Madison Park

A man was fatally shot Tuesday evening in Baltimore, adding to the city's recent spate of violence. Police said the man died at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center shortly after he was shot about 6:40 p.m. in the 300 block of Wilson Street, in the Madison Park neighborhood. He is the ninth homicide victim in Baltimore in the past three days. Also Tuesday, police identified the victims in a triple shooting earlier in the day as Brian Powell, 21; Kishawana Pinder, 20; and Tyreka Martin, 20. cwells@baltsun.com twitter.com/cwellssun

A man was fatally shot Tuesday evening in Baltimore, adding to the city's recent spate of violence. Police said the man died at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center shortly after he was shot about 6:40 p.m. in the 300 block of Wilson Street, in the Madison Park neighborhood. He is the ninth homicide victim in Baltimore in the past three days. Also Tuesday, police identified the victims in a triple shooting earlier in the day as Brian Powell, 21; Kishawana Pinder, 20; and Tyreka Martin, 20. cwells@baltsun.com twitter.com/cwellssun

Among the little-known gems of Baltimore City's in-town neighborhoods is Madison Park. Bounded by North Avenue, Laurens, Morris and Tiffany streets, it is a melange of architecturally intriguing town houses that were influenced by Second Empire, Queen Anne and Romanesque Revival styles. Some have mansard roofs, conical towers and fancy window configurations.It was built around the turn of the century. At the time the area was predominantly Jewish. A block to the east were the mansions of boulevard-like Eutaw Street and the substantial homes of Bolton Hill.

Baltimore police are investigating a stabbing of a man in West Baltimore Saturday evening. Around 9 p.m., police were called to the 400 block of Manse Court in the Madison Park neighborhood for a report of an assault, said Detective Jeremy Silbert, a Baltimore police spokesman. Officers found a man suffering from stab wounds who said he had been attacked by an unknown person near McCulloh and Dolphin Streets, Silbert said. The man was taken to a nearby hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening, Silbert said.

Baltimore police are investigating a stabbing of a man in West Baltimore Saturday evening. Around 9 p.m., police were called to the 400 block of Manse Court in the Madison Park neighborhood for a report of an assault, said Detective Jeremy Silbert, a Baltimore police spokesman. Officers found a man suffering from stab wounds who said he had been attacked by an unknown person near McCulloh and Dolphin Streets, Silbert said. The man was taken to a nearby hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening, Silbert said.

Lena K. Lee doesn't consider herself a late bloomer; she's been in full blossom for nearly all of her 89 years.If anything, she's slowing down. She no longer belongs to a dozen or so professional and social organizations. "It's only about four now," she says. "That seems to be enough.She's the president of the Madison Park Neighborhood Improvement Association -- a small community below North Avenue and just west of Bolton Hill -- a teacher, attorney, businesswoman and former member of the House of Delegates, to which she was elected in 1967 at 60 and where she served for 15 years.

These are rough times for Baltimore and most other aging cities. Not only is the lure of residential suburbs continuing but "edge cities" like Owings Mills, White Marsh and Columbia are increasingly competing for offices and businesses.Which is why we invite readers to take another look at a little-known in-town neighborhood called Madison Park. Bounded by North Avenue, Laurens, Morris and Tiffany streets, it is a melange of architectural styles from Second Empire and Queen Anne to Romanesque Revival.

Athena Lambert already was having trouble paying her bill when she got notice of a $100 rent increase in her federally subsidized townhouse in the 800 block of W. North Ave.Lambert lives in the Madison Park North Apartments, a 202-unit complex with a troubled past punctuated by rent strikes, sewage backups and leaky windows.A year ago, the landlord, who lives in California, agreed to settle a long-standing dispute with tenants by promising to make repairs and pay rent rebates to 34 tenants, including Lambert.

Arundel police seek attacker of woman in Downs Park 2 Anne Arundel County police are looking for a teenager who they said grabbed a 40-year-old woman around the neck as she walked in Downs Park in Pasadena over the Labor Day weekend. The woman suffered minor injuries, according to police, who said she was on a wooded trail in the park area Saturday about 3:45 p.m. when she came across a teenage boy "acting in a strange manner," appearing to intentionally fall off his bike several times.

Residents of Bolton Hill and three nearby communities have created the city's third benefits district by voting 1,129 to 458 to assess themselves for additional security and sanitation services.Mail ballots counted yesterday at the Board of Election Supervisors authorized formation of the Midtown Community Benefits District, which covers Bolton Hill, Mount Vernon-Belvedere, Madison Park and Charles North -- an area of more than 100 city blocks.About 13,000 residents, dozens of businesses and nonprofit arts, cultural and educational institutions, are in the district.

The buildings that compose the troubled Madison Park North complex on North Avenue in Reservoir Hill do not look foreboding. They are three-story structures, three- and four-bedroom apartments with courtyards, a squarish style of housing sometimes seen in the suburbs. Yet, according to Baltimore police, city officials and residents, it is a dangerous place that needs to be closed. There have been two homicides and three shootings there this year. It has been dubbed the "murder mall" by neighbors.

