National Aquarium

Tyquelle Washington is a wiry 8-year-old with an infectious smile, boundless energy - but not a single friend. During board games, he interrupts his cousins and won't take turns. At school, he rarely listens to other children's interests, choosing instead to chatter about his own. Like many autistic children, Tyquelle doesn't seem to know how to interact with people or form relationships. But he's learning skills that often come naturally to others through an experimental therapy in an unconventional setting - during trips to the National Aquarium in Baltimore.

In Baltimore CityPolice investigating shooting death of man on Monument St.A man was fatally shot yesterday in East Baltimore, and police said they had no suspect and knew of no motive for the killing.Officers responding to a report of a shooting in the 2500 block of E. Monument St. between North Rose Street and North Luzerne Avenue shortly after 2 p.m. found Jamar G. Bell, 21, lying in the street and bleeding from several bullet wounds in the upper body.Bell, of the 2700 block of Beryl Ave., was pronounced dead at 2: 35 p.m. at Johns Hopkins Hospital, police said.

Rand Interactive Corp. has transformed from a one-room operation with four people each staking out a corner into a growing interactive design firm with seven employees, not counting the two founders, new offices and a growing list of awards and clients.The nearly 2-year-old Mount Vernon firm designs interactive CD-ROMs to help companies market themselves more effectively. Some organizations also use the CDs for personnel training.A human resources CD developed for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, for example, shows animated characters in various workplace situations, each followed by a colorful screen that asks, "Is this sexual harassment?

The freckle-faced, little girl runs up to the bathtub, a towel in one hand, a snorkeling mask in the other and flippers on her feet. A row of toy sea creatures perches on the edge of the tub.No sooner does her swimsuit dip beneath the surface, she becomes a famous marine biologist studying a pageant of coral-reef fish, dolphins, a prickly puffer fish and a shark. When she comes up for air, there's even a bit of seaweed caught in her face mask.The National Aquarium hopes to use those images, captured in a colorful 30-second television spot, to remind viewers that a visit to the aquarium is a fun, educational experience that sparks the imagination long afterward.

Hailey, a 20-year-old Atlantic bottlenose dolphin who entertained thousands of visitors to the National Aquarium in Baltimore, died late Saturday in the aquarium's hospital pool after a long battle with a painful liver disease.Born wild in the Gulf of Mexico, Hailey was captured in 1981. The aquarium acquired her and two other dolphins from a Florida company just before the 1990 opening of the Marine Mammal Pavilion.In 1995, Hailey was diagnosed with hemochromatosis, a disorder in which the liver is unable to properly capture and store iron, leaving damaging iron deposits in vital organs.

Paul Komanski is a satisfied teacher. His star pupil has just performed admirably, and it feels darn good. Komanski pumps a fist in the air."Yes!" he says, gazing at the pupil, a pleased smile on his face.The student does seem rather proud of himself. He easily glides through the clear, blue water and swims back toward Paul. The student is prepared. He knows his stuff. He is ready to showcase his skills to his adoring public.The student is a dolphin named Shadow, who turns 7 in July. Shadow has just performed a flip on command for Komanski and soon will be doing it for hundreds of admirers.

In Baltimore CityGirl, 7, drowns in Herring Run while playing with cousinA 7-year-old girl drowned yesterday when she fell into Herring Run in Northeast Baltimore, police said.Police spokeswoman Ragina Cooper said the girl and a male cousin, 10, were playing in the water in Herring Run Park near the 2200 block of Chesterfield Ave. about 5 p.m. when the girl slipped on a rock and fell into the water. Two men who were nearby pulled her from the water.Nichelle Godwin of the 5500 block of Bowleys Lane was pronounced dead at Johns Hopkins Hospital a short time later, Cooper said.

The feud is over between the Hatfields and the McCoys -- known locally as the National Aquarium in Baltimore and the Power Plant."Peace has broken out in the Inner Harbor," Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke marveled last month, after the Cordish Company, the Power Plant's owner, decided not to park a floating Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Restaurant in the inlet between Pier 4 and the aquarium's Pier 3.But another development is now likely to test the peace -- and the outcome...

In Baltimore CountyGroup home caregiver accused of neglecting four under her careWOODLAWN -- A caregiver at a group home for mentally disabled people has been arrested on charges of neglect and reckless endangerment, Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. announced yesterday.Stephanie Wright, an employee of Emerge Inc., which operates the home, is accused of endangering the lives of four people by leaving them alone in the house in the 1900 block of Winder Road in Woodlawn before it caught fire July 29.The charges said Wright left for more than an hour to visit her boyfriend.

Would Bubba Gump change the character of the Inner 0) Harbor?As National Aquarium volunteers who love the Inner Harbor and understand deeply what it means to the city and its millions of visitors, we offer reasons that the shrimp boat barge should be located at a place other than the waterway between the aquarium piers.Charm City would lose much of its charm if the tall restaurant barge were built in the proposed location -- actually on the Inner Harbor.With the waterway hardly visible and a quintessential Baltimore view lost, the city would be surrendering some of its signature -- ++ some of what makes it unique and attracts more and more tourists each year.

