Lakeside

"Leaving Nazareth, he went and settled in Capernaum, a lakeside town on the borders of Zebulun and Nephthalim." (Matthew 4: 13) CAPERNAUM, Israel -- Of all the sites that draw Christians to the Holy Land, this sun-drenched little town of stone ruins along the Sea of Galilee holds a special meaning for a pastor like Pope John Paul II. Capernaum was the heart of Jesus' ministry. Pope John Paul will visit here today in what promises to be a memorable day in Galilee that opens with a Mass for 100,000, including thousands of young pilgrims, on a high hill overlooking the Mount of the Beatitudes.

When you turn onto Lakeside Boulevard, what you will see is a tree-lined thoroughfare that at day's end is lined with yuppie joggers, making the trek from one end of Owings Mills New Town to the other.But try to follow the road to its namesake and there will be no such luck.Turn onto Groffs Mill Drive -- another main artery that runs through the community -- and the village strip center greets residents with everything the planners said would be there. An athletic club. Restaurant. Grocery store.

Druid Park Lake Drive resident David Lehman wasn't disappointed to see Baltimore lose a piece of its history yesterday. As demolition continued on Lakeside Apartments, one of the city's first major public housing complexes, Lehman said he welcomed its downfall. "It was a breeding ground for brats and rats," said Lehman, who has lived next to the buildings in the Reservoir Hill neighborhood for 10 years. National Wrecking Corp. of Clinton began demolishing the three-story apartment buildings at 747, 735, and 825 Druid Park Lake Drive last week.

Hundreds of thousands of Baltimoreans know Ednor Gardens-Lakeside by sight if not by name.For more than 40 years, people who have attended countless baseball and football games at Memorial Stadium have at one time or another noticed the row of white stuccoed English-style houses beyond the center field fence. Many would recall that they envied the people who lived on East 36th Street because they could watch an Orioles or Colts game from the confines of their homes."You really can't see into the stadium like the buildings around Wrigley Field in Chicago," said David Bernell, who has lived on 36th Street for eight years.

CUMBERLAND -- After more than 16 years on the drawing board, a decade of financing struggles, and two years of construction, one of the most daring attempts to revive Western Maryland's flagging economy is finally ready to be launched.On Tuesday morning, Rocky Gap Lodge & Golf Resort, the $54 million government-backed hotel, restaurant, conference center, and Jack Nicklaus signature golf course resort about eight miles east of Cumberland, will quietly begin accepting overnight guests on a limited basis.

Columbia's latest theme restaurant will hark back to Depression-era Oklahoma.The Hard Times Cafe, which specializes in chili, is scheduled to open by November on the first floor of a two-story office building under construction near the Lone Star Steakhouse off Stanford Boulevard in east Columbia.The building is the first office space built in Columbia in seven years by a developer who didn't have tenants lined up at ground-breaking -- a sign that builders are regaining confidence in Columbia's office market.

Columbia's lake front will be the site of an annual rite Thursday, as thousands of Independence Day spectators try to squirm their way into that perfect spot to watch fireworks light up the sky across Lake Kittamaqundi.Hundreds of aerial shells are scheduled to explode across the skies during Columbia's 29th Fourth of July fireworks display -- a show that each year draws more than 30,000 people from throughout the Baltimore-Washington area.The display will be dedicated to Columbia's founder, James W. Rouse, who died this year, said Cole Drew, president of the Kiwanis Club of Columbia, which is sponsoring the half-hour show at 9: 30 p.m. Thursday.

As far back as 1988, David H. deVilliers Jr. believed that the location of the Arundel Corp.'s 145-acre S&G Concrete plant in Edgewood would make a premier business park. Now, the FRP Development Corp. president will get the chance to prove it.Under plans filed with Harford County, the Sparks development firm next month intends to begin constructing manufacturing and distribution space on the site of the former surface mining operation.In all, the plan calls for Lakeside Business Park to contain as much as 1.5 million square feet, not including S&G's operation, by 2001.

The arts come alive in Columbia today when the Seventh Annual Columbia Festival of the Arts -- 10 days of music, theater, dance and the visual arts -- gets under way. The festival, which runs through June 25, will feature performances at 11 venues around town, including free concerts, activities and crafts exhibits at the Lakefront in Columbia's Town Center.Among the many performers scheduled are jazz singers Casscheduled are jazz singers Cassandra Wilson and Diane Schuur, the Uptown String Quartet, the imaginative dance-acrobatic-mime group Pilobolus, jazz pianist and composer George Shearing, actress Claire Bloom, folk singer Judi Tal and author Mary Gordon.

The arts come alive in vibrant style in Columbia this week when the seventh annual Columbia Festival of the Arts -- 10 days of music, theater, dance and the visual arts -- gets under way. Scheduled from Friday through June 25, the festival will feature performances at 11 venues, including free concerts, activities and crafts exhibits at the Lakefront in Columbia's Town Center.Among the many performers scheduled are jazz singers Cassandra Wilson and Diane Schuur, the Uptown String Quartet, the imaginative dance-acrobatic-mime group Pilobolus, jazz pianist and composer George Shearing, actress Claire Bloom, folk singer Judi Tal and author Mary Gordon.