Salvation

I think it spoke to the true essence of the man that Ray Lewis has become that after the playoff game against Indianapolis, the last game he would play at M&T Stadium after a hugely successful 17-year run with the Baltimore Ravens that (after completing his on-field victory dance) he peeled off his No. 52 jersey when it was time to address the media ("Ray's Day," Jan. 7). Knowing that thousands of people would be tuned in to hear the words of this icon on this important day in sports history, Ray chose not to be seen as the awesome Ravens player that he is, but rather as a soldier of God. The black t-shirt he wore simply said "Psalms 91" but his words spoke of "giving all the glory to God" and how "God is just amazing.

I think it spoke to the true essence of the man that Ray Lewis has become that after the playoff game against Indianapolis, the last game he would play at M&T Stadium after a hugely successful 17-year run with the Baltimore Ravens that (after completing his on-field victory dance) he peeled off his No. 52 jersey when it was time to address the media ("Ray's Day," Jan. 7). Knowing that thousands of people would be tuned in to hear the words of this icon on this important day in sports history, Ray chose not to be seen as the awesome Ravens player that he is, but rather as a soldier of God. The black t-shirt he wore simply said "Psalms 91" but his words spoke of "giving all the glory to God" and how "God is just amazing.

The budget crisis in Baltimore is real. Fortunately, by re-instituting a policy that encourages drunkenness, the good folks at Pimlico have presented the city with a great opportunity to raise some much needed revenue and improve public safety as a by-product. After six or more hours in the all-the-beer-you-can-drink "mug club" in the Preakness infield, many race goers should be easy pickings for a few well placed police with breathalyzers and citation pads. A few hundred DUI fines might help prevent a few city layoffs, and the neighborhoods around the track probably won't mind having a few less post-race drunk drivers on the streets.

St. Joseph Medical Center officially became part of the University of Maryland Medical System this past weekend, and it's difficult not to see this development as a victory for all involved. The hospital had been rocked by a malpractice scandal — and hundreds of lawsuits — involving unnecessary surgeries conducted by its cardiology department, and the new ownership would seem to give the institution and its employees a fresh start. For several years, St. Joseph has been operating under a cloud left behind by Dr. Mark Midei and the stent procedures of questionable merit.

Elizabeth S. Brudin, a retired Salvation Army volunteer and a past president of its women's auxiliary, died of pneumonia Friday at the Oak Crest Village retirement community, where she lived for the past seven years. The former Homeland resident was 93. Born Elizabeth Shaw in Philadelphia, she moved to Baltimore in 1940. In 1952, she became a founding member of the Baltimore Command of the Salvation Army Women's Auxiliary and served as president from 1964 to 1966. As president, she helped at United Service Organizations dances during the Korean War and served coffee and doughnuts at Nike missile sites during the Cold War. She worked with Salvation Army members as they solicited donations on street corners during the Christmas season and was an advocate for the charity's Women's and Children's Center on St. Paul Street.

The Salvation Army is celebrating a move to new, larger quarters in Howard County that leaders say will enable the agency to be open more days, serve more people in need and provide more after-school and summer care for children. "This allows us to meet the needs," said Windy Kidd, director of the new 4,200-square-foot center at 9017 Red Branch Road, off Route 108. The old center in King's Contrivance was isolated, not on a bus route and less than one-third the size of the new one, she said.

"Salvation: Black People and Love," by bell hooks. William Morrow. 256 pages. $22. With her 18th book, "Salvation: Black People and Love," the feminist theorist bell hooks has her heart, it would seem, in all the right places. "Salvation," hooks tells her readers, is about love as the "platform on which to renew progressive anti-racist struggle," love as the "blueprint for black survival and self-determination." Who could deny the probable power of such a thesis? Who wouldn't want to see it coherently, persuasively argued?

MAYOR MARTIN O'Malley's decision to shun the cash from Annapolis was a case of man biting dog. Isn't Baltimore a ward of the state? Isn't it a helpless ne'er-do-well of a city? Isn't it legally obliged to beg in Annapolis? No to all of the above, says the mayor. OK, but taking on the school system's debt as he did last week seems a foolhardy decision to many, a move driven by emotion, something out of the stick-figure playbook. In the early days of his mayoralty, Mr. O'Malley responded to what he regarded as clueless judges by sending them how-to manuals, mockingly illustrated.

Orioles VP Lou Kousouris had a fast one pulled on him at last week's annual Salvation Army luncheon -- on his own turf, no less. Lou was among those attending the "Compassion in Action Luncheon & Silent Auction" in the sixth-floor banquet room at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. This year, the event was honoring poultry point man Jim Perdue and WBAL-TV head honcho Bill Fine. At least, that's what Lou thought. But Maj. Jim Arrowood, the Baltimore-area commander of the Salvation Army, knew otherwise.

Ho, ho, ho. Santa got an early boost from the Salvation Army Women's Auxiliary recently. The group held its "Christmas Around the World" luncheon and bazaar at Columbia Gardens, and some 350 "elves" showed up. The Salvation Army's Lafeea Watson says caroling and a bagpiper helped get folks in the mood. And then there were all sorts of nifty gifts available -- from jewelry to rugs. Most of them were handcrafted. There were even snowman figures made by some of the event committee members.

