Neighbors

In what organizers say is a first, Aberdeen Proving Ground is opening its gates to its neighbors this week for a free four-day celebration. The Army base in Harford County is staging its version of Germany's Oktoberfest from Thursday through Sunday. On tap: German food and beer, a festhalle with live entertainment and all the conviviality the military can muster. The purpose of the party, APG spokeswoman Teresa A. Kaltenbacher said, is "to enhance community relations and highlight the towns and counties.

When the Tiki Barge opened early last summer, crowds flocked to the new club, soaking in the novelty of a pool party on the Patapsco. Yet for Tiki Barge's neighbors in high-priced condos like HarborView and the Ritz Carlton, the novelty quickly became a nuisance. They say the bar is more "Jersey Shore" than Inner Harbor. They complain about the noise, the public urination and frat-party-like antics that include the highjacking of a Harborview Marina golf cart and driving it onto Key Highway.

Arissa Jeffries , 17, of Ellicott City competed for the title of Miss Maryland Teen USA 2012 Oct. 28-30, at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center, in Bethesda. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Orndorff Jeffries. She attends Howard Community College and her activities and hobbies include piano, violin, singing, modeling and acting. Arissa's goal is to attend medical school, earn a degree in psychology and own her own rehabilitation clinic.

The scene: A conference room.The cast: Residents representing the neighborhoods around BWI Airport.The plot: Unknown. This play was acted without an audience.Itwasn't a dress rehearsal, either. This was the real thing. A committee was trying to make a recommendation to state aviation officials onwhether a flight path should be altered.In the scheme of things BWI, the recommendation by the Neighbors Committee was not monumental. The change being considered was minimal and there was no guarantee the airport would go along.

William Smith has been a member at the Towson Family Center Y since he moved to the area in 1997.There's no doubt in his mind that the facility - built in the 1950s - needs to be replaced. It's the location and size of the proposed new building that has Smith and several of his neighbors concerned. "I don't think it is a good site for the building," Smith said of plans to build the new Towson Y along the northern boundary of the center's property. "We're not interested in stopping the building.

Danielle and Mohamed Abdelmegid thought they had found a place where they could settle down and rear their two children.But months after the family moved into the Pasadena neighborhood, says Mrs. Abdelmegid, 24, neighbors in the 7700 block of Edgewood Ave. have shouted obscenities and racial slurs at her and her children, destroyed her property and called the county Animal Control to pick up her gray Keeshond dog.Neighbors say the problems have nothing to...

SOMEONE's asleep at Baltimore Gas and Electric Co.'s community relations switch. BGE is taking a lot of heat from northern Anne Arundel County neighbors because, once again, residents believe the utility is carelessly imposing a health hazard. Apparently, few lessons were learned from the 17-year-old fly ash battle. In September, BGE finally resolved its 17-year dispute with neighbors over fly ash. The Solley community and others fought BGE's decision to use 4 million tons of that material to build a nearby industrial park.

Conversations with family and neighbors of Paul Warren Pardus paint a picture of a man who cared for his ailing mother but mostly kept to himself. Pardus died Thursday at a building at Johns Hopkins Hospital after shooting a doctor, barricading himself in his mother's hospital room and eventually turning the gun on his mother and himself, according to police. Several Hopkins personnel, some who worked on the eighth floor of the Nelson building, said that Pardus blamed Cohen for paralyzing his mother during surgery.

The BWI Neighbors Committee will hold its quarterly meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the third-floor assembly rooms at Baltimore-Washington International Airport. The agenda includes a video presentation on BWI's development plan, details on the environmental assessment process and updates on noise trends and capital projects. Made up of community leaders, the committee serves as a liaison maintaining contact between area residents and the airport. Its meetings are open to the public. For free parking, use the airport garage and bring the ticket to the meeting for validation.

An angry, hammer-wielding group of neighbors last night attacked and injured a Baltimore man who police said robbed a couple in West Baltimore.Police said robbery and assault charges were pending against Brian Wendell Vandiver, 28, of the 3800 block of Grantley Road.No assault charges were pending against the neighbors who attacked Mr. Vandiver, said police spokesman Doug Price.Mr. Vandiver was arrested after Effrim Guice of Hampton, Va., and Nicole Barber of Baltimore were robbed of cash, car keys and Mr. Guice's driver's license in the 1900 block of Edmondson Ave.During a struggle, Mr. Guice was grazed in the head by a bullet fired by Mr. Vandiver, police said.