised to pay off people's mortgages if they invested in his company, according to the U.S. attorney for Maryland. But it was nothing but a Ponzi scheme, prosecutors said. Williams and other company officials used some of the proceeds to enrich themselves, at one point hiring chauffeurs to drive them around in a fleet of luxury cars.

Baltimore officials are asking the state to strip more than $1.3 million in property-tax credits they say were improperly granted to 2,157 homes, an early example of what city officials vow will be a continuing battle against tax-credit scofflaws. The city's Finance Department also intends to collect up to seven years of back taxes, penalties and interest from the property owners unless they can prove they lived in the homes during those tax years. The city says those owners don't occupy the homes, as the tax break requires.

The State of the Union address was billed as George Bush's answer to accusations that he neither understood nor cared about the problems of those less fortunate than himself and, indeed, the president came out spitting fire.He gritted his teeth to demonstrate his fierce determination.He pounded the podium to show his solemn resolve.And when he looked into the camera, every man, woman and child in the television audience could see and judge the depth of his sincerity."And let me tell you right from the start and right from the heart," said the president, looking fierce, resolute and sincere, "I know we're in hard times, but I know something else: This will not stand."

Lou Ann Prosack has enough money to buy a newer, bigger mobile home that the owner of the Ark and Dennis mobile home parks says she needs to stay in the area where she has lived for 25 years."

Fitness Together 3570 St. John's Lane, Suite 108 Ellicott City  410-750-2228 http://fitnesstogether.com/ellicottcity WHAT'S IN STORE: This fitness training operation not only has a new owner in Joan Schnorf, it moved to a new location in April. Schnorf got results through Fitness Together as a client, motivating her decision to buy the business. One-on-one private fitness programs with a personal trainer are based on individual body type, diet, daily routine, physical abilities and other factors.

In an article about natural gas drilling ("Md. environment chief wants more U.S. oversight of fracking," April 13), The Sun's John Fritze reports that to "extract natural gas through fracking, companies use millions of gallons of liquids," but that explanation is inadequate. Anyone interested in information about fracking for gas extraction should watch the HBO documentary, "Gasland," or drive up to Bradford County, Penn. and see the devastating results of this process. Toxic chemicals are pumped into the ground with water and sand to force the gas up. Sixty-five of the chemicals used are considered dangerous to human health.