Needy Children

Orioles first baseman Glenn Davis presented a check for $10,000 -- representing $1,000 for each of the home runs he hit this past season -- to four local charities yesterday.The charities are The Door, a community-based family center and ministry run by former Colts lineman Joe Ehrmann, the Maryland Food Bank, the Maryland Special Olympics and the House of Ruth, a home for battered women and children.In addition to his pledge of $1,000 for every home run, Davis contributed more than $20,000 worth of Orioles game tickets that were distributed to needy children.

Regulators beef up federal thrift lawsFederal regulators took steps to close a loophole in federal thrift laws by beefing up rules covering S&Ls that convert into state-chartered savings banks.The rules proposed yesterday, which will not come into effect for 30 days, will force thrifts that become savings banks to follow strict investment limits imposed on the savings and loan industry by the 1989 thrift bailout law.This action should pave the way for a large number of thrifts to convert to state-chartered savings banks.

'Bikes for Kids' campaign will recycle old bicycles for needy childrenColumbia Management is sponsoring a "Bikes for Kids" campaign to give reconditioned bikes to needy children for Christmas.Used bicycles may be dropped off Saturday and Nov. 28 and Dec. 5, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., next to the Maryland National Bank in the Harper's Choice village center.Bikes will be repaired by Bryan Chaney, owner of the Bikemobile. There will also be a raffle for a new bike. The fee is $1.Information: 992-3600.

Otis R. Redmond, a career soldier who fought in three wars during his 30 years in the Army and enjoyed collecting toys for needy children, died Sunday when his pickup truck crashed into a tractor-trailer on Philadelphia Road in Belcamp. He was 85. Traveling with the Aberdeen resident at the time of the accident was his golden retriever, Black Jack, named for Gen. John J. "Black Jack" Pershing, who led the Allied Expeditionary Forces during World War I. "The dog survived the accident with only a cut on his chin, and he'll be coming home today," said Susan Hanson, a niece who lives in Raeford, N.C. "Our uncle loved that dog, and it was the third golden retriever that he named Black Jack.

Is President Bush a liar who hates children? That's what many of his critics now are asking. Why else, they say, would he refuse to sign a bill providing health insurance to poor kids? Specifically, the president has vetoed a bill expanding the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which was designed to provide health coverage to lower-income children. One nationally syndicated columnist went so far as to call Mr. Bush's rationale in vetoing the bill a "pack of flat-out lies."

A $2,000 scholarship for a college freshman is being offered by Shoe City, a Baltimore-based athletic footwear and apparel chain, and TCI Communications, the city's cable television provider.Selection for the scholarship will be made by the Central Scholarship Bureau, a nonprofit city organization, and will be based on academic achievement, community involvement and financial need. The deadline for applications is April 30.Information: Central Scholarship Bureau, 410-415-5558.Books for third-graders to be collected at open houseSchool choirs and a jazz ensemble will entertain today at Department of Education headquarters while officials collect books for third-grade classroom libraries.

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court gave states permission yesterday to save money on benefits for needy children by cutting back on monthly allowances when a child becomes orphaned or abandoned and goes to live with a relative already raising children on welfare.Under the rule upheld unanimously, all children who live with a single provider who is not their parent are lumped together for welfare purposes as if they were all closely related family members, even if they are not.The result is that each child's individual share of a monthly check goes down.

United Way of Central Maryland's Community Partnership of Carroll County has awarded $15,000 in grants to 14 organizations as part of its mission to address the county's health and human service needs. A check was presented Wednesday at the Community Partnership Board meeting at Westminster Union Bank, 117 E. Main St., Westminster. An evaluating committee, composed of United Way volunteers who know the county's needs, reviewed applications for funding and made the following decisions for this year: Teens Offering Others Love and Service Inc. received $500 to pay for insurance and vehicle inspection costs for a donated van that teens will use to do home repairs for elderly and disabled residents.

Mike Royko is on vacation. We are reprinting some of his favorite columns. This column was originally published on Dec. 28, 1976.The owner of a downtown Chicago restaurant called me with a problem that frequently comes up at Christmas.He had planned a party at his place for 100 needy children. But for some reason he had only half that many coming.Now, with the party only two days off, he was frantically trying to find an extra 50 needy children."Do you know where I can get them?" he said.

The Havre de Grace Ambulance Corps, Inc., along with the Marine Corps Reserve and the Toys for Tots Foundation, have designated the Havre de Grace Ambulance Corps station as a Toys for Tots drop-off location again this year. "We are looking for new, unwrapped toys or clothing items that will be distributed to needy children in our community during this holiday season," Ambulance Corps spokesman Mark Hemler said. Last year the Ambulance Corps was again, the 3rd largest Toys for Tots drop off site in the State.