Labor Day

Labor Day is a national tribute to American workers who have contributed to the strength, prosperity and well-being of our country. It is my belief that our GM Baltimore Transmission plant team members and partners of United Auto Workers Local 239 embody the character of Labor Day as much as any other workforce in American history. At this time last year, General Motors had just emerged from bankruptcy thanks to the American public, and we were all unsure about our future and our company.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blakesays the new organizers she has selected for September's Baltimore Grand Prix - including a member of the legendary Andretti family - "have what it takes to move forward and make this world-class sporting event successful for Baltimore. " Isn't that what she said about the last group of people she brought in to save the race? That the lead promoter, Dale Dillon, was a race-savior who would make sure everything went smoothly this year? (Unless, as it happened, he stopped talking to his Baltimore-based partners and dropped off the face of the Earth?

Labor Day is a special kind of portal in the calendar year. Pools close and schools open. More than the first day of spring or even Memorial Day, Labor Day is the slamming of the door on one season and the beginning of another. A new school year is a fresh start in a way that New Year's Day cannot match. It is new shoes and a new teacher and a chance to begin again. Even if your children are grown and gone, the first day of school still has that hint of promise: remembering the scent of freshly sharpened pencils, seeing the school buses lumbering through your neighborhood.

Data-stream around Grandpa, youngsters 2.1 and 3.1, while he tells you about the time long, long ago when a certain elected official grew so nostalgic about a time even longer ago when Labor Day marked the beginning of the school year. Way back in the last millenium, people always knew that public schools started the day after Labor Day. Why begin classes that Tuesday? Well, probably because the school calendar was based on the farm calendar and the growing season. It might also have just been a convenient date.

In what could be a preview of a campaign theme in an expected 2014 run for governor, Comptroller Peter Franchot suggested the state should return to the days when public schools didn't reopen until after Labor Day. Using his seat on the Board of Public Works as a platform, the comptroller urged the state and its 24 jurisdictions to consider the advantages of pushing the current August start of the fall semester into September. "I'm not sure why all these things began to change and why," Franchot said.

Labor Day, like Memorial Day, began with a much more solemn purpose than as a bookend to summer. In 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed the hurriedly passed legislation after his iron-fisted response to a railroad strike led to violence and death. But the new holiday failed to win him the forgiveness of workers. Samuel L. Gompers, head of the American Federation of Labor, called it a day for workers not only to put down their tools but to "touch shoulders in marching phalanx and feel the stronger for it. " The picnicking that now typifies Labor Day was how workers marked the end of a day of rousing union speeches in parks and town centers.

HAMPSTEAD - The "What A Gem," car show will be held Labor Day Monday, Sept. 5, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Elite Auto Works, 1111 S. Main St., Hampstead. The show will include antiques, street rods, customs, trucks, imports, motorcycles and other vehicles. There will be music, door prizes, a moon bounce, face painting and food available. The event will be held rain or shine. Admission is free, but cars that wish to enter are asked to pay $10, with proceeds benefiting the Wounded Warriors Project through the Hampstead American Legion Post No. 200. For more details, call Tim, at 410-239-8765.

Laura Vozzella's valentine to the Baltimore Sun is in the form of a watermelon. There are still tons of them around, and they're still showing up on menus around town, and not just paired with feat neither. Woodberry Kitchen has a buttermilk-watermelon swirl sherbet, Pazo has a salad of yellow watermelon and nectarine with jalapeno-goat cheese sauce and wood-grilled pork belly and Gertrude's is still serving a watermelon cocktail called Summer Harvest. The National Watermelon Promotion Board has recipes here . Who else has watermelon on their menus?

Howard County students who returned to school a week before the traditional post-Labor Day start will get a jump on the holiday as all schools and board of education offices close Friday and reopen Tuesday.All government offices and courts will be closed Monday. The post office, banks, the landfill and libraries will also be closed. Hours will resume Tuesday.There will be no trash or recycling collections on Labor Day. Households on the once-a-week Monday trash collection schedule will have next-day pick up on Tuesday.

An American Le Mans Series (ALMS) race will join the IndyCar Series for races on downtown Baltimore streets during Labor Day weekend 2011, organizers and city officials announced today. Officials with Baltimore Racing Development and Baltimore mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said during a noon news conference that the Oklahoma-based racing organization will be bringing its 34 teams to Baltimore for a Saturday race. The Baltimore Grand Prix weekend will begin Friday morning with IndyCar practice and ALMS time trials and end Sunday with the IZOD IndyCar Series race.

