Ladder

Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette reportedly told a few members of the media at the Sports Legends Museum at Camden Yards this evening that he does not view slugger Manny Ramirez as a fit with the team. That meshes with what an industry source told The Baltimore Sun on Friday - that the Orioles as an organization were never close to seriously pursuing Ramirez. It was something that Duquette was vetting, and ultimately he decided not to take it any further. In fact, the source said the Ramirez discussion never got to the point where a proposal was taken to owner Peter Angelos for approval or even serious debate.

Our area schools are producing top-notch students and finding new ways to stay on the cutting edge of education. Rodgers Forge Elementary and Dumbarton Middle Schools will participate in the Feb. 22nd Vertical Articulation Planning meeting. This event for teachers and support staff, in all schools in the Towson Zone, aims to help students as they transition from elementary to middle and then to high school. This transition will be accomplished by the teachers and support staff working together to develop and implement a vertically aligned program to accommodate it. Parents, who may find teens and 'tweens a bit perplexing, are invited to attend the Dumbarton Middle School PTSA's Active Parenting of Teens classes.

A Marriottsville man stands trial this week on charges that he kicked a ladder his wife was standing on outside the couple's home, causing her to fall to her death last May.But before the trial for 51-year-old John Carroll Calhoun starts, a Howard circuit judge must determine what evidence the prosecution can use against him.At a hearing today, Judge Dennis Sweeney is expected to rule whether a confession police say Mr. Calhoun gave can be admitted as...

A dozen years ago, Demetri Gambrill began working after school at FutureCare Health and Management as an activities assistant. The 28-year-old is now a geriatric nursing assistant, thanks to education that the company sponsored. "They sent me to school to become a nursing assistant. I didn't have to pay for anything - not books, not tests, not tuition," Gambrill said. All he had to do was write a letter showing interest in the program and commit to working for FutureCare for at least a year after completing the training, he said.

A 64-year-old Severna Park man died yesterday in a tree-trimming accident, falling from the top of a 20-foot ladder, county police reported. The victim, Thomas Francis Degnan, was pronounced dead on the driveway of his home in the 100 block of Northway about 3:30 p.m., police said. A tree limb that he and a neighbor had been trimming fell and knocked Degnan from the ladder, and he appeared to have died instantly from a head injury, said Officer Charles Ravenell, a police spokesman.

A Prince George's County man died Saturday when he fell from a ladder while helping a friend cut down a tree in Glen Burnie, Anne Arundel County police said yesterday.George Bernard Laird, 44, of Bowie was at the home of a friend in the 300 block of Marie Ave. about 3 p.m. when the three-story ladder began to buckle, said his daughter-in-law, Susanna Laird.A tree branch hit the ladder, and Laird fell, striking his head on a concrete step and dying instantly, according to police. He was pronounced dead at North Arundel Hospital, police said.

A Marriottsville man pleaded guilty yesterday to a charge that he kicked a ladder his wife was standing on, causing her to fall to her death last May.John Carroll Calhoun, 52, entered a plea agreement before Judge Raymond Kane Jr. in Howard Circuit Court for one count of voluntary manslaughter.Police say Calhoun left Gladys Esther Calhoun, 45, to die after she fell from the 16-foot aluminum ladder and struck her head on scaffolding stacked in the back yard of their house on Thompson Drive.

A Marriottsville man has been charged with killing his wife by kicking a ladder on which she was standing and causing her to fall, then leaving her to die of her head injuries.John Carroll Calhoun, 51, of the 2500 block of Thompson Drive turned himself in to police yesterday.He was charged with second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment and was released on personal recognizance, said Sgt. Gary L. Gardner, a spokesman for the Howard County police.Investigators began to suspect foul play in the May 13 death of Gladys Ester Calhoun after her husband gave conflicting accounts of her death and a number of people told police the couple had been experiencing marital problems.

A Marriottsville man has been charged with killing his wife by kicking a ladder on which she was standing and causing her to fall, then leaving her to die of her head injuries.John Carroll Calhoun, 51, of the 2500 block of Thompson Drive, turned himself in to police yesterday.He was charged with second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment and was released on personal recognizance, said Sgt. Gary L. Gardner, a spokesman for the Howard County police.Investigators say they began to suspect foul play in the death of Gladys Ester Calhoun, 45, after her husband gave conflicting accounts of the circumstances and a number of people told police the couple had been experiencing marital problems.

A Marriottsville man will spend five years in prison for kicking a ladder his wife was standing on, causing her to fall to her death.John Carroll Calhoun, 52, was sentenced to 10 years in prison but had five years suspended in a Howard County Circuit Court hearing Thursday.He pleaded guilty March 11 to voluntary manslaughter.Calhoun asked Judge Raymond Kane Jr. for a lenient sentence, saying that he feels he has already been punished for his wife's death."I deeply miss my wife," Calhoun said, choking back tears.

