Mike Curran

A viewing for Martin E. "Mike" Curran Sr., 64, former Baltimore City councilman who died Thursday at Good Samaritan Hospital, will be held from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. today and tomorrow at Leonard J. Ruck Funeral Home, 5305 Harford Road.A Mass of Christian burial will be offered at 10 a.m. Monday at St. Dominic Roman Catholic Church, 5310 Harford Road.

A blaring bagpipe, twinkling harp strings and sea of the state's top Democratic politicians gave an Irish-American tribute at the funeral yesterday of former Northeast Baltimore City Councilman Martin E. "Mike" Curran.Former Gov. and current state Comptroller William Donald Schaefer, Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes and Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke joined about 1,000 friends, family and Curran supporters packing St. Dominic Roman Catholic Church on Harford Road to bid farewell to the longtime Democratic Party organizer.

A blaring bagpipe, twinkling harp strings and sea of the state's top Democratic politicians gave an Irish-American tribute at the funeral yesterday of former Northeast Baltimore City Councilman Martin E. "Mike" Curran.Former Gov. and current state Comptroller William Donald Schaefer, Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes and Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke joined about 1,000 friends, family and Curran supporters packing St. Dominic Roman Catholic Church on Harford Road to bid farewell to the longtime Democratic Party organizer.

A viewing for Martin E. "Mike" Curran Sr., 64, former Baltimore City councilman who died Thursday at Good Samaritan Hospital, will be held from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. today and tomorrow at Leonard J. Ruck Funeral Home, 5305 Harford Road.A Mass of Christian burial will be offered at 10 a.m. Monday at St. Dominic Roman Catholic Church, 5310 Harford Road.

Usually, they call him The Dean of the Baltimore City Council. Last night they called him wonderful, beneficent and a trailblazer. By next week, they will call him a memory. Third District Councilman Martin E. "Mike" Curran, after serving 18 years and nine months on the City Council, officially called it quits at his retirement party last night.Dozens of politicians from federal, state and city levels and friends shoehorned themselves into a small Canton cafe to wish The Dean a hearty farewell.

An editorial yesterday about the 3rd District City Council race implied that councilmen Martin E. "Mike" Curran and Wilbur E. "Bill" Cunningham had endorsed Maegertha Whitaker for the district's third councilmanic seat. We wish to make clear that Whitaker is not running on Curran and Cunningham's ticket.

A former Baltimore councilman and member of one of the city's most politically influential families suffered an apparent heart attack while driving in Northeast Baltimore yesterday morning, ran off a road, crossed an apartment complex parking lot and crashed into a house, police said.Martin E. "Mike" Curran, 64, of the 3700 block of Echodale Ave. was in critical condition at Good Samaritan Hospital, police said.Police said Curran was driving a 1996 Chevrolet Monte Carlo north on Old Harford Road about 10 a.m. when he slumped over the wheel and lost control near Northern Parkway.

Martin O'Malley, the charismatic political newcomer who came within a razor's edge of unseating a veteran city state senator last year, has decided to enter the City Council race in the 3rd District."

Martin E. "Mike" Curran Sr., a retired brewery worker who spent 18 years in the City Council representing Northeast Baltimore, died yesterday afternoon at Good Samaritan Hospital. He was 64.Mr. Curran died of complications from a heart attack suffered Wednesday morning while driving on Old Harford Road. The car struck a house.He was a member of a Northeast Baltimore political dynasty that has been at home in City Hall for years. His 3rd District seat is now held by his brother Robert Curran.

A Republican hasn't been elected to the state legislature from Baltimore since 1954. The ratio of registered Democrats to Republicans has grown from 5 to 1 in the mid-1950s to 10 to 1 currently.Nevertheless, in the 43rd Legislative District, with the city's highest concentration of registered Republicans, Jim Brewster and the Republican Party smell the blood of a stricken Democrat.Brewster, 35, a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve, is the GOP challenger against two-term incumbent state Sen. John A. Pica Jr. in the Nov. 6 general election.

Martin E. "Mike" Curran Sr., a retired brewery worker who spent 18 years in the City Council representing Northeast Baltimore, died yesterday afternoon at Good Samaritan Hospital. He was 64.Mr. Curran died of complications from a heart attack suffered Wednesday morning while driving on Old Harford Road. The car struck a house.He was a member of a Northeast Baltimore political dynasty that has been at home in City Hall for years. His 3rd District seat is now held by his brother Robert Curran.