WEATHER Today's forecast calls for highs in the lower 70s and clear skies. Clouds are expected to move in for the evening, with a 20 percent chance of showers after midnight. TRAFFIC Check our traffic map for this morning's issues as you plan your commute. FROM LAST NIGHT... Former mayor Dixon roasted for charity : Sheila Dixon sat onstage at the Comedy Factory in Power Plant Live as radio hosts and comedians skewered her over the scandals that led to her resignation from the mayor's office two years ago. City pastor convicted of sexually abusing a teen girl : Pastor Leon W. Jones, who founded the Renewed Hope Christian Church on the 700 block of N. Paca St., was convicted Wednesday of sexually assaulting a teen girl, the Baltimore State's Attorney's Office announced.

Maryland State Comptroller Peter Franchot says for the sake of tourism and family memories, schools should open after Labor Day. Most public schools in the state begin school about a week before Labor Day each year, depending on the calendar. This year, many school systems started on Monday, Aug. 27 and Labor Day was on Sept. 5.   “The chance for families to spend precious time together and to build those lifelong memories during that final, end-of-summer vacation has been lost by the decision to begin school a week, or even ten days, before Labor Day,” said Franchot.

Women spend longer in labor than they did 50 years ago, according to a new study from the National Institutes of Health . The study of 140,000 deliveries said the main reason may be due to changes in delivery room practices. The study, published online in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, compared childbirth data in the early 1960s to data from the early 2000s. Researchers found that the first stage of labor -- when the cervix dilates but there's no pushing -- increased by 2.6 hours for first-time mothers.

In what could be a preview of a campaign theme in an expected 2014 run for governor, Comptroller Peter Franchot suggested the state should return to the days when public schools didn't reopen until after Labor Day. Using his seat on the Board of Public Works as a platform, the comptroller urged the state and its 24 jurisdictions to consider the advantages of pushing the current August start of the fall semester into September. "I'm not sure why all these things began to change and why," Franchot said.

From: Gran Altura, Valle Calchaqui, Salta, Argentina Price: $15 Serve with: Shellfish, or by itself This fresh, youthful white wine is dry but very fruity for a torrontes, a varietal in which mineral flavors often prevail. Savvy wine drinkers have realized by now that torrontes is a very appealing varietal, and clearly Argentina's best white grape. This version offers intense, electric flavors of lime, grapefruit, orange and tropical fruit — with bracing acidity and a long, clean finish.

Editor: I write in support of Mr. Bowie's opinion expressed in the Dec. 21 in The Aegis Open Forum concerning Christmas, political correctness and the "Winter Holiday. " Washington, D.C. events of recent memory highlight that political correctness and common sense are two very different things. For those needing to know, winter begins on or about December 21 each year. During my many decades, I do not recall ever celebrating the start of winter or any other season with a holiday.

Maryland State Comptroller Peter Franchot says for the sake of tourism and family memories, schools should open after Labor Day. Most public schools in the state begin school about a week before Labor Day each year, depending on the calendar. This year, many school systems started on Monday, Aug. 27 and Labor Day was on Sept. 5.   “The chance for families to spend precious time together and to build those lifelong memories during that final, end-of-summer vacation has been lost by the decision to begin school a week, or even ten days, before Labor Day,” said Franchot.

St. Joseph Medical Center held a news conference - not coincidentally on Labor Day - to announce the hospital's support for vaginal births whenever possible, even if a previous delivery was a Cesarean birth. Doctors said that, sometimes, a Cesarean delivery has to be planned or becomes unavoidable. But a vaginal birth not only helps mothers avoid major surgery, it also offers them an easier recovery, helps bond with babies and avoids or decreases the possible side effects associated with Cesarean sections, such as infection and blood loss.

Baltimore Grand Prix attendees spent as much as $25 million — far short of the $70 million projected by race organizers, according to an economic impact survey released this week. In their report , two Maryland professors also found about three-quarters of attendees came from Maryland and estimated that $10 million of the spending on restaurants and other entertainment over that Labor Day weekend would have happened even without the races as a draw. "Based on our survey information, the Baltimore Grand Prix was certainly not a game-changer," Dennis Coates, a professor of economics at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, and Michael T. Friedman of the School of Public Health at University of Maryland College Park wrote in their report.

IndyCar officials confirmed Friday that the Baltimore Grand Prix will return Labor Day weekend, but they will hold off on releasing the series' complete schedule until after Sunday's season finale in Las Vegas. "Baltimore was a big win this season for a business like ours," said Terry Angstadt, president of the IndyCar Series commercial division. "The entire city was behind it, from the mayor's office to the fans. The grandstands were full with happy, engaged people. When that happens, we're winners.