Union Square

James Thomas Dresher Sr., 79, businessman, accountant James Thomas Dresher Sr., a businessman and founder of the Dresher Foundation, died Sunday of heart failure at Glenangus Farms near Bel Air. He was 79. A certified public accountant, Mr. Dresher retired in 1994 from York International Corp., where he had worked since 1985. Earlier, he worked for Baker International Corp., American Industries, Fairchild Industries and Hiller Aircraft Corp. In addition to his professional career, he shared ownership of several McDonald's franchises in Baltimore and Harford counties.

The federally funded empowerment zone effort is touted as a way to bring hope to some of Baltimore's most neglected neighborhoods.But it has brought infighting to at least one -- the Poppleton area in West Baltimore, where a member of the empowerment zone "village center" board is threatening to sue his fellow board members.The simmering dispute could boil over tonight when the board, a dTC group formed to help manage the empowerment zone, is expected to amend its bylaws to extend 10 board members' yearlong terms for another year.

The Union Square Christmas cookie tour, now in its fifth year provides an insider's look at one of Baltimore's most architecturally distinguished and historically significant communities.Residents of the Victorian neighborhood that H. L. Mencken called home will not only open their houses to visitors, but will serve holiday cookies made from their own recipes. This year's tour will be held next Sunday (Dec. 9) from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Included will be 27 houses, many of them restored by their owners to their original 19th century appearance.

Most of us are used to shops where antiques and collectibles are crowded together, so the new FitzGerald's Antiques at 15 E. Chesapeake Ave. in Towson comes as a surprise. Here the furnishings are arranged in room settings so customers can get some idea of how they'll look in their own homes. Many of the pieces are labeled with notes on their history, materials and repairs. The owners appraise antiques and either sell on consignment or offer a buyout option.Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, except Thursdays, when FitzGerald's stays open until 7 p.m.Pink and popular"People love to decorate," is how Donald Featherstone, inventor of the pink flamingo lawn ornament, explains its popularity, "ever since the cave man started decorating his cave."

Around the worldOffer your children a more sophisticated air this Saturday by taking them to the Chesapeake Children's Museum's first "Round the World Festival" at Anne Arundel Community College. The festival will expose children of all ages to various multicultural activities, including arts and crafts, storytelling, native dancing and games from around the globe. The silent auction allows patrons to bid on both international and local products, and area restaurants will provide tastes of ethnic and regional cuisine.

Residents of Union Square in Southwest Baltimore heard plans last night to use the neighborhood's H. L. Mencken House as a museum or a writers center.At a forum organized by the Union Square Association, Margaret R. Burke, a Ruxton consultant, said the city-owned house could be used as a museum or a center for writers workshops and a place for school-age children to learn to read."The house is not a house about furnishings. It's a house about ideas," Burke, who was hired by the association, told about two dozen people at the Pratt Center for Maryland Neighborhoods, a city-owned building at Hollins and Calhoun streets.

Soft and dreamy knit sheetsThe hot trend in bedding these days is one your baby already knows about. Europeans have been sleeping on knit sheets for years (the same T-shirt knit that crib sheets are made of), but until recently Americans have felt they were for babies only. Then Oprah mentioned how ultra-comfortable they are, and sales have taken off.At first, only white and natural knit sheets were available for adult beds, but as the market has grown, companies have expanded into color.

In The City That Reads, there should be no vacant libraries.But in The City That Needs, library branches close and surplus buildings may be sold -- or razed.Often the best communities can do under these circumstances is make sure the closed libraries are put to some other good use.That's what the Union Square Association is trying to do with former Enoch Pratt Free Library Branch No. 2 at Calhoun and Hollins streets, one block from the H. L. Mencken House. Described in the files of Baltimore's preservation commission as "the finest and most important building in the Union Square neighborhood" -- the stone and brick building now stands boarded-up and graffiti-ridden, a landmark in search of a future.

Gunfire on an MTA bus in West Baltimore left one person dead and two others wounded as the driver and other passengers fled in panic last night, city police said.At least 20 passengers were on the bus when the shooting occurred about 7 p.m. in the 100 block of S. Gilmor St., near Union Square.Mass Transit Administration spokesman Anthony Brown said at least two of the passengers and the driver, a 10-year MTA employee, sustained minor injuries in the rush to get off the bus when the gunfire broke out. They were taken to University of Maryland Medical Center and Bon Secours Hospital.

This Saturday morning will offer Baltimoreans a cornucopia of choices. There will be yard sales galore, neighborhood cleanups and events like the 9 a.m. opening day parade through Pigtown for the Carroll Park Little League.Meanwhile, the Citizens Planning and Housing Association is sponsoring its Neighbor to Neighbor festival, a day-long session of strategizing at the Baltimore City College, 33rd Street and the Alameda. The first part, from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., will be devoted to a variety of workshops and information-sharing; the afternoon will offer neighborhood displays, resource information and entertainment.