No injuries were reported Wednesday morning in a pair of incidents related to the Salvation Army Thrift Store on East Joppa Road near Towson - one regarding a fire, and another involving an accident in which a fire engine was involved in an accident while responding to the scene. According to Capt. Bruce Schultz, with Investigative Services in the Office of the Fire Marshal, Baltimore County fire crews responded to a report at the Salvation Army store in the 1700 block of E. Joppa Road at about 8:45 a.m. Crews found heavy smoke in the store and a fire in the rear of the store.

Firefighters are investigating the cause of a fire Wednesday that damaged the Salvation Army Thrift Store in the 1700 block of E. Joppa Road in Parkville. Crews found heavy smoke in the store when they arrived and a fire in the rear of the building, said Capt. Bruce Schultz of the Fire Marshal's investigative services. The fire was under control in about 35 minutes, by 9:20 a.m. No injuries were reported. A fire engine was involved in an accident while responding to the fire, but no injuries were reported, Schultz said.

The two men, wearing slacks and ties, are standing on an East Baltimore street corner in front of a vacant lot. Raymond Staubs, 29, squats down and flips on a guitar amp. In one hand is a Bible, in the other a microphone. "It's time to repent - commit to God!" Staubs shouts. "Keep the Ten Commandments - thou shall not kill! Holler it from the rooftops! Put away the guns, put away the dope. Hallelujah!" It's the middle of the afternoon, and Staubs' words are mere background noise as city police investigate another fatal shooting.

For more than two decades, bell-ringing Salvation Army volunteers collected donations outside Giant Food stores, a holiday season ritual that gave shoppers a convenient way to help the less fortunate. Last fall, Giant enforced a sharp reduction in the number of hours that charitable groups could operate in front of its stores. Now, the Salvation Army says the policy change helped cause a steep drop in its end-of-year fundraising drive across the Washington region. Overall, the organization raised $1.1 million, or 25 percent less than its goal, the Salvation Army announced this week.

I am a long-time customer of Giant supermarkets who was very disappointed at the chain's decision to limit the time that bell ringers can collect funds for the good work of the Salvation Army ( "Hear them ring," Nov. 26). At a time that the media, if not our own experiences, tells us that many people are having difficulty as a result of a struggling economy, more time should be given to allow those trying to help collect needed funds. Dropping a donation in the kettle is quicker than writing a check and can put loose change to work for others.

Breathes there a man with soul so dead he hasn't felt better about himself after dropping a donation in a Salvation Army red kettle? Apparently so. Responding in part to shoppers' aversion to being asked for money, Giant Food has cut back the amount of time Salvation Army workers can ring their bells outside some of their area supermarkets. This holiday season, the bell ringers at some Giant stores are limited to four-hour stretches for 12 days in November and December. Last year, the ringers worked about 40 days at stores during those two months.

Saving the World By Julia Alvarez Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill / 366 pages / $24.95 Evaluated by the standards of sheer entertainment value, Saving the World, Julia Alvarez's sixth novel, has much to recommend it - a relatively fast pace (especially in the second half), a couple of big action scenes, a through-line of up-to-the-moment ecopolitics, considerable injections of tragedy and sadness, and a reaffirming resolution. Starring Alma, a 50-year-old Latina writer with more than a passing resemblance to Alvarez, and featuring a novel-within-a-novel, Saving the World tells the story of what happens when Alma's husband travels to the Dominican Republic (Alma's birthplace)

The Lost in the '50s Custom Car Club will present its 12th annual "Christmas in July" show from noon to 4 p.m. July 8 at the Motor Vehicle Administration on Route 2 in Glen Burnie. The event will feature a train-set raffle, door prizes, food and sodas, music, an auction, and a visit from Santa. Admission is $10 for those who want to register a vehicle for the car show, and participants who register before Saturday will pay $8. Registration will be from 9 a.m. to noon on the day of the event, and dash plaques will be given to the first 250 registered vehicles.

Shoppers will hear less bell-jingling, clinking change and holiday cheer outside grocery stores this winter. A new policy by the Giant Food chain will limit the number of days and hours charitable groups such as the Salvation Army can raise funds in front of their stores. The move has left officials with the Salvation Army worried. "It's hard for us because we'll lose, particularly in the Baltimore area, a considerable amount of income," said Maj. Rick Mikles, the general secretary for the Maryland and West Virginia Division of the Salvation Army.

I'd like to nominate the inventor of the TV remote control for the Nobel Peace Prize. That poor TV remote has suffered much abuse and humiliation over the years. It gets lost under the couch cushions along with dog hair and stale popcorn. It gets argued over in marital spats. It is made fun of in comics and comedy shows. But, beginning today, I'd like to lift this valuable electronic life- (or at least, sanity-) saver up for the recognition it so greatly deserves. This year, as perhaps never before, we have been suffocated with commercial after commercial for one politician or another.