Retirement

Greg Cantori plans to downsize when he retires. Really, really downsize. His retirement home is 238 square feet - one-tenth the size of the average new American house - and sits in his Anne Arundel County yard. He and wife Renee can hitch it to a truck and take it with them wherever they go. "It's so cheap - that's what's so cool about this," said Cantori, 52, who envisions a surf-and-turf future, alternating between the house and a sailboat. "We bought the house for $19,000.

Del. Guy Guzzone, a Columbia Democrat, announced Thursday that he will run for Sen. Jim Robey's open Senate seat in 2014. "Join with me, together we're going to continue to do good things for this community and for the state," Guzzone told a crowd of approximately 250 supporters inside the Ridgely's Run Community Center in Jessup. Guzzone's annual pizza party fundraiser was attended by notable politicians such as Howard County Executive Ken Ulman and Maryland Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, along with numerous state delegates and county council members.

- Johns Hopkins Hospital's Dr. Ben Carson tested the political waters Saturday at the Conservative Political Action Conference, where many said he would be a popular Republican contender for the White House. Carson's speech was met with several standing ovations - with the most enthusiastic applause following a veiled comment about his plans after retiring from Hopkins. And he ranked well in a straw poll, where he was on the ballot against nearly two dozen of the nation's most prominent conservative voices.

Anne Arundel County's director of public works is retiring after three decades in county government. Ron Bowen is retiring at the end of the month, County Executive Laura Neuman said on Friday. Bowen initially announced his retirement in March shortly after Neuman was appointed county executive. She replaced John R. Leopold, who resigned following his conviction of misconduct in office. Neuman convinced Bowen to change his mind. "I asked him to stay during the immediate transition," Neuman said.

Sad to see that University of Connecticut basketball coach Jim Calhoun is retiring today. As a Connecitcut native, I've had hours and hours of fun watching the team -- especially during the three national championship years. You have to live in a state without major league sports to appreciate the fanatacism of Connecticut fans, and the university's basketball teams command the most loyalty. On the Hartford Courant website, for example, the sports section offers the choices of "UConn Men" and UConn Women," and everyone in the state knows that refers to the basketball teams.

It is with considerable sadness that I read Ann Egerton's op-ed piece of moving to assisted living ("Leaving home and heading for 'the home,'" July 5). Granted, my husband and I are both still in our 60s and in good health. For the past 35 years, we have resided in our Baltimore County home with its acre of lawn and gardens. But I witnessed my parents make a similar decision as Ms. Egerton and her husband when they moved from an independent home to a more communal, less independent setting.

According to a report out of Venezuela, former longtime Oriole Melvin Mora announced his retirement from major league baseball Thursday while in his home country. Mora, who will turn 40 in February, was released by the Arizona Diamondbacks last June after hitting .228 in 127 at-bats for the Diamondbacks. He said earlier this winter that he wanted to play again if he could find the right opportunity, but apparently that did not happen. Mora was traded to the Orioles by the New York Mets in July 2000 as part of then-GM Syd Thrift's fire sale.

Thomas Firey of the Maryland Policy Institute offers a libertarian approach to economic security in retirement ("Better pension reform," July 27). Mr. Firey argues that because some Illinois teachers chose in 1998 not to take a "buy-in" for increasing their eventual pension benefits, Maryland state employees should be able to "buy-back" future pension benefits. The employees would receive cash now in exchange for benefits they would otherwise be entitled to when they retire, thereby reducing the state's long-term pension obligations.

Eileen Ambrose delaying Social Security from 66 to 70 to boost benefits after 70 by about a third ("Here's what you should know about Social Security," March 11) advocates. But there are factors this conventional wisdom overlooks. If one forgoes 100 percent of benefits for four years, he or she must live 12 years after 70 to break even. Will one live to and after 82, and how active one will one be after 82 to enjoy the extra funds? Taxable IRAs and 401(k)s are subject to Required Minimum Distribution (RMD)

I read with interest Eileen Pollock's essay about retiring to Baltimore ("Why I'm thinking about retiring to Baltimore," Feb. 17). My hat's off to her for espousing Baltimore's strengths instead of the usual (and frankly, tiresome) complaint about the city's high taxes. Look at what downtown Baltimore alone has to offer: Four colleges and universities, easy proximity via MARC train to the District of Columbia, museums, symphony, wonderful restaurants, two major sports stadiums, four Circulator bus routes providing free transportation (see if you can find that in Manhattan)

Dr. Homer Eli Favor, a retired Morgan State University economist who was an original member of the civil rights activist group whose members called themselves the "Goon Squad," died of heart disease Saturday at the Baltimore-Washington Medical Center. A Glen Burnie resident, he had lived in East Baltimore for many years. He was 88. "He was the strongest advocate for human justice you could find anywhere," said the Rev. Alfred C.D. Vaughn, pastor of Sharon Baptist Church. "He was involved in every phase of the civil rights movement and if Homer was your friend, he was a friend for life.

