This technology has been around for a few years, I'm told, but I just had my first experience with it.

Stopped at the Safeway on North Charles, and I parked on the street with the expectation of running into the supermarket and picking up some plums. (I usually park in the parking lot.)

Once in the store, I realized I needed more than just plums, so I grabbed a shopping cart and, quicker than you can say Pork-Chop-Special, I had a full cart of groceries.

Paid for my stuff.

Pushed the cart out of the store, down the walkway toward Charles Street and my car.

Got about one foot past the end of the store and the wheels of the shopping cart locked. I stopped short. At first I figured the wheels had gone funky, as they sometimes do. It was suddenly quite weird -- I couldn't budge the thing. It was as if the cart were being held to the pavement by a super-magnet. Then I noticed the sign on the inside of the cart:

This cart protected by anti-theft device. Wheels will lock.

As a Safeway employe explained, there's an electric fence in the pavement, marked with a yellow line I had never noticed before, and a sensor in the cart. Try to push the cart over the line and, slamm-o, you're done. No curbside parcel pickup for you!

Here's more info from The Raw Feed and Metroactive

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 7:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

J-Rod, the girl who lives in my house, became an Orioles fan on July 7, when Erik Bedard mowed down the Texas Rangers. He faced the minimum 27 batters during a complete game shutout, allowing just two hits and striking out 15. (Both times the Rangers got hits, the next batter hit into a double play.) Oh, what a night.

Since then, the second half of the summer of 2007 has been a schizo roller-coaster ride for J-Rod and other Orioles fans. We saw them create a nice buzz with a new manager, win some games in dramatic fashion, beat the Yankees, 12-0, beat the Red Sox -- even sweep the Red Sox at home -- and then fall apart. The Rangers that Bedard dominated beat our Birds in historic fashion, 30-3, just 10 days ago. It's been all down hill from there.

J-Rod has been to The Yard for a game, and she's been otherwise glued to MASN every time the Orioles are on. And she doesn't shut the TV off when they hit the deadly 8th inning and blow leads. Despite this lousy slide that we're in, I am pretty certain J-Rod will be an Orioles fan for life. I encouraged her to blog away, and she did:

This summer I became an Orioles fan. I think you could attribute a lot of my new obsession to a teenage girl’s eye candy, Brian Roberts. It's also the idea of supporting my hometown baseball team that has me in front of the TV each night. This summer I have devoted many long nights to watching the Orioles win some and lose many. Recently, my Orioles’ spirit has been temporarily shattered, after they lost their ninth game in a row last night. The Oriole fan in me has crumbled to little more than a fan of Brian Roberts’ good looks.  Once again the Orioles are in a losing streak and once again fans are devastated. What the Orioles need is to be able to end games in the fifth inning -- they would win them all if they could do that! They start games out so well, but by the 6th or 7th inning everything falls apart. I do not know that much about baseball, but I do think that all the Orioles really need are some good relievers. Next season should be a season to redeem themselves, with some new young players and a fresh start. But for now all we can do is hope this season ends on a positive note. Win one for Dave.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 6:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

The SS John W. Brown returned home to Pier One, Clinton Street on schedule this morning and rang up, "Finished with Engines." Project Liberty Ship Chairman Mike Schneider called the three-week trip to New England "a very successful" Yankee Adventure with thousands of visitors. More than 35 media took notice of the Brown's presence in Boston and Portland. Here's a photo of Baltimore's Liberty ship at the Cape Cod Canal.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 5:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Sun reader Arnie Goldberg read yesterday's column, then wrote this letter, quoting his wife extensively:

I read your column relative to the court system and my wife is correct as most wives are. (I was right once this year, but that's another story.) My wife thinks that we should have professional jurors especially those that are retired. They have the time, the experience and the smarts to be jurors. The cost of selecting 12 people is extraordinary and is a waste of the tax payers money.
 
My wife is correct on another issue. Term limits. We both agree that a one-time 6-year presidential term would be in the best interests of the people. The president spends 2 years learning his job and then the next 2 years campaigning for re-election. This reminds me of a question I have always had. While elected members of Congress are campaigning.e.g. Clinton, Obama et al, who is doing their jobs in Washington? They have been elected by their respective districts/states and they are running for another office. I would argue that if they want to run for another office they should resign from the office they are holding.
 
One other subject on which my wife Dorothy is correct. Let professional ball players get paid a minimum of $ 100,000 per year and an incentive program for additional pay, e.g."x" amount for hits home runs etc. This may ensure better baseball and the fans get more bang for their buck.
 
That's all for now. (boy, I'm glad I got that off my chest)
 
Arnie

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 1:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

My reaction to Roy Riley's $52 million lawsuit -- $52.3 million, to be exact -- against the building management for not installing smoke detectors in a West Baltimore apartment where Riley's fiancee, son and the fiancee's niece died went something like this: Sorry for your loss, and everyone can understand why you're upset and suing, but why didn't you install a smoke detector yourself? And sorry if that sounds cold, but to me it's just common sense: If my landlord doesn't install a smoke detector, then I'm going to get one and hang it myself -- especially if there are little kids under my roof.

Riley's lawyer, David Ellin,said he hoped the lawsuit would prompt other landlords to be aware of their responsibility, saying, "Instead of trying to save a few bucks, they might try to save a few lives."

Hey, I'm glad there's a public-interest aspect to this $52.3 million lawsuit. (Right.)

But an adult in this situation should have taken responsibility for the smoke detector. If the landlord didn't, then the adults living in the apartment should have. It would have cost them nothing and saved everything.

