Thankful

Each Wednesday we'll bring you a Q&A with a Ravens player to help you learn a little more about the team. Today's guest is strong safety Dawan Landry, who is tied with cornerback Domonique Foxworth for the team lead in interceptions with four. Landry talked about the team's push to the playoffs, the issue of self-discipline and his role as a leader. Question: Does this team have what it takes to make the playoffs? Answer: Look at the heart that we show each and every week.

Alan Gross, the Potomac man serving 15 years in Cuba after carrying communications equipment into the communist island nation, continues to communicate with supporters from the military hospital where he is held. The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington said Monday that Gross called to express his gratitude for the efforts of the Jewish community to push for his release. "I worked many years to reinforce the concept of community and I really feel it," Gross, 63, said during the telephone call last week, according to the council.

So many things for which to give thanks, and so little time to do it.What, again?Yes, again!It's time for this column's 17th consecutive list of Things to Be Thankful For -- our annual (and occasionally sarcastic) counting of our blessings before the first of the drumsticks and the last of the Alka Seltzer fizzies.To wit:Be Thankful if Eli Jacobs manages to get his finances in order. (You've been staying awake nights worrying about that one, haven't you?) Otherwise, how does the name Mercantile Trust Orioles strike you?

Thank you everyone who participated yesterday in Clear Your Clutter Day. We had an overwhelming response with 623 cars coming through. That number does not include the many cars who got in line, waited an hour and decided to move on before actually coming through. At times the traffic snaked around and through the college and there were three aisles of cars working their way through the parking lot. HCC Security did a fantastic job of managing the traffic. I am profoundly appreciative of the people who stepped in at the last minute to help and who without planning gave up their Saturday just to keep the event moving including: BumbleJunk of Bel Air - Ryan and Stan; Rebecca and Annabel Jessop; Amanda McGhee and family; Greg Deal, Steve Pulliam and Lou at HCC. Thank you to the partners who came on time: SARC,Lions Club, Habitat for Humanity, Always Recycling, The Shred Mill, College Hunks Hauling Junk, HCC Vowlunteers.

FOR THE 24th consecutive time in the history of this newspaper column, we go for the gluttony. It is our destiny. On this Thanksgiving Day, in the brief moments between the first of the turkey giblets and the last of the televised football games, we pause to consider all those things for which we give our deepest, most heartfelt community thanks.If you believe that part about "heartfelt," we've got a deed to the Hanover Street Bridge we'd like you to consider. Still, in our annual spirit of good nature and sarcasm, here are this year's nominees of Things for Which to be Thankful:Be thankful for Kurt L. Schmoke, who gave it his best shot for 12 difficult years.

THANKSGIVING once again, and I've just emerged from an interrogation by an old friend. It was one of those ritual pre-holiday questions: Are you ready for (1) Thanksgiving, (2) Christmas, (3) Guy Fawkes Day? On this occasion, my friend threw me a curve. He asked, "What are you thankful for?"I've been pondering this question ever since, and I've arrived at the conclusion that, yes, I am thankful, and I am most thankful that I was born white, male and American.No doubt some readers already have branded me racist, sexist and chauvinist.

So many things for which to give thanks, and so little time to do it.What, again?Yes, again!It's time for this column's 15th annual list of Things to Be Thankful For in Baltimore, brought to you two days before Thanksgiving this year in order to get everyone into the proper (that is: thankful, with a sarcastic overlay) mood.To wit:Be thankful you're not the one who told Dennis Rasmussen, ''You need to spruce up your image a little. Get some new suits and some monogrammed shirts. And why not get yourself a new car?

With pride on this Thanksgiving Day. . . .With great heapings of thanks for all blessings. . . .And with, let's be honest about this, more than a little sarcasm. . . .This column hereby presents its 18th annual collection of things for which Baltimoreans should give thanks.Thus, without further ado, dear friends:Be thankful if Dr. Neil Solomon finally understands the phrase: "Physician, heal thyself."Be thankful Mayor Schmoke only got shoved by that 13-year old whose fight he broke up. Sure, the kid's behavior was appalling.

This column takes pause, somewhere between the first of the TV football games and the last of the turkey and sauerkraut and Bromo Seltzer, to present its annual listing of things for which Baltimoreans should give thanks.To wit:Be thankful for Gov. Parris N. Glendening's proposal of a 10 percent income tax reduction. His is a sophisticated economic strategy borrowed directly from Ellen R. Sauerbrey -- which, in turn, was a sophisticated economic strategy she borrowed directly from the tooth fairy.

This column takes pause, somewhere between the first of the television football games and the last of the drumsticks and stuffing and sauerkraut and Bromo Seltzer, to present its annual listing of things to which Baltimoreans should give thanks.To wit:Be thankful for the other 600 kids at Northern High School.Be thankful that crime in the city of Baltimore keeps dropping and dropping. At its current rate of decline, it should reach 1950s levels by the end of the century - the 22nd century.

