Vigil

SAN ANTONIO -- Rainbows often follow storms, breaking the darkness with an arc of iridescent hope.The storm of racial hate that swept across the life of James Byrd Jr. in Jasper, Texas, can never be expunged from that community's landscape or the nation's consciousness. The act was too brutal and resonated with memories of times past when black bodies hung from Southern trees.But in the aftermath of Byrd's death, hope is seen as Jasper's residents -- black, white and brown -- reach out to one another to grieve and comprehend the vicious crime.

A memorial candlelight vigil for Tiffany Smith, 6, who was killed in a drug dealers' cross-fire on July 9, 1991, will be held 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at Westwood and Rosedale streets. A brief in yesterday's newspaper gave the wrong day.The Sun regrets the errors.Pub Date: 7/14/98

Since Friday afternoon, the parishioners of St. Alphonsus Church in Baltimore -- following a Lithuanian tradition generations old -- have been keeping a day-and-night vigil before the tomb of Christ.As Easter dawn breaks and the waiting ends, they will celebrate a sunrise Mass, joining with Christians everywhere in commemorating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the holiest day in Christianity.In an age in which Easter is increasingly becoming associated with a gift-giving bunny and colored eggs, and more businesses stay open on a day when they had traditionally closed their doors, many churches and families cling to observances that emphasize the holiday's sacred nature.

A candlelight vigil for a slain Northern High School student drew dozens of people yesterday, including a star from the television show "Homicide," to seek support for a planned children's memorial museum.Friends and relatives of Wayne Martin Rabb Jr. -- some wearing T-shirts bearing his likeness -- cradled the candle flames against a bitter wind at Belair Road and Frankford Avenue, near where the youth was killed Feb. 6.Lola Willis, an organizer, appealed to the public and politicians to help raise funds for the project dedicated to remembering young victims of violence.

The annual "Bring It Out of the Dark" candlelight vigil for National Rape Awareness Month will be held from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. April 16 at St. Paul's United Church of Christ, Westminster.The vigil, free to the public, is sponsored by the social work department and Social Work Club of Western Maryland College, and the Rape Crisis Intervention Service (RCIS) of Carroll County.In conjunction with the vigil, student groups are sponsoring NTC Clothesline Project, which features T-shirts designed by survivors of domestic violence and abuse.

Family and friends of Nancy Riggins -- the Elkridge woman who mysteriously disappeared a year ago -- held a candlelight vigil this week to mourn and remember her.About 100 people gathered in the tranquil Elkridge community Tuesday night where Riggins lived with her husband, Paul Stephen Riggins, and their daughter, Amanda, until last July 1, when she vanished from her home without a trace.The emotional vigil -- in the Canbury Woods neighborhood near Riggins' former home -- was organized by her co-workers at a Giant grocery store in Burtonsville.

The girl, about 10, walked over to the steps of the abandoned and boarded-up house and wept unashamedly."He was my cousin," she wailed. In the street -- the first block of S. Carey St., to be exact -- a round-faced boy of about 8 and wearing a knit cap cried loudly. The grown-ups around them had gathered for a march and candlelight vigil for James Smith III, killed at the age of 3 when two idiots who couldn't shoot worth a tinker's damn turned the Fresh Cuttz Barbershop into the O.K. Corral.

WASHINGTON - Teamwork allows three of the District of Columbia's most durable peace activists to protest within yards of the White House in a 24-hour, in-your-face-mister-president vigil.Concepcion Picciotto, 55, and William and Ellen Thomas, both 50, have lived on the sidewalk across the street from the White House for more than a dozen years.In a tag-team vigil, two of them hold anti-war signs, pass out literature and circulate a petition while the third takes breaks to use a toilet, take a shower, find a sandwich or sleep.

Friends and relatives of Joanne Shuey Valentine, a nightclub owner slain four years ago in the driveway of her home in Arnold, have scheduled a candlelight vigil for tonight.The vigil will begin at 7: 30 p.m. at the Valentine family home, 517 Broadwater Road, said Pam Lyons, Valentine's sister.Valentine, 47, had returned from closing Rumblefish, the Pasadena nightclub she and her husband owned, about 4 a.m. Sept. 26, 1993, when she was confronted by four men. One fired two shots at her, and she died about 7 a.m. at Maryland Shock Trauma Center.

Relatives and friends will hold a candlelight vigil tonight in memory of Joanne Shuey Valentine, a nightclub owner who was slain three years ago in the driveway of her Arnold home.The vigil will begin at 7 p.m. at the Valentine family home, 517 Broadwater Road, said Pam Lyons, Valentine's sister.Valentine, 47, had returned from closing Rumblefish, the Pasadena nightclub she and her husband owned, about 4 a.m. Sept. 26, 1993, when she was confronted by four men.Words were exchanged and one man fired two shots at Valentine.