Here's comment from reader Linda Miller:

I read with interest your column of 8/23, and I agree with your take on
Roy Riley's needing to take some responsibility for not obtaining a
smoke detector even if his landlord would not. Of course, every time
there is a fire and no smoke detector, I think what you do:  Huh?
Where's your common sense?  Here's the story I want to tell you:

My son and his wife and 4 children (ages 3-9) were asleep at 2:30 a.m.
when my son heard the smoke detector go off. Annoyed at being awaked, he
cursed the 'stupid' smoke detector and went downstairs to turn it off.
What a shock when he saw the kitchen was in flames.  He ran upstairs,
woke up his wife, practically threw his older girls down the steps, went
back and grabbed the twins, got everyone outside, including the dogs.
While my daughter-in-law called the Fire Department, my son got the hose from
the side of the house and proceeded his attempt to reduce the damage as
much as possible.  The fire truck was there within 4 minutes.  The fire
stayed contained to the kitchen, though there was water damage to the
basement playroom.  The most important thing is, they are all well with
a story to tell (not a funeral for the family to prepare).  They're even
getting a new kitchen that the insurance will pay for.  So there you
have it--another testament for  the $10 (or whatever) smoke detector.
Thanks for your reminder.  People NEED to see it! 

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 12:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Baltimore State's Attorney Patricia Jessamy is crowing about a victim testifying for the prosecution  and helping to secure a conviction in an attempted murder case. Amazing, no?

You'd think this sort of thing is rare in the City That Bleeds, which, of course, it is.

One of the big problems in Baltimore is witness intimidation -- and guys with criminal records (at least those who survive shootings) absolutely refusing to cooperate with police, even if it means letting their assailants walk.

This afternoon, after two days of testimony and an hour of deliberations, a Circuit Court jury convicted 39-year-old Joseph Brinkley, of Baker Street in West Baltimore, on two counts of attempted first-degree murder and handgun charges. (Attempted murder-in-the-first carries a max penalty of life. The handgun counts carry max of 20 years. Judge Paul E. Alpert scheduled sentencing for November 7, 2007.)

According to the prosecutor's office, two men stepped out of an apartment on Oakfield Avenue, on Nov. 11, 2005, and hailed a hack. For some reason -- not disclosed -- Brinkley ran into the street after them and fired nine times from a 9mm semiautomatic handgun. Both men were hit multiple times in the back. The driver was unharmed and drove the victims to find the nearest ambulance.

"One of the victims was in a coma from the injuries for almost three weeks and lost [a] lung," according to a narratiuve of the case issued by Jessamy's office. "Initially, when interviewed by detectives a month after the shooting, he gave a taped statement indicating he did not see who shot him. However, after Brinkley approached him and his nine-year old son a year later, the victim came forward and identified Brinkley as the shooter.

"This witness was the only eyewitness and his compelling and truthful testimony at trial, despite his earlier statements, helped secure this conviction."

Said Jessamy: "This is a perfect example of how the system can work when victims and witnesses come forward to testify. This victim is very brave and should be commended for coming forward."

Baltimore desperately needs more of this. It's not snitching. It's the right thing.

REMINDS ME OF A CASE I COVERED A FEW YEARS AGO:

Testimony shines light into a dark city episode
Friday, March 22, 2002

   HERE WE HAVE inspiration from the battered, broken junkie streets of East Baltimore. Here, at the center of one of the most depressing tales of city life, is Rachel Rogers. Attention must be paid, and the moment savored, by all who yearn for a new day, when the drug addicts come clean and the dealers disappear and the children play without fear on the sidewalks. Here we have the story of Rachel Rogers, who did the right thing.

    Maybe it was guilt of having spent, at the age of 28, half her life addicted to cocaine and heroin -- of having been a regular customer of the killer-dealers -- that persuaded Rogers to stop lying and to tell the truth about what she saw.Maybe it was the horror of experience, a tormenting memory of that March night a year ago in the rain on Harford Road.

    Whatever compelled Rogers to testify yesterday afternoon against her old friend and drug supplier, Howard Whitworth, the accused cop-killer known as "Wee," it was not fear of jail.

    No deal had been struck for her testimony.

    Here she was, in dark fleece pullover, telling in simple, clear and awful detail what happened to "Officer Mike" -- Michael Cowdery, 31 years old -- so that the state of Maryland might secure a conviction against her old friend, Wee.

    Rogers sat on the witness stand, about 25 feet across the carpeted, well-appointed courtroom from the jury. Wee sat at a table to her right, about 15 feet away. The prosecutor, Don Giblin, asked the questions.

    "You have a drug problem?" Giblin asked Rogers.

    "Yes, since I was 14," she said.

    Did Rogers know a young man named Mookie?

    Yes.

    Did she know another named Turbo?

    Yes, Mookie and Turbo were drug dealers.

    One of them, a man with braided Medusa hair named Darrell "Turbo" Bizzell, admitted to this during testimony yesterday morning. He said he and his nephew, William "Mookie" Houston, sold Ready Rock, crack cocaine. One of the customers was Rachel Rogers.

    She was with Mookie and Turbo in the Harford Road carryout known as Mike's on March 12, 2001.

    It was about 10 p.m.

    The police came -- four of them, part of a special unit with the dangerous assignment of breaking up the open-air drug markets that thrived for years in the Eastern District.

    Turbo stepped out of the carryout to have a smoke in the rain. That's when he first saw the police officers, all dressed in dark clothing with "hoodies" for their heads, identification tags dangling from chains about their necks.

    Within a minute or so, all four officers -- a woman and three men, including Cowdery -- were standing directly opposite Turbo, Mookie and Rogers. The one Rogers knew as "Officer Mike" stood directly opposite her. In the official jargon of the Baltimore Police Department, these officers were conducting a "field interview." Thousands of them have occurred in the city in the last two years. It is part of the grand plan of Baltimore's mayor and police commissioner to break the cycle of drug dealing and shootings that have ruined large swaths of the city.

    Suddenly Rogers heard the female officer yell, "He has a gun."

    Rogers looked to her right. She saw her old friend, Wee Whitworth, coming toward the group. He wore a black or blue hoodie. He had a silver gun in his hand.

    Rogers heard a shot.

    What happened next? "What does Mookie do?" Giblin, the prosecutor asked.

    "Run," said Rogers.

    "What does Turbo do?"

    "Ran."

    "The officer facing Mookie, what does he do?"

    "Run."

    "The officer facing Turbo, what does he do?"

    "Run."

    "The lady officer, what does she do?"

    "Run."

    "The officer talking to you, Officer Mike, what does ... he ... do?"

