Niece

If you're a big fan, you already knew what was coming in the season finale. But it didn't make it any easier -- or less heartbreaking -- to watch. The majority of the Season 3 "Downton" finale, or the "Christmas special" as its called in the U.K., took place in Scotland, where the whole family (minus Branson) visits the Highlands home of the Dowager's niece, Susan, and her husband, Shrimpy. Most of the trip included bagpipes, hunting, more bagpipes and Scottish reel dancing. But more on that later (and more on O'Brien meeting her Scottish lady's maid doppelganger)

The 19-year-old Harford County man with developmental disabilities who is accused of killing his 2-month-old niece was ordered Monday to continue being held without bail. Colin Christopher Wolf, of the 2000 block of Bay Meadows Court in Forest Hill, is facing first degree murder charges after he allegedly struck the child, who had been left in his care, in the face Thursday night and she later died, according to the Harford County Sheriff's Office. After an earlier bail review hearing Friday where Harford County District Court Judge Mimi Cooper questioned Wolf's competency, District Court Judge Victor Butanis ordered Wolf to continue being held without bail Monday and made no mention of any competency concerns.

"Truly Wilde: The Unsettling Story of Dolly Wilde, Oscar's Unusual Niece," by Joan Schenkar. Basic Books. 457pages. $30. It might be said of the new millennium that women's studies ain't what it used to be. Which is to say the curse of so-called "post-feminist post-modernism" means there is no dearth of female historical figures to be researched, but a surprising lack of researchers with an interest in new subjects. Which makes Joan Schenkar refreshing, eschewing as she does the exhaustively explored female literary lights of the last century and the nascently dry academic tone with which they are invariably deconstructed.

Charles Sandlass, a retired computer instruments worker who competed in numerous wheelchair sports competitions, died Wednesday at the Baltimore Washington Medical Center. Family members said no cause of death has been determined. He was 74 and lived in Essex. Born in Baltimore and raised in Highlandtown, he attended City College. Family members said he lost the use of his legs in an accident and later enrolled at the Joseph Bulova School of Watchmaking and Repair at Woodside in Queens, N.Y., where he lived in the 1960s and 1970s.

Authorities are investigating the fatal shooting of a niece of Representative Beverly B. Byron, D-Md.-6th, Monday night in Southeast Washington.Melissa Byron Golden, 35, of Bowie, was pronounced dead at D.C. General Hospital shortly after being found in her car suffering from a single gunshot wound to the head, police said.The shooting occurred on Central Avenue, near the District of Columbia border with Prince George's County. Police refused to provide details of the incident.Representative Byron said last night that her niece was the victim of a robbery attempt as she was driving through Washington.

Alice A. Johnson may hold the key to her prison cell -- if she will tell authorities what she knows about the May 23 disappearance and subsequent death of her pregnant teen-aged niece.Otherwise, Johnson, 28, of the 8000 block of Woodgate Court, must serve a maximum 10-year sentence for perjury, handed down yesterday by Baltimore County Circuit Judge Thomas J. Bollinger.Jailed since her November conviction for lying to a county grand jury last summer, she has kept her silence. And although she cried yesterday and said she loved her niece, she still would not talk about the case.

Washington police continued their investigation Friday into the Monday night shooting death of the niece of U.S. Representative Beverly B. Byron, D-6th.Milissa B. Golden, 35, of Bowie, Prince George's County, was shot and killed in her car while waiting for a traffic signal to change at an intersection in southeast Washington.Golden, who police believe may have been the victim of a robbery attempt, died at D.C. General Hospital shortly after the 9 p.m. shooting. Two arrest warrants have been issued in the case, but as of lateFriday no arrests had been made, said Washington police spokesman Daniel Straub.

A Baltimore city councilman is offering a $1,000 reward in hopes of tracking down by this afternoonthe owner of a pit bull that bit his 6-year-old niece. Kenneth N. Harris, who represents the city's 3rd District, said his family had 48 hours from Saturday afternoon to find the dog and test it for rabies. Otherwise, his niece, Dejae' Lee, will have to be vaccinated for the usually fatal disease. Police searched the Rosedale neighborhood in eastern Baltimore County where the child was bitten.

After sifting through 800 audition tapes, producer Brandon Tartikoff has chosen Brianne Leary, niece of '60s LSD guru Timothy "Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out" Leary, as host of his new late-night show, "Last Call." (Suggested promo: "Tune In, Tune In.")"She's a total free spirit," says Mr. Tartikoff of the L.A.-based actress-journalist. "Very engaging. Kind of off-the-wall, yet focused enough to be moderator. She's got opinions and has a sense of fun.""Call," a hip weeknight show about news and pop culture, is targeted to launch in national syndication in the fall.

