Relationship

Roberto Pagan-Franco didn't have a bank account for decades. His employer paid him in cash or with a check that the Baltimore resident took to a check-cashing store. A few years ago he lost his job after a severe illness and for a time was homeless. Not exactly the type of customer you'd expect a big bank to court. But Pagan-Franco enrolled in a PNC Bank program that targets consumers who otherwise might be shut out of the banking system. And today, the 54-year-old has checking and savings accounts at PNC and is in the process of getting a credit card.

For the past five years, news anchors at Baltimore's Fox affiliate have partnered with city police to hunt down fugitives. The segments, aired on the last Friday of every month, were more telethon than ride-along, with mug shots, a brief description of crimes and officers shown at desks fielding calls from the public. But police pulled out of the collaboration — which helped take more than three dozen wanted suspects off the streets since 2007 — after a man sought in a high-profile assault walked into the studio at WBFF-TV (Channel 45)

Regarding your recent article about people not using their hearing aids, I have a love/hate relationship with mine "People with hearing loss not using aids, study shows," Feb. 14). I can set the volume on mine at three different levels to hear better but, alas, any background noise is also amplified. That doesn't do much good in a noisy situation. Sometimes I can hear people six to 10 feet away better than someone sitting across the table from me. In frustration, I will turn my hearing aid off or just take it out and do the best I can. Until they make a hearing aid that can discriminate among sounds like my brain could before I had hearing loss - and one that doesn't cost an arm and a leg - I will just have to make the best of a bad situation.

Alexis Franklin is one of the most successful track and field athletes in Old Mill history. This year, the senior ran the fastest times in the entire country for the 400-meter hurdles (59.05 seconds) and the 300-meter hurdles (41.49 seconds). Those times came while winning the 400 at the prestigious Penn Relays in Philadelphia and the 300 at the Bob Golliday Invitational at Old Mill. The 300 time is also believed to be the fastest time ever run in the event in Maryland. But, to have it count in the state record book, she will have to do it again at the state meet, May 25-26.

Tonight's episode of "Jersey Shore" started as many do: With promise.  The country's favorite meatballs and meat heads did the stuff that makes the show fun: They used the English language in new and inventive ways, treated their potential hook-ups with the casual disdain we've come to expect and generally entertained us as the class clowns of the country.  Mike showed off his karate moves. The boys dubbed themselves "Mr. VP. " Snooki informed women they should get C-sections when giving birth so they don't "f--- up their vaginas.

If Baltimore's state's attorney and police department manage to forge a relationship that finds them working together, rather than in opposition, the citizens will benefit. ("Approach to police crimes is changing," March 8) We have in Baltimore what I refer to as a criminal justice non-system. Baltimore is not alone; the same holds true on a national scale. The word "system" connotes an amalgamation of otherwise separate entities conjoined with a single purpose and acting in unison and agreement to meet a shared goal.

Q: I am a divorced man, 34, who wants to remarry. I have had a relationship for two years, but our time together is limited by our careers, my night school and 40 miles between us. When we do spend more time together, we usually fight.She doesn't want to make a commitment until I finish school, in two years. I am afraid that after the two years we may still be unable to commit. I am also afraid that we are too comfortable with a weekend relationship. Any suggestions?A: Your concern is justified: This arrangement may be a placebo for a relationship that is basically unsound.

They worked together, laughed together, commiserated with each other over failed love affairs, non-existent raises, impossible work loads and the lizard for whom they work.He was her buddy, her confidant, her colleague, her friend -- someone she could meet for a drink after work; someone safe and reliable.But a month ago, after too many TGIF toasts at the local hangout, they went somewhere to dance (and drink). Then they went somewhere for dinner. Then they went back to his place -- and to his bed.This is hardly a new story, but the young woman who wrote from Toledo, Ohio, this week wouldn't believe it if we told her so. She thinks no one else has ever been "so dumb or impulsive."

Most of us have had a BTN relationship. Sounds vaguely like a sandwich, but a BTN is a "better than nothing" relationship -- the kind we put up with for lack of an alternative.Hold the mayo, hold the courage.Susan Page coined the term. Ms. Page is a Lutheran minister from Berkeley, Calif., and author of the book, "If I'm So Wonderful, Why Am I Still Single?"Ms. Page, who travels around the country giving talks, says her workshops are for "involuntary singles" -- those who want, more than anything, to marry.