    "Fall," Rogers said, her voice fading. "He fell on my legs. ... He fell on me." And it was here that the awful truth about that night and her many years as a drug addict seemed to come crushing in from three sides at once. Here was where Rachel Rogers cried.

    Someone handed her a box of tissues, and she wiped her eyes.

    On the night of the shooting, when detectives asked her to identify the shooter, Rogers refused to give up her old friend and drug dealer, Wee.

    "I wasn't going to tell them," Rogers said.

    "Why?" Giblin asked.

    "My friend," Rogers said.

    Her friend and drug provider, Wee.

    But by May, Rogers had changed her mind.

    And yesterday, this woman who had wasted half of her life on drugs, who had witnessed the death of a young police officer bravely trying to break the grip of the killer-dealers on East Baltimore, gave up her old friend.

    "Why?" Giblin asked.

    "'Cause it's not right. ... It's not fair. He died for nothing, Officer Mike."

 

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Orioles fans -- we're all dying a little bit here. It's a death of a thousand blows. But we can take solace in the trend of the Boston Red Sox. They're slowly blowing their enormous lead in the American League East. It is fun to watch. Yanks sweep the Sox in The Bronx, and now the Orioles head to the -- raise your head and look down your nose -- The Hub of the Bleepin' Universe, where we hope Baltimore's depressing losing streak ends with a couple of wins in Fenway. We watch, We pray.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 11:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Tommy Chagouris, of Nick's Inner Harbor Seafood and Nick's Fish House, reports: Demand high, supply good, prices high. "The weather's been nice and people are in that holiday weekend mood to have crabs outdoors," he says. "In September, the good Maryland crabs will start coming in and I think they'll be plentiful and the prices will start coming down."

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 11:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

The best homilies I've ever heard from a Catholic priest came off the beard-shrouded lips of Father Richard T. Lawrence, the pastor at St. Vincent de Paul Church on Front Street, the one near the main post office, the one with the little grove where the homeless take refuge. Now, someone who shares my appreciation for Father Lawrence's wisdom and eloquence has put his homilies on-line. Check out August 12th's, on Praise. Father Lawrence's sermons are always intellectual and very rewarding.  He can revisit a topic with new insights each time.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 6:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Maryland students didn't do so hot on the math SATs last year, and now the czar of the University of Maryland thinks we're doomed. "I think the sharp decline is a cause for great concern, if not alarm," said William E. Kirwan, chancellor of the University System of Maryland. The state, he said, needs a work force "that is highly skilled in math, science and technology. And the fact that there's such a gap between Maryland and the national average is very disturbing."

That's a little overwrought, don't you think? Every time I hear a professional educator speaking this way -- about preparing students for the "work force" -- I cringe. Not that young people do not need focus in life, a career path, goals, and eventually a job that will provide them with two homes, two cars, a large-screen HDTV and a trip to Aruba every winter. But I have a dangerous tendency not to regard students as mere sprockets the gears of the modern labor force. I like to think of them as maturing citizens of our nation and the Earth. I don't think universities need to build work forces; they need to build great human beings.

Way too much is invested in the SATs. It's big business, and administrators like Kirwan only feed the beast with his alarmist rhetoric. It would be refreshing to hear a professional educator say something like, "I think too much emphasis is placed on the math and science SATs. As educators we should be more interested in the young person behind the numbers. There may be some great thinkers and scientists out there who simply do not test well, and we need to work harder in the college admissions process to consider all a young person has to offer before distressing about their SAT scores."

Check out the findings from Bates College's 2004 study on its SAT policy. Bates has made the SAT optional in the admissions process since 1984, and in the 20-year study found little difference in academic achievement between those who submitted scores and those who did not.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 7:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Do you think we could get this settled? I mean -- a mayor being in trouble with the law after being elected -- that would be pretty embarassing, and the last thing Baltimore needs.

As citizens of this city prepare to vote in the primary less than two weeks from now, it would be helpful to know if the Present Mayor, Sheila Dixon, has operated within the bounds of the law with regard to city contracts and other matters stemming from her reign as City Council President.

We still do not have an answer to the nagging questions raised by the Sun's investigations last year. But the Maryland State Prosecutor is apparently still knocking on this door.

The state prosecutor charged Dale Clark, Dixon's longtime friend and former campaign chairman, with failing to file state income taxes in 2002, 2003, 2004 -- years during which Clark was feeding at City Hall's trough.

(Some friend: "Hey, Sheila, forgot to tellya -- I won't be filing tax returns during the years I'm workin' for you.")

Clark's company received some $600,000 in no-bid computer services contracts through Dixon's office -- all without a written contract. We still don't know if this was a matter of Dixon kicking back some gelt to a friend, or bureaucratic ineptitude. We do know that a member of Dixon's staff discussed keeping payments to Clark below $5,000 each because anything above that would have required Board of Estimates approval.

And we know this: Dixon did not take responsibility for the questionable payments to Clark. She blamed her staff.

The most troubling aspect of this whole affair -- why it's hard to accept it as a mistake -- is the effort to keep the payments to Clark under $5,000. How is it possible Dixon knew nothing about that?

According to Sun reports last year, Dixon had personally crafted a no-bid contract for Clark. Though that deal expired in March 2001, Clark continued to get paid without a contract. Dixon said at the time that she was wrong for setting up the deal and that she would seek competitive bids. 

OK. . .  But a month later, on May 3, 2001, Tripps sent Clark an e-mail suggesting a way around the rule requiring board approval for contracts. The aide suggested Clark just submit invoices for amounts under $5,000.

What was Dixon's reaction at the time The Sun published stories on the matter?

She accused us of printing "lies" about her and her staff.  "There were mistakes made in my office that I had no knowledge of, in some cases," she said.

What did Dixon have to say yesterday? Asked whether she had been cooperating with the state prosecutor, she said: "You'll have to take that up with my attorney."

Like the transparency there?

You can't rush justice. But it would be nice to know if the state prosecutor has found real corruption here -- not just unpaid taxes by the mayor's friend -- and the sooner the better, before the election please. Dixon and voters deserve to know one way or the other if she's on the hook. 

