Office Staff

Last month we reported that more than 40 percent of Baltimore City government employees live outside the city , according to the city's Open Baltimore website, which used data from December. Those records have been updated, and they show an even larger share of municipal workers now reside outside city limits. As of June 30, 47 percent of employees live elsewhere, up from 44 percent in December. The municipal government has 14,457 employees, of whom 7,726 are reported to be city residents.

A Baltimore grand jury indicted a 29-year-old woman Monday on attempted murder and seven other charges in connection with the brutal stabbing of her 8-month-old daughter during a supervised visit at a city social services office in April. Kenisha Thomas, who is being held without bail in the incident, was scheduled for a preliminary hearing in district court Tuesday, but the indictment will move the felony case into circuit court. An arraignment on the new charges is set for July 17. According to police, Thomas smuggled a large kitchen knife into a Baltimore social services office April 24 and repeatedly stabbed the infant, named Pretty Diamond, in the head and neck as office staff fought back, with one man throwing a chair at her. The baby, who previously was removed from Thomas' care, survived.

IT'S HARD TO BE optimistic about President Clinton's efforts to reduce the hard-core drug addictions that have turned some of America's poor communities into reincarnations of the Wild West. Shoot-outs are common and people take it for granted that even the law is susceptible to the financial temptations of so profitable an industry. Less noticeable is what drugs are also doing in more affluent neighborhoods, sapping the goodness out of young lives, marriages and careers.There was much optimism three years ago when Mr. Clinton appointed a veteran law enforcement officer, Lee P. Brown, who had headed the Atlanta, Houston and New York police departments to be the nation's drug policy director.

A fire that broke out Sunday morning in a kitchen at Patuxent Institute, a state mental health facility in Jessup, caused $5,000 in damage, state fire officials said. No one was injured in the fire that apparently began in an exhaust duct of an oven, said John Wagner of the state fire marshal's office. Kitchen staff members reported the fire at 8:35 a.m., fire officials said. About 60 firefighters from nearby departments, including Long Reach, Elkridge and Savage, responded. The preliminary cause of the fire has been ruled an accident, fire officials said.

Dr. Byron Wallace Inman, an oral surgeon who made a family business of dentistry, died Friday of congestive heart failure at Homewood at Crumland Farms retirement community in Frederick. He was 87. A native of Mount Airy, N.C., Dr. Inman moved to Baltimore after high school to study dentistry at the urging of his uncle, also a dentist. After graduating from the University of Maryland dental school in the late 1930s, he attended to the teeth of Baltimoreans as part of a practice of three, with his uncle and his cousin.

Advertising Nevins & Associates announced that Pamela Cerrato joined the Hunt Valley marketing agency as an account executive. She assists in media relations, events planning and Web site content management. Banking and finance Provident Bank appointed Christopher Mata as a vice president in the commercial banking division of the Baltimore-based regional bank. Susquehanna Bank named Cherie Mann manager of the bank's Edgewater branch. She is responsible for daily office operations, staff management and the development of retail and commercial sales relationships.

OPTION NO. 1: The Creepy. She goes to the grand jury and swears she had nothing to do with it. Law-firm billing records eluding searchers for years? Records suddenly turning up in the White House living quarters?''I'm just as surprised as you are,'' she tells them. ''It must have been some sinister force.''Can she do The Creepy? She can do The Creepy, but it's risky. She's not the only one being subpoenaed. Somebody else might know something. Somebody else might know that she knows something.

THE LAST-PLACE Washington Wizards look so awful, it seems only a messiah can save them. Lo and behold! Could that savior be on the way? Don't get too excited yet. The franchise that was once Baltimore's may or may not sign Michael Jordan as part-owner and key decision-maker. But speculation that His Airness might come to the Baltimore-Washington area is stirring plenty of optimism in local sports circles. For good reason. Mr. Jordan doesn't have to hover over mere humans or hit clutch jumpers anymore to make a difference.

The shuffling continues at Camden Yards. Only this time, the Orioles are hiring as well as firing.The latest addition to the club's front office is Walt Gutowski, whose resume includes stints with the Maryland Stadium Authority and the Baltimore Skipjacks, and the distinction of being the last public relations director of the Baltimore Colts. Gutowski began work this week as Orioles director of business affairs.Gutowski, 36, replaces Ernie Accorsi, who left the Orioles in July to join the New York Giants.

Cleveland Browns offensive coordinator Steve Crosby has resigned, owner Art Modell said last night.According to Modell, Crosby called him yesterday, asked and was granted permission to speak with other teams. Crosby's contract expires on March 1.Crosby, who was in his second year as the team's offensive coordinator, did not return calls to his office yesterday."Right now, I have no hint of who the new offensive coordinator will be," said Modell.Modell said last week that the offense and defense had become too predictable, and he met with six members of his front-office staff in Baltimore yesterday, including head coach Bill Belichick.