HOLLYWOOD -- Bryan Gordon, who made a splash with his directing debut on "Ray's Heterosexual Dance Hall" -- it won a 1987 Oscar as best live-action short -- finally has his first feature coming out. It's "Career Opportunities," a light comedy for writer-producer John Hughes and Universal that's due next year.But what has him really jazzed is "Pie in the Sky," the "relationship comedy" that he's written and is now casting at the Samuel Goldwyn Co. (He also wrote "Ray's.") "Pie" examines the developing sexuality of a young man from birth to 23, focusing on "the relationship between his mother and the girlfriends in his life and how the key girlfriend is tied to [all the others]

A series of emails between Gov. Martin O'Malley  and Purdue Industry's top lawyer have drawn criticism from an environmental group for showing undue "coziness" between the two. O'Malley's office denies that conclusion -- but the exchanges do provide political-types a peek into how the state's governor manages key relationships (and some insight as to what exactly he's doing with his Blackberry all the time.) The emails , obtained by public interest organization Food and Water Watch, cover three main topics: O'Malley's attempts to bring Perdue on board with a legislative priority; the governor smoothing ruffled feelings from the poultry giant after a news story the company didn't like; and requests by the lawyer the company for help securing federal funds for a project he supports.

President Barack Obama's China policy combines deterrence and engagement, but it gives insufficient attention to human rights. Since early 2009, when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton noted that human rights "can't interfere" with other aspects of Sino-American relations, the administration has tried to avoid public discussion of the issue. Over the past year, the Obama administration has increased attention and resources devoted to East Asia. Expanded military cooperation with Australia and the Philippines, a robust Japanese-American defense relationship, and enhanced naval and air forces in the region illustrate Washington's efforts to counter China's growing assertiveness and military power.

There is no Red Sox- or Cubs-style curse on the Orioles - nothing involving Babe Ruth, “No, No, Nanette” or a malodorous goat. At least not that I know of. But we all know the Orioles haven't won since 1997. That sure was an eventful season for the franchise. The O's went wire-to-wire, winning the AL East and advancing to the ALCS before falling short of the World Series. Manager Davey Johnson and owner Peter Angelos had a stunning baseball divorce after the season was over, and Johnson stepped down before completing his third and final contract season.

Lauren Gormley and Michael Koehler hit it off immediately on their match.com date. In fact, he couldn't wait to get married. Wedding date: November 17, 2012 Her story: Lauren Gormley, 29, grew up on the Eastern Shore, outside Ocean City , in the small town of Bivalve, Maryland. Her father, Richard Gormley, is a professor of hotel and restaurant management at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. Her mother, Christine Gormley, is a point of care coordinator for Atlantic General Hospital.

A deteriorated funding arrangement with Baltimore City has left one of the state's oldest social service agencies in dire straits — behind on multiple mortgages and without basic utilities at its men's shelter on East Lanvale Street. Founded in 1869, the Prisoners Aid Association of Maryland Inc. has long been a financial partner of the city's, helping to provide a safety net for the thousands of men and women who are estimated to be homeless in the city each night. But multiple contracts between the city and the association have been terminated in recent years.

Three Howard County teenagers are facing criminal charges for allegedly trying to bring a 16-year-old girl from upstate New York home with them, New York State Police said Tuesday. The Shortsville girl got off her school bus Monday morning and into the youths' SUV, said Investigator Don Rodbourne. One of the men accused had met her online, according to police, who said all three are 18 years old. Rodbourne said school officials notified the girl's grandparents, who had been trying to end an online relationship the girl had developed in January with one of the teenagers.

As news of the recent indiscretions of a soon-to-be ex-governor of New York circulated this week, a recent post on cheat-proofing your relationship seemed to be particularly relevant. So I e-mailed the woman who inspired the post, Stephany Alexander, founder of woman savers.com, a source for women on infidelity and cheating. A few weeks ago, she wrote a post titled "10 Tips To Infidelity-Proof Your Relationship," in which she, quite obviously, listed ways to strengthen your relationship and protect against infidelity.

"What makes sisters want to shout?" asks relationship therapist Audrey B. Chapman in her latest book, Seven Attitude Adjustments for Finding a Loving Man. Chapman, who has been on numerous national television shows as a relationship expert, including Oprah Winfrey Show, 20/20 and Good Morning America, writes in the book that she wants it to reach single African-American women who long to be in relationships but feel "a deep sense of hopelessness, frustration...

It is always difficult to write about fans. Well, that is not true. It's actually very easy to write about individual fans. They have wonderful, meaningful memories of how they fell in love with a team. They speak eloquently about what their favorite sports and players mean to them. It is difficult to write about fans as a group. About a "fan base. " Because, really, there is no such thing. Each person's feelings about say, the Orioles, are as unique as their fingerprints.

When union members gathered outside the Baltimore County courthouse recently, many waved signs depicting County Executive Kevin Kamenetz, some referring to him as a bully or cheater. They were protesting a bill proposed by Kamenetz that would have cut overtime wages from AFSCME workers' retirement benefits - an outcry that last month helped deal the county executive the first legislative defeat of his term. More than a year into his tenure, Kamenetz has had an uneven relationship with Baltimore County's public employee unions as his administration seeks new agreements with several labor groups.