Watkins

If anyone can be a tiger and a pussycat at the same time, Ruth Watkins can. County transportation chief Carl Balser called her "a very sweet woman, yet one of our harsher critics," and Courtney Watson, County Council vice chairman, said she is "so kind-hearted, yet sharp and tenacious." Watkins, 83 and legally blind, is well-known for her staunch advocacy for seniors' issues in Howard County. When a speaker informed a meeting of Watkins' Low-Vision Group this week that the new operator of the county's bus system might not be able to provide charter service to the annual Possibilities Fair, sponsored by the National Federation for the Blind in Baltimore, Watkins spoke up. "Here, again, is an example of the county not considering seniors' needs," she told the small gathering, adding that participants might have difficulty attending the highly anticipated event Oct. 18. "Now, don't go throwing out the baby with the bathwater," said Karen Hull, county mental health coordinator, to Watkins' concern over this potential glitch.

Daisy Adele Watkins, a homemaker and Sunday school teacher, died of Alzheimer's disease complications Saturday at the Barton House in Nashville, Tenn., where she had been living for the past five years. She was 83 and a former Kingsville and Joppatowne resident. Born Daisy Adele Lehman in Baltimore and raised on Aisquith Street, she attended city public schools. In 1944 she married Glenn A. Watkins Jr., who was an Army Air Corps pilot during World War II, in Eagle Pass, Texas. She later assisted him in his architectural practice.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- After Maryland was ripped by St. John's in their South Regional semifinal, a few Terps commented in the locker room that the team was either too calm or not ferocious enough to deal with an opponent that simply played tougher."

SHE SAW CASTLES ON the Rhine and the top of the Jungfrau mountain in Switzerland.But the memories that will embed themselves permanently in the mind of Joyce Watkins are of the friendships she made when she toured Europe with 150 other teen-agers in the Spirit of America Honor Band during the summer."

Baltimore police are searching for a maintenance man accused of beating a 76-year-old woman with a lead pipe and trying to suffocate her with a pillow during the robbery of her Northwest Baltimore apartment.Jovan Watkins, 37, has been charged in an arrest warrant with armed robbery and assault in the early Tuesday morning attack in the 2300 block of Chelsea Terrace, where the victim and suspect live.Authorities had not arrested Watkins as of yesterday.Police described the 12: 30 a.m. attack as vicious.

Frustration from a second-half collapse led Morgan State forward Rasheed Sparks to his final act last night against Coppin State. The game just over, Sparks grabbed the basketball and heaved it about 10 rows into the crowd behind the east basket.An overflow crowd of 5,022 crammed Hill Field House to watch Morgan State make a statement. A win would have clinched the second seed in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament and given the Bears a regular-season sweep over their biggest rival for the first time in a decade.

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Having already consummated the first trade of the annual winter meetings, the Orioles are close to securing one of their own free agents despite being unable to hand him a regular position or the promise of a significant number of at-bats.The agent for Jeff Conine said a deal with the Orioles could be finalized as early as today, but player personnel director Syd Thrift said an agreement more likely will come toward the end of this week.The Orioles have offered Conine two years plus an option for 2002 that most likely would pay him between $2.5 million and $3 million a season.

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- There will be no trade of B. J. Surhoff to the New York Mets.Any deal sending the Orioles' All-Star left fielder to the Mets officially perished yesterday when Orioles director of player personnel Syd Thrift received a fax authorized by Surhoff stipulating the six teams to which he would not approve a trade.The move, confirmed by sources familiar with what had become an embarrassing situation to the club, came several days after the Mets approached the Orioles about Surhoff, but more than a year after Surhoff signed a three-year, $13 million contract granting him partial no-trade protection.

They said they were excited. They said they were ready. But when Manor Woods Elementary School Principal John Morningstar showed them he had rigged their school television to broadcast only snow, the 200 fourth- and fifth-graders sitting on the school gymnasium floor gasped in horror.Later, they all raised their hands, saying they would participate in National TV-Turnoff Week. It is the Ellicott City school's fourth year of participation in the program. While televisions are off, the children record and show their parents and teachers what they have been doing instead of watching TV."

Senior Paul Gillette kicked a 28-yard field goal with five seconds remaining to lift Severna Park to a 15-14 victory last night over Watkins Mill in the first round of the Class 4A state playoffs.Gillette, who missed a first-quarter extra point, capped the decisive 14-play, 60-yard drive with a kick that was down the middle."I was shaking," he said. "I was just hoping it would go through. Everyone blocked well."The victory improved fourth-seeded Severna Park to 10-1. Watkins Mill of Montgomery County finishes 8-2, with its only loss to top-seeded Gaithersburg.

