Locations

THE COUNT Homicides since Jan. 1: 262 LAST YEAR: Baltimore had recorded 240 homicides as of Nov. 20, 2006. ONLINE: Details and locations of this year's city homicides are at baltimoresun.com/homicidemap

THE COUNT Homicides since Jan. 1: 213 LAST YEAR: Baltimore had recorded 187 homicides as of Sept. 9, 2006. ONLINE: Details and locations of this year's city homicides at baltimoresun.com/homicidemap

THE COUNT Homicides since Jan. 1: 239 THE VICTIM A man was killed Sunday about 7 p.m. in a drive-by shooting in the 2600 block of Quantico Ave. in Northwest Baltimore. A pregnant woman who was also shot was in serious condition, police said. LAST YEAR: Baltimore had recorded 218 homicides as of Oct. 15, 2006. ONLINE: Details and locations of this year's city homicides are at baltimoresun.com/homicidemap

THE COUNT Homicides since Jan. 1: 206 THE VICTIM A wounded man found early yesterday lying in the rear of a home in Southwest Baltimore died later from a bullet would to the head, city police said. The victim, whose identity was not released, had been shot about 2:45 a.m. in the 400 block of S. Payson St., police said. LAST YEAR: Baltimore had recorded 178 homicides as of Aug. 28, 2006. ONLINE: Details and locations of this year's city homicides at baltimoresun.com/homicidemap.

THE COUNT Homicides since Jan. 1: 231 LAST YEAR: Baltimore had recorded 208 homicides as of Sept. 30, 2006. ONLINE: Details and locations of this year's city homicides are at baltimoresun.com/homicidemap.

THE COUNT Homicides since Jan. 1: 225 THE VICTIM An unidentified man in his 40s was found dead of blunt-force injuries Saturday under a bridge in Hampden. Police are treating his death as a homicide. LAST YEAR: Baltimore had recorded 199 homicides as of Sept. 23, 2006. ONLINE: Details and locations of this year's city homicides are at baltimoresun.com/homicidemap.

THE COUNT Homicides since Jan. 1: 256 THE VICTIM A man shot about 5:30 p.m. inside a rowhouse in the 2600 block of Grogan Ave. in East Baltimore died last night at Johns Hopkins Hospital. LAST YEAR: Baltimore had recorded 237 homicides as of Nov. 11, 2006. ONLINE: Details and locations of this year's city homicides are at baltimoresun.com/homicidemap

ISSUE: Eugene Waller, a twice-convicted sex offender, was charged last week with repeatedly raping a woman at a Linthicum light rail station. The 49-year-old drifter had twice been arrested for violating a state law requiring sex offenders to register their addresses every six months and when they move. With the responsibility for monitoring Waller's whereabouts unclear, law enforcement agencies weren't keeping tabs on him. YOUR VIEW: How should the state track transient offenders whose locations frequently change?

THE COUNT Homicides since Jan. 1: 221 THE VICTIMS Tyrone Jones, 26, was fatally shot about 11:35 p.m. Saturday in the 1500 block of N. Woodyear St. in West Baltimore. About 4:30 p.m. yesterday, two males, whose names and ages were not available, were shot in the 3400 block of Belair Road in the Belair-Edison neighborhood. They were pronounced dead at Johns Hopkins Hospital. LAST YEAR: Baltimore had recorded 193 homicides as of Sept. 16, 2006. ONLINE: Details and locations of this year's city homicides at baltimoresun.

THE COUNT Homicides since Jan. 1: 182 THE VICTIMS ONLINE: Details and locations of this year's city homicides at baltimoresun.com/homicidemap

Jos. A. Bank Clothiers was forced to pull back aggressive expansion plans when the economy tanked and developers stopped building the open-air shopping centers where the men's retailer tended to locate. But the Hampstead-based clothing chain said Tuesday it was increasing the number of stores it plans to open in fiscal year 2010 as it takes advantage of real estate that has opened up as other retailers have closed stores. The company now hopes to open 30 to 40 stores, an increase from the 10 to 15 it initially planned for next year.

