Ostend

* Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton, a Democratic candidate for president, will speak at 11 a.m. tomorrow at the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, 2110 Madison Ave. At 12:30 p.m. he is scheduled to speak during a union rally at the AFSCME headquarters at 175 W. Ostend St.

A number of Baltimore streets will be closed this weekend for events that include a disaster drill at M&T Bank Stadium, a motorcycle and fashion show, and construction projects, according to the city's Department of Transportation. The emergency exercise, called Operation Purple Haze, begins at 7 a.m. today and is scheduled to conclude at 3 p.m. It is sponsored by the Maryland Emergency Management Agency, the Baltimore Fire Department and the Ravens and is designed as a mock disaster at Camden Yards or the football stadium.

A number of Baltimore streets will be closed this weekend for events that include a disaster drill at M&T Bank Stadium, a motorcycle and fashion show, and construction projects, according to the city's Department of Transportation. The emergency exercise, called Operation Purple Haze, begins at 7 a.m. today and is scheduled to conclude at 3 p.m. It is sponsored by the Maryland Emergency Management Agency, the Baltimore Fire Department and the Ravens and is designed as a mock disaster at Camden Yards or the football stadium.

Baltimore : Light rail One hurt when car runs into train One person was injured when a car ran into a light rail train yesterday in downtown Baltimore, according to the Maryland Transit Administration. The accident occurred just before 4 p.m. in the 100 block of N. Howard St. A child who was riding the light rail was taken to Johns Hopkins Children's Center for treatment of minor injuries, said MTA spokeswoman Jawauna Greene. The accident was cleared in about 20 minutes, according to an MTA dispatcher.

The U.S. Postal Service plans to relocate its Ostend Street branch, prompting community concerns that the South Baltimore peninsula could be left without a post office.Baltimore Postmaster Mike Furey said postal officials are meeting with neighborhood groups and elected officials for suggestions for a new site. Furey said the branch will remain in the 21230 ZIP code, but it could move from South Baltimore to Southwest neighborhoods such as Morrell Park, Pigtown or Westport.Some residents enjoy the ambience of the cramped branch at 146 W. Ostend St., but postal officials say it is too small to accommodate the growing number of customers -- and mail -- in the area.

Here's what to look for if you're traveling in the Baltimore metropolitan area this week. This list of highway projects includes only newly announced work, not continuing construction, which is extensive on several highways, including Interstate 95, U.S. 50/301 and the Baltimore-Washington Parkway.New highway projectsThe Ostend Street bridge over Camden Yards will close for construction tomorrow. This is for bridge replacement and reconstruction of Ostend Street from Russell to Sharp streets and the resurfacing of Ostend Street from Sharp to Leadenhall Street.

The South Baltimore Learning Center is enrolling students for its winter semester basic computer classes. Set to begin Nov. 8 at the center's headquarters at 28 E. Ostend St. in Federal Hill, classes will be offered from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Fees are charged on a sliding scale. For more information or to schedule a testing appointment, call 410-625-4215, or southbalti morelearns.org.

When Martha Cooper first spied the green and white of the empty sidewalk chairs, matching the trim on the Fulton Avenue rowhouse, the photographer had one reaction: She vowed to come back and meet the person responsible. On a block in Southwest Baltimore lined with empty homes, she knew, a splash of paint is a promising sign of street life. If you go Welcome to Sowebo runs Thursday through Aug. 18 at the Maryland State Arts Council, 175 W. Ostend St., Suite E. 410-767-6555 or msac.org.

When Martha Cooper first spied the green and white of the empty sidewalk chairs, matching the trim on the Fulton Avenue rowhouse, the photographer had one reaction: She vowed to come back and meet the person responsible. On a block in Southwest Baltimore lined with empty homes, she knew, a splash of paint is a promising sign of street life. If you go Welcome to Sowebo runs Thursday through Aug. 18 at the Maryland State Arts Council, 175 W. Ostend St., Suite E. 410-767-6555 or msac.org.

The South Baltimore Learning Center is enrolling students for its winter semester basic computer classes. Set to begin Nov. 8 at the center's headquarters at 28 E. Ostend St. in Federal Hill, classes will be offered from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Fees are charged on a sliding scale. For more information or to schedule a testing appointment, call 410-625-4215, or southbalti morelearns.org.

ONE OF THE readers of this column lived under the Ostend Street overpass, near the stadium where the Ravens play. His name was Raymond James Sakievich. Everyone called him Ray, and at times - when he found himself being arrested, for example - he called himself Ray Armenger. This particular Ray was homeless for half of his 46 years. His life ended on or about Feb. 11. Someone strangled him under the bridge. His killer is still at large. One day this winter, in a sober moment, Sakievich wrote a letter spelling out the positive and negative aspects of the homeless life, as if something, or someone, had prompted self-examination.

Since 1896, the brick and stone police station at 28 E. Ostend St. has lent an air of permanence and stability to its South Baltimore neighborhood, an enduring character that newer buildings can't match. That sense of permanence is stronger than ever today, after a $2.3 million restoration and modernization by the South Baltimore Learning Center, a community-based adult literacy organization now located there. For their efforts to keep the ambience and details of the historic police station in their conversion, the learning center directors and their design and construction team have been selected to receive one of 11 Preservation Project Awards that will be presented this year by Baltimore Heritage, a citywide preservation advocacy group.

Before the Pilgrims Laundry was torn down to make way for new houses last summer, developer Mary Zimmerman took her mother inside the old building in Federal Hill one last time. Her mother, Alice, had worked there as a teen-ager during the 1930s. Walking through the empty warehouse-like space, she remembered where the dryers were, where she took her lunch break, but most of all she remembered how hot it was. Now decades later, her daughter is in charge of the site, which is about to become the location of a group of new houses in Federal Hill, one of a handful of new residential projects coming to the popular neighborhood during the next year.

Preseason threats by city officials that they would crack down on large-scale football tailgate parties in neighborhoods outside PSINet Stadium didn't dampen enthusiastic parties before and after the Ravens' home-opening win yesterday. The tailgating went on in the face of pending appeals and permit applications. It went on in places that had already been fined during preseason games. In fact, by game time yesterday, overseers of some southern Baltimore gathering spots said the most they had seen of city zoning inspectors were their cars pulling up and pausing - before riding away.

The South Baltimore Learning Center is expected to begin a campaign to raise $1.5 million today with the announcement that Bank of America has released a lien on the literacy program's building.Since its founding 10 years ago, the nonprofit learning center at 28 E. Ostend St. has become South Baltimore's second-chance school of choice, helping hundreds to learn to read and earn their General Educational Development diplomas. But the center has struggled to stabilize its finances, pay its debts and expand its programs.

The U.S. Postal Service plans to relocate its Ostend Street branch, prompting community concerns that the South Baltimore peninsula could be left without a post office.Baltimore Postmaster Mike Furey said postal officials are meeting with neighborhood groups and elected officials for suggestions for a new site. Furey said the branch will remain in the 21230 ZIP code, but it could move from South Baltimore to Southwest neighborhoods such as Morrell Park, Pigtown or Westport.Some residents enjoy the ambience of the cramped branch at 146 W. Ostend St., but postal officials say it is too small to accommodate the growing number of customers -- and mail -- in the area.