Sonja

WASHINGTON - The skate blades glistened and the sold-out crowd at MCI Center went wild last night as American Michelle Kwan tapped and pranced and spun down the ice, delivering an electric performance to win her fifth Ladies World Figure Skating Championship. "I heard them," Kwan said of the crowd that covered the ice with stuffed animals at the end of her performance, while standing and cheering and showing their delight. "But I had to take one thing at a time. I stayed within my body tonight.

On December 11, 2003 SONJA H. DEAN (nee Heffner); beloved wife of Frank G. Dean; loving daughter of Ebert L. and Cleo K. Heffner; devoted mother of Sharon K. Boxall and F. Steven Dean; loving sister of Laron Heffner. Mrs. Dean was a founding member of the Baltimore Chapter of Choristers Guild. A Funeral Service will be held Tuesday, December 16, 2003 9:30 A.M. At Timonium United Methodist Church. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the Baltimore Chapter of Choristers Guild, C/O Barbara Perkins, 7907 Crisford Pl., #L, Baltimore, MD 21208.

"Holy crap. What was I thinking when I decided to take this on?" That's what Sonja Sohn said last week shortly after I joined her at a coffee shop. Fortunately, she wasn't having second thoughts about our interview but wondering how to handle a mishap with a printer that might hamper the promotion of a volunteer event she was planning now that the battery on her laptop was dead. Her phone soon followed suit. Ms. Sohn is better known to some as Shakima Greggs, a detective from the HBO series "The Wire," a five-season indictment of America's war on drugs that examined poverty, political corruption and structural racism from the back alley to the penthouse in minute detail and made Baltimore more infamous than it already was. If "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" had been set in an American city, they could hardly have been more dramatic.

It can't drive, but it can get you a ride out of town. It can't speak, but it can tell everyone you're A-OK. It can't read, but it can spell. And very, very fast. The human thumb. The wonder thumb. The thumb whose time has come. It's now the preferred digit for cell-phone dialing and pager messaging, video games, computer games and other handheld e-mail gadgets. "All thumbs" has become a compliment. In Tokyo, the thumbing on electronic gadgets is so pervasive that the youth are dubbed "oyayubi sadai," or the "thumb generation."

Dr. Aideh Wu Kobler, a retired Baltimore hospital pathologist who fled Communist China as a young medical school graduate, died of complications from stomach cancer May 15 at Howard County General Hospital. The Columbia resident was 85. Born and raised in Nanjing, China, she attended an English boarding school where she became known as Edith. When she was a child, she was struck by a car. She developed an infection that forced the amputation of her right leg. She later learned to walk with a prosthetic.

On March 6, 1952, an enthusiastic crowd of 7,000 jammed Baltimore's 5th Regiment Armory to attend the opening of Sonja Henie's "1952 Ice Revue."The three-time Olympic gold medalist figure skater and movie star, whose graceful style led the press to call her "Pavola on Ice," had brought her show to the city for a week's engagement.As spectators arrived, the sound of pounding hammers could be heard as workmen raced to erect a temporary bleacher section.At 8: 25 p.m., five minutes before the show, a loud crack was heard throughout the building as a section of the temporary seating some 15 feet above the floor gave way."

Before Lauren Preston opened the cover of the book "Spring" to read to her pre-kindergarten class at Mary Ann Winterling Elementary School, her students excitedly told her why, and showed her how, the season was underway. Daffodils - not just "yellow flowers" - were appearing from beneath the soil, they said. Hyacinths were blooming, they demonstrated with the slow unfolding of their tiny fists. And butterflies were emerging, the students showed by flapping their curled arms. In pre-K classrooms around Baltimore's school system, subtle changes like interactive reading are having a substantial effect in helping prepare 4-year-olds for elementary school - addressing an achievement gap that city schools have faced for years.

Like the television character he helped inspire, Donnie Andrews lived by a code. In his earlier years when he was robbing rival dealers as a young hustler in West Baltimore - experiences that would later form the basis for the popular Omar Little character on the Baltimore crime drama “The Wire” - he vowed to never involve women or children in his crimes. But after confessing to a murder and helping authorities bring down a crime syndicate, he took on a different mission: working to prevent youth from going down the same path that he did. Andrews died Thursday following heart complications while in New York City, where he was attending an event as part of his efforts to promote a non-profit outreach foundation.

On November 29, 2005; MARION (Tony) FERRELL, beloved husband of Sonja D. Ferrell. On Friday, friends may call VAUGHN C. GREENE FUNERAL SERVICES (RANDALLSTOWN), 8728 Liberty Road from 3 to 8 P.M. On Saturday, Mr. Ferrell will lie instate at Mt. Moriah Baptist Church, 2201 Garrison Blvd, where the family will receive friends from 11 to 11:30 A.M. with services to follow. Inquiries to 410-655-0015.

On November 27, 2006, MACON L. THORNTON; devoted father of Michelle Julius and Sonja Martin; loving grandfather of Myca, William, Zakira and greatfather to Damon. He is also survived by five brothers, one sister and many other relatives and friends. Viewing Sunday, December 3, 3-8pm at Vaughn C. Greene (4905 York Road). Funeral Services start at 6:30pm at Friendship Baptist Church, 6000 Loch Raven Blvd.