Solo

After nearly a decade of winning over local and out-of-town crowds as the lead singer of Fools & Horses, singer-songwriter Matt Hutchison suddenly became a solo act after the band broke up in October 2011. Since then, he's played wherever they'll have him — colleges, coffeehouses, the Night Cat in Easton, Joe Squared in Station North, to name a few places — trying to rebuild the interest his previous band earned. Consistent gigs are good, but it's difficult to gain listeners without releasing albums.

With the swipe of an excavator, a demolition crew began taking down the abandoned Solo Cup factory in Owings Mills on Thursday, work that will clear the way for new development that was once threatened by opposition. When the abandoned plant is flattened, developers plan to build a $140 million shopping center anchored by the upscale grocer Wegmans, as well as a gym, restaurants, offices and stores. Developers say Foundry Row will open by late 2015 or early 2016. The ceremonial start to demolition at the site on the corner of Reisterstown and Painters Mill roads followed months of debate among residents, developers and Baltimore County Council members.

Sailing Rutherford sets Americas record Matt Rutherford crossed the finish line at the Chesapeake Bay Tunnel Bridge in Norfolk, Va., at 10:48 a.m. Wednesday, becoming the first solo sailor to circumnavigate North and South America nonstop. Rutherford, who is sailing a 27-foot boat christened the St. Brendan, will step on land for the first time Saturday at noon during a public ceremony in Annapolis. The event will be streamed live from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at solotheamericas.org and crabsailing.org.

Last week was "Prom Night" and mercifully Wynonna went home. Tonight is "The Best Year of Your Life," and I'm already prepared to feel decrepit and ancient when Aly and Zendaya pick from their limited number of years. During the staircase introductions, Gleb walks down by himself. This is after we saw Lisa take a hard fall in the rehearsal footage montage. Curious! Suspense! Drama! Tom says that Lisa has been ill all day and sitting out rehearsal on doctor's orders. We'll find out later if she's dancing tonight.

Dashboard Confessional's Chris Carrabba returns to his origins with a solo tour coming to Rams Head Live tomorrow night. Also featuring John Ralston and Max Bemis, the show will preview Carrabba's next album. Doors open at 6:30, and the show starts at 7:30. Rams Head is at 20 Market Place. Tickets are $27.50. Call 410-244-1131 or go to ramsheadlive.com.

The lowdown -- In Solo: A Two-Person Show, co-creators and performers Matt Chapman and Josh Matthews tell the tale of two brothers attempting to sort their way through the puzzling details of their last moments together and discover what may or may not have happened to each other. If you go -- Solo: A Two-Person Show will take place at 7 p.m. tomorrow and Saturday and at 3 p.m. Sunday at Theatre Project, 45 W. Preston St. The show is appropriate for ages 8 and older. Tickets are $10-$20.

Kids everywhere are on the go this summer. For many young travelers, that may mean flying alone. If you're like many parents, you'll find sending a preteen or teen on a solo journey isn't so easy the first time.Here are some basic tips to help ensure a safe and enjoyable flight:* Request a guide brochure for unaccompanied children and teens from your airline, which outlines rules and helpful safety tips.* Flight attendant Julia Applegate of Northwest Airlines reminds parents to be attentive to every detail of their child's itinerary, including making sure the child gets on the correct plane.

THE DAYS OF swashbuckling adventurers might be long gone, but the desire to challenge mind and body remains. For many of us, daily life can be a challenge. But some take up pursuits well beyond the ordinary. Take local sailor Howard "Bud" Schindler, who challenged nature and has a tale to tell of his solo 26-day trip, exploring little-known nooks and tributaries of the Delaware and Chesapeake bays on his 22-foot Sailmaster, the "Sherry D." He tells about it in a book, "Between 2 Bays and the Sea," published in December, that recounts his discoveries and the adventures experienced along the way. Schindler, a longtime sailor who grew up along the shores of the Magothy River, was inspired to make the attempt after meeting Robert deGast at a lecture in 1977.

GLEN ARM -- A Glen Arm teen-ager trying to fly solo across the United States spent yesterday in Plainview, Texas, resting before heading to New Mexico. Jimmy Mathis, 16, arrived Wednesday evening in Plainview, said his mother, Mary Lou Mathis."He's going to lay over mostly to catch up on his rest," said Mrs. Mathis, who talked with her son yesterday morning. "The hardest part of his trip is really coming up -- the desert and the mountains," she said. "I'm a little nervous about that."Young Mathis left Ocean City on June 30 for the 2,500-mile flight to California.

In "Solo," the Terminator joins the Magnificent Seven.A movie so purloined from other movies it has almost no single moment of original life, this odd hybrid follows as an experimental super android infantryman joins forces with a guerrilla-besieged Central American village and, faster than you can say "Yul Brynner," has the villagers outfighting the boys with the AK-47s and the Che T-shirts.Mario Van Peebles is the best thing in the picture as the title character. With his head shaven (nice conceit: When the android is given a choice of faces during construction, he picks Michael Jordan's)

After nearly a decade of winning over local and out-of-town crowds as the lead singer of Fools & Horses, singer-songwriter Matt Hutchison suddenly became a solo act after the band broke up in October 2011. Since then, he's played wherever they'll have him — colleges, coffeehouses, the Night Cat in Easton, Joe Squared in Station North, to name a few places — trying to rebuild the interest his previous band earned. Consistent gigs are good, but it's difficult to gain listeners without releasing albums.

Denver defeated Maryland, 12-9, on Saturday in the inaugural Seatown Classic in Tukwila, Wash., a suburb of Seattle. The game, held by the Washington state chapter of US Lacrosse, was the first-ever Division I contest in the state. Kevin Cooper led the Terrapins, the national runners-up the past two seasons, with three goals and two assists. Starting goalie Nick Amato finished with six saves. For the Pioneers, sophomore Michael Pirone (Georgetown Prep)

Baltimore had waited for this cold, soggy day for 15 years. With anticipation in the crisp October air, the Orioles played their first home playoff game at Camden Yards in since 1997 on Sunday night, so waiting an extra two hours and 26 minutes really didn't matter too much. But Russell Martin's solo homer off O's closer Jim Johnson in the ninth inning kickstarted a five-run rally for the New York Yankees, who took Game 1 of the American League Division Series, 7-2. Game 2 is tonight at Camden Yards.

The company redeveloping the former Solo Cup site in Owings Mills has made overtures to the owners of the Owings Mills Mall about purchasing that property, its CEO said Thursday. Leaders of Greenberg Gibbons, which is preparing to tear down the old Solo Cup plant to build the Foundry Row retail center on Reisterstown Road, "are big believers in the Owings Mills market and would love to do Foundry Row and the mall," chairman and CEO Brian Gibbons said. "We've reached out" to the mall owners, said Gibbons, whose company is based in Owings Mills.

Many in Baltimore County and elsewhere are no doubt bewildered by all the fuss that was raised in recent months over the redevelopment of the former Solo Cup plant in Owings Mills into an upscale development featuring a Wegmans supermarket. If you're going to build a shopping center (and built-up Reisterstown Road is no stranger to them) isn't this what you'd want? But alas, the proposal proved as contentious and fraught with political intrigue as any county land use decision in recent memory.

Lew Ford went into Monday's series opener against the White Sox having not hit a major league home run since July 29, 2007. Since he joined the Orioles on July 29, Ford has played sparingly. But he's making the most of his starts the past two nights as the DH against left-handed White Sox starters. On Monday, Ford started for this second time since Aug. 12, and he hit a second-inning solo homer off Francisco Liriano in the Orioles' 4-3 comeback win. It was his first big league homer in more than five years.

There are choreographers who will bend over backward to make their works accessible and audience-friendly. New York choreographer Molissa Fenley is not that type of choreographer or performer.Her three solo works, performed Saturday evening at the Baltimore Museum of Art as the final installment in the "Off the Walls" series, required stamina -- not only from the performer but also from the audience. Her dances are not the kind you can mindlessly slip into; they are abstract, often frustratingly so, and require attention.

LEON FLEISHER, the virtuoso Baltimore pianist, lost the keyboard use of his right hand 25 years ago because he "played through pain" in the accepted techniques of the 1940s when he was young. After disaster struck, he became a leading artist in the left-hand piano literature.Instead of solos, Fleisher mostly played concerto music with orchestras, scores written for the Austrian pianist Paul Wittgenstein, who lost his right arm in World War I. Contributors were Ravel, Prokofiev, Britten, Strauss, Schmidt, Korngold and others.

The Baltimore County Council on Tuesday voted to allow retail at the former Solo Cup plant in Owings Mills, but opponents of a planned shopping center there say they will not give up their fight against the project. At a packed meeting, the council decided 6-1 to approve a zoning change at the old manufacturing site on Reisterstown Road so that developer Greenberg Gibbons can move forward with its proposed $140 million Foundry Row shopping center featuring a Wegmans supermarket. Those who are against the project say they will now seek to bring the issue to a voter referendum.

The battle over the redevelopment of the former Solo Cup property in Owings Mills is coming down to the wire, with opponents making last-minute allegations against Baltimore County Council Chairwoman Vicki Almond and announcing a drive to bring zoning maps to referendum. In what has become the county's most closely watched development issue, the County Council is set to vote Tuesday evening on whether to allow retail at the site on Reisterstown Road to pave the way for an upscale shopping center anchored by a Wegmans supermarket.