The Baltimore region saw a double-digit jump in average home sale prices in April, the most in six years — but the gain was driven by a shrinking supply of cheap foreclosures rather than a resurgence in value. Just one in 10 homes sold in the Baltimore area last month was bank-owned, down significantly from the nearly one in four a year earlier, according to numbers released Thursday by RealEstate Business Intelligence, a subsidiary of the regional multiple listing service. That pumped up the average price for a home sold in April to $281,000, a 10 percent increase over a year earlier.

The coastal flood advisory that has been in effect for parts of the Chesapeake Bay the last two mornings is a result of the full moon and sustained winds, according to the National Weather Service. Tides a foot higher than normal are expected, and have already been seen in lower parts of the bay. The U.S. Naval Academy's first high tide was at 7:47 a.m., Fort McHenry's was at 9 a.m. and Havre de Grace's around noon. High tides are expected again at 7:51 p.m. in Annapolis, 9:26 p.m. at Fort McHenry, 10:18 p.m. at Bowley's Quarters and 12:46 a.m. at Havre de Grace.

I was just beginning my career at The Sun when the paper (and, yes, it was just a paper then) marked its 150th anniversary. Everything seemed startlingly new to me, and the festivities around May 17, 1987, were a heady part of that. Twenty-five years later, I'm honored to be running the newsroom as we turn 175. Readers may not know it, but we're older than The New York Times , The Washington Post and The Boston Globe . Leafing through the magazine published to commemorate the 150th, I was struck by how many companies that advertised in it no longer exist in the Baltimore area.

Citing the "bravery of two" but noting the "valor of all" their colleagues, the state's governor and city's mayor lauded Thursday the workers who helped save an infant being stabbed at a social services office in East Baltimore. William Purnell Short III hit the suspect with a chair, forcing her to drop the infant, and Dana Hayes screamed for help, prompting a flurry of 911 calls that got police and paramedics quickly to the social services complex on Biddle Street on April 24. Short held the suspect — who police said bit him on the hands — until police arrived.

I have always admired Bill Cosby. From the time my father brought home an album, "Why Is There Air?", I thought he was hilarious yet keenly insightful. I don't think there was anyone who could make my dad laugh like Mr. Cosby. His comedic career was always marked by the fact that he never had to resort to being profane or obscene. I have now acquired an equal admiration for his wife, Camille. Together, the Cosbys donated $2 million dollars to the St. Frances Academy, which is run by the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the oldest African-American order of nuns in the nation ("Baltimore honors the Cosbys," March 31)

Central Maryland has a lot to celebrate. This past week, hundreds of nonprofits across the region joined their voices to say "thank you" to the thousands of volunteers who selflessly give their time, effort and expertise each day as part of National Volunteer Week. From providing board of directors leadership and office support to painting, serving lunch, tutoring, harvesting produce and much more, volunteers of any age are invaluable to the nonprofits they serve, and they share something truly special with our vulnerable neighbors by listening and showing they care.

With gratitude for all our blessings on this Thanksgiving Day. . . .And with, let's face it, our customary measure of holiday sarcasm . . . .This column hereby presents its 19th annual collection of things for which Baltimoreans should give thanks.For example:Be thankful you never took graciousness lessons from Roger Hayden.Be thankful if they settle the baseball strike soon. That way, ballclubs won't raise ticket prices to finance their losses again so that we're paying more money for more games that were never even played.

As you sit down to eat a Thanksgiving meal today, your inner sports fan might wonder, "OK, exactly what do I have to be thankful for this year?" It's a fair question. The Orioles are coming off their eighth straight losing season, a whopper that included steroid busts, drunken-driving arrests and the airing of organizational dirty laundry in Congress - a run of ugliness that might never be surpassed. The Ravens were expected to provide relief this fall, but they, too, have fallen hard, losing 11 of their past 16 games going back to 2004.

A later start to the walleye season has resulted in the largest member of the perch family being "the most abundant fish species" in Deep Creek Lake, according to Al Klotz, Western Regional Fisheries Manager for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. The season, which began Wednesday, starts with a daily creel limit of five and 15-inch minimum size limit. Klotz said several walleyes more than 20 inches long have already been spotted or caught. Aside from Deep Creek Lake, walleye are plentiful in the Youghiogheny River Reservoir, Jennings Randolph Lake, Savage River Reservoir, Potomac River and Liberty Reservoir.

A familiar theme used by those opposed to opening new areas for oil extraction is that it won't do anything to address our immediate needs. The most frequently cited duration for new locations to result in tank-ready gas is five to 10 years. Couple that with President Barack Obama's assertion that we are producing more gas now than ever before. It leads one to do some basic math and realize the approvals must have been initiated whilePresident George W. Bush was in office. Thank you, President Bush for your foresight.