Humanity

North County High School freshman Jack Andraka stood on the auditorium stage, speaking about the invention that earned him the $75,000 grand prize at the recent Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. Behind him stood Dr. Anirban Maitra, a professor in the Johns Hopkins University's department of pathology who gave Jack use of his lab to craft his invention, a cheap and effective "dipstick-sensor" method of testing blood or urine to identify early-stage pancreatic cancer and other diseases.

Anne Arundel County police have charged a 19-year-old California woman with prostitution, operating a prostitution ring and human trafficking. Shkoyia Michelle Lomack of Sacramento was arrested Tuesday evening and remains in custody with a June 19 trial date. Officers received an anonymous tip that a woman was using hotels in the Linthicum area to house prostitutes and profit from their activities. Investigators say Lomack had used an Internet advertisement as a front for the prostitution ring that involved other women from California.

If all goes as planned, sometime this morning a spacecraft will blast off from its launchpad in Cape Canaveral, Fla., and ride a fiery plume of contrails upward through the pre-dawn darkness to begin a two-week journey to the International Space Station and back. But the flight won't be just another NASA resupply mission. Instead, the Falcon 9 rocket and its unmanned Dragon cargo capsule built by Space Exploration Technologies Corporation - SpaceX for short - will be the first commercially owned and operated vehicle ever to rendezvous with the station's orbiting astronauts.

Some of the bravest people in the world can be found at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport. Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic. Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa. The Dalai Lama. These and many other figures are featured in a photo exhibit organized to honor human-rights defenders around the world. Part of the airport's upper concourse, just off the main atrium of the international terminal, has been transformed into a photo gallery to display the traveling exhibit "Speak Truth to Power," which runs through May 31. The exhibit was organized by the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, a Washington-based nonprofit organization that was formed in 1968 in memory of the former U.S. senator and attorney general, who was assassinated that year at age 42. It is based on a book written by Kerry Kennedy, a daughter of Robert F. Kennedy and president of the RFK Center.

WESTMINSTER — Carroll County's Department of Public Works, Bureau of Solid Waste, announced this week that Habitat for Humanity will open a ReStore unit at the Northern Landfill Recycling Center in Westminster. ReStore is a nonprofit retail organization that resells new and used building materials, home furnishings and appliances to the public. ReStore sells donated goods to raise funds to build or renovate affordable housing for families in need. Donations gathered at the landfill will be taken to the ReStore Home Improvement Center in Frederick.

When it was announced that the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School would move into the Legg Mason tower in Baltimore's Harbor East this summer, school officials touted the benefits of the move: waterfront view, hip neighborhood, new building loaded with technology and a chance for students to interact with Legg's executives. But in light of recent events, it might not be wise to expose the business leaders of tomorrow to the people running Legg Mason today. Instead, it might be better if Legg executives took the elevator to some classes this fall, after the Carey school joins them in the taxpayer-subsidized tower.

Sandtown Habitat for Humanity in Baltimore is getting more than $100,000 from the Home Depot Foundation to add "green" elements to 45 homes. The foundation, which said Thursday that it is awarding grants to Habitat affiliates across the country, will give Sandtown Habitat $3,000 to $5,000 per home. The amount depends on the amount of green upgrades — such as energy-efficient appliances — the nonprofit chooses to add to the properties it rehabs or builds. That means the value of the grant could range from $135,000 to $225,000.

Baltimore County Executive James T. Smith Jr. joined officials from Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake on Tuesday to celebrate the opening of the nonprofit housing agency's new offices in Halethorpe. The organization, which helps provide new or refurbished homes for eligible needy families, recently combined its Anne Arundel and Baltimore County facilities and staff. Leasing the 38,000-square-foot office on Commerce Drive triples the space for 38 full-time employees, two VISTA members and 11 AmeriCorps members.

Who said Baltimore Beer Week was only about craft brews and getting drunk off samples? On Oct. 7, Flying Dog Brewery - through Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake - will build a house in the Jefferson Street neighborhood. If you're not in the mood to pitch in with hammers and nails, you can head over to Langermann's that night (6-10 p.m.). The Canton restaurant will donate $1 from all Flying Dog pints to Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake. Added bonus: the first beer is on Flying Dog for any Red Hat volunteer, AmeriCorps or person who donates/signs up to volunteer with Habitat that night.

Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake's chief executive plans to step down mid-month after almost nine years at the helm of the nonprofit. Mike Mitchell said Tuesday that the Baltimore-based provider of affordable housing was in a strong position and that he wanted to try something new. He said he wasn't sure yet whether that would be at another nonprofit, at a business or in politics. Mitchell sits on the Baltimore City Democratic Central Committee. Mike Brennan, chairman of the Habitat chapter, said Mitchell "has really put a lot into the organization" and oversaw big changes.

