Laid

Before he is laid to rest on Wednesday at a suburban cemetery, the body of former Maryland governor and Baltimore mayor William Donald Schaefer will be taken on a grand "final tour" of the iconic city sites he is largely responsible for making reality: the sports stadiums, Harborplace and the National Aquarium. "There will be some unique Schaefer accents to this," said Michael Golden, Schaefer's former spokesman, who has been involved with planning next week's services. Golden said a final route for the procession could be completed Wednesday.

Ernie Tyler was buried on a brisk, chilly day at the start of spring training, which seemed only right. One day after Orioles' pitchers and catchers reported to camp in Florida, Tyler -- a lifelong club employee who worked as umpires' attendant -- was laid to rest following a church service attended by Orioles owner Peter Angelos and Hall of Famer Cal Ripken, Jr. Tyler, 86, died Feb. 10 of complications from a brain tumor. Otherwise, he'd have been preparing to work Opening Day for the 51st straight season.

Overhead soared a B-52. On the ground, the seven members of the firing party marched to their places. In the distance, drums could be heard, and then the entire band, leading a horse-drawn caisson carrying a flag-draped casket to its final destination. Traveling across the globe and through time, Technical Sgt. Charles A. Bode came home Friday from the Second World War. The Highlandtown man was 23 on Nov. 20, 1943, when he vanished with 10 fellow crew members during a B-24 bomber mission over the Pacific.

In the middle of Maryland's debate over same-sex marriage comes Mark Thomas Ketterson, folded American flag cradled in his hands, with simple eloquence in 10 words: "I didn't blaze any trail. I buried my husband. " With that, Mr. Ketterson pretty much summarizes the case for equal rights for homosexuals seeking to be legally married in Maryland or any other state. His story also presents a side serving of revelation about the American military establishment in the waning days of "don't ask, don't tell.

State of the Union addresses often have an unfortunate kitchen sink quality, in which presidents seek to pack as many disparate policy ideas as possible into their allotted hour before Congress and the nation in hopes of ticking the boxes important to every constituency. For the most part, President Obama admirably avoided that, speaking past the political tit-for-tat and focusing on the overarching question of our times: How will America compete and win an increasingly global economy?

Police on Thursday announced funeral arrangements for an officer killed last weekend while trying to quell an unruly crowd outside a club in downtown Baltimore. A public viewing for Officer William H. Torbit, 33, will be held from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Wylie Funeral Home in Randallstown. Funeral services will take place the following day at 11 a.m. at The Cathedral of Mary Our Queen on North Charles St. in Baltimore. Torbit's remains will be interred at Arbutus Memorial Park in Baltimore, police said.

Baltimore County is holding information fairs this week to assist the more than 1,000 workers who have been laid off from the Sparrows Point steel mill as part of a temporary idling of the primary steelmaking operations. The fairs will be held Thursday and Friday at the Severstal Sparrows Point Conference and Training Center, with morning and afternoon sessions each day. Each session will include presentations about unemployment insurance, federal Trade Adjustment Act benefits, union benefits and health care benefits.

This is not the story of how I was laid off. This is the story of how it feels to be laid off. Because until you've been there, you can't understand. I scoured the Web for accounts of how it feels, looking for something to share with friends and family who don't "get it. " To explain how I feel. And what I might (and might not) need from them right now. Surprisingly, my Web search didn't yield much, so here I am. I'll write it myself. "No big deal," folks think. "Sure, money might be tight for a while, but this, too, shall pass.

Mildred Miller was just notified that her unemployment benefits will be cut off two weeks before Christmas. She can't think about it without breaking down. "I don't know what I'm going to do; I really don't know," Miller said Monday, her eyes welling with tears as she scanned job listings at Baltimore County's work force development center in Essex. "I don't want to get evicted. If we get on the street, I don't know where we'll be. " The Middle River resident, a single mother with a 6-year-old son, is one of thousands in Maryland and about 2 million nationwide whose payments will be phased out in December if the federally funded emergency unemployment compensation program expires Tuesday as planned.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am not here today to trash Chad Henne. Chad Henne is a perfectly fine young quarterback. He might also be great to his mom, kind to animals and a tireless giver to charity. But there can be no disputing this: He's no Joe Flacco. Not at this stage of his career, anyway. OK, where's Flacco at this stage of his career? Well, he's hardly a finished product. He has a lot to learn. But all he has done since he came into the league is win. Last year, he became just the fourth starting quarterback since the AFL- NFL merger in 1970 to reach the playoffs in his first two years in the league.