I Cried

At one minute past midnight on Sept. 16, a state landmark known by millions of motorists will go dark. Employees will say their goodbyes before the doors and off-ramps are barricaded at Maryland House, the Interstate 95 travel plaza in Harford County that opened in 1963. Within weeks, wrecking crews will level the neo-Georgian brick structure to make way for a new building, the flagship of an ambitious public-private partnership valued at a half-billion dollars. The same night, the smaller Chesapeake House in Cecil County will change as new vendors replace old ones.

Quote: "I almost cried. I've not been producing lately." Braves' Brian Jordan (Milford Mill), after hitting two-run single, despite a sore right hand, in Atlanta's 5-2 in over the MetsIt's a fact: Cincinnati has hit 43 homers this month, seven shy of the club record set in August 1956.Who's hot: The Padres' Tony Gwynn is batting .387 (24-for-62) during a season-high, 16-game hitting streak.Who's not: Since Aug. 16, Mets left-hander Dennis Cook has allowed nine runs and 14 hits in 7 2/3 innings.

Nigel Antonio Carter, a Baltimore teen-ager accused of killin an Owings Mills Mall employee during a robbery Sept. 25, said yesterday that he made up a confession after homicide detectives told him his mother would lose her house because of him."That's when I cried," Mr. Carter, 17, said yesterday in Baltimore County Circuit Court, during a hearing on whether his confession can be used as evidence at his murder trial. The trial is scheduled to begin today."I cried because I thought my mother would lose her house," Mr. Carter said.

NEW YORK -- Ending his 11-year-plus reign as the host of NBC's "Late Night With David Letterman," the host, and the show, went out with a bang.The special guest promised by Mr. Letterman -- the one formerly elusive person, Mr. Letterman said, "I always really, really wanted as a guest" -- turned out to be Bruce Springsteen, who sang a rousing version of "Glory Days." with The World's Most Dangerous Band.Mr. Letterman ended the show with lots of sensitivity, but only after giving Calvert DeForest one more appearance as Larry "Bud" Melman, having a spirited conversation with Tom Hanks (who provided impressions of everyone from Barbara Stanwyck and Gregg Allman to Elvis Presley and Slappy White)

A journey to free will and self-awareness "That fool of a fairy Lucinda did not intend to lay a curse on me. She meant to bestow a gift. When I cried inconsolably through my first hour of life, my tears were her inspiration. Shaking her head sympathetically at Mother, the fairy touched my nose. `My gift is obedience. Ella will always be obedient. Now stop crying, child.' " So begins Gail Carson Levine's book Ella Enchanted. The heroine, Ella, not only stopped crying, she stopped being able to resist any command at all. And now, at 15, she's powerless against orders - an affront to her independent nature and an obstacle she must overcome to live her life to its fullest.

It's an especially wonderful time of the year for a young Baltimore couple. On Dec. 12 (or 12/12/12), Joshua Hager, 26, proposed to his girlfriend, Kate MacDonald, 27, in front of a Baltimore-themed house on 34th Street in Hampden, which is well-known for its colorful holiday display.   "We had planned on going to see the lights because we haven't been in a while," explains Kate. "And [Joshua's] mother convinced him to let his little brother go so he could take pictures. He specifically wanted to do it in front of the house with Natty Boh and the Utz Girl because everyone says we're 'so Baltimore.'"   Kate and Joshua met at a bar while attending Frostburg State University in Frostburg, Md., and began dating in October 2007.

It's been almost 13 years since Brandi Care Hicks tried to end her life, and the spiraling depression that engulfed it, by jumping from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. As she told parents of Arundel High School students about her near-tragedy Tuesday night, the Severna Park resident visibly choked up once — when speaking about the joys she would have missed had she lost her life that day. Hicks, 29, spoke about her ordeal during "Mind, Body and Soul: A Mental Health Awareness Evening," which focused on identifying stressors in teens' lives.

The crowd at Club 4100 went silent."This is stupid football!" someone shouted. "Stupid!""Is Tagliabue in the stands somewhere?" Chris Cheswick cried, floating the conspiracy theory immediately.Lui Passaglia kicked a field goal as time expired, and B.C. edged the Baltimore CFLs for the Grey Cup, 26-23.Defeat stung. It always does.But at Club 4100, a bar-restaurant in Brooklyn, this didn't quite match the crushing despair of Super Bowl III."When I was a kid and that happened, I cried for a week," Cheswick said.

Joe Rankin wasn't motivated. He wasn't going to school regularly and when he was there, he was acting out. He was dealing with an unsettled home situation all while regularly moving to different shelters and hotels. He was lost. But one day, Rankin was on the bus preparing to meet with his probation officer when he looked out the window and saw something that would change his life. As the bus passed Seneca Valley High School's football practice field, Rankin glanced at players going through drills - at that moment he decided it was time to make a change.

For the past eight years, Hilda Mae Fefel has been worried that no one would ever be brought to trial for the murder of her son John Ruhs. Until this month, the March 27, 1987, killing near the Liberty Reservoir was Carroll County's only open murder case.Thanks to the renewed efforts by persistent investigators, the Ruhs case is no longer saddled with that distinction.On Aug. 4, a Carroll County grand jury indicted two men who had been previously charged in the case in 1988 but never tried.