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 5:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)
        

Thanks to Sun editor Jeff Landaw for bringing this bit of Alexander Pope to my attention, so appropriate to the subject of today's column (though in a reverse sort of way):

"The hungry judges soon the sentence sign, and wretches hang that jurymen may dine."

On the other hand, many complain that in Baltimore juries are disinclined to convict. This recent e-mail from a frustrated Baltimore judge is representative of other comments I've heard off and on over the last five years: "Have presided over 50 jury trials [in the last six months] with a half-dozen convictions at best. Locking up bad guys is fine, but if the jury acquits, as they almost always do, what’s the point?"

I got Judge Kershaw's middle initial wrong -- it's B. not W. Sorry about that.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 3:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

Report from JHU Security, dated 8/29/07:

Theft From Auto - Eastern Campus, 1101 E. 33rd St., Ellerslie Lot - On Aug.
27th between 7:30 AM and 4:30 PM, a catalytic converter was sawed off an
employee's parked vehicle.  Investigation continuing.

More on this: Melissa Harris's story about precious metal thieves in The Sun earlier this month:

© 2007 The Baltimore Sun

   From her third-floor Baltimore apartment, Katherine Lundy heard the whir of
an electric saw carving metal. She looked out her window expecting to see
construction workers but instead spotted a pair of legs sticking out from
under her roommate's Toyota pickup truck.
   She rushed down the stairs, but the thief and three accomplices had driven
off with the truck's catalytic converter.
    Catalytic converters are increasingly lucrative targets for thieves, who
chop them off for the precious metals inside, such as platinum and rhodium,
which are trading at higher prices than gold and fueling an industrial boom in
Asia.
   The thefts, which can take less than a minute, are an international problem
and are committed in large part by drug addicts who sell the converters to
backyard mechanics or scrap dealers for $100 to $150 each, said Baltimore
County Detective Sgt. Bob Jagoe, a member of the Regional Auto Theft Task
Force.
   "When it's not your money, that's not a bad deal," he said. "Anybody can
buy them. Anybody can sell them. The law is always five to 10 years behind
thieves. Who would have known 10 years ago that we would have had a problem
with people cutting off catalytic converters?"
   The converters, which made their debut in the United States in the
mid-1970s in response to stricter federal pollution standards, clean the most
harmful pollutants from a car's exhaust. The cost to replace a stolen
converter can vary from $400 to $1,400, depending on how much of the exhaust
system the thieves remove.
   "That was the first I had heard of people stealing catalytic converters,"
said Lundy, who witnessed the theft in her Station North neighborhood about
11:30 a.m. on a Saturday last month. "But now that I know of it, when I
mention it, I've had people tell me, `Oh yeah, that happened to my friend.'"
   Area police departments do not track catalytic converter thefts and instead
classify them as "thefts from motor vehicles," lumping them in with stolen car
radios, hubcaps and windshield wipers. But police, junkyard owners and
mechanics say that the thefts are up. The task force has started a catalytic
converter theft project.
   The crime is a tricky one to solve and requires the cooperation of scrap
dealers, who can be at a competitive disadvantage if they decline parts whose
origins are suspicious, Jagoe said.
   To solve the crime, detectives would need to clean the equipment, which is
difficult, search for a serial number that indicates what type of vehicle it
came from - if rust has not obliterated it - and then "get underneath the car
and see if it fits," Jagoe said.
   By that time, most drivers would have replaced the part. Without a
catalytic converter a car sounds louder than "the loudest motorcycle you've
ever heard," said Ed Nemphos, owner of Brentwood Automotive in Hampden.
   "It would take an ungodly amount of time to make the case," Jagoe said, if
police tried to match a converter to its car without any other evidence. "I
don't know of any agency that attempts to identify things" that way.
   Joe O'Connell II, co-owner of Converter King of Maryland, buys and sells
used converters at a brick industrial complex in Lansdowne.
   Each week, his workers tear apart hundreds of converters and store their
dirty, gray honeycombs, which are coated in platinum, palladium or rhodium, or
a combination of them.
   Inside the honeycombs, hot emissions combine with the metals and turn the
harmful gases into oxygen or reduce them to government-mandated levels.
   O'Connell sells the honeycombs to refineries in New Jersey and New York,
where workers use a $250,000 piece of equipment to remove the dust and dirt,
melt the valuable metals and sell the raw material, he said. No such
refineries exist in Maryland, he said.
   "The stuff inside them is carcinogenic," O'Connell said.
   This week, rhodium was selling for $5,960 an ounce; platinum, $1,300; and
palladium, $365. By comparison, gold was trading at $667 an ounce. Jagoe said
that thieves often target foreign-made sport utility vehicles and trucks
because they're easier to slide under and the converters are larger and thus
contain more precious metals.
   O'Connell and his sister, Deborah Rosskelly, who owns East Coast Catalytic
Converters next door, have called police when they suspect someone is trying
to hawk stolen goods. One man, whom they reported, was showing up four or five
times a day in a taxi - one converter at a time, Rosskelly said.
   Two wanted posters and four black-and-white photographs of men suspected of
stealing catalytic converters hang on a wall in O'Connell's office. O'Connell
wrote "JAIL" in blue ink next to one of the men, whom he helped police
apprehend.
   "We have regular customers," Rosskelly said. "So if we see someone we don't
know pulling one converter out of the trunk of their car, it's fishy."
   Parking lots with large numbers of cars sitting overnight are primary
targets, Jagoe said.
   Shannon Patterson, owner of Auto Recycling of Baltimore on Haven Street,
which buys cars and sells the parts, said that his yard has been hit three or
four times in the past year.
   The vandals cut through a hole in his fence, used battery-powered saws to
grind off a few converters and then sold them to a nearby scrap dealer.
   Compared with other auto parts and metals, "catalytic converters are, pound
for pound, the easiest and most valuable thing to get," Patterson said.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 6:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Oh, Lord, let me return as a New York Post headline writer. Today's front, with photo and story about Leona Helmsley's little doggie, Trouble, inheriting $12 million from the Queen of Mean: Rich Bitch

Freedom of the press -- a wonderful thing

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 6:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

This is about dog fighting, OK? It's about cruetly to animals -- and a young, foolish NFL quarterback with a lot of money making stupid, cruel choices. He's in big trouble, his career in ruins, sponsors pulling away. The Atlanta Falcons are going to go after his multi-million-dollar signing bonus, last I heard. All this over dog-fighting and killing dogs . . . . If Vick had been accused of hitting a girlfriend or spouse, or if he had been caught up in a night club with the wrong people -- guys carrying knives, say, who actually ended up killing someone -- do you think the NFL would push the consequences to this extent? Do you think the Football Nation would care that much? Sorry, but I doubt it. It's Fantasy Football time, and I'm sure we'll all learn to live without Michael Vick in the lineup.

