Leland

Leland Fitzgerald is a mixed-up, disturbed kid. That, The United States of Leland makes very clear. Problem is, although the movie thinks it offers insights into what makes him that way, it really doesn't. What it does is offer a standard victimization excuse (broken home, distant dad) combined with heaps of teen angst. Of course, that's the essence of what J.D. Salinger did with Catcher in the Rye, but to compare that classic to this surface treatment is like comparing the Mona Lisa to those cheap knockoffs you can buy on sidewalks outside the Louvre.

When the Berlin Wall was breached in 1989, this concrete barrier quickly became the source of souvenir chunks of Cold War history. As East German hands chipped at one side of the Berlin Wall and West German hands hacked away at the other, its joyous destruction erased it from all but our collective memory.For American photographer Leland Rice, who began an extensive series of pictures of the West German side of the graffiti-covered Berlin Wall in 1983, this sudden rewriting of history affects how we now look at his photographic series from the '80s.

Dr. Leland Bates Stevens, a retired Northeast Baltimore family physician who once charged a half-dollar for an office visit and eschewed appointments during more than 45 years of medical practice, died of pneumonia Sunday at Beebe Medical Center in Lewes, Del. The former Towson resident was 90. Born on a farm near Kent County's Millington, he walked three miles each day to a one-room schoolhouse. "My father grew up with kerosene lamps because there was no electricity on the farm. He bathed in a tub by the fire, and he ate food his parents grew," said his daughter, Paula A. Sparks of Millersville.

Leland C. Sanborn has been reappointed to the Harford Community College's Board of Trustees by Gov. William Donald Schaefer, the college announced

On July 20, 2006, HARRIET F. PARKS (nee Fenton); devoted mother of David (Sam) Leland, Jr., his wife Sandra, Susan Leland, her companion Patrick Doughney, Cindy Weisman and her husband, Joe; dear grandmother of Jessica Williams, Samantha and Nick Leland, Steuart, James and Joseph Weisman. Memorial service will be held at the family owned Ruck Towson Funeral Home, Inc., 1050 York Road, (beltway exit 26), on Monday, July 24 at 11 A.M. Interment will follow in Druid Ridge Cemetery. Family will receive friends on Sunday, 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 P.M.

A prison teacher (Don Cheadle, above) digs into a teen's senseless crime in `The United States of Leland' (10 p.m.-11:45 p.m., Showtime).

The gashed hull of a Boston whaler tells Cpl. Dennis W. Leland that a terrible hit-and-run accident occurred last weekend on the Chesapeake Bay, leaving a mother and son dead.But there are few other clues to what happened a week ago near the mouth of the Choptank River in an accident that killed a sister-in-law and nephew of Montgomery County Executive Neal Potter.Evidence does not tell police where the accident occurred. Or how it happened. Or even what type of boat hit the Boston whaler -- it could be as small as a motorboat or as large as an oil tanker.

Thirty-five years ago, Maryann Post of Virginia was a holiday surprise for her family. She was born Dec. 25. And as Christmas approaches this year, Patricia Leland of Abingdon gave Post and her husband a gift of "unspeakable joy," Post said, and an end to six years of failed fertilization tries, miscarriages and heartache. Leland, who carried the Posts' baby to term, gave birth to 8-pound, 8-ounce Charles Friday. The child was due Christmas Day, but doctors induced Leland's delivery so she could spend Christmas with her family, and so the Posts could celebrate Maryann's birthday, Christmas and the baby.

On May, 31, 2005, KAREN LESLEY FORCE; beloved daughter of Judson F. Force Jr. and Glenda Force (nee Slough); dear sister of Andrea Laurin Walton and her husband Jeff, Carla Lynn Banister and her husband Dave, and Adrian Judson Force and his wife Debbie; granddaughter of Mrs. Judson F. Force Sr. and Mrs. Leland E. Slough, niece of Eric H. Force, Leland B. Slough and his wife Sandra; great-niece of Mrs. James Hodges and Mrs. Joseph Gessner. Also survived by nieces and nephews, Anna, Sarah, Taylor, Matthew, Michael, Nicholas and Graham.

CHRIS DUPONT passed away on October 26, 2005 after an accident on October 4, 2005. He was a resident of Baltimore, Maryland for 26 years. Chris was born in Corpus Christi, TX on June 21, 1951 to Leland (deceased) and Dolores Dupont. Chris was a Senior Inspector for KCI Technology, Inc., in Baltimore, Maryland for 15 years. Chris is survived by his loving wife, Cynthia Dupont of Baltimore, Maryland; his mother Dolores Dupont of Orange Grove, TX; one brother, Leland Dupont II of Muldoon, TX; and best buddies Abby and Scuby.