Parks Department

Nearly 40 years after it became a county park, the Patapsco Female Institute might be getting a face-lift. The Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks unveiled a plan last week for $1 million worth of improvements over three years at the historic park in Ellicott City, which includes the restored shell of a 19th- century girls' school. Supporters say a scarcity of parking spaces and portable toilets, and lack of areas protected from the weather, have hindered the site's ability to hold programs and attract visitors.

NEW YORK -- Hundreds of Grateful Dead followers, many in tie-dyed shirts and dresses, played cat-and-mouse with police across Central Park yesterday in defiance of a ban on a gathering in memory of the band's leader, Jerry Garcia.The fans, denied a permit for the observance, converged on the Great Lawn near the Metropolitan Museum of Art but were confronted by parks enforcement officers who told them they would not be allowed to play the bongos, drums and guitars they carried unless they moved to another part of the park.

It's the most wonderful time of the year for our favorite comedies - holiday specials! Yes, they get a little corny. Yes, ugly Christmas sweaters and ties are worn. But isn't that what we love about the holiday season? “Community”:  Greendale needs a new glee club yet again (they need to make it to regionals!), and who better to fa-la-la at the holiday pageant than the study group? However, not everyone is so keen on the idea, so glee club director Mr. Rad ("SNL's" Taran Killam)

SYKESVILLE -- The Carroll County Department of Recreation and Parks will discuss preliminary plans for Sykesville Park at 7:30 tonight at the Piney Run Nature Center.The park, which may open within a year, could become South Carroll's year-round playground.Fields for baseball, lacrosse and soccer, and a steep hill for sledding will spread across a 90-acre site on Raincliffe Road.The Recreation and Parks Department has entered into a 50-year lease agreement with the state for the land in Patapsco State Park, off Route 32 just outside of town.

City parks activists such as Sandra Sparks and Peggy Stansbury say Baltimore's park system is not just in trouble, but in crisis -- which is why they are convening a conference starting today on "Great Urban Parks: Sustaining the Legacy." The opening event will be a reception at Druid Hill Park's Conservatory and Botanic Gardens to show that there was a time when Baltimore cultivated beautiful and graceful parks. After two days of tours and workshops, the conference will end with a rally led by Mayor Martin O'Malley at noon Tuesday at City Hall Plaza.

Matt House, 18, of Annapolis dropped down the quarter pipe yesterday on his skateboard, kick-flipped over the hip of the pyramid then did a nose grind on a wooden box. Translated from the language of skateboarding, that means he performed a series of tricks at Annapolis Recreation and Parks Department's skateboard park on its opening day. While the baseball field and tennis courts were vacant on the sunny but chilly fall afternoon, more than 60 skateboarders...

Matt House, 18, of Annapolis dropped down the quarter pipe yesterday on his skateboard, kick-flipped over the hip of the pyramid then did a nose grind on a wooden box. Translated from the language of skateboarding, that means he performed a series of tricks at Annapolis Recreation and Parks Department's skateboard park on its opening day. While the baseball field and tennis courts were vacant on the sunny but chilly fall afternoon, more than 60 skateboarders...

A skateboard park for Centennial Park won unanimous approval this week from the Department of Recreation and Parks advisory board and could be ready by mid-August. County Executive Ken Ulman still must approve that project, which is expected to cost between $120,000 and $135,000, but he has already indicated that he likes the idea. "The County Executive is supportive of the skateboard park," said Kevin Enright, spokesman for Ulman. "We feel like we've heard the concerns, and we feel like we've addressed them."

WHEN THE Caribbean Festival was held in Druid Hill Park last weekend, lots of people made money. The private organizers collected more than $100,000 in gate receipts. They also sold booth space to about 100 vendors. Even the police and public works departments made money: They charged the festival thousands of dollars to cover safety and cleanup costs, according to organizers. By comparison, Druid Hill's overseer, the Recreation and Parks Department, made a mere $35 -- for issuing the three-day event's permit.

A standing-room-only crowd of about 60 people filled the nature center at Piney Run Park last night to hear county parks officials detail plans for the proposed Sykesville Park.About a dozen men in blue and white Sykesville Little League caps wanted to know about the ball fields that would be placed there, and others wanted to know how their sports -- horseback riding and mountain biking among them -- would be treated in the plans."We tried to meet everyone's needs, said John T. Little, Carroll's director of recreation and parks.