I believe there is climate change going on, although I also believe it is mostly a naturally occurring phenomenon. Statements like yours ("This year's extraordinary weather events - droughts, floods, heat waves, and the like.... ") do not help your case ("What about the climate?" Oct. 19). These events have been happening since I can remember and certainly before that. You leave out two points of interest. First, what will be the impact on the economy if the U.S. steps up its attempt to control the climate?

Everyone knows there are major differences between 17-year-old race car drivers and 30-something race car drivers. But it couldn't be better illustrated than the activity of Star Mazda driver Zach Veach Wednesday and IndyCar drivers Will Power and Ryan Hunter-Reay, who are in the midst of a championship fight during this Grand Prix of Baltimore weekend. Wednesday afternoon, Power, 31, spent his time doing media interviews at a luncheon in downtown Baltimore, while Hunter-Reay, who will be 32 in December, also took the opportunity to take a nap before getting ready for a sponsor activity Wednesday evening.

The difficulty of finding American citizens who will do the kind of farm work generally left to migrant laborers is an old story. I would like to tell you about my experiences picking fruit and why many Americans will not do this job. In the 1960s, California citrus was picked by itinerate Mexican farmworkers known as braceros . They lived in camps consisting of dorm-like buildings and a dining room, and they migrated with the crop: California...

The first sign that this isn't an ordinary warehouse in southwest Baltimore is the bright blue murals of screwdrivers, wrenches and other tools painted on the exterior. Inside, the real thing: shovels, rakes, hammers, paint trays, pliers, hard hats, ladders, wheelbarrows, electric drills and just about every tool imaginable for rehabbing a house or sprucing up a park. It's like a mini Home Depot. This is the home of the new Baltimore Community ToolBank, a nonprofit that opens today and the third of its kind in the country.

Baltimore's fire chief identified Thursday three fire companies he plans to disband, prompting unions to warn safety would be jeopardized in those neighborhoods and a city councilman to decry the loss of Truck 15, described as an integral part of its community. The move makes permanent budgets cuts that were characterized as temporary fixes two years ago, when the city implemented rotating closures of three fire companies. Officials said they had hoped the fiscal picture would improve with the economy and allow for an end to the closures, but the city still faces a $48 million budget shortfall in the $2.3 billion operating budget.

Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette reportedly told a few members of the media at the Sports Legends Museum at Camden Yards this evening that he does not view slugger Manny Ramirez as a fit with the team. That meshes with what an industry source told The Baltimore Sun on Friday - that the Orioles as an organization were never close to seriously pursuing Ramirez. It was something that Duquette was vetting, and ultimately he decided not to take it any further. In fact, the source said the Ramirez discussion never got to the point where a proposal was taken to owner Peter Angelos for approval or even serious debate.

A 72-year-old Howard County farmer who slipped and was trapped hanging upside down while working inside an 80-foot-high silo was rescued yesterday, thanks to a quick-thinking customer. Jim Welling, of Welling Farm in the 13000 block of Old Frederick Road in Howard County, "got real lucky," said Tim Jones, a neighbor and fellow farmer who visited the West Friendship farm after hearing about the incident. According to county fire Lt. Ryan Miller, Welling was on a ladder about 10:30 a.m. trying to repair a grain chute near the top of the silo when he slipped and fell.

City homicide detectives were on the scene of a death in the Tuscany- Canterbury neighborhood of North Baltimore, but police said the cause appeared to be accidental. Police said they were investigating a suspicious death Wednesday afternoon in the 3900 block of Cloverhill Road, just north of the Johns Hopkins University. A short time later, a police spokesman said officials believed the victim had fallen from a ladder. Additional details were not immediately available. justin.

Baltimore school administrators have ratified a new contract that union officials said would make city principals among the highest paid in the state and promote leaders through a new career and compensation ladder based on performance. The Public School Administrators and Supervisors Association ratified its contract after 150 members voted Friday to approve the deal, which includes a 2 percent retroactive pay raise and $1,800 stipend. The pact eliminates annual step increases — raises based on seniority and academic degrees — and implements a new career ladder.

Baltimore City teachers were notified last week of their new career "paths" and salaries by the school system, one of the first developments of the landmark Baltimore Teachers Union contract ratified last fall that promised more opportunities for promotion and compensation in the district. City school officials said 6,915 teachers were placed on three new career paths: standard, professional and model. The majority of teachers — 70 percent — were placed in the professional pathway, meaning that they hold a master's degree; 26 percent were placed on the most basic pathway — standard, for those with a bachelor's degree.