Ten years ago, authors of the book Pros and Cons looked at a sample of NFL players -- roughly one-third of all players in the league -- and found that 21 percent had been arrested or indicted for crimes including assault, rape, sexual abuse, drugs, even homicide. "Athletes wear the mantle of privilege in this society," the radio host Lisa Simeone wrote in the Sun a few years ago. "Their fans are far more interested in their records of wins and losses than in their records of arrest."

Except when it's about dogs.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 6:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

Ernie Imhoff, chronicler of the SS John W. Brown, one of the last of the World War II Liberty ships, reports on the 65-year-old troop ship's Yankee adventure:

"In Boston the Brown had her second straight full house aboard on a Living History cruise. On Saturday, one week after a crowded cruise out of Portland, Me., the World War II troop/cargo vessel took 700 passengers around Boston Harbor.
A passenger, Carole Connors, of West Roxbury, MA, described the scene on the ship in an e-mail: 'What a time we had. They had everything down to a science from the Boston Pops group who played patriotic music and also 40's dance music to FDR, General Patton, Abbott & Costello, Rosie the Riveter. The flyover during the USS Constitution (Old Ironsides) turn-around with State Trooper Foley singing "The Star Spangled Banner" was quite moving. We were all overwhelmed with the Japanese planes "attacking" in the aerial show and then the US planes rescuing us. What a memorable day we had, thanks to you for informing us about the cruise . . . . it was a particularly memorable and nostalgic experience.'
Earlier in Portland, Dan Rankin, of Booth Bay, ME, was pleasantly surprised by the ship's "beautiful interior wood and brass fittings" on the gray steel ship which was called "the ugly duckling" during the war. Bonnie Snow, of Orleans, MA,  was impressed by the crew of 60, including WWII veterans: "So polite and helpful."
             The 441-foot ship plans to leave Boston tonight, anchor in Baltimore Harbor the night of August 30 and return to her home base at Pier One, Clinton Street, Canton, East Baltimore, on the morning of Friday August 31.
             The Brown has one final six-hour Living History cruise in 2007 at 10 a.m. Saturday Sept. 22 from North Locust Point, Baltimore. She closes her sailing year with a two-hour veterans day cruise in Baltimore Harbor at 10 a.m. Nov. 10.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 6:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

"I'm not just another pretty face."

-- Mike Schaefer, Democratic candidate for Mayor of Baltimore, in televised debate on Monday Aug. 27, 2007

(By the way, this photo appears on Schaefer's web site.)

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 9:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Missed this last week -- David Letterman on the Orioles' 30-3 drubbing by the Rangers.

"The Orioles were actually ahead 3-to-nothing earlier in the game. Then they made the mistake of putting up a 'Mission Accomplished' banner."

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 2:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

My friend, Frank The Fifth Beatle, was at the 30-3 Orioles loss to the Rangers last week and agrees that this kind of bizarre event could only happen in Baltimore. He sent in these additions to the growing list of Baltimore Bizarro:

Baltimore is the only city -- or just one of a very few -- that has ground rent.  You can buy a $500,000 rowhouse in Canton and not own the land it sits on.

The New York Times weather map doesn't show Baltimore.  Maps of the world don't show Baltimore, and I have yet to find a globe listing Baltimore. It's always New York, Philadelphia, Washington, DC.  We don't exist to the rest of the world.

The late Hyman Aaron Pressman, long-time city comptroller and an orthodox Jew, led the Saint Patrick's Day Parade for years.

Brings to mind another bizzaro twist: In the 1970s, the eastern U.S. province of the Pallotine Fathers, a Catholic order, helped to secretly finance our Jewish governor's divorce.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 4:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Here are more contributions to the Bizzaro Baltimore Hall of Fame (from faithful reader Matt Gonter, who has great recall):

1) In 2005, thieves were cutting down 30-foot tall light poles and selling them for scrap metal (I repeat THEY WERE 30 FEET TALL!)  I don't believe the police ever captured the culprits.

2) Mondy the Sea Monster from "Captain Chesapeake"- the only sea-monster known to man who had a Dundalkian accent.

3) Edith "Eggman!" Massey (I know she wasn't a Baltimore native, but she was discovered by John Waters in Baltimore).

4) A real life criminal surrended to the fake detectives on the set of "Homicide: Life on the Streets."

5) In response to Willie Don's comment about the Eastern Shore being a "defecatorium," Eastern Shore residents delivered manure and porta-johns to the State House in response.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 10:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

In today's column, I didn't have room for many fine examples of "Only in Baltimore" stuff, the cultural oddities, weird events, people and occurences that make this city -- the whole region, really -- delightfully bizarre, all of which gives us a better understanding and perspective on the Orioles' 30-3 loss to Texas.

Here are a few more:

We had escaped buffalo on a tennis court in Baltimore County, and cops chasing them.

Gov. William Donald Schaefer refered to the Eastern Shore as a, well, defecatorium.

Gov. William Donald Schaefer stuck his tongue out at reporters, flipped the bird to people who heckled him and showed up unannounced at the homes of people who wrote him angry letters.

In 1987, promoters of the Baltimore City Fair published in The Sun and Evening Sun an amusing advertisement that included a Where’s Waldo kind of cartoon showing the crowd at the fair, and a couple coupling on a carousel. Yeah, the last part was a little joke by the art director, whose agency apologized and reimbursed the fair for the ads.<

One of our great municipal icons is a clock advertising an indigestion powder on a faux-Florentine tower.

