Pica

On May 4, 2006, MARIA JO PICA; beloved mother of Gregory W. and Brice W. Dean; beloved daughter of the late Antoinette (nee Pellegrini) and John A. Pica, Sr.; dear sister of John A. Pica, Jr.; beloved fiancee of Jack Kammer; dear niece of Grace Licata; devoted aunt of Lacy, Hollis and Matthew Pica. Survived by Douglas Dean, loving cousins and many friends. Friends may call at the family owned Mitchell-Wiedefeld Funeral Home, Inc., 6500 York Road (at Overbrook), on Saturday and Sunday 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 P.M. A Vigil Service will be held Sunday 3 P.M. A Funeral Mass will be offered Monday 10:30 A.M. at St. Leo's Church.

Former state Sen. John A. Pica Jr., who has been out of office the past 16 years, is considering a return to the political arena with a possible Democratic primary challenge to Baltimore Sen. William C. Ferguson IV. Pica, a Baltimore County resident who represented Northeast Baltimore in the Senate from 1983 until abruptly resigning midway through his fourth term in 1996, said Friday that he plans to move to Little Italy -- "the neighborhood where...

Bowing to the objections of Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke, the chairman of the city's state Senate delegation yesterday backed off plans to propose legislation to create a state commission with power to deploy state troopers and National Guardsmen in high-crime areas.Instead, Sen. John A. Pica Jr. proposed formation of a state commission with the task of bolstering the Baltimore Police Department, promoting community cooperation in high-crime areas and planning workfare and recreation programs with anti-crime themes.

A Who's Who of competitive sailing will face off tomorrow and Saturday at the Inner Harbor for the renewal of the Senator's Cup. The regatta, which will be visible from the lawn at Fort McHenry, will feature six skippers - all of them America's Cup veterans - in one-on-one match racing in 35-foot sailboats. "Spectators will be able to see the sailing qualities and intensity of America's Cup action right from the shoreline. The races will be quick and closely fought," said John A. Pica Jr., a former state senator and founder of the event.

FIFTY-EIGHT years after Johnny came marching home from war, his old neighborhood honored him over the Memorial Day weekend by displaying his medals, and putting up a plaque, and remembering him as "part John Wayne, part Frank Sinatra, part Errol Flynn and part Dennis the Menace." John Pica Sr. was one of Maryland's most decorated war heroes, and Sunday at overflowing St. Leo's Church in Little Italy, family and friends looked at blown-up newspaper headlines from 60 years ago - "Pica's Daring Feat Saves Buddies" - and heard him praised for a loving nature by the Rev. Michael Salerno, who then burst into the Beatles' "All You Need Is Love" as affectionate remembrance.

A Republican hasn't been elected to the state legislature from Baltimore since 1954. The ratio of registered Democrats to Republicans has grown from 5 to 1 in the mid-1950s to 10 to 1 currently.Nevertheless, in the 43rd Legislative District, with the city's highest concentration of registered Republicans, Jim Brewster and the Republican Party smell the blood of a stricken Democrat.Brewster, 35, a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve, is the GOP challenger against two-term incumbent state Sen. John A. Pica Jr. in the Nov. 6 general election.

The chairman of Baltimore's state Senate delegation vowed yesterday to oppose infrastructure funding for a Washington Redskins stadium in Prince George's County if owner Jack Kent Cooke votes against the Cleveland Browns' move to Baltimore."

The political careers of Sen. John A. Pica Jr., D-City, and Del. John S. Arnick, D-Balto. Co., have been resurrected by final but still unofficial vote counts.Pica was saved by absentee ballots; Arnick by the detection of two errors in the counting.In other city races, the absentee ballot count has assured that a challenger will appear on the ballot with three incumbent Circuit Court judges. It has also thrown the House of Delegates race in the city's 46th District into confusion.A vastly relieved Pica, for one, is vowing to be a better guy.Arnick, who is House majority leader, said he feels more comfortable, too, since the election board's count now matches that compiled by his own workers on election night.

It has all the elements of a classic legal thriller: dirty politicians, organized crime and -- naturally -- asbestos. John Pica Jr., a lawyer and lobbyist in the Peter Angelos firm, has written a book that turns on the infamous mineral fiber that made his boss a very rich man. There's a Greek-American lawyer, Peter Manis, with a boatload of asbestos cases and more than a passing resemblance to Angelos. Pica says the character is loosely based on the O's owner. (I suspect he's using the term "loosely" loosely, because as Pica outlined the plot for me the other day, he kept referring to Manis as Angelos.

Around the State House, colleagues and friends of state Sen John A. Pica Jr. are calling the four-term Baltimore lawmaker "new and improved." One even jokingly suggested that he be called Jonathon -- to distinguish him from the old John Pica.What these people are politely suggesting is something the 38-year-old chairman of the city's Senate delegation readily admits: He has undergone a highly unusual political metamorphosis.When Pica first arrived in Annapolis as a member of the House of Delegates in 1979 he was seen by many as one of a new breed educated, youthful politicians who were breaking from the old "ward healer" tradition of city politics.