The steel drum sounds that filled the room at Catonsville High School were so infectious that students playing the instruments couldn't help but dance. Music teacher Jim Wharton, the cavorting leader of the impromptu jam session, was steadily beating a cowbell when he stared out a nearby window and spotted a truck driver looking in while reversing the vehicle. "Come on," Wharton beckoned, motioning the driver to pull over and join the troupe. Even though his calls went unheeded, the 62-year-old child at heart resumed getting his groove on, savoring the Caribbean flavor he helped introduce to Baltimore County schools more than 20 years ago. After teaching music in the county for nearly 40 years, Wharton is retiring.

Ramon Dominguez , who won 1,010 races in Maryland, has retired from horse racing after suffering a head injury at Aqueduct Racetrack in New York on Jan. 18. The 36-year-old jockey announced his retirement through the New York Racing Association on Thursday morning. "While I hoped and even expected to be able to return to the saddle, as a result of my injuries and upon the advice of my treating physicians, it has been determined that I will no longer be able to pursue my career as a jockey," Dominguez said in a statement.

The Rev. Paul Tunkle is retiring next year as rector of the Church of the Redeemer in Homeland, one of the largest churches in the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland. "I am sensing a call from Christ to do something new," Tunkle, 63, of Bolton Hill, said in an interview June 3. "I don't know exactly what that is. It's probably going to have less to do with wearing robes and standing in front of an altar. I feel like maybe I'm being asked to turn a corner. " His planned departure next May will bring to a close an eventful 12-year chapter in the history of the church, in which he has overseen the installation of a geothermal heating and air-conditioning system, but has clashed with his more conservative congregants at times over his outspoken sermons on political and social justice issues.

The president and CEO of Howard County General Hospital is retiring after 23 years leading the medical institutution. Victor A. Broccolino, who took the position in  January 1990, announced today he would retired at the end of the year; just as the hospital completes its 40th anniversary  year. Known simply as Vic,” Broccolino helped broker the deal for the hospital to become part of The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System in 1998. Hopkins and the board of trustees at Howard County General will "begin to actively plan for the transition," according to a press release announcing  the retirement.

Edward Henry Weiss, a retired marketing executive who put the name Wacky Noodle on a children's flotation device used in swimming pools, died of a stroke Monday at the University of Maryland Medical Center. The Timonium resident was 74. Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., he was the son of Sidney Weiss, who owned a printing business, and the former Fannie Brand, a homemaker. As a student at Abraham Lincoln High School, he played the saxophone and clarinet in the school band. He befriended a classmate, a young composer and performer, Neil Sedaka, who wrote hits including "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do. " "In the summer my husband and Neil would go to the Catskills early in the season," said his wife, Susan Pace Weiss.

What our reporters and columnists are saying about Ray Lewis announcing his retirement today: Jeff Zrebiec, reporter: The timing on Ray Lewis' announcement, to me, is overblown. After 17 mostly dominant seasons, he has earned the right to go out however he wants to go out. And if there is anybody that deserves the ovation and the adulation that Lewis will get the rest of the week and especially on Sunday, it is Lewis. Was Lewis' career is Baltimore spotless? No. Any summation of his career has to include his legal issues in Atlanta.

Martha A. Smith has announced that she will retire as president of Anne Arundel Community College in August 2012. Smith, who began her tenure in 1994, has presided over explosive growth at the college, with double-digit enrollment increases the norm in recent years. The college added a new career center, a renovated student union, a center for applied learning and a branch at Arundel Mills under her leadership. The college's board of trustees will develop a plan for seeking her replacement.

Engelina van Opstal remembers having a problem with the air conditioning in her apartment at Charlestown Retirement Community and calling for someone to come repair it. "John came," van Opstal recalled Thursday, "and he got it working. " That would be John C. Erickson, who 30 years ago opened Charlestown on the grounds of a former seminary in Catonsville, the first of what would become a chain of 16 retirement communities in nine states. Erickson, who sold the company in 2010, returned Thursday for what he called "a big homecoming" to help residents and staff celebrate Charlestown's 30th anniversary.

Attackman Drew Westervelt scored a career-high eight goals to lead an impressive offensive showing as the Chesapeake Bayhawks blew out the New York Lizards, 21-8, in the first Major League Lacrosse game at Icahn Stadium on Randalls Island, N.Y. Westervelt, a seventh-year veteran out of UMBC and John Carroll, stuck corners on off-ball shots and also dodged for unassisted tallies, collecting his eight goals on 12 shots. Attackman John Grant Jr. scored four times for Chesapeake (4-2)