Exhibit on Baltimore NAACP opens today at central Pratt A new exhibition sponsored by the Enoch Pratt Free Library and the Baltimore branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People opens today at the Central Library, 400 Cathedral St. Titled "97 Years and Counting," the exhibition contains memorabilia from the nearly century-old Baltimore branch of the NAACP. On display are historic photographs, posters and documents from the NAACP's start in 1912 through the civil rights movement and the organization's work today.

Annapolis native Andy Dehart has always had a thing for sharks, in a good way. That makes him a perfect match with the Discovery Channel, which celebrates its 22nd annual Shark Week this week with seven days of afternoon and prime-time programming dedicated to everyone's favorite ocean predator. As Discovery's official "shark expert," the Severn School graduate has been spending a lot of time lately talking up the big fish. We caught up with Dehart, whose day job is director of biological programs for the National Aquarium in Washington, as he was headed for a TV appearance in New York.

Anyone who thinks flattery will get you nowhere should consider the case of Brett Westcott and Cameron Brown. The two Purdue University students have been riding their campaign of relentless pleasantries to cities north and south, to appearances on National Public Radio and Good Morning America, and to Baltimore's Inner Harbor and Camden Yards, where they spent Monday afternoon telling people nice things about, well - just about any old thing. "Sir, that's a very nice hat you have. ... I like that your shirt matches your shoes.

An emaciated young harbor seal found stranded and nearly strangled by a fishing net in Bermuda in February has been nursed back to health at the National Aquarium in Baltimore and will be set free this week. The seal, named Hamilton after Bermuda's capital city, has been in the care of the aquarium's Marine Animal Rescue Team since March. On Thursday the team's staff and volunteers plan to set him free from a beach in Delaware. "We're set up to handle [crowds], and we invite the public to see the seal first-hand and learn a little bit about seal behavior," said Jennifer Dittmar, the aquarium's stranding coordinator.

National Aquarium in Baltimore, whose bond rating was downgraded by a major Wall Street firm this week, said Wednesday that the nonprofit has been taking steps to improve its financial condition during tough economic times. Moody's Investors Service cut the aquarium's rating from "A3" to "Baa1," which is still an investment-grade category but a move that makes it more expensive to borrow money. Moody's cited concerns about the aquarium's diminishing financial resources due to recent investment losses, using funds from the group's foundation arm to finance capital projects and pressure on attendance as well as exposure to debt with a variable rate.

They're majestic, mesmerizing, even a little otherworldly. They take on a variety of forms, from bells to toadstools to cauliflower. They're multiplying at what some would consider an alarming rate, and serve as barometers of the health of the world's oceans. A new exhibit at the National Aquarium in Baltimore focuses on the many facets of "jellies," the brainless, spineless, heartless but beautiful creatures that are known for their ability to sting and can be found around the globe. Jellies Invasion: Oceans Out of Balance is the title of a $2.2 million exhibit that is to open Saturday in the aquarium's Marine Mammal Pavilion on Inner Harbor Pier 4. This is the second time Baltimore's aquarium has mounted an exhibit about these gelatinous animals, after the popular Jellies: Phantoms of the Deep from 1996 to 1998.

Its stars may be as frolicsome and endearing as ever, but designers of the new dolphin show at the National Aquarium in Baltimore say the idea is to do more than simply show the aquatic charmers at play. "In the old show, Play, we tried to show play as a form of learning," says Nancy Hotchkiss, the aquarium's senior director for visitor experiences. "We wanted people to see that with the dolphins, and realize that for themselves." The new show, titled Our Ocean Planet, tries for something a little more serious, she says.

Truck overturns on I-95; man dies A Cecil County man was killed when his pickup truck overturned near Havre de Grace yesterday morning, closing an Interstate 95 on-ramp for about three hours, state police said. Matthew S. Markle, 38, of Conowingo lost control of his truck about 7 a.m. on the ramp from Route 155 to southbound I-95 at Exit 89, police said. The truck left the roadway, went into a ditch and overturned, trapping Markle, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Jonathan Pitts Fire damages APG storage building A fire damaged a records-storage building at Aberdeen Proving Ground on Wednesday night, authorities said yesterday.

With just one day to go before President-elect Barack Obama and roughly 150,000 onlookers converge on Baltimore, planners are scrambling to make sure the city and the site in front of City Hall are ready. Yesterday, the U.S. Secret Service approved a street closure plan, Mayor Sheila Dixon asked residents to neaten their yards, Gov. Martin O'Malley urged people to take public transportation into the city, and the Maryland Transit Administration announced changes to 18 bus routes (details online at www.mtamaryland.

Tyquelle Washington is a wiry 8-year-old with an infectious smile, boundless energy - but not a single friend. During board games, he interrupts his cousins and won't take turns. At school, he rarely listens to other children's interests, choosing instead to chatter about his own. Like many autistic children, Tyquelle doesn't seem to know how to interact with people or form relationships. But he's learning skills that often come naturally to others through an experimental therapy in an unconventional setting - during trips to the National Aquarium in Baltimore.