We're known as the place where famous writers came to die: Edgar Allan Poe, Thomas Wolfe, John Dos Passos.

The Sun declared as “Marylanders of the Year” the actors in a TV series that depicted the city as a homicidal hell hole.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 5:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

NEW YORK - Thieves snatched a $13,000 handbag, cell phone and ID cards from
"Spider-Man" star Kirsten Dunst's penthouse suite at a posh Manhattan hotel,
court records shows. Dunst was in the city to shoot scenes for the upcoming
film, "How to Lose Friends and Alienate People."

Oddly enough, one of the actual ways to lose friends and alienate people is by having the chutzpah to own a $13,000 handbag.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 7:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Do over! Wipe the slate clean. Focus, little grasshoppers, focus!

Tonight's is the first game of the rest of your lives.

A journey of a thousand victories begins with one 30-3 loss.

Now that you've puked one of the worst games in history out of your system . . .

Win one for The Dave. It's his first day as '08 manager.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 9:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Once upon a time in the newspaper business, reporters typed this to signify they'd written the last word in a news story:

-30-

Dash-30-Dash . . .    this game is over, baby! And God be praised for it.

The Orioles will be the talk of the nation tonight and tomorrow.

Rodricks, kind of silly with shock, out!

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 8:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

I've been out of it all afternoon, and just tuned into the Orioles' game and it's 24-3?

24?  24? Twice the O's-versus-Yankees score.

Jack Bauer-to-3.

And this was to be Dave Trembley's big day, right?

I gotta tellya: When I turn to MASN, the eye goes to the top left of screen instantly for the score. This was a shocker. Do you think they'll get the second game in? Anyone playing taps?

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 7:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Sheila Dixon dumped Leonard Hamm as police commissioner two days after The Sun published a poll listing crime as the number one concern of likely Baltimore voters -- and she claimed politics had nothing to do with it.  Now, in the wake of the tragedy in the Fire Department's training program, the mayor suddenly has problems with Chief Bill Goodwin. She said her "confidence level" in the chief is "very questionable."  Great -- why not just demand the guy's resignation and get it over with?

This is Dixon reacting to TV cameras and the campaign -- more posturing from the woman who wants to be elected mayor next month.

Not to downplay the gravity of the matter and the death of Racheal Wilson, but is the fire chief of Baltimore responsible for lapses in the training of cadets? Were these chronic issues? Were they widespread? If so, why didn't we hear about them (from the firefighters union, say) before? Had a police cadet died while in training -- in circumstances created by the neglect of mid-level academy managers -- would we expect the police commissioner to resign? If things have been so bad in fire training for so long, why wasn't the mayor on top of this?

Maybe Dixon should get more information before uttering words -- "confidence level . . . very questionable" -- that amount to a public call for Bill Goodwin's resignation.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 12:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

The beautiful old WWII Ugly Duckling is scheduled to end a friendly stay in Portland, Maine Wednesday night. She sails to Boston and reaches Pier 4, Charlestown Navy Yard Thursday morning and stays there open to public (except for a booked-up Friday harbor cruise) until Tuesday night, Aug 28, when she sails for home. Visiting hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The 441-foot ship plans to reach home, Pier One, Clinton Street, Canton, East Baltimore, on Friday morning Aug. 31.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 11:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

A reader named El Cranko writes:  "Kudos on your 10-point plan to improve the lot of Baltimore's arabbers.  As I read thru them, I found myself nodding my head, thinking, "Yep, that could work.  So could that," etc.  Have you heard anything from the Powers That Be who might actually be able to Do Something About It?"

No, Crank. Dixon hasn't called. Then again, O'Malley never contacted me about all the ex-offender stuff, either. If he/she can't claim ownership of an idea, they usually don't want to have anything to do with it. Rarely has a Power That Be ever called me to follow-up on a common sense idea in a column, and if you ask around the Sun or other papers, you'll find it's true everywhere. They can't admit that we have better ideas -- and more common sense and idealism (yeah, it's possible to possess both) -- than they do. The biggest problem with American government are the politicians who are unimaginative and jaded.

I have more coming on the Arabbers. Watch my space.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

To quote an old friend: "This town is truly the lesser every time we lose someone who dares to be himself."

She could have said that when Mr. Diz died, or when Abe Sherman passed (I didn't attend the funeral because at his Park Avenue news stand, Abe frowned upon browsing), or when Balls Maggio went to the great storm drain in the sky .  .  . We need more eccentrics that rise up naturally from the city streets and just do their special thing. Maybe they are out there -- we just haven't found them yet. Maybe we need to look harder.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 6:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

This makes me very sad, as it should every Oriole fan who remembers the good years at Memorial Stadium. I last spoke with Wild Bill in 2004. He had just retired as a cab driver. 

In all the years of baseball at 33rd Street, the most enduring character is Wild Bill, the Dundalk cabbie with the Civil War POW beard and jug-band hat, who led cheers from the upper deck in the 1970s and '80s, when the Orioles seemed always in the hunt for a pennant.
   The Hagy thing developed the way these things should - spontaneously, a
naturally-brewed progression from man sitting with beer and watching his team, to man standing and leading cheers by spelling the name of the team with his
pot-bellied body, to man becoming local legend and the face of down-home
Baltimore.
   At Camden Yards, Hagy subscribed to a 29-game plan with the Orioles, his seat in the first row of Section 312. Once in a while he would lead a cheer, but for the most part he kept a much lower profile at Camden Yards. "I don't think most of the people around me know who I am," Hagy said with a laugh the last time I interviewed him. "And that's OK; I kind of like it that way."
   Hagy and his Section 34 gang flourished at Memorial Stadium in a time when
such things could develop on their own, without contrivance by marketing
managers. His was a genuine outburst of affection in the time of tank tops, Eddie Murray, Al Bumbry, Rick Dempsey and Mike Flanagan. Before it was over, Hagy had secured iconic stature, and someday there will just have to be a statue.

Rest in Peace.

