Illustration

Menacing ravens, peering eyes, black cats and rats, ominous bells, violent eddies - imagery that fueled many a text by Edgar Allan Poe, and generated a good deal of art. For its contribution to the bicentennial commemoration of the author's birth, the Baltimore Museum of Art has put together a dynamic collection of works directly or seemingly inspired by the author. The displays are divided into three thematic groupings: Love and Loss, Fear and Terror, Madness and Obsession. "As you can see, this is an uplifting exhibit," says BMA director Doreen Bolger, who curated the show.

The death of John R. Yates this week is a reminder of the dangers bicyclists face not only on the streets of Baltimore but along most every thoroughfare and intersection where they must share the road with cars. The 67-year-old died after running into the rear wheels of a truck turning right from Maryland Avenue to Lafayette Avenue. It's not entirely clear who was at fault in the incident. (Running into a slow, right-turning vehicle is one of the more common bike collisions). The truck driver may not even have been aware of his presence, according to a city police spokesman.

WASHINGTON -- In the vast sea of federal spending, the U.S. Coast Survey barely rates a drop. But the office, responsible for mapping the floor of waterways from the Chesapeake to the coast of Alaska, offers a case study in the ways that politics and bureaucracy are combining to slow the flow of stimulus money from Washington. Last winter, when President Barack Obama's economic recovery plan became law, $40 million for the Coast Survey went into the federal checkbook, as Maryland Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, who was instrumental in securing the funds, likes to refer to it. The money was supposed to be used for updating the charts that help ship captains avoid underwater hazards.

March is shaping up as an exciting month for Baltimore-area book lovers. Jodi Picoult comes to town, and there's a party marking Laura Lippman's new book. But first, let's note some unsung heroes. Everyone has a favorite author, but how many of us know the men and women who illustrate the books we read? They're crucial to setting the mood for a story, but they usually live in the author's shadow. Starting this week, you can celebrate the work of great illustrators who made you smile as a kid (and who probably made your own kids smile, too)

Waltz With Bashir views war from the inside out and the outside in. It carries the shock of full disclosure. Ari Folman, the writer-director, was a member of the Israeli Defense Forces in 1982, during the Israeli army's occupation of southern Lebanon and the massacre conducted under its eyes by Lebanese Christian Phalangists at the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila. The bloodletting came after the assassination of Lebanon's Christian president, Bashir Gemayel. But from the outset, grotesque cruelty marked the Christian militia's treatment of Palestinian terrorists and civilians.

Strained by the demands of a long war, the Army and the Marine Corps recruited significantly more felons into their ranks last year than in 2006, including people convicted of armed robbery, arson and burglary, according to data released yesterday by a House committee. The number of waivers issued to active-duty Army recruits with felony convictions jumped to 511 in 2007, from 249 in 2006. Marine recruits with felony convictions rose to 350 from 208. Overall, the numbers represent less than 1 percent of the 115,000 new enlistments last year in the active-duty Army and Marine Corps.

NEW DELHI -- Defying nearly everyone's expectations but their own, Nepal's former Maoist rebels took a commanding lead yesterday in partial results from last week's election, a showing that could have profound effects on the Himalayan nation. With the votes tabulated in more than two-thirds of the 240 seats contested by direct election for an assembly charged with writing a new constitution, the Maoists have won 105 and are ahead in seven more districts, Nepal's Election Commission reported.

Licien "Lun" Harris, a retired fashion illustrator who was a voice for neighborhood preservation and beautification through tree planting, died of a stroke April 8 at Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care. She was 89. A resident of Bolton Hill for nearly six decades, she was a former board member of the Baltimore City Planning Commission, where she cast negative votes when plans for an interstate highway were discussed at its meetings. She was a founding member and former president of Baltimore Heritage, a preservation advocacy group.

Greg LaRoque, born in Baltimore and a resident in this area for all but eight of his 54 years, has been a top comic-book illustrator for a quarter-century. Name any DC or Marvel superheroes who've become movie or TV heroes and sure enough, he's drawn them: mega-stars like Batman, Spider-Man and The Flash, as well as Daredevil and Ghost Rider. Several popular revampings of beloved comic-book icons came from LaRoque's hand. He illustrated the first issue of Web of Spider-Man: It contained the plotline about the shape-shifting black suit (actually an alien)

On the local restaurant scene, this was a year of big openings and small trends, chefs from the past making a new splash, and for me personally, a new appreciation of readers' passion for eating out -- brought about by the launch of my restaurant blog, Dining@Large, last April. In spite of the generally gloomy economic picture, a surprising number of new restaurants opened their doors in 2007, from Aloha Tokyo in Locust Point to Zella's Pizzeria in West Baltimore. The two that got the most press offer intriguing examples of important restaurant trends locally and nationally.