Tim Murphy

Democrats have long enjoyed a monopoly on elected offices in Baltimore. Few Republicans have bothered to challenge. But this one-party stranglehold is slowly loosening. Republican voter registration is growing faster than the Democrats; the quality of candidates is improving. Still, most GOP candidates lack resources and their quests have kamikaze-like qualities.Among this year's Republican candidates, two stand out: J. Gary Lee, who is running for the state Senate from the new city-county 42nd District, and Edward J. Eagan, who is hoping to stage an upset in West Baltimore's 41st District.

It was last Easter when the note, a particularly high one, got stuck on the organ at Baltimore's St. Ignatius Roman Catholic Church. Tim Murphy, the organist for the past 27 years, climbed inside the giant case and tinkered with it for several minutes to get it to stop. Hundreds of families could do little but stare at Murphy and each other. That's when it became clear that Murphy's applications of duct tape and skill could no longer cover up the fact that the 150-year-old organ needed a major overhaul.

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- He is mostly a memory, his grace and artistry lost to recent generations of figure skaters. But while John Curry's gold-medal performances have been relegated to YouTube and an occasional 1976 Olympic retrospective, his approach to skating remains. Few have embraced it more than Kimmie Meissner, the U.S. champion who begins the defense of her title tonight. Nearly all members of Team Meissner are disciples of Curry: coach Pam Gregory, choreographer Lori Nichol and artistic coach Nathan Birch.

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- He is mostly a memory, his grace and artistry lost to recent generations of figure skaters. But while John Curry's gold-medal performances have been relegated to YouTube and an occasional 1976 Olympic retrospective, his approach to skating remains. Few have embraced it more than Kimmie Meissner, the U.S. champion who begins the defense of her title tonight. Nearly all members of Team Meissner are disciples of Curry: coach Pam Gregory, choreographer Lori Nichol and artistic coach Nathan Birch.

It was last Easter when the note, a particularly high one, got stuck on the organ at Baltimore's St. Ignatius Roman Catholic Church. Tim Murphy, the organist for the past 27 years, climbed inside the giant case and tinkered with it for several minutes to get it to stop. Hundreds of families could do little but stare at Murphy and each other. That's when it became clear that Murphy's applications of duct tape and skill could no longer cover up the fact that the 150-year-old organ needed a major overhaul.

She has an island fantasy camp to run this week, a fall wedding - her own - to plan, an Olympic hopeful to mentor and a televised holiday show to prep for. Yet Dorothy Hamill, the figure skater crowned "America's Sweetheart" after her gold-medal performance at the 1976 Winter Olympics, still finds time to stop for a phone call to her summer home on Nantucket to catch up. Although she wasn't a summer camper growing up, Hamill started to get the bug...

The Next Ice Age, Baltimore's ice dance company, opened its six-evening engagement at Columbia's Ice Rink last night.Choreographers/skaters/artistic directors Nathan Birch and Tim Murphy, along with guest artist Dorothy Hamill, have put together a program that blends the best of skating with modern dance, guaranteed to take the chill out of the ice rink temperature.The program of seven dances at the transformed ice rink -- there are wings, as with a true proscenium stage -- was split between the premier of Mr. Birch's nearly hourlong "Sisyphean Victory" and six shorter dances.

There aren't any purple dinosaurs on skates in Dorothy Hamill's Ice Capades.Instead, like a fairy godmother, Ms. Hamill has turned the once flashy, carnival atmosphere of this popular ice show with its Las Vegas-inspired costumes into a class act with her substantive production of "Cinderella -- Frozen in Time" now appearing through Sunday at the Baltimore Arena.Local choreographer Tim Murphy, co-founder of the Next Ice Age along with Nathan Birch, have contributed their considerable choreographic talents to this delightful rendition of the beloved fairy tale.

Psychiatrists Steven S. Sharfstein and John J. Boronow recently noted that Maryland does not have an assisted outpatient treatment program for people with serious mental illness ( "Close the mental health revolving door," Dec. 29). Assisted outpatient treatment programs allow courts to order a very narrowly defined class of individuals - those with a history of violence, arrest or needless hospitalizations - to stay in treatment as a condition of living in the community. Assisted outpatient programs reduced homelessness, hospitalizations, arrests and incarcerations in New York, California, North Carolina and 39 other states.

After a decade of hard work, not even Saturday night's windy, rainy, snowy weather could dampen the spirits of Rebecca Hoffberger, the founder of the American Visionary Art Museum.More than 600 people braved the elements to be among the first to see her $7 million dream at 800 Key Highway. The party was a gala fund-raiser that attracted well-heeled guests who paid $250 for dinner at Southern High School followed by a preview, and others, who paid $500 to $1,000 for a VIP preview before dinner.

Democrats have long enjoyed a monopoly on elected offices in Baltimore. Few Republicans have bothered to challenge. But this one-party stranglehold is slowly loosening. Republican voter registration is growing faster than the Democrats; the quality of candidates is improving. Still, most GOP candidates lack resources and their quests have kamikaze-like qualities.Among this year's Republican candidates, two stand out: J. Gary Lee, who is running for the state Senate from the new city-county 42nd District, and Edward J. Eagan, who is hoping to stage an upset in West Baltimore's 41st District.

The name Night of the Cookers (885 N. Howard St., 410-383-2094) is a little odd. But this new restaurant serving Low Country, Cajun and creole food has a successful sibling in New York with the same name. It comes from a jazz album popular in the '60s. The executive chef is the well-traveled Joshau Hill, who says he's not leaving this gig anytime soon. "I've been opening restaurants since I came to Baltimore. Hello. I will be your executive chef, and I will stay." As for the food, apart from the barbecue and three sides, it's pretty haute, with prices to match, ranging from wild mushroom ravioli ($20)

Freshman Cory Marcon, sophomore Chris Finney and junior Robert Silva will always share something in common as their Oakland Mills varsity soccer careers progress. They can all say they scored their first varsity goals against Aberdeen in yesterday's season-opening, 3-0 victory at Oakland Mills. It also happened to be Mike Libber's coaching debut for the No. 7-ranked Scorpions. After pounding defending Harford County co-champion Aberdeen with more than a dozen unsuccessful shots during a scoreless first half when they had a significant wind at their backs, the Scorpions broke open the game in the second half while attacking into the wind.