Inadvertently

While running a long-shot U.S. Senate campaign and still recovering from a brutal attack last year, A. Robert Kaufman did something unexpected this week: He inadvertently helped catch a man wanted in a killing. Kaufman, 75, called police to his West Baltimore home to complain about three apparently homeless men on his property. An officer questioned two of the men and ran background checks, and found that one was charged in a warrant in the killing of a man in a hair salon. Antoine Oliver, 22, of no fixed address, was charged with murder, assault, theft, burglary, armed robbery, conspiracy and handgun violations in the May 13 killing of Justice T. Georgie, a 36-year-old man who was visiting his wife at her Walbrook salon when it was robbed.

Defeated presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who helped do himself in with his closed-door characterization of nearly half of all Americans as content to live off federal handouts, wasted no time doubling down on the theory. He did so in a conference call with donors saying President Barack Obama won re-election essentially by bestowing "gifts" to minority voters, the young and women through his policies and campaign promises. Mr. Romney cited the extended benefits of the Affordable Care Act, free contraceptives and forgiveness of interest on college loans essentially as bribes that helped put Mr. Obama over the top. That is how he explained the overwhelming support these voters gave the president, including more than 70 percent among Hispanic and Asians and 94 percent from fellow blacks.

In a review Thursday of a Baltimore Chamber Orchestra performance of Michael Dougherty's "Flamingo," the names of percussionists John Locke and Laurence Reese were inadvertently omitted. The Sun regrets the errors.

Exelon Corp. will pay $692,000 - including $151,000 to Maryland regulators - to settle alleged violations of a Justice Department agreement that had allowed the company to acquire Baltimore's Constellation Energy Group. The Justice Department said Thursday that Exelon - to not raise market prices for electricity - was required to make electricity-sale bids at or below cost from 22 of its generating plants while waiting to sell three plants in Maryland after the merger. Instead, some of its bids were above cost, the agency said.

In Wednesday's story about the Putty Hill 13-14 baseball team that won its second consecutive world series, several players were inadvertently left out. They are second baseman John Edelman, catcher Dan Munoz and outfielders Andrew Lessner and Todd Smith.

A photograph in yesterday's Maryland section showing the door of a bank vault now used as an office at Health Care for the Homeless was inadvertently reversed.The Sun regrets the errors.Pub Date: 7/10/98

The obituary yesterday for Larry Redd Sr. was inadvertently accompanied by a photo of Aaron Cook, Mr. Redd's friend and best man.A photo of Mr. Redd is at right.The Sun regrets the errors.

William Stewart O'Hare: In an obituary for William Stewart O'Hare in yesterday's editions of The Sun, a survivor, his daughter Kathleen A.O'Hare of Baltimore, was omitted inadvertently. The Sun regrets the error. Pub Date: 5/24/96

The Philadelphia Eagles were planning to wear a patch on their uniforms this year honoring their 60th anniversary season. Now, they'll wear a patch "J.B., 99" in honor of Jerome Brown, who died a week ago in an auto accident.Though Brown was loved by his teammates and friends, they couldn't curb his appetite for fast driving. At the funeral, former University of Miami teammate Alonzo Highsmith told an anecdote and -- probably inadvertently -- referred to Brown's driving habits: "He just piled us all in the back of a van, and we took off. You all know how Jerome drove."

The next round in the ongoing and mostly unnecessary battle between wildlife and people may take place on a little island about three miles south of here, near the southwest corner of the great shallow bay at the Chesapeake's head known as the Susquehanna Flats.The island is a mile from shore, and perhaps three or four acres in size. It's mostly barren sand, though there are some phragmites reeds and beach grasses and a few struggling trees. It was created several decades ago from spoil dredged from the ship channel to Havre de Grace.

Maryland energy regulators have ordered Exelon Corp. to explain how the company "inadvertently" violated some conditions related to its merger with Baltimore's Constellation Energy Group. As part of Maryland Public Service Commission's approval for the deal, the companies agreed to several conditions, including selling Constellation's three coal-fired plants in Maryland to mitigate concerns over market concentration in the mid-Atlantic electricity grid. Until the plants could be sold, the companies agreed to sell power from those facilities as well as others in the region's wholesale energy market at a price it costs to operate the plants, said Exelon spokeswoman Judith Rader.

