Paper

Lee Gardner, editor of Baltimore's City Paper, is leaving the alt-weekly to become a senior editor of the Washington-based Chronicle of Higher Education. Gardner, 47, said 17 years at the City Paper — including 10 as the editor — was simply enough time to be in one place. "When I got here, I figured I would stay about two years," he said. "Well, here I am. " Gardner, who studied English at the University of Tennessee and Towson University, began his tenure at City Paper as its music editor.

Editor: Senate Bill 412 [requiring an election judge to establish a voter's identity by requiring the voter to present specified proof of identity] is dead on arrival. You have to remember that your bill can affect each and every voter in the State of Maryland. Where are the indigent suppose to get the 15 bucks to get a photo ID from the Motor Vehicle Administration? Where are they to get the money to purchase the proof that MVA requires? Utility bill? What utility bill? My wife's name isn't on ours.

A new recycling campaign at the University of Baltimore is urging residents to vote with their trash. University officials are inviting Baltimoreans to answer questions about the city by placing their recycled trash in one of four see-through bins on campus. The first question: "Who is Baltimore's greatest team sports icon?" The possible answers, each with his own bin, are former Baltimore Orioles Brooks Robinson and Cal Ripken Jr. , Baltimore Raven Ray Lewis and former Baltimore Colt Johnny Unitas . The campaign, "Talking Trash: UB Votes to Recycle," is part of a larger effort by the midtown institution to help preserve the environment by reducing energy, promoting public transportation, using sustainable building techniques, and pursuing other "green" initiatives.

Barry H. Landau, the once-esteemed collector of presidential memorabilia, admitted in federal court Tuesday that he stole thousands of documents regarded as cultural treasures from historical societies and libraries in Baltimore and up the East Coast. The 63-year-old's guilty plea, to two criminal counts involving theft of artwork, revealed a scheme in which prosecutors said he compiled lists of items to steal by matching names of historical figures, from poets to president, to their "potential monetary value.

Social Security Administration will resume paper statements of estimated benefits to certain workers age 60 and up beginning next month, according to a letter from the agency's commissioner released this morning by two senators. In the letter dated Jan. 20, Social Security CommissionerMichael J. Astruesaid the agency will begin mailing paper statements to workers 60 and older next month. Additionally, workers at age 25 will receive a first-time paper statement by the end of this year that is accompanied by an explanation of the program.

It was H. L. Mencken's last party, and the invitation had been written more than 25 years earlier. I was among the invited guests at the Enoch Pratt Free Library on Cathedral Street to witness the opening of Mencken's final papers, which his will stipulated be opened exactly a quarter-century after his death, which occurred Jan. 29, 1956. The group that assembled at the Pratt on that January day in 1981, buzzing with anticipation, included, as best I can recall after all these years, Pratt officials, a cadre from The Sunpapers, Mencken scholars — including Charley Fecher, who died last week at 94 — Mencken Society members and reporters.

Steven "J.R. " Blackwell, the leader of an East Baltimore drug conspiracy linked to a yearlong street warwith rivals, was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison Friday as part of a guilty plea he struck with prosecutors last fall. Though he was not charged with any acts of violence, authorities believe Blackwell's organization is tied to a wave of shootings touched off by the abduction in April 2008 of his then-teenage brothers. But Blackwell, 27, still faced up to life in prison after being charged with overseeing a multimillion-dollar heroin conspiracy and laundering the proceeds through gambling winnings in Las Vegas and state lottery tickets.

Why are there so rarely positive news stories in your paper? The Sun never seems to follow-up with the uplifting, worthy stories but instead fills its space with politics and sports. You make sure to report every murder that happens, but you rarely acknowledge those who have accomplished good things in the city and county. Last week, for example, 20 people from Baltimore County were honored with "Outstanding Educator Awards" at a banquet at Martin's East. Yet you didn't even mention these great folks who are certainly worthy of a little congratulations and attention.

A phrase appears today above the vignette (or nameplate) on the front page of The Sun : CELEBRATING 175 YEARS. The actual anniversary date is May 17, but the first celebration of the paper's longevity began at midnight last night with sponsorship of the New Year's fireworks display over the Inner Harbor. (I glimpsed some of it from a sixth-floor window.) I bring this up mainly to mention that, despite the difficult times that newspapers are struggling through, despite the chortling of those predicting The Sun 's imminent demise,* we are still here.

Exposing children to books an early age, be they printed or digital, is vital to fighting the problem of illiteracy in our city ("Some parents say physical books kindle kids' reading," Jan. 7). At Baltimore Reads, we see just how important reading is every day. Since the Baltimore Reads' Book Bank was founded 20 years ago, we have distributed more than 1.5 million children's books free of charge. Reaching out to kids with books helps to break the cycle of illiteracy that plagues our city.