 

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 8:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Here's a (Phoenix, Md.) conservative's response to my suggestions on behalf of the pony-drawn produce wagons (the Arabbers) of Baltimore. Please note the lack of capitalization -- unusual for a conservative, don't you think? -- and the apparent glee this guy takes in the Sun's struggles with circulation and advertising. Folks who root for our demise don't seem to understand that, in a society without newspapers, they'd have little to talk about or ridicule.

" . . .feeling the need for a dose of unrealistic liberalism i decided to read your colmun online.  prehaps we can fund the facilities for the arabers by a new tax ( you must love that thought) on newspapers sales.  but judging by sale of the sun the tax would not amount to much or for very long.

and where in the city would this retirement home for horses be? after all city owned land does not produce tax revenue.

and who would pay for these new facilities and guarantee the loans to build them?  where would the money come from?

the arabber has gone the way of eastern airlines, food fair, and reads.  they cannot make it financially in today's world."

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 7:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

A friend who opposes -- with more fire than I knew -- the legalization of slot machines in Maryland offers this addendum to the Granny scenario in the second item of today's column:

Granny gets so thrilled by her week at the slots at O.C. that she starts going to Pimlico several times a week and playing the machines (and never sees a horse.) When the Social Security checks are all gambled away and the little house in Parkville has been foreclosed on, she's forced to move in with her daughter and the son-in-law she never liked.
Fortunately for Granny, she doesn't have to live with him long because he moves out, leaving her daughter strapped for cash. Meanwhile, what little comes into the house in child support Granny is swiping from the cookie jar and taking to the track because she can't get over her slots jones. The kids hate the foul-tempered, slovenly Granny and miss their Dad, who would love to take them to OC for a week in the summer but can't afford it because he has to pay his divorce lawyer. The older boy, who had been such a good boy, starts missing school and hanging out with a bad crowd. He has a fine future -- as a subject of a Dan Rodricks column.


But Maryland's racing purses are much improved.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 7:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

It's great to hear Billy and Cal talkin' baseball on the TV, during the Ripken 12-Under World Series, live from Cal Sr.'s Yard in Aberdeen. They're in the sixth inning of the championship game right now -- Mexico versus Southeastern U.S. (Tampa). Billy seems to be more verbose than Cal (wasn't that always the case?) but between the two of them you can pick up some great insights. It's really enjoyable. The whole Cal kid thing is great, giving these boys a chance to play in a big league setting, and in a national telecast on the Versus channel. This is Mexico's fifth championship game. It won in '03 and '04, and has the lead in 07 right now.

The telecast is in direct competition with the Little League World Series on ESPN-2. Kinda in-your-face on Cal & Co.'s part.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 6:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

A teenaged girl from England showed me a photograph of the White House, taken last weekend with her cellphone camera. In the foreground of the photo was the girl's middle finger, flipped birdlike at the temporary home of George W. Bush. There's a lot of that stuff going around -- especially since Dick Cheney and Karl Rove decided we should invade Iraq.

Andrew Kolker and Louis Alvarez, from the Center for New American Media, examine this sentiment in a new documentary that airs next week on PBS. "The Anti-Americans (a hate/love relationship)" is described as "a whimsical yet serious look at the estrangement between Europeans and America that has developed over the last few years.  The program travels to Ireland, France, Poland, and Great Britain to examine the idea that each country responds to American culture and society in its own unique way, based on its own cultural needs, history, and prejudices."

Kolker and Alvarez have been to Baltimore a good bit -- particularly for their award-winning, "People Like Us, Social Class in America" -- and they have done some great work on American society, youth sports, linguistics, politics, women's lives and global culture. The new doc airs Monday, Aug. 27 at 10 pm.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 6:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

I see where Mayor Sheila has hired sis Janice at Four Grand a month to work on her campaign.

Interesting.

When news broke here a couple of weeks ago that Keiffer Mitchell's dad had used campaign funds he controlled as treasurer to pay for personal items, a supporter of Sheila Dixon's mayoral candidacy chimed by e-mail: "Whenever I see a candidate using family members on paid campaign staff, I think something's wrong, that the candidate does not have 'deep depth' among supporters."

Well, now, I guess the shoe's on the other foot.

It's not that she put her sister on the campaign payroll. Plenty of candidates have done that and, frankly, I don't see anything wrong with it. But this is different. Dixon put her sister on the campaign payroll after getting caught in ethical transgressions involving the same sister.

Dixon either has a blind spot, or she's arrogant and doesn't care about appearances.

To repeat what colleagues at The Sun have reported in the past about this:

The mayor's sister, Janice Dixon, worked in the council president's office as a paid employee when S. Dixon was council prez. The city's ethics board ruled that such employment violated city regulations, forcing Dixon to fire her sister. Didn't they cover nepotism in civics class?

In February 2006, Dixon pressed Comcast officials at a council committee hearing about whether they were meeting goals for awarding subcontracts to minority-owned firms, including Utech, which employed her sister. Dixon told Sun City Hall reporter Doug Donovan that she had disclosed her sister's employment on a city ethics form. But that wasn't true. And despite saying she had abstained from any votes involving Utech on the Board of Estimates, Dixon repeatedly did so.

All this was reported by the Sun many moons ago, but the issues went away. Putting the same sister on the campaign payroll at four-grand-plus a month raises them again today -- pretty dumb, as a political matter, just a few weeks before the primary, and revealing a pattern of behavior troubling in a city's chief executive.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 2:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
        

Having a tough time deciding which candidate gets your vote in upcoming elections? Here's how one reader says he's going to decide, at least among current office-holders seeking re-election or ascent (like Mitchell and Dixon in the city):

"All of them have been in office forever and have done nothing, but who has done the less of nothing is the question."

I like that: The less of nothing.

A cousin concept to "hold your nose and vote."