As someone who's made a hobby of unmasking tax cheats, Patterson Park activist Matt Gonter told state lawmakers Tuesday that he backs a proposal to fine homeowners caught getting unwarranted homestead credits on their property tax bills. Under the proposal, owners would face fines equal to 25 percent of any undeserved break on the credit, which limits increases in property tax payments for owner-occupied homes. Gonter, who regularly alerts government officials about properties that he thinks are getting unwarranted credits, said at a hearing that the risk of a penalty "may convince homeowners to think twice about applying for a credit to which they are not entitled.

We were happy to have a number of local families celebrate Christmas with us at our recent Breakfast with Santa. Unfortunately, as we cleaned up after the event, we were horrified to discover that, among the comic books donated to the church and handed out by Santa, some were inappropriate in content for children. Our Saviour Lutheran Church and the Lansdowne Volunteer Fire Department remain deeply committed to protecting and serving the children in our community. We wanted to let you know this as soon as possible so you can check to see if what your children received is appropriate for their age level.

The budget crisis in Baltimore is real. Fortunately, by re-instituting a policy that encourages drunkenness, the good folks at Pimlico have presented the city with a great opportunity to raise some much needed revenue and improve public safety as a by-product. After six or more hours in the all-the-beer-you-can-drink "mug club" in the Preakness infield, many race goers should be easy pickings for a few well placed police with breathalyzers and citation pads. A few hundred DUI fines might help prevent a few city layoffs, and the neighborhoods around the track probably won't mind having a few less post-race drunk drivers on the streets.

In a rare mistake, a city prosecutor inadvertently dropped murder charges against a man accused of assaulting a man and then setting his Midtown-Belvedere apartment on fire this month. The suspect, Zukael T. Stephens, spent a weekend free while friends of the man he is accused of killing, Marcus Rogers, a transgender activist, held a memorial service Saturday night. Police detectives rearrested Stephens yesterday at his home near Randallstown. On Thursday, a prosecutor dropped several charges against Stephens, 29, and he was released the next day, according to court documents and officials.

While running a long-shot U.S. Senate campaign and still recovering from a brutal attack last year, A. Robert Kaufman did something unexpected this week: He inadvertently helped catch a man wanted in a killing. Kaufman, 75, called police to his West Baltimore home to complain about three apparently homeless men on his property. An officer questioned two of the men and ran background checks, and found that one was charged in a warrant in the killing of a man in a hair salon. Antoine Oliver, 22, of no fixed address, was charged with murder, assault, theft, burglary, armed robbery, conspiracy and handgun violations in the May 13 killing of Justice T. Georgie, a 36-year-old man who was visiting his wife at her Walbrook salon when it was robbed.

The list gets longer every day. The Orioles entered the Peter Angelos era with their focus on a handful of top-name players, but it has reached the point where they could make a smaller list of the players who have not been considered.Remember when it was just Will Clark and Rafael Palmeiro? Now, there's a new name almost every day. Sid Fernandez still seems like a strong possibility. Jack McDowell has been discussed. Today, Bobby Bonilla. Tomorrow, who knows?Is that bad?Is it possible that the Orioles are -- inadvertently -- setting their fans up for a tremendous disappointment?

PANG THRUK, Thailand - In a village where generations of farmers have raised chickens, people ordinarily might scoff at the idea of remembering one particular rooster. But they are unlikely to forget the rooster that a 6-year-old boy, Captan Boonmanut, received last month as a gift from a favorite aunt, a bird that contributed to the boy's death and a new, worldwide health alert. Captan had cradled the rooster in his arms. The boy's uncle had culled it from a brood of fighting cocks because the bird seemed too big for anything other than a hungry household's next meal, and it also seemed too sick.

House Speaker Casper R. Taylor acknowledged yesterday that he had a Maryland state trooper chauffeur his secretary to and from a candidates' forum in Allegany County last week - an action that raised hackles among some of his constituents. The speaker called the use of the unmarked police car an error and he reimbursed the state police yesterday for the cost of the three-hour trip. But Taylor's Republican critics pounced on the action and demanded an investigation. The flap arose after dozens of people attending a League of Women Voters candidates' forum in Flintstone on Thursday noticed that Taylor's secretary arrived at the event in an unmarked police car. A plainclothes trooper assigned to the executive protection unit accompanied the secretary, Rhonda Robinson.