Waverly

Homebuyers need counseling to avoid housing rip-offsAny person of conscience would be appalled by The Sun's recent reports of the results of unscrupulous real estate dealings in Baltimore ("Housing prices soar, sometimes in a day," Aug. 1).It is a tragedy when the American dream of home ownership leads to foreclosure or bankruptcy.And it frightens anyone contemplating a purchase in the city. I know -- I'm a real estate agent and I hear this all the time.The solution is not new laws against profiteering, but enforcing the unfair business practice laws we have.

About a dozen miles from Columbia's fast-growing villages and shopping centers is Waverly, an isolated, 243-year-old mansion that represents Howard County's earliest days.Area residents have fought for 30 years to preserve the house that Gov. John Eager Howard (1788-1790) -- for whom the county is named -- gave to his son George (who was governor 1831-1833) as a wedding present. A new threat exists: a proposed Exxon station next door. The developer calls it the inevitable result of growth spreading throughout the county.

Three familiar businesses -- a drugstore, supermarket and bank -- announced closings or shut down recently in Waverly, creating inconvenient vacancies in the pedestrian-friendly Greenmount Avenue business district, but not daunting the community's optimism about its economic future.Provident Bank of Maryland, which has maintained a Waverly branch for 90 years, announced last month that its 3111 Greenmount Ave. operation will close March 19.A Super Fresh grocery store at Gorsuch Avenue and Old York Road shut down last month after 60 years in the neighborhood.

The owner of a Waverly clothing shop accidentally shot himself in the hand yesterday as he chased and engaged two suspected robbers in a running gunbattle down a North Baltimore street, police said.No arrests have been made, but the owner of Magic Men's Wear, Chang Suk Park, told police he thought a bullet from his .38-caliber Colt revolver hit one of the armed men. Police searched area hospitals but said no one was found seeking treatment for gunshot wounds.A police spokeswoman said investigators were searching records to determine whether Park has a gun permit.

Two Waverly businesses hoping to offer live music are at the center of a conflict over "live culture" in the North Baltimore community.Melba's Place, a nightclub that opened last year in the 3100 block of Greenmount Ave., will go before the zoning board today for a hearing on an application to allow live music. The other, Normal's, a 9-year-old used book and record store on the 400 block of E. 31st St., will be heard March 2.Both are vying for the support of the Abell Improvement Association, which until this month stood firmly against live music.

A man who was found with stab wounds early yesterday in the back yard of his Waverly residence died later at Johns Hopkins Hospital, police said.Timothy Williams, 35, of the 1500 block of Homestead St., a few blocks south of Memorial Stadium, was found by Fire Department medics and police responding to a report of a stabbing about 4: 40 a.m., said Detective Charles McCready. Williams died about an hour later at Hopkins.McCready said no arrest had been made and a motive for the killing was not known.

Six Morgan State University graduate students displayed their ideas yesterday for enhancing the Waverly business district on Greenmount Avenue, site of a new "Main Street" effort.While their designs will not definitely be implemented, it was a chance to rethink the "self-image" and identity of the area centered at 33rd Street and Greenmount Avenue, said Frank Jannuzi, president of the Charles Village Community Benefits District. "I found so much that was attractive and provocative."Main Street is a national program that promotes more vibrant downtown areas.

Land swap could solve Waverly Mansion threatJustifiable opposition exists to locating a gas station adjacent to Waverly Mansion.A suggestion to the Howard County Council: Why not trade 3 or 4 acres of county property adjacent to the Alpha Ridge Landfill entrance in return for the county receiving title to the presently proposed gas station location.It could be maintained as parkland adjacent to Waverly Mansion.This trade would provide a more appropriate gas station location while preserving the historic Waverly Mansion location from unnecessary adjacent commercial development.

The senior citizen retirement community option is now the choice of two of the five community groups helping decide what fate befalls the storied Memorial Stadium and its 30-acre site.In a vote held Wednesday by the Better Waverly Community Organization, the Govans Ecumenical Development Corp. (GEDCO) plan for a retirement community received 32 votes, compared with 11 for a research technology park and five for a proposal including retail stores, housing and a skating rink.Nearly 200 residents in the Ednor Gardens/Lakeside community association voted along similar lines last week.

Only in the context of its neighborhood can the store's name be read without irony.The corner at 31st Street and Greenmount Avenue, where Charles Village gets squeamish and Waverly takes over, is home to a puzzling assortment of businesses, including the city's dusty Communist Party headquarters ("No loitering within 100 feet"), a vegetarian tearoom and "history exchange" open two days a week by appointment, the furniture workers' union, a Baptist church and a no-name bar.Like so many rabbit holes waiting for their respective Alices, each hints at a different, unguessable subculture.