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 1:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

"The Democratic nominee . . . feels a renewed public urgency about the carnage that is bordering on desperation. The killings this summer, and the national publicity that has come with them, have had a profound impact. There's a sense that the violence, if not abated, threatens the city's progress, its image, and its economic prospects. And that, in turn, might make the city even more ripe for mayhem. 'Six months ago, in certain parts of the city, the crime issue would come up, but people had a certain sense that it was happening somewhere else,' the candidate said in an interview. 'Now, that doesn't matter. More and more citizens have finally come to the conclusion that it's happening in my city, it's tearing this place apart. We're embarrassed by it, and we're increasingly fearful. . . . And there's even less confidence that anything is being done that makes any kind of sense to the average person, that says to them, 'This is our game plan, this is how it's going to work, and these are going to be the results.' "

OK, who said all this?
Sheila Dixon?
Keiffer Mitchell?
Neither.
The speaker is Michael Nutter, candidate for mayor of Philadelphia, quoted in today's Inquirer. At a candidates' forum in February, The Inquirer reported, Nutter pledged not to run for re-election should the homicide total fail to dip below 288, the 2002 figure, by 2010, the next mayor's third year in office.

Maybe Baltimoreans ought to be insisting on the same, if not more, from Dixon and Mitchell:

No run for re-election unless homicides drop to 175 by 2011. What do you say?

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 12:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

They've become a staple of the local culture -- the GEBCO insurance commercials featuring the GEBCO girls and, of late, the Ravens' dancing Jonathan Ogden. Local TV commercials for cars and insurance -- the cheesier the better, that's how we like them. The next batch of GEBCO cheese is in production now, under the fine hand of Jeff Order. He's been producing GEBCO spots for a while now, and is just finishing the latest version of the "Go Gebco" jingle.

"It's the same song with a different twist," Order says, "and I hired local celebrity and blues rock singer Kelly Bell to come in and sing it for me. I also had my right-hand man at the studio, local guitarist Dave Vergauwen, lay some mean guitar tracks down."

The shooting is later this month. "This year I plan on hiring two batches of GEBCO girls," Order says. "So many to choose from. We are going to shoot two commercials with two different routines in a very short period of time. This year I will make Jonathan Ogden look like he can dance, along with the GEBCO girls. . . . I am attempting to get Jonathan to wear a number 75 shirt with a tux jacket and top hat. Should be a blast."

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 6:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Good news: Sofi's Crepes, the little creperie located near The Chuck, will be opening at a new "old" location -- the downstairs lunch counter of the historic Women's Industrial Exchange on Charles Street. Ann Costlow, the crepe lady, says: "We expect to open early fall. We are in the little space that used to be the Luncheonette counter. It's been closed for about 10 years. It looks like the 1950's, and we are trying to keep the feel. It is a very cool space, can't wait! We will be open Monday through Friday, 11 am to 4 pm." Sarah Moberg, executive director of the WIE, says the exchange is excited about Sofi's. Customers will be able to get their crepes from the entrance on Pleasant Street, eat them at the counter or at sidewalk tables. The exchange is also looking for a new restaurant for the main dining room, and hopes to land one before the year is out. The Women's Industrial Exchange is located at 333 North Charles.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 10:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

The headline made it seem all gloom and doom, but my column in early July about the Orioles having lost their way ended with hope and a wish:

A baseball team has to win big once in a while not only to be financially sound but to win young fans for life - so that they don't all become Yankee fans or members of the Red Sox Nation, or switch to the NFL and never look back. The teenage boy who expressed regrets (to me) about the Orioles' perennially losing ways - I think he would be satisfied, if they just came close again. And this season, that wouldn't be so bad.

That teenage boy, and his sister, are really into the Orioles, as never before -- even though they know the team has little chance (no chance?) of making the playoffs this season. There is hope here. The Birds are fun to watch.

They steal bases.

They play good defense.

They have some fascinating young pitchers.

You get a great sense of future in watching them.

There have been some ugly moments, of course, but lately there has been a lot of great stuff coming out of Orioles games.

They don't give up. Today they came back against the Yankees and won in the 10th inning! 

They are scrappy and even exciting. The manager and pitching coach appear to be handling the young arms well.

You should give them a look again, if you haven't in a while. The MASN telecasts are excellent, and the radio broadcasts sound terrific on FM. There's something cookin' here, folks, and I suggest you tune in, next chance you get.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 4:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

First, about the chicken wings -- honestly some of the best I've ever had, with a hint of honey and Old Bay.

OK, now that that's out of the way:

We visited Baltimore's newest bowling lanes, Mustang Alleys, in an old tack factory at the corner of Bank Street and Central Avenue, on the edge of Little Italy (north of Harbor East). You got to see this place -- a great space with large windows, even bigger TV screens and plenty of room for revelers and bowlers. It's sports bar meets retro-yuppie bowling, with an hommage to good ole Bawlmer: Four of the 12 lanes are duckpin lanes, and the equipment dates back to 1936, salvaged from a local bowlarama. The designer did something with black lights to give the lanes a night-at-the-aerodrome feel. Mustang Alleys has had a soft opening -- so far the only sign on the place is a handwritten one taped to the entrance on Bank -- but it plans a grand opening next month. A second location for Tsunami, the Asian fusion restaurant in Annapolis, and Piedigrotta Italian bakery are also moving into the building.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 2:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

This was years ago, when I had a talk show on WBAL Radio that included great guests and lots of informed opinion, and interesting conversations that lasted more than three minutes -- back in the good old days. (No one yelled, "Shut up!" and the host refrained from calling people "morons.") Merv arrived with grand entourage up on Radio Nob and I had an hour interview with him; callers had a wonderful time asking him about his entertainment career. He was a delightful guest who obviously enjoyed the chance to speak over the air with fans, some of who remembered him from his days as a band singer.

Griffin, dressed in a tan summer suit, was on a book tour at the time. He, of course, was an extravagantly wealthy man by then, and among his acquisitions were luxury hotels and casinos. One of his rivals in that particular area of investment was Donald Trump, but with the recession of the early 1990s Trump's three casinos — the Taj Mahal, Castle and Plaza — had racked up more than $1 billion in debt.

Holding up a copy of Griffin's book, I said, "You write about Donald Trump in your book, Chapter 7 isn't it?"

"Actually," said Griffin, with a grin and a wink, "he's in Chapter 11 now."

Rest in peace.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 7:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Beautiful moment in the Birds' 10th after Nick Markakis stole second. Kevin Millar was at the plate with one out, and the count 1-1. With first base open, and Aubrey Huff on deck, up in the MASN booth, