Ushers

On May 8, 2006, C. AVA " Gibbs " USHER (nee Bands); beloved wife of Frank Usher; devoted mother of Jackie Ortt and her husband Pat, Frank Usher, Geoffrey Shifflett and her husband Gary; cherished grandmother of Christin, Michael, Patrick, Ashley and Maggie; dear great-grandmother of Connor; loving sister of Arnold, Robert, John and Roy Bands and Margaret Gingher. Friends may call at the CONNELYY FUNERAL HOME OF DUNDALK, P.A., 7110 Sollers Point Road on Friday, 3 to 5 and 7 to 9pm. A Christian Wake Service will be held on Friday, at 3pm. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at Sacred Heart of Mary Catholic Church, on Saturday, 10am.

Tears filled my eyes as I read Kevin Cowherd 's column this morning about the illness of Charlie Zill or Zillbilly, the "country boy" usher at Camden Yards ("Cancer-stricken 'Zillbilly' usher hopes to see 1 or 2 more games," March 18). Having taken zillions of photographs of Mr. Zill over the years during the 7 t h -inning stretch, I was sure Mr. Cowherd would need one of them to highlight his tribute to Charlie. I was completely wrong. Charlie's Zillbilly character has been so admired, loved and photographed by others, including The Sun's photographers, that any pictures I had were superfluous.

Maryland lawmakers are wringing a tax from the rain that falls from our roofs. It won't be long before Gov. Martin O'Malley and the General Assembly come up with a way to tax the rain that falls from our umbrellas ("Arundel council overrides stormwater veto," May 2). They can use the same criteria that they use for the roofs and the driveways. I can visualize the Maryland Raindrop Police running after us with their measuring tapes, assessing all parasols, umbrellas and large golf umbrellas.

Tucked away in Federal Hill - and in the minds of many an old-timer - is a shell of a grand movie theater built in 1917 during the heyday of silent movies when tickets cost 10 cents. The cavernous McHenry Theatre quickly became the center of the neighborhood social scene and was the last of the area's golden-era movie houses when it closed in 1971. After being dark for three decades, the McHenry Theatre is making a comeback with one last picture show, for one night only. The theater - which opened May 26, 1917, with The Undying Flame starring Olga Petrova - will be converted into technology offices by early next year.

Usher is once again dominating the charts with another club anthem, " DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love," which plays up his euro-pop side. The R&B singer's outsized ambitions will be on display Wednesday, when he brings his OMG Tour to 1st Mariner Arena . Usher's album "Confessions" was the last to have sold more than 10 million copies in the U.S., according to the Recording Industry Association of America. His follow-up, "Raymond v. Raymond," which covered his recent divorce, disappointed critically and commercially when it was released in March; it's stalled at about a million copies sold.

Probing ahead of him with his cane, Roger Williamson crossed the Everyman Theatre stage, picked upa human skull that doubled as a candy dish and poked his fingers through the eye sockets. Moments later, he ran his hands over a papier-mache mask described as resembling Eleanor Roosevelt or, alternately, Helen of Troy. At the same time, another blind theater lover was pounding out "Chopsticks" on a xylophone on the stage's second level, while a third was operating the lever of an antique printing press, circa 1937.

Rosie Stewart Keene, an East Baltimore political activist who helped plan the construction of Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, died Thursday of cancer at her Preston Street home. She was 78. The former secretary of the Eastside Democratic Organization also was an insurance examiner with the Social Security Administration, where she worked for 43 years. In the 1960s, she became an advocate for the East Baltimore neighborhood called Oliver - a community south of North Avenue and east of Broadway.

Manchester, New Hampshire -- For at least this 15 minutes, the great political fact is: Tsongas Chic. This means that an era which began in 1960 is dead as a doornail.The modern puffing-up of the presidency, and the attendant giddiness of great expectations for government, began 32 years ago with the dizzy romanticizing of a presidential candidate, a Democratic senator from Massachusetts. Today Paul Tsongas, former Democratic senator from Massachusetts, is prospering, which proves the end of the ''heroic era'' of presidential politics: 1960-1992, R.I.P.

SINCE 1978, Westminster has held an all-out gala, a celebration of autumn. This annual event sprawls over a two-block area in downtown, offering something for everyone.This year Westminster Fallfest is scheduled for Thursday through Sunday and will include a variety of entertainment, food, a parade, rides, vendors and more."We draw between 30,000 and 40,000 people if the weather is right," said organizer Ron Schroers.Fallfest will kick off with a parade Thursday at 7 p.m., with State Comptroller Louis L. Goldstein serving as grand marshal.

Waiting two years for a shot at Division I basketball was something Davon Usher   had accepted over time. But the six extra weeks the former Digital Harbor star spent hoping for that elusive DI offer seemed nearly interminable. Usher, a 6-foot-6, 190-pound wing, had a solid junior college career at Polk State College in Winter Haven, Fla., averaging around nine points and seven rebounds for the Eagles as a sophomore. North Carolina Central, Western Illinois, San Jose State, Quinnipiac and North Carolina A&T were among the many DI programs interested in the former Rams standout, but reluctant to offer a scholarship.