The governor and his top officials travel to Salisbury for a Cabinet meeting, and do you think his political foes offer an attaboy for schlepping all that way, for reaching out to the lower Eastern Shore? No, the opposing party calls it a "fake" Cabinet meeting, one that, by wasting taxpayers' money, was actually "defrauding the working families of Maryland." "They bring in legions of state government staffers and cabinet officials, sacrificing a day of work for a day of shameless self promotion," says the news release from the Maryland DEMOCRATIC Party.

John Pica got an old football player's autograph the other day. Stop the presses, right? But there's a little story there that says something about "the old NFL," as Pica put it. At a charity auction a few years back, Pica, a former state senator, bought a helmet with the autographs of Johnny Unitas and Raymond Berry. A year and a half ago, he attended a prayer breakfast where Lenny Moore was speaking. He took the helmet along and asked Moore to sign it, which he did. Then Pica got to thinking: Wouldn't it be great to get the autographs of the two other Colts Hall of Famers - Artie Donovan and Gino Marchetti - who played with those guys?

O Marty boy, the votes, the votes are callll-ing The long and dreary race for Maryland governor has come to this: Mayor Martin O'Malley singing "Danny Boy" at a Parkville senior center. Sound like a Howard Dean-scream campaign moment? Like a punchy-beyond-belief candidate opening his mouth and belting out something that no politician -- even one with a band -- should let loose? But yesterday's musical burst was no accident. The Irish love song has been part of O'Malley's campaign schtick for more than a decade.

It has all the elements of a classic legal thriller: dirty politicians, organized crime and -- naturally -- asbestos. John Pica Jr., a lawyer and lobbyist in the Peter Angelos firm, has written a book that turns on the infamous mineral fiber that made his boss a very rich man. There's a Greek-American lawyer, Peter Manis, with a boatload of asbestos cases and more than a passing resemblance to Angelos. Pica says the character is loosely based on the O's owner. (I suspect he's using the term "loosely" loosely, because as Pica outlined the plot for me the other day, he kept referring to Manis as Angelos.

Maria Pica, who worked in community service and was a member of a well-known Baltimore political family, died Thursday at Johns Hopkins Hospital of complications from leukemia. She was 52. Ms. Pica was born in Baltimore's Govans neighborhood, where she lived for most of her life. She graduated in 1971 from the Institute of Notre Dame. She earned a bachelor's degree from Towson University in 1990. Her father, who died in 2002, was John A. Pica Sr., a former Baltimore City councilman. Her brother, John A. Pica Jr., served in the state Senate.

On May 4, 2006, MARIA JO PICA; beloved mother of Gregory W. and Brice W. Dean; beloved daughter of the late Antoinette (nee Pellegrini) and John A. Pica, Sr.; dear sister of John A. Pica, Jr.; beloved fiancee of Jack Kammer; dear niece of Grace Licata; devoted aunt of Lacy, Hollis and Matthew Pica. Survived by Douglas Dean, loving cousins and many friends. Friends may call at the family owned Mitchell-Wiedefeld Funeral Home, Inc., 6500 York Road (at Overbrook), on Saturday and Sunday 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 P.M. A Vigil Service will be held Sunday 3 P.M. A Funeral Mass will be offered Monday 10:30 A.M. at St. Leo's Church.

Months of tension in a closely watched state Senate race in Northeast Baltimore spilled over yesterday as both candidates fumed over political fliers and each accused the other of vicious campaign tactics.Surrounded by several community leaders and supporters, state Sen. John A. Pica Jr. denounced his rival in the newly redrawn 43rd District. Mr. Pica charged that Del. Curtis S. Anderson had mailed out an inflammatory brochure calling him a liar over the weekend.The oversize postcard features a caricature of Pinocchio and the words "Senator Pica is a liar" and "Throw the liar out" in red ink. Mailed individually instead of by bulk rate, the fliers contain no authority line, a violation of Maryland election laws, and repeat charges from four years ago that Mr. Pica had missed votes on key legislation.

NOW COMES the first Thanksgiving in years without the helping hand of Bea Gaddy, who left us last month. She was a blessing to those who had lost their way. But Bea counted her own gifts, among them the enduring friendship of John Pica Sr., in the unlikeliest way. It was Pica, 77 now, who was sitting at the bar in Velleggia's Restaurant, in Little Italy, one night back in the late 1960s when Bea's brother tried to stick up the place. Frank Velleggia was there that night, and so was Judge Henry Stichel.

About five months ago, I started craving ice. I think the condition is called pica, but I don't know what it means. Before this, I would always order my drinks with no ice, and I couldn't stand drinks if they were too cold. I started taking Centrum Silver in October, thinking I was lacking something in my diet. I've been taking Protonix daily for the past three years. Please help. Pica is the name doctors use when people eat things that are not considered food. Examples include clay, baking soda, laundry starch or ice. We also have heard from readers with abnormal cravings for popcorn, carrots, orange peels or tomatoes.

Peter G. Angelos, who made a national name after mounting bruising legal battles against the asbestos and tobacco industries, has begun waging another fight aimed at a wide swath of companies. The target this time: Mortgage lenders accused of predatory practices in Maryland. Lawyers in Angelos' firm have filed a half-dozen class action lawsuits against banks such Irwin Financial Corp. and Provident Bankshares Corp. and mortgage companies such as Mortgage Lenders Network USA Inc. In general, the complaints allege the companies charged excessive or illegal fees.