When Jacob Bauman's wife, Judy, died last December, she left her husband and daughters a rich legacy of Israeli history.The niece of Golda Meir, former Israeli prime minister, Judy immigrated to Palestine in 1921 on a ship known as Israel's Mayflower."

The mother of two children who had their throats slashed nine years ago took the stand Thursday in the murder trial of Policarpio Espinoza Perez and described how her husband's elder brother took a romantic interest in her niece. Prosecutors have argued that friction among members of her extended family ultimately led to the 2004 murders of her children and one other young boy. During this week's trial — the third for Espinoza Perez — witnesses have faced questions from both sides about romantic tensions surrounding Noemi "Mimi" Quezada's niece.

Nelda K. Biasi, a retired Baltimore public school physical education teacher and counselor, died Jan. 25 from heart failure at Heartlands Nursing Home in Severna Park. She was 96. The daughter of farmers, the former Nelda Kalar was born in Kerens, W.Va., and later moved with her family to a Carroll County farm. After graduating from Carroll County High School in 1934, she earned a nursing degree in 1938 from the University of Maryland School of Nursing. "She worked her way through Western Maryland College while working as a nurse at the college, where she earned her bachelor's degree in education in 1941," said a niece, Barbara K. Jett of Sherwood Forest.

A Baltimore man has been convicted of rape and child abduction for raping a 13-year-old girl after breaking up a fight between the victim and his niece. In June last year, the victim was at an east Baltimore corner store with her brother running an errand for their mother, according to prosecutors. An argument began between the victim and another woman; the brother fled and Marcus Lynch, now 29, intervened, prosecutors said. While the victim was trying to find her brother, Lynch grabbed her, dragged her into nearby Frank C. Bocek Park, threatened to kill her, strangled and raped her, prosecutors said.

Barbara Lee Goldberg, a retired attorney who was a donor to animal rescue causes, died of a stroke Feb. 27 at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center. The Phoenix resident was 78. Born in Baltimore and raised in Cockeysville, she was a 1951 Towson Catholic High School graduate. She earned a bachelor's degree at Towson University and received a law degree from the University of Baltimore. She later returned to school and received two additional master's degrees and a bachelor's degree from what is now Notre Dame of Maryland University.

Dr. John Butler MacGibbon, an internal medicine specialist who treated port of Baltimore mariners, died Dec. 24 at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Towson of complications of a stroke and a fall. He was 90 and lived in Original Northwood. Born in Christchurch, New Zealand, he was the oldest of four siblings. His late brother, Tony, was a well-known New Zealand cricketer, and his late sister, Jean, was a New Zealand tennis champion. He attended Christ's College in Christchurch, New Zealand, and then graduated from the University of Otago Medical School in Dunedin, New Zealand, in 1948.

On Tuesday, my niece came home from Charlottesville. I picked her up at the train station. We headed up Charles Street to pick up Kay Magruder, whom we both consider a close friend. The idea had popped into my head about a week ago.  I'm not sure how or why. Perhaps the importance of seizing the day and being with people we care about has been driven home sharply this fall by the deaths of three friends and longtime Roland Parkers Blair Barton, Bob Green and Anne Healy.   My niece at 22 finds Kay Magruder at 92 as stimulating as I do at 62. Trim and fit, she walks briskly every day, as she has as long as I have known her. She is in a book group that reads two books a month.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Orioles manager Mike Hargrove has a niece serving in the Army over in Kuwait and a cousin working in Special Operations somewhere in this war - Hargrove isn't sure where; he's not supposed to know where because it's top secret. In his office at Fort Lauderdale Stadium, Hargrove keeps his television tuned to war coverage while he does his work. He has charts on the walls documenting the progress of the pitchers and hitters, and he also tracks the war effort, with his thoughts never far from his niece, Katy Nicole Hargrove, and cousin, Courtney McLain.

Critic's Pick -- Angie (Constance Marie, above) frets about her looks when George's niece shows up on George Lopez (8 p.m., WMAR, Channel 2).

If my sister had her way, my niece would never leave home. Thankfully, my 18-year-old niece managed to escape to college this year. But some families are struggling financially and parents and their young adult children are forced to double up. The U.S. Census Bureau today released new data that showed the number of “double-up households” rose by 2 million from 2007 to 21.8 million by spring 2011. As of this spring, 5.9 million people age 25 to 34 lived with their parent's, up from 4.7 million before the recession.

Alice Josephine Akehurst, a retired nurse and teacher who was an administrator at the old Lutheran Hospital, died of dementia complications Aug. 26 at her Severna Park home. She was 91 and had lived previously in Cockeysville and in Ednor Gardens. Born in Baltimore and raised in Waverly, she was a 1938 Eastern High School graduate. She graduated from the old West Baltimore General Hospital School of Nursing and became a registered nurse after passing the Maryland board examination in 1943.