Maryland History

A decade ago tomorrow, the worst tornado in Maryland history struck La Plata, killing three people and flattening buildings with 261 mph winds. The F5 twister, the top of the scale for tornado intensity, left a plate of fried chicken on the counter of a fast-food restaurant but tore off two of the building's walls and its roof, according to one Baltimore Sun report. It left one resident's mailbox standing, waiting for more mail in front of a house that was torn from its foundation, resting on some bushes.

Maryland's House Republicans decided this week to jettison Del. Anthony J. O'Donnell from the leadership of their caucus on the grounds that a new messenger is needed to revitalize the party's prospects and pick up seats in the 2014 election. We wish new Minority Leader Nicholaus Kipke and new Minority Whip Kathy Szeliga the best of luck; Maryland is better when it has two functioning political parties. But color us skeptical that rearranging the deck chairs in the House GOP caucus is going to accomplish much.

Called to action by the blast of a horn, more than 30 yapping spotted hounds spill down a hill, bound across a country road, leap a fence and rush a faded winter field. On the hound's heels are about two dozen hunters on horseback, men and women in britches and tweed and velvet hats. Motorists, what few there are this deep in the country on a hushed winter morning, a weekday, are slow to take it in. Some stop altogether. For it's something to behold, this pageant of beasts and man -- a scene from another time, another place.

Edward C. Papenfuse, an Annapolis icon who has presided over the Maryland State Archives for almost 38 years, announced this week that he will retire as of Nov. 1. Papenfuse, a leading authority on Maryland history, announced his intentions at Monday's meeting of the state Hall of Records Commission. A decade into his tenure as state archivist and commissioner of land patents, the archives moved to the building it now occupies on Rowe Boulevard in Annapolis. In 2005, to commemorate Papenfuse's 30th anniversary in his job, the Board of Public Works named the building for him. A white-bearded man with a jovial manner, Papenfuse has long been a familiar figure at Maryland historical commemorations and other public events.

In many parts of the world, spring is a time to celebrate the end of the cold dark days of winter. Spring and summer are exciting and colorful seasons when people welcome new life and celebrate the outdoors. There are many Baltimore traditions connected with these seasons. The Farmers' Markets and baseball are some of Baltimore's favorite warm weather events! Many people celebrate their joy in the coming of spring and summer by wearing colorful party hats. Hat's off to warmer summer ! Let's celebrate the seasons by making an old-fashioned party hat!

WHEN I WAS a child one of my favorite places to eat lunch was the tea room at the old Hutzler's department store in Towson. A little girl could feel genteel and grown-up there amid the pearl-draped ladies with their shopping bags, a neat little sandwich on her plate instead of the usual burger-and-fries kiddie fare.And there were those murals -- the walls covered with painted scenes from Maryland history, including a beautiful place called Hampton Mansion.Funny, but it never occurred to me that Hampton Mansion might be a real house, and that I might actually go there.

Beta Kaessmann Manakee, 95, author of the standard textbook used to teach Maryland history to elementary school students, died Dec. 19 at Church Home and Hospital, where she resided at the time of her death.Her work -- "My Maryland, Her First 300 Years" -- was published in 1934 by Ginn & Co. and remains in print. She was assisted in the writing by her husband, local historian Harold Manakee, and the late Joseph Wheeler, longtime director of the Enoch Pratt Free Library.She also helped research the 1931 literary and historical map of Maryland drawn by artist Edwin Tunis.

Police who seized a ton of cocaine from a Baltimore warehouse last week broke up an elaborate scheme to smuggle drugs from Houston to New York and uncovered connections to South and Central America, newly filed court documents say.Two affidavits totaling 18 pages, filed in U.S. District Court, detail a five-month undercover investigation of suspected drug distributors and how they allegedly planned to get $25 million worth of cocaine to New York through Baltimore.Federal...

A close race in suburban Washington's 8th Congressional District was the most expensive U.S. House campaign in Maryland history -- and one of the most costly in the nation -- as Rep. Constance A. Morella and state Sen. Christopher Van Hollen Jr. together spent nearly $6 million seeking the seat. Van Hollen, the Democratic challenger, raised slightly less than Morella, an eight-term Republican incumbent, but won by a 52-47 percent margin. Morella spent just under $3 million, while Van Hollen spent almost $2.9 million.

Actress and storyteller Mary Ann Jung took children at Rippling Woods Elementary School on a journey back in time yesterday -- more than 350 years back.Life was pretty tough then: To the moans and groans of students sitting in a semicircle in the school's gymnasium, she told how there was no Nintendo, pizza, hamburgers or McDonald's.People greeted each other with a "Good day," not a "Hello."Bringing back to life the earliest days of Maryland, Jung portrayed Mistress Margaret Brent, who came to Maryland with the first settlers.

Josh Asper is hungry; most wrestlers are. But Asper's appetite leans less toward pizza than perfection on the mat. The Maryland senior craves an NCAA title this week, and his drive to win has awed his teammates. During workouts, they shy away from pairing off with Asper, a Hereford alum who is ranked No. 2 in the country at 174 pounds. "Nobody likes to drill with him because he goes 110 percent," said the Terps ' Jimmy Sheptock, twice an Atlantic Coast Conference champ.

Called to action by the blast of a horn, more than 30 yapping spotted hounds spill down a hill, bound across a country road, leap a fence and rush a faded winter field. On the hound's heels are about two dozen hunters on horseback, men and women in britches and tweed and velvet hats. Motorists, what few there are this deep in the country on a hushed winter morning, a weekday, are slow to take it in. Some stop altogether. For it's something to behold, this pageant of beasts and man -- a scene from another time, another place.

Buck Showalter remembered sitting in the Orioles clubhouse as a driving rain delayed the first playoff game Baltimore had hosted in 15 years. "Do you think the fans will stay?" asked a relatively new Oriole. "Hell yes," replied closer Jim Johnson. The Orioles manager told the story to illustrate the connection between his team and Baltimore. And that bond, which Showalter helped restore, was a big reason why he received The Baltimore Sun's 2012 Marylander of the Year award on Monday.

Who was that affable older gentleman who was asked to show his identification in order to enter the State House Monday? It was Paul S. Sarbanes, the longest-serving United States senator in Maryland history. Sarbanes, who retired in 2007 after 30 years in the Senate, was in Annapolis for a meeting of the War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission, on which he serves. After that meeting, he went to the State House to view an historical exhibit on the war, where he cheerfully complied with a request to show his ID -- smiling at a reporter's offer to vouch for him. The police officer couldn't be faulted for not recognizing the former senator.

As Muhammad Ali once observed, "It's not bragging if you can back it up. " Thus, even his most caustic critics will have to concede that Gov. Martin O'Malley's State of the State address may have been the most heavily footnoted piece of braggadocio in Maryland history. Here's the CliffsNotes version of what Governor O'Malley had to say this afternoon: In the economic downturn, Maryland had to make tough choices, but they were good decisions - better than made elsewhere - and now things are looking pretty good.

As former players for Maryland, Michael Dello-Russo and Will Swaim understand what it's like to be part of a program where anything short of competing for a national championship can be viewed as a failure. Dello-Russo and Swaim, both from Howard County, are now assistants for Terrapins head coach Sasho Cirovski and have become mentors, instructors and sometimes sounding boards for the current crop of players. Maryland (18-1-2) heads into the third round of the NCAA men's soccer tournament Sunday, playing host to a surging Coastal Carolina (20-2-2)

John Carleton Jones, a former longtime Sunday Sun reporter, author and critic who was known for his stylish writing and love of Maryland history, died from complications of dementia Dec. 29 at an assisted-living facility in Shallotte, N.C. The former Westminster resident was 84. Mr. Jones was born in Columbia, Mo. He was raised there and in Washington, where his father, Army Gen. Lloyd E. Jones, a West Point graduate, held a military assignment during...

Maryland linebacker Demetrius Hartsfield has torn his ACL and will miss the rest of the season, Terps coach Randy Edsall announced today. Hartsfield, a senior from Raleigh, N.C., suffered the injury on a running play with 2:20 remaining in the second quarter of Maryland's 33-13 loss to Georgia Tech. Hartsfield, who was blocked low on the play, had started all nine games this season. “This is another tough loss for the program,” Edsall said. “Demetrius is a captain and has been a leader of this defense both on and off the field.