Patterson Park

I don't live near Patterson Park, but I certainly appreciate the area. That green oasis is one of the loveliest in the city. It's appalling anyone would want to build close to 100 parking spaces and a paved road in the middle of it ("Residents irate at proposal to pave over green," Sept. 19). Certainly, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake understands the value of community activism, so she never should have accused Councilman Jim Kraft of "poisoning the well" when he alerted Patterson Park neighbors about the proposal.

Thursday night is the ninth annual Wine Tasting at Sunset in Patterson Park. The evening event will include samplings of cuisine provided by merchants and restaurants like Bistro Rx, V-NO, Todd Conner's, Di Pasquale's and Chesapeake Wine Co. “We're thrilled to have some of the best delights from the neighborhood's finest restaurants and wine companies,” said Kathy Harget, executive director of Friends of Patterson Park, a non-profit group that...

Your article about expanding road and parking access in Patterson Park reflects a disturbing tendency to think within "the box" ("Residents irate over proposal to pave over green," Sept. 19).The city's plan to pave over a significant green space reminds me of the trees that were cut down to make way for the Grand Prix and never replaced. Having worked outdoors in Baltimore during the summer, I know how charm free Charm City can be when its paved surfaces turn into heat islands that radiate sweltering temperatures.

Police on Friday identified a man killed earlier this week in Reservoir Hill and continue to search for a suspect. Andre Evans, 20, was shot to death after an argument grew into an altercation in the stairwell of a building in the 2500 block of Eutaw Place about 9 p.m. on Wednesday, Baltimore police said. Homicide detectives continue to investigate the case. Early Friday, police said a man was shot in the leg in the Patterson Park neighborhood. Police have no suspects in the shooting, which took place at about 1:40 a.m. in the 100 block of S. Bouldin St. jgeorge@baltsun.com Twitter.com/justingeorge

On a concrete pad behind a Patterson Park row house, Emily Jaskot has created an urban oasis through creative use of flowers, herbs, vines and even trees planted in containers. She and her husband, Jared, moved to the house in 2007 and the next spring, the work began. "It was kind of desolate," says Jaskot, a recent law school graduate. "I just wanted to fill as much of the space as possible with green and flowers. " The couple built wooden containers and a trellis and planted a dogwood tree, rose bushes and lots of mint.

The news that Baltimore's leaders plan to put parking lots and a road in Patterson Park is a slap in the face to the residents of this city ("Residents irate at proposal to pave over green," Sept. 19). This speaks to a fundamental lack of respect from our local government. For all types of Baltimore citizens - young couples, artists, immigrants, families, and those in between - public spaces are a necessity. Are there secret plans to deface local libraries and schools? I would hope not. A sunny day at Patterson Park is often as vibrant and welcoming a spot as can be found in the state, and to gut that for parking spaces and more traffic is a sad misunderstanding of what cities are. Every attempt this city makes to pander to suburbanites, most of whom still won't move to the city, serves to sanitize the spirit of a city that once embodied the greatness of American urban space and could do so again.

Thursday night is the ninth annual Wine Tasting at Sunset in Patterson Park. The evening event will include samplings of cuisine provided by merchants and restaurants like Bistro Rx, V-NO, Todd Conner's, Di Pasquale's and Chesapeake Wine Co. “We're thrilled to have some of the best delights from the neighborhood's finest restaurants and wine companies,” said Kathy Harget, executive director of Friends of Patterson Park, a non-profit group that...

A series of public meetings for Baltimore residents to voice their concerns about preliminary plans to add more parking and an access road to Patterson Park have been canceled, according to city officials. The decision comes two days after the first meeting had city officials deflecting heated questions from a crowd of hundreds who oppose the plan, and one day after Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake announced the creation of a working group that will study the matter and the park's future.

The annual BARCStoberfest & Strut Your Mutt Walk will happen Saturday, Oct. 22, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., at Patterson Park, at the corner of Eastern and Linwood streets. The event, which is sponsored by the Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter, is held to raise awareness and funds for the 12,000 animals BARCS takes in each year. There will be a silent auction, pet costume contests, crafts vendors and adoptable pets. The actual walk starts at noon; registration commences at 11 a.m. Go to http://www.baltimoreanimalshelter.org.

