NEWS
August 5, 2009
When it comes to what people put on the roofs of their houses, ugly is in the eye of the beholder. Some people love rooftop decks. Some people think they're eyesores that destroy the historic nature of Baltimore's waterfront communities. (And some people love their rooftop decks and hate everybody else's.) But what if the structure you're trying to put on top of your house has a purpose more noble than providing a good place to drink beer and watch the fireworks? That question is dividing Federal Hill over the effort by one homeowner, Marsha Vitow, to install a small wind turbine on top of her rowhouse.
NEWS
By Marie Gullard | February 22, 2009
In December 1986, Patricia Schooley and her husband, Dave, were looking to purchase a very old house on 5 to 10 acres somewhere in the Mid-Atlantic region. What they found and settled on in less than 10 days is the oldest dated farmhouse in Washington County. The rambling stone structure sits on 120 acres off the back roads of Hagerstown. On a warm midwinter afternoon, peacocks strut alongside Royal Palm turkeys under the watchful eyes of a dozen barn cats and a guard dog. At the end of a long driveway, Old Forge Farm is set amid several outbuildings, including a stone forge and red barns, that form a compound in a semicircle around the main house.
NEWS
By Nick Madigan | September 5, 2008
To its opponents, the proposed condominium project on the Bowleys Quarters waterfront would be a monstrosity, a blight on the landscape the size of the playing field at M&T Bank Stadium. Its supporters, many of them of retirement age, enjoy the prospect of moving into the 36-unit building and enjoying the view of Galloway Creek - and leaving the yardwork to others. A public hearing last night on the subject, held by the Baltimore County Planning Board, was a standing-room-only affair and amply illustrated the divergent views of residents of the eastern county peninsula.
NEWS
By Edward Gunts | June 23, 2008
Ten years ago, St. Anthanasius Chapel in Curtis Bay appeared destined for the wrecking ball, after the Archdiocese of Baltimore closed it out of concerns that the 1891 building was structurally unsound. But today, the chapel is once again a meeting place for the parish and surrounding community after a new pastor, Father Robert DiMattei, arrived in 2005 and decided it could be restored for continued use. The tiny, Gothic Revival building was renovated inside and out, including its exterior masonry and colored glass windows, and stands as a landmark for the Curtis Bay community.
NEWS
By GARRISON KEILLOR | April 24, 2008
April is a propulsive force in the north. Snow melts and the flotsam of spring appears: a child's mitten in the mud, a soap bubble ring; the lilac bushes bud, a light haze of green shows in the tops of trees. The cry of the lawn mower is heard. Mating begins, females ruffling their tail feathers, young males biting the alpha male in the rump to drive him off. And soon, suddenly, all of nature will open up, leaf out, burgeon, thrive and prosper. And then in the midst of it comes the anniversary of the massacre at Virginia Tech, with "survivors" talking on NPR about their pain and the healing process and how vulnerable they feel and how their lives have been affected.
NEWS
By Nicole Fuller | December 11, 2007
Opening the planned National Sailing Hall of Fame in a city nicknamed "America's Sailing Capital" should be smooth sailing. But the state's recommendation yesterday to demolish or move a 19th-century home on the Annapolis waterfront to make way for the estimated $20 million facility sets up a potential battle between two groups closely identified with the Colonial capital: sailors and historic preservationists. The recommendation, released yesterday in a report commissioned by the Maryland Stadium Authority, said trying to incorporate the modest home, one of the original pieces of the waterfront streetscape and now used as office space for the Department of Natural Resources Police, would be "too challenging."
NEWS
By JACQUES KELLY | September 22, 2007
The paint was wet on the studio walls in the old Emerson Drug Co.'s Bromo Seltzer tower this week when I dropped by on a tour of a rapidly changing part of Baltimore's downtown. In the final days of the summer of 2007, I experienced the tremendous energy in the general neighborhood of the Hippodrome, the University of Maryland and Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The Bromo Tower, a Baltimore landmark at Lombard and Eutaw, was just one of the several addresses I've known all my life that are now in the process of transformation.
NEWS
July 13, 2007
Gov. Martin O'Malley's call for public hearings to explore the relationship between Constellation Energy Group and its subsidiary, Baltimore Gas and Electric, may strike some as a purely political exercise. After all, it's not as if the genie of deregulation is headed back into the bottle. It's doubtful any new information can be gleaned that will result in the company's breakup or rebates for customers. But BGE's sticker-shocked 1.1 million customers deserve to know more about the utility's relationship with its parent and whether there are steps the Maryland Public Service Commission or General Assembly could take, if not to bring down electricity rates, at least to lessen future rate increases.
NEWS
By Cassandra A. Fortin | May 13, 2007
As visitors near Duke of Gloucester Street in Annapolis, they can't help but notice the steeple of St. Anne's Episcopal Church. Jutting high above the surrounding buildings, the steeple houses the town clock. But what lies below the clock records time dating back more than 300 years. St. Anne's was one of 30 parishes established in 1692 under the auspices of the Church of England. Test of time Unlike the main structure, the parish has sustained the test of time. With about 1,500 members, St. Anne's is an important part of the early history of Annapolis.
NEWS
April 8, 2007
As reported April 10, 1967, in The Sun: A new building was dedicated in Elkridge to replace the 128-year-old First Baptist Church that was destroyed by a two-alarm fire set by an arsonist 19 months ago. Predominantly white church-goers and residents of the Howard County community had rallied to help the Negro congregation of the First Baptist Church build its new structure. A predominantly white Episcopal church offered financial assistance and provided a temporary place for the Baptist congregation to hold services.