A former Baltimore councilman and member of one of the city's most politically influential families suffered an apparent heart attack while driving in Northeast Baltimore yesterday morning, ran off a road, crossed an apartment complex parking lot and crashed into a house, police said.Martin E. "Mike" Curran, 64, of the 3700 block of Echodale Ave. was in critical condition at Good Samaritan Hospital, police said.Police said Curran was driving a 1996 Chevrolet Monte Carlo north on Old Harford Road about 10 a.m. when he slumped over the wheel and lost control near Northern Parkway.

Usually, they call him The Dean of the Baltimore City Council. Last night they called him wonderful, beneficent and a trailblazer. By next week, they will call him a memory. Third District Councilman Martin E. "Mike" Curran, after serving 18 years and nine months on the City Council, officially called it quits at his retirement party last night.Dozens of politicians from federal, state and city levels and friends shoehorned themselves into a small Canton cafe to wish The Dean a hearty farewell.

Four years ago, just after the councilmanic redistricting plan changed the 3rd District from majority white to majority black, black residents called for political change. They wanted to elect the first black City Council representative from their turf.It didn't happen. Veteran Councilmen Martin E. "Mike" Curran and Wilbur E. "Bill" Cunningham were swept into office along with young upstart Martin O'Malley.This year, those same calls for a leadership change have come again.Seven blacks and two whites have risen to the challenge.

A sign war is under way in the 3rd District, where 13 candidates are running in the Democratic primary election."There's more lawn signs up this year in the district than I can every remember," said Councilman Martin E. "Mike" Curran, adding: "I call it visual clutter."Curran began erecting signs in the 1950s for the United Third District Democratic Organization, the club headed by his late father, J. Joseph Curran Sr. Since Mike Curran became a councilman in 1977, his younger brother, Bobby, has become the organization's sign man.The candidates are fighting to get signs posted in prime locations to gain name recognition.

An editorial yesterday about the 3rd District City Council race implied that councilmen Martin E. "Mike" Curran and Wilbur E. "Bill" Cunningham had endorsed Maegertha Whitaker for the district's third councilmanic seat. We wish to make clear that Whitaker is not running on Curran and Cunningham's ticket.

Four years ago, just after the councilmanic redistricting plan changed the 3rd District from majority white to majority black, black residents called for political change. They wanted to elect the first black City Council representative from their turf.It didn't happen. Veteran Councilmen Martin E. "Mike" Curran and Wilbur E. "Bill" Cunningham were swept into office along with young upstart Martin O'Malley.This year, those same calls for a leadership change have come again.Seven blacks and two whites have risen to the challenge.

An editorial yesterday about the 3rd District City Council race implied that councilmen Martin E. "Mike" Curran and Wilbur E. "Bill" Cunningham had endorsed Maegertha Whitaker for the district's third councilmanic seat. We wish to make clear that Whitaker is not running on Curran and Cunningham's ticket.America is a nation of immigrants, and the most interesting Americans are those who decide to leave the fold in their native land. When, around mid-century, Irish and Italians from East Baltimore's crowded 10th Ward -- roughly the area surrounding the state prison -- looked to where the good life beckoned, it was winking at them from the green acres of the 3rd District in the city's northeastern quadrant.

An editorial yesterday about the 3rd District City Council race implied that councilmen Martin E. "Mike" Curran and Wilbur E. "Bill" Cunningham had endorsed Maegertha Whitaker for the district's third councilmanic seat. We wish to make clear that Whitaker is not running on Curran and Cunningham's ticket.America is a nation of immigrants, and the most interesting Americans are those who decide to leave the fold in their native land. When, around mid-century, Irish and Italians from East Baltimore's crowded 10th Ward -- roughly the area surrounding the state prison -- looked to where the good life beckoned, it was winking at them from the green acres of the 3rd District in the city's northeastern quadrant.

Martin O'Malley, the charismatic political newcomer who came within a razor's edge of unseating a veteran city state senator last year, has decided to enter the City Council race in the 3rd District."