City homicide detectives were called to two separate shooting incidents Friday night, a spokesman said. One person was shot one block from Patterson Park at North Linwood and East Fairmount Avenue shortly after 9:30 p.m., said Jeremy Silbert, spokesman with the police department. He said the victim was an adult male, but his condition was not released Friday night. Police were called to a second shooting at 10:12 p.m. to the 3500 block of Horton Ave., near Garrett Park in Brooklyn for a double-shooting.

It was just after noon Saturday and a large blue-crab-mobile was drifting out into the harbor with four students from Arbutus Middle School aboard and unable to steer. The problem? A thrown sock puppet that had damaged their controls. The absurd moment captured the spirit of the annual Kinetic Sculpture Race, now in its 15th year, even down to the puppet as the source of mischief — carrying one is a requirement of the competition. School principal Michelle Feeney watched anxiously from a pier at Canton Waterfront Park as a pair of kayakers paddled out to tow the middle-schoolers back to shore, so they could continue on their way. "All they care about is who threw the sock puppet," Feeney said.

There's a Starbucks and an Outback Steakhouse and a growing young tech company. Soon, a Harris Teeter grocery store and a Target will be built. All are helping to draw new residents to Canton. But where to park? "I don't know of any small part of Canton where there isn't a parking problem," said Darryl Jurkiewicz, president of the Canton Community Association. His organization has been pushing city officials for months to find solutions. The Boston Street corridor in Southeast Baltimore has become the latest ground zero for a familiar battle.

Virginia T. "Ginny" Dobry, a neighborhood activist who was also described as "Patterson Park's one-woman Welcome Wagon," died Sunday from a brain tumor at her North Kenwood Avenue home. She was 79. "Ginny was such a wonderful person. She made everything fun in the neighborhood while being a neighborhood booster. She loved to have a good time, but was always thinking how she could make things better," said Mary Sloan Roby, a founder of the Friends of Patterson Park. "She was an early supporter of the Friends of Patterson Park and did as much for the park as she did her neighborhood," said Ms. Roby.

Police released the name of the man killed in a double shooting on Tuesday north of Patterson Park. Justin Lee Milton, 32, of the 5100 block of Lodestone Way, was found shot in the head in the 2500 block of Monument Street Tuesday night. About a half hour later, he was pronounced dead at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Police found him while investigating reports of gunshots in the 600 block of N. Milton Ave. Officers also found a 34-year-old man who had been shot in the torso. He suffered non-life-threatening injuries and survived, said police, who did not release his name because the case remains open.

The project manager at the former Patterson Park High School in Highlandtown stood atop a roof terrace and said, "This is not a cookie-cutter property. " That's an understatement. Shaffin Jetha and Chuck Nale, officials of Focus Development, gave me a tour of the Southeast Baltimore landmark it has taken me 50 years to visit. I wasn't procrastinating; I just never got an invitation to view this under-recognized Art Deco-style school that once accommodated 3,200 students. It is now being made into 138 apartments.

A 20-year-old East Baltimore man has been charged in the stabbing and robbery of a 60-year-old woman in the Patterson Park neighborhood earlier this month, police confirmed. The robbery was among a rash of such incidents reported recently in the Southeastern District, police statistics show. Over a seven-day period ending Nov. 17, the Southeastern District saw 19 robberies, the most in the city - that compares with just three reported over the same period in the Eastern District to the north, and two in the Northern District.

When Peter Goode walked out of his Hampden home about 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, one of the first things he said he noticed on the wet and leaf-strewn street were parking enforcement officers apparently "looking for any type of violation they could find. " Given that the city had issued a travel restriction on driving for everybody but emergency personnel from Monday into midday Tuesday, the issuing of tickets struck Goode and other residents as unfair. He pointed out that many drivers had to get out of Sandy's path quickly, before they could find suitable parking spots in densely packed residential areas where parking is often tough to find.

Baltimore's spending panel approved three deals Wednesday that Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake promoted as helping her administration grow and promote Baltimore. The first was the $6,200 sale of a vacant property in the Coppin Heights neighborhood to the state to help Coppin State University build a new science and technology center. The sale is part of the state's attempts to acquire 210 properties for the center. "They are expanding their footprint with a community focus," Rawlings-Blake said of Coppin State.