The family and friends of the 14-year-old Anne Arundel County boy who was killed in a conflict with at least two other neighborhood boys implored a crowd of nearly 1,000 people gathered Monday night at a candlelight vigil not to retaliate. "I want to encourage you tonight to make a choice to give up the violence ... not retaliate, to forgive," Pastor Dennis Gray, of the Riva Trace Baptist Church, told the crowd, many of them teens, gathered at the spot where Christopher D. Jones was fatally injured Saturday in his Crofton neighborhood.

A 56-year-old man was fatally shot Wednesday night in Southwest Baltimore, as a candlelight vigil for a homicide victim from last week was wrapping up just a few blocks away. More than 70 people gathered in the street in front of Tomasina Degree's South Wickham Street home Wednesday night to mourn her son, Kip, 23, remembering his love of dancing and warning of the dangers of gun violence. But as the crowd dispersed, several patrol officers sent to monitor the vigil jumped into their cars to respond to a shooting less than a mile away in the 5400 block of Jamestowne Court.

I covered the story when Ben Roethlisberger was injured in a motorcycle crash. His football career and perhaps his long-term health seemed in serious jeopardy. And so, outside Mercy Hospital, on a street overlooking the Monongahela, a small gathering did what comes naturally to Steelers fans. They tailgated, cooking hot dogs on a grill. A few fans calmly held vigil into the night. I remember looking at the lighter fluid and the bottle of French's mustard and thinking this was the most surreal thing I'd ever experienced.

On July 25, 2008, FERNANDO B. VIGIL of Glen Burnie, beloved husband of Anna M. Vigil (nee Stormer) and devoted father of Michael C. and Gerard J. Vigil. Dear brother of Cass Vigil, Frances Salano, Dorothy Trujillo and Annabelle Apodoca. Also survived by four grandchildren. Friends may call at The family owned Kirkley-Ruddick Funeral Home, P.A., 421 Crain Highway, S.E., Glen Burnie on Monday from 3-5 and 7-9 P.M. Services will be held on Tuesday at 11:00 A.M. Interment in Cedar Hill Cemetery.

A man was shot in the back yesterday afternoon on an East Baltimore street, a block from the scene of a fatal shooting over the weekend. Police had not identified the victim or provided his condition by press time, but police said detectives are investigating the possibility that the two shootings are linked and that a third, about which they provided no details, might also be connected. Yesterday's shooting occurred about 3 p.m. in the 1600 block of E. 25th St., about 50 paces from a memorial to Ronald Crowell, 22, who was killed early Saturday on Normal Avenue.

About 100 people gathered last night to remember a 3-year-old boy at a candlelight vigil in the 1000 block of West Fayette Street, the site where a minivan struck and killed the boy Saturday. The boy, Kyrell Sellers, and his brother Kamian Vaughn, 4, were with their mother visiting a relative about 7:30 p.m. Saturday when a small red car attempting a left turn from the right lane struck a Dodge minivan, forcing the van onto the sidewalk, where it killed the younger child. Kamian was hit in his lower body but has since been released from the hospital.

They told stories about the Browning family for an hour last night, the most colorful of which involved Greg Browning's attempts to play soccer. Instead of scoring goals, the rambunctious 13-year-old made his classmates laugh, and the dozens who showed up on the steps of the family's Cockeysville home for a vigil continued to do so as they remembered his antics. "He was just so funny," said Gabe Ford, 13, to the chuckles of his classmates. "We would play soccer, and the kid would never run straight.

On December 27, 2007, MARY ELLEN (nee Kerns) formerly of East Baltimore and Dundalk, and for the last three years was a resident at The Booth II Assisted Living Facility in Rising Sun, MD. Mary was survived by many loving relatives and friends. A visitation will be held at the family owned JOSEPH N. ZANNINO JR. FUNERAL HOME, 263 S. Conkling Street (at Gough) on SUNDAY 3-5 and 7-9PM. A Vigil Service on Sunday at 7:30PM. Graveside Service on Monday, 11AM at Holy Rosary Cemetery.

Gunfire shatters shooting victim's vigil The prayer vigil for a slain teenager was interrupted by a gunshot as another Baltimore resident was killed. Papal visit will bypass Baltimore Pope Benedict XVI will visit New York and Washington next year but does not plan to stop in Baltimore. Fire chief to leave in December Embattled Baltimore Fire Chief William J. Goodwin Jr. plans to retire at the end of the year. Mayor Sheila Dixon says a national search will be made to find his successor.

Three loud bangs caught the attention of Linda Robinson as she was passing out T-shirts that read "Tears still falling." She was about to begin a vigil last night for her 16-year-old son on the East Baltimore corner where he was shot to death one year ago. Were they firecrackers? A distraught woman wandered toward Robinson and pointed toward Grogan Avenue: "Somebody just got shot." Within moments, patrol cars swarmed the area. Paramedics carried a shirtless man, bleeding, from a rowhouse on a stretcher.