On August 20, 2009 Mildred Friends may call at the Gonce Funeral Service P.A., 4001 Ritchie Highway on Monday from 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 P.M. Mass of Christian Burial in St. Rose of Lima Church on Tuesday at 10:00 A.M. Interment in Holy Cross Cemetery. In lieu of flowers contributions may be made to The Hospice of the Pan Handle, 122 Waverly Court, Martinsburg, W. Virginia 25403.

On August 6, 2009, AUDREY YVONNE BROWN. On Friday, friends may call VAUGHN C. GREENE FUNERAL SERVICES, 5151 Baltimore National Pike, from 4 to 8 PM. On Saturday, Mrs. Brown will lie in state at New Waverly United Methodist Church, 644 East 33rd Street, where the family will receive friends from 10:30 to 11 AM with services to follow. Inquiries to (410)233-2400.

North Baltimore residents are rallying to save a 107-year-old firehouse in Waverly that was closed last month when holes in the roof made the fire crew's living quarters uninhabitable. The firefighters, paramedics and apparatus of Engine 31 have been moved to a newer fire station a half-mile away, but residents want their old station back. "The firehouse is very important to the community," said City Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke, who represents the area. "It is a mainstay of Waverly. It will reopen."

JOHN "PIANO MAN" PROPALIS, 83, of Waverly, NY died July 4, 2009. Surviving are: his wife of 61 years, Doris Krul Propalis; Son, Derek Propalis of Baltimore, MD; Daughter and Son-in-law, Donna Kahn and Dr. Ronald Kahn of Waverly, NY; Grandsons: Ben Kahn of Bozeman, Montana Zach Kahn of Myrtle Beach, SC a brother and sister, nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by 3 brothers. Arrangements by Alteri-Bowen Funeral Home.

Denied my rhubarb fix the previous week (all sold out), I toured three Baltimore farmers' markets in 84 hours to land this elusive vegetable. The rhubarb season is short and neatly overlaps with soft-crab time. Its devotees are apparently few but aggressive. I hit rhubarb pay dirt at both the Waverly and the downtown markets - and saw the initial test day for a new market in Northeast Baltimore's Lauraville. Is Baltimore growing outdoor market-crazy? The markets were packed with customers.

In a crumbling old city where so many houses look as if they could use a coat of paint, the arrival of a new neighborhood hardware store is a cause for rejoicing. So when I was walking up Old York Road a few weeks ago and spotted a nuts-and-bolts inventory being moved into a building fronting Homestead Street, I felt as if old Waverly had turned a corner. It's the not-so-little-amenities that make a neighborhood - good grocery stores, a friendly pub, a cozy restaurant. Actually, the Ace Hardware that opened this week is part of a steady Waverly revival.

The call is out for energetic community volunteers to rebuild the popular Waverly playground destroyed by an arsonist last year. "We need at least 1,000 persons to step forward," said Marisa Canino, president of Friends of Our Playground. "The fire was a senseless act of arson and we instantly moved to start rebuilding. I can't belive we are so close." Work crews began preliminary regrading and site work last week. The once-popular playing area - north of the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Family Center YMCA at Stadium Place, the former location of the old Memorial Stadium on 33rd Street - burned Sept.

On November 9, 2008, WAVERLY; beloved husband of Earnestine Henry and devoted father of Novella, Timothy and Jeanette. He is also survived by five grandchildren, a devoted niece, Darnell, other nieces, nephews, relatives and friends. Friends may visit New Shiloh Baptist Church, 105 East Avenue, Turner Station, Thursday, 4-7 P.M. Funeral services Friday. The family will receive friends 10-10:30 A.M. with funeral to follow. Arrangement by JAMES A. MORTON & SONS FUNERAL HOMES, INC.

Boy, 17, killed in car accident in Frederick Co. UNION BRIDGE: A 17-year-old boy was killed in a three-car accident on Route 31 in Frederick County yesterday morning, state police said. A gray Nissan traveling west on Route 31 near Clemonsville Road lost control about 7:40 a.m. and began spinning on the wet road, police said. The car crossed the center line and struck a white Chevrolet head-on. The Chevrolet was then hit from behind by a gray Lincoln. The Nissan and the Lincoln skidded off the road and struck each other before stopping in a wetland area, police said.

People wept. Standing before the charred, ugly remains of the playground at Stadium Place, they saw the dream smoldering. No one cried harder than Debra Evans, the woman behind the idea of a playground for neighborhood children in this corner of the city, on the site where giants of sport once played. She led the drive to fund it (a $350,000 cost) and build it, and build it they did, an astonishing 4,000 volunteers over nine days in April 2005. "I didn't build this playground," Ms. Evans is the first to say. "Everybody built this playground."