A Maryland developer would abandon plans to build a $250 million sports themed office and recreation park called Gateway South, and Baltimore's only slots casino would be constructed on the land instead if city and state officials approve the change. The Baltimore Development Corp. is drafting a memorandum of understanding that gives control of an 11-acre, city-owned parcel south of M&T Bank Stadium, to Baltimore City Entertainment Group, one of four bidders for slot machine licenses in Maryland and the only group seeking to build a slots facility in downtown.

For this Top 10 post, Great Local Coffeehouses, which appeared recently on my blog, I got many more suggestions. Check out Dining@Large if your favorite isn't here. It probably got mentioned: 1 Bean Hollow in Ellicott City. Cozy, coffee roasted right there. 2 Cafe Latte'da in Fells Point. A sweet little place with free wi-fi. 3 Caffe Pronto in Annapolis. Local, with three locations. 4 Daily Grind in Fells Point. The first, and people say the best, of several locations. 5 Evergreen in Roland Park.

Despite flagging revenues and a dismal financial outlook, Maryland is moving ahead with plans to support development related to the influx of thousands of military jobs here from the base relocation and closure process. State officials have their priorities straight. In providing $5 million to help finance improvements in five newly created enterprise zones, Maryland can direct growth where it wants it, promote mass transit use and capitalize on a major federal investment. The five locations selected by the state as BRAC zones fit the objectives of smart growth: redeveloping industrial sites, building high-density areas and providing transit access.

The Johns Hopkins University will become one of the first colleges in the country to use a system of sensors around its campus that will enable police to instantly pinpoint the location of shootings. City police were testing the system yesterday in anticipation of a formal unveiling Thursday, with a weapons instructor firing shots into a city dump truck filled with sand at 11 different locations. In a memo notifying students about the shooting exercise, the university said 93 detector boxes have been installed on streetlights and other locations throughout the Homewood and Charles Village communities to "add another layer of protection."

Golf tournament likely to create road congestion 1 Baltimore County police warn that traffic could be heavier than usual tomorrow through Oct. 12 along the Shawan Road area in Hunt Valley because of the Constellation Energy Classic Golf tournament at the Hayfields Country Club. There will be no parking along Shawan Road during the tournament, which has a rain date of Oct. 13. Parking will be available at a farm near the event. The most likely times for congestion from the tournament are from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Thursday, and all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The November referendum on whether to allow slot machine gambling in Maryland is producing some unlikely buddying up among Howard County's elected officials. Democratic Del. Elizabeth Bobo finds herself on the same side as state Sen. Allan H. Kittleman and Del. Gail H. Bates, Republicans who also want to see the referendum defeated. Despite that, Bobo and Kittleman said that they suspect most Howard residents favor the idea to allow gambling at five locations in Maryland. The majority of Howard's 11 state legislators, five County Council members and County Executive Ken Ulman favor passage of the referendum, if only to avoid more state budget cuts or tax increases that the resulting $660 million revenue shortfall could bring.

Wyndham Weekender Package What's the deal?: Save 50 percent off the second night or the second room at select Wyndham Hotels when you book a stay between Thursday and Sunday through Dec. 31. Participating hotels include locations in Gettysburg, Virginia Beach, New York and a few international cities. What's the savings?: Room rates vary, depending on location, but half-off savings should average about $45-$65. What's the catch?: Must book consecutive nights, and there are some blackout dates.

Now that Starbucks Corp. has disclosed the 600 locations it wants to shutter, a phenomenon is taking hold: the Save Our Starbucks campaign. In towns as small as Bloomfield, N.M., and metropolises as large as New York, customers and city officials are starting to write letters, place phone calls, circulate petitions and otherwise plead with the coffee company to change its mind. "Now that it's going away, we're devastated," said Kate Walker, a facilities manager for software company SunGard Financial Systems who recently learned of a store closing in New York City.

Satellite provider Integral Systems Inc. will relocate its expanding headquarters to Columbia from Lanham early next year, executives said yesterday, after scouring locations throughout Maryland and Northern Virginia for the past six months. That move comes as the company has bounced back during the past year under new leadership, said Chief Financial Officer William M. Bambarger Jr. Integral faced turmoil in 2006, with management shake-ups, a scandal and a now-abandoned plan to sell itself.