Anita Shelton has presided over the squat brown brick building just off North Avenue for nearly all of the past four decades. Children troop in her door — she keeps it open all day long — for bandages and Popsicles. Their mothers stop by to seek advice from the woman they call "Miss 'Nita," one of the last original tenants of the publicly funded complex. But despite her years at the Madison Park North Apartments, Shelton welcomes an effort by city officials to revoke the landlord's license — a move that will likely leave Shelton and her neighbors scrambling to find new homes.

Arundel police seek attacker of woman in Downs Park 2 Anne Arundel County police are looking for a teenager who they said grabbed a 40-year-old woman around the neck as she walked in Downs Park in Pasadena over the Labor Day weekend. The woman suffered minor injuries, according to police, who said she was on a wooded trail in the park area Saturday about 3:45 p.m. when she came across a teenage boy "acting in a strange manner," appearing to intentionally fall off his bike several times.

Relative sought in stabbing A 25-year-old Edgewood man was stabbed in the upper torso by a relative during a family gathering Friday night, according to the Harford County Sheriff's Office. A warrant for the arrest of Samuel Dowling, 37, of the 1800 block of Eloise Lane in Edgewood has been issued, deputies said. Dowling will be charged with first- and second-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault and reckless endangerment, said Sgt. David Betz, a sheriff's office spokesman. About 9:20 p.m. Friday, deputies said, they were called to the 800 block of Williamsburg Court in Edgewood about a stabbing at a family event.

Five injured as SUV crashes into Edgewater restaurant A sport utility vehicle crashed into a Chick-fil-A in Edgewater yesterday afternoon, injuring five restaurant patrons, two seriously, an Anne Arundel County fire official said. The SUV crashed through the brick-and-glass exterior of the restaurant at 3220 Solomons Island Road about 12:30 p.m. and into the dining area, said Battalion Chief Michael Cox, a Fire Department spokesman. A 67-year-old customer who was sitting directly where the car struck, in front of a handicapped parking spot, suffered serious injuries and was flown to Maryland Shock Trauma Center.

The work crew descended upon Collington Square Park in East Baltimore yesterday with crisp beige uniforms, sunglasses, boots and stern faces. They fanned out, some wielding weed whackers, others mounting riding mowers or picking up trash. At first glance, the eight men might have been mistaken for some kind of special forces squad sent by the Baltimore parks department. But they're not city employees or military commandos. In fact, many are former convicts, addicts or alcoholics who used to hurl bottles onto playgrounds, not spend their days cleaning them up. The men are enrolled in a program run by the nonprofit Living Classrooms Foundation, which the city is paying $300,000 as a contractor to maintain five parks and the 50 urban blocks around them on the city's east side.

Five injured as SUV crashes into Edgewater restaurant A sport utility vehicle crashed into a Chick-fil-A in Edgewater yesterday afternoon, injuring five restaurant patrons, two seriously, an Anne Arundel County fire official said. The SUV crashed through the brick-and-glass exterior of the restaurant at 3220 Solomons Island Road about 12:30 p.m. and into the dining area, said Battalion Chief Michael Cox, a Fire Department spokesman. A 67-year-old customer who was sitting directly where the car struck, in front of a handicapped parking spot, suffered serious injuries and was flown to Maryland Shock Trauma Center.

Relative sought in stabbing A 25-year-old Edgewood man was stabbed in the upper torso by a relative during a family gathering Friday night, according to the Harford County Sheriff's Office. A warrant for the arrest of Samuel Dowling, 37, of the 1800 block of Eloise Lane in Edgewood has been issued, deputies said. Dowling will be charged with first- and second-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault and reckless endangerment, said Sgt. David Betz, a sheriff's office spokesman. About 9:20 p.m. Friday, deputies said, they were called to the 800 block of Williamsburg Court in Edgewood about a stabbing at a family event.

Gracie Marks, 74, tends the community garden behind the 2800 block of Waldorf Ave., proudly pointing out the okra, bell peppers and slick kale peeking from the rich soil. "I say in the next three to four weeks, we'll be getting string beans and onions, and in the next couple of days, we'll be getting greens," she says, poking the damp ground with her weeding stick. "We'll be eating then, honey. I'll be cooking them boys." Marks and her husband, George, were the second black family on this block in Park Heights.

WHY IS THE NEW Midtown Community Plan a must-read document? Because it challenges all the traffic arrangements that have choked the Charles, St. Paul and Calvert Street corridors since the 1950s. And because it proposes radically different traffic patterns to make the area more livable. The Midtown Community Plan, drafted by Charles B. Duff Jr., recommends de-emphasizing St. Paul street as a southbound thoroughfare. Instead, it spells out ways to use the Jones Falls Expressway more efficiently and seeks to divert more downtown-bound commuter traffic to Guilford and Greenmount avenues.