Neighborhood

Social observer, career cabdriver and neighborhood storyteller Thaddeus Logan is offering Baltimoreans another volume of his urban epistles. "Hey Cabbie II!" looks at the Baltimore that passes under the radar of the media and the academics. Logan loves Baltimore unconditionally and airs its embarrassments, guilty pleasures and unauthorized stories. These compact urban tales speak the truth while describing Baltimore, black and white, rich and poor, from the leafy boulevards of Roland Park to the broken asphalt of Oldtown.

Two weeks ago, the Board of Education changed the redistricting plan that isolates three streets (called Polygon 16 and 1016). Under this plan, 20 students would attend Guilford Elementary while all of the other streets in Dickinson would attend Atholton or Hammond Elementary. As the western boundary for Guilford Elementary under the proposal, the closest residence to the east would be 1.4 miles away. Our children would have to walk, bike, or be driven at least 1.4 miles through commercial zones and across major roads to visit friends, while just one street to the west, kids will be going to Atholton Elementary.

While chatting with a neighbor this week, I learned she was planning to move to the 2200 block of Guilford Ave. She earned my respect for her decision to move to one of the newly renovated North Calvert Green homes, the sales name for fine 1890s rowhouses that have been made energy-efficient and renovated to the standard of the city's Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation. I have long thought that the most effective way to save a neighborhood is to settle there and make a difference.

A man who was shot multiple times in the leg and torso shortly before 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Biddle Street neighborhood of Baltimore remained in critical condition in an area hospital late Wednesday night, police said. The man was shot near East Chase Street and North Luzerne Avenue, said Detective Donny Moses, a police spokesman. Police had no suspects and knew of no motives as of late Wednesday, when detectives from the Eastern District remained at the scene investigating, Moses said.

Regarding the proposed mental health rehab facility in Ruxton, I am against bringing a halfway house into any established residential neighborhood in Baltimore County. Placing mentally unstable, temporary residents in the Retreat at Ruxton isn't helping anyone except those who stand to profit financially. It is dangerous to assume that these patients, who are recovering addicts or suffering from depression and anxiety, are not a threat to any of the residents and neighbors living in the vicinity.

Baltimore's very own Trayvon Martin case, at least to some in the community, was thrown into peril on Wednesday when the victim stated from the witness stand he wanted charges dropped. The Sun's court reporter, Tricia Bishop, reports: "I been wanting to drop the charges all the time, I didn't even want to go through [this]. I feel like I was being pressured," said 16-year-old Corey Ausby, who took the stand  with tear tracks staining his face. "In my heart, I didn't want to testify.

A rehabbed home minutes from downtown with exposed brick, granite countertops, hardwood floors and a Jacuzzi tub might not immediately bring to mind the East Baltimore neighborhood of Oliver. One Green Home at a Time Foundation — along with other organizations — is trying to change that perception and in the process revive a neighborhood that is riddled with abandoned and vacant homes. "The hope is the entire neighborhood will come back," said David Borinsky, an attorney, CEO of Bridge Private Lending and founder of One Green Home at a Time Foundation.

I wonder if anyone knows why the power companies seem to have such a hard time keeping the power on in south Catonsville during foul weather. I live near Catonsville High School. During July, power has been interrupted twice, for roughly a total of about five hours. That doesn't seem like much but I have family living near Edmondson Avenue and their power has yet to go out this month. I've lived at my current location for close to 18 years. In all that time, power outages seem to have occurred remarkably more frequently than in any other section of Catonsville.

Since Shelly Kizina adopted her pit bull Jada four years ago after finding the dog abused and tied to a tree in North Carolina, the Northeast Baltimore resident and her pet have been practically inseparable, she said. "I brought her here, and she's been like my best friend. She follows me everywhere," Kizina said on her porch in the Armistead Gardens neighborhood Sunday, as family members watched the Ravens game inside and Jada sat by her side. That Armistead Homes Corp., which manages the low-income housing cooperative, has demanded Kizina and other neighborhood residents with pit bulls get rid of their pets is "insane," Kizina said.