Dawn Stauffer Hyde, who founded an affirmative action and human resources consulting firm, died of early-onset dementia, or posterior cortical atrophy, May 11 at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Towson. She was 57 and had homes in Ellicott City and on Gibson Island. Born in Baltimore and raised on Berkshire Road, she was a 1972 Northern High School graduate. She earned a bachelor's degree at Goucher College and her master's degree in administrative science at the Johns Hopkins University.

The recent ruling by the Maryland Courts declaring pit bulls "inherently dangerous" is not only inhumane, it's simply not true ("Fallout from pit bull decision," May 2). Just as a human child needs love and discipline to grow up to be a contributing member of society and not a menace, a pit bull puppy needs love and discipline to become an obedient, loyal and affectionate member of its family. Examine the early childhoods of people convicted of crime and you will almost certainly find episodes of abuse and neglect.

President Barack Obama's China policy combines deterrence and engagement, but it gives insufficient attention to human rights. Since early 2009, when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton noted that human rights "can't interfere" with other aspects of Sino-American relations, the administration has tried to avoid public discussion of the issue. Over the past year, the Obama administration has increased attention and resources devoted to East Asia. Expanded military cooperation with Australia and the Philippines, a robust Japanese-American defense relationship, and enhanced naval and air forces in the region illustrate Washington's efforts to counter China's growing assertiveness and military power.

The Humane Society of the United States is extremely disappointed in the recent Maryland Court of Appeals decision designating all pit bull-type dogs as inherently dangerous, and holding owners, landlords and anyone in custody of the dog automatically liable regardless of whether it dog poses a threat ("Pit bulls are inherently dangerous, court rules," April 28). This is a backward step for Maryland, and it puts both dogs and people at risk. A dog's propensity to bite is a product of several factors, including early socialization, living conditions and the owner's behavior - not breed alone.

Risselle "Rikki" Fleisher, a former general counsel to the Maryland Commission on Human Relations who was a legal advocate in civil rights cases, died Tuesday of breast cancer at Stella Maris Hospice. The Bethany Beach, Del., resident was 77. "She wanted to right any wrong," said former Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. "She was a caring person who grew up at a time when things were happening that never should have. She worked to change that. " Born Risselle Rosenthal in Baltimore and raised on Mohawk Avenue, she was a 1953 graduate of Forest Park High School, where she was a three-letter athlete, her yearbook's features editor and homeroom class president.

This weekend I visited all the usual hot spots in Ellicott City: the YMCA, the library, a grocery store, a gas station and a pharmacy. In each and every parking lot my car was the only vehicle with a Human Rights Campaign equality sticker. I can't possibly be the only person in Ellicott City who thinks it's wrong to deny one specific group of people their basic civil rights. I can't possibly be the only person in Ellicott City who thinks it's wrong to discriminate against others because they are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.

Norma Thompson spent much of Monday dusting, polishing and sprucing up items that will fill a soon-to-open home improvement store in Halethorpe. The hours she volunteers with Habitat for Humanity's newest ReStore will help this Baltimore grandmother, who works as a housekeeper at a downtown hotel, earn a home of her own. Each prospective homeowner must provide Habitat volunteer hours, and Thompson is doing just that at the nonprofit organization's third...

PEOPLE ARE surprised when they hear that everyone in the world could stand inside the beltway that encircles Washington, D.C. -- 5 billion people in some 7 billion square feet. Standing room only, for sure, but there it is.On a standard 10-inch world globe, the area inside the Washington beltway is barely a dot, which gives a perspective on the size of our species in relation to the earth and its surface.Another perspective is that the chemistries of the earth's 1 billion cubic miles of air and 400 million cubic miles of water are being affected by 1/15th of one cubic mile of living human tissue.

  With thanks to the Baltimore Humane Society .

Were you paying close attention during all those awkward “birds and the bees” talks and sex education lessons? If not it's OK, because you're about to go download a game for free (on sale from $.99) that will obliterate everything you would've picked up anyway. “Sperm Wars” is a sort of turn-based RPG where you fight other sperm cells for reproductive dominance. Why you're not trying to fertilize an egg is anyone's guess, but then again, this game was so confusing that maybe I didn't get that far. To start off, you're shown a map of the world that makes the game seem a little like “Risk.” For reasons unknown, North America is locked to me, and you have to choose “attacking” a territory off the coast of Africa.