On September 16, 2009 DORA E. WATKINS NOEL. One devoted brother Samuel Watkins. Cherished grandmother of five grandchildren Roslyn Duncan and Michelle Watts both of Baltimore, MD, Curtis Watts, Jr. and Eric Watts both of Philadelphia and Craig R. Watts of Germany. She is also survived by host of other relatives and friends. Family will receive friends at the family owned Wylie Funeral Home, P.A., 638 North Gilmor Street on Monday from 5 to 8 P.M. Services will be held Tuesday, September 22, 2009 at St. Phillip Evangelical Lutheran Church, 501 North Caroline Street, 10:30 Wake 11:00 A.M. Funeral.

On September 6, 2009, AQUILA AARON WATKINS; beloved husband of Bernice Anna Watkins. Devoted stepfather of Douglas Hall (Brenda). Survived by sister Priscilla Rogers; 12 grandchildren, and a host of other family and friends. Friends may call the WYLIE FUNERAL HOME P.A. OF BALTIMORE COUNTY, 9200 Liberty Road, on Sunday from 1 to 4 PM. On Monday, service will be held at the address mentioned above 12 PM Wake, 12:30 PM Funeral. Interment following. Inquiries www.wyliefh.com

On June 17, 2009, ELLA L., devoted wife of Jerry J. Watkins. Friends may visit the FAMILY OWNED MARCH FUNERAL HOME EAST, 1101 E. North Avenue on Wednesday after 8:30 a.m., where the family will receive friends on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. Funeral services will follow at 12 noon.

On June 9, 2009, SELMA J. PAYNE, beloved wife of the late John Harvey Payne; also survived by one brother Judd Watkins (Naomi) and a dear goddaughter, Jacqueline Alexander and her husband James. Viewing at the Joseph L. Russ Funeral Home, P.A., 2222-26 W. North Ave., on Sunday from 2 to 6 p.m. Family Hour at Ames UMC, Carey and Baker Streets, on Monday from 11 to 11:30 a.m. when funeral service will begin.

Ruth N. Watkins, an outspoken Howard County activist for seniors whose advocacy also centered on the visually impaired, died of a heart attack Friday at Howard County General Hospital. The longtime Ellicott City resident was 84. Ruth Naomi Herring, the daughter of a florist and a homemaker, was born in Baltimore and raised on Sinclair Lane. After graduating from Eastern High School in 1942, she worked in accounting at International Harvester on East 25th Street. While working at International Harvester, Mrs. Watkins met her future husband, Roland Eugene Watkins, who had been a major in the Army during World War II and later returned as the company's inventory supervisor.

A federal judge sentenced Nancy Jean Siegel to 400 months in prison Thursday in the killing of an elderly Reisterstown widower and stuffing his body in a steamer trunk - the culmination of a decades-long gambling addiction that led her to con friends and family out of hundreds of thousands of dollars, even spending the dead man's Social Security checks for years after his death. Siegel, 61, held fast to her declaration of innocence. Addressing the court for the first time, her 5-foot frame drowning in a yellow prison jumpsuit, she apologized for the pain she had caused but denied killing anyone.

A federal jury in Baltimore convicted Nancy Jean Siegel yesterday of murdering a Reisterstown man 30 years her senior after conning him out of everything he owned as part of a decades-long scheme that had dozens of victims, including her daughters and husbands. The verdict was returned after about seven hours of deliberations in U.S. District Court. The jury found Siegel guilty on 20 of 21 counts, including mail, wire and bank fraud; identity theft; and witness tampering by killing 75-year-old Jasper Frederick "Jack" Watkins in 1996 to keep her financial crimes from being discovered.

On January 25, 2009, CURTIS NEWTON WATKINS. He leaves to cherish his memory his devoted wife Delphine, daughters Tonika and Tiara and a host of other relatives and friends. The family will receive friends on Monday, February 2, 2009, from 3 to 8 P.M. at Howell Funeral Home, 10220 Guilford Rd.,, Jessup, MD. Funeral service will be held on Tuesday at Reid Temple AME Church, 11400 Glenndale Boulevard, Glenndale, MD. Wake 11 A.M. to 12 noon. Service will follow. Interment Crownsville Veterans Cemetery on Wednesday, February 4, 2009.

On January 25, 2009, CURTIS NEWTON WATKINS. He leaves to cherish his memory his devoted wife Delphine, daughters Tonika and Tiara and a host of other relatives and friends. The family will receive friends on Monday, February 2, 2009, from 3 to 8 P.M. at Howell Funeral Home, 10220 Guilford Rd.,, Jessup, MD. Funeral service will be held on Tuesday at Reid Temple AME Church, 11400 Glenndale Boulevard, Glenndale, MD. Wake 11 A.M. to 12 noon. Service will follow. Interment Crownsville Veterans Cemetery on Wednesday, February 4, 2009.

On November 23, 2008 MR. WATKINS Visitation at 2140 N. Fulton Ave. on Friday, 4P.M.-8P.M. The family will receive friends at 1st Mt. Calvary Baptist Church, 1140 N. Fulton Ave., on Saturday at 10A.M. Funeral at 10:30A.M.