Partners

Melvin B. Lowe Jr., a floral designer and funeral home attendant who was also a partner in a special-events and decorating company, died Sept. 27 of renal failure at his Washington home. The one-time Northeast Baltimore resident was 47. "Melvin was a tremendously gifted person and could do many things," said Carlton C. Douglas, owner of Carlton C. Douglas Funeral Services in Baltimore, where Mr. Lowe was employed. "He was a gifted artist who could arrange flowers or redesign a casket.

Thomas Roberts, a news anchor for MSNBC who grew up in Towson, is marrying Patrick D. Abner, his partner of 12 years, at a ceremony today in New York City. Roberts, who is 39, is a graduate of Calvert Hall College High School and McDaniel College in Westminster. The ceremony was scheduled for the Gansevoort Park Avenue Hotel, according to his publicist, Pete Sanders. Gavin Newsom, former mayor of San Francisco and current Lieutenant Governor of California, officiated. Roberts was previously was seen on CNN and Entertainment Tonight and Insider.

Thirty years ago, Enterprise Community Partners began with three women, one man and a dream. The women were members of a local church, and the man was Jim Rouse, the real estate developer responsible for Columbia. Together, they had a dream that everyone should have the opportunity to live in an affordable home. “The company was founded as a social enterprise that uses public and private partnership to achieve the goal that everyone has an affordable home in a diverse, thriving community,” says Terri Ludwig, president and CEO of Enterprise, which is based in Columbia.

Enterprise Community Partners, a Columbia-based organization that helps people around the country find affordable housing, is itself getting a new home but staying in Columbia. After considering numerous locations, the nonprofit founded by James and Patricia Rouse plans to move its headquarters next year to the Columbia building once occupied by the Ryland Group, less than a mile from its current location. Before starting Enterprise, James Rouse headed the company that launched the development of Columbia 50 years ago. "The location is important to us because of its relationship with Mr. and Mrs. Rouse, and Enterprise was founded here," said Charles Werhane, president and chief executive of Enterprise Community Investment, an affiliate of Enterprise Community Partners that also will move to the former Ryland building.

Wilbur D. "Woody" Preston Jr., a retired partner in the Baltimore law firm of Whiteford, Taylor & Preston who was Maryland's special counsel during the 1985 savings and loan crisis, died Monday of complications from Alzheimer's disease at Gilchrist Hospice in Towson. He was 90. Mr. Preston's yearlong investigation into the causes of the savings and loan crisis that swept Maryland in the mid-1980s resulted in the publication of the highly acclaimed Preston Report, which was a thorough and detailed analysis of the debacle.

The increasing frequency of attacks on U.S. and NATO troops by members of the Afghan security forces they are supposed to be helping has reached the point where American commanders are rightly concerned that the mistrust engendered by such incidents threatens to interfere with the completion of their mission. That has prompted a shift in policy that may or may not work, but in any case it underscores the reality that the sooner our troops get out of Afghanistan the better off we'll be. So far this year 39 coalition soldiers have been killed in attacks by Afghan men wearing army or police uniforms.

WESTMINSTER - It's not a full-blown breakup, but they've decided to "see other people. " Last week Carroll County officials announced that both Frederick and Carroll have agreed to pursue other partners regarding the controversial waste-to-energy incinerator that has been proposed as a joint venture between the two jurisdictions. The Carroll Board of Commissioners sent a letter in June to Frederick County outlining a desire to seek alternatives to the waste-to-energy, which was set in motion by the previous board as a facility that would be shared by both counties, and located in Frederick County.

Steel from Sparrows Point built the Golden Gate Bridge, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, hundreds of ships for World War II and livelihoods for tens of thousands of Baltimore-area families. The story of the massive steel mill follows the arc of American manufacturing — rapid ascent, years of dominance, a generation of shrinking employment and decline. In the last dozen years, the mill has had five owners, two bankruptcies and many furloughs. Last week came a stark warning that the final chapter in its 125-year history could be at hand.

Gaming is hot right now — even in the lab-coat world of science education. The MdBio Foundation, a private charitable organization for promoting science learning and workforce development, is building an online video game for high school students. They plan to build a half-dozen games that can reach millions of students across the state and the country. The group sees science-based video games as a way to help improve education in the STEM fields, or science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The Barn Crab House, the longtime Carney destination for steamed crabs and live music, has closed.  The Facebook page for the venue was boiling over with concern on Tuesday morning, and later in the day, Paul Wisner, one of the Barn's current co-owners, sent out an email confirming the news: "I regret to inform everyone that due to circumstances beyond my control, management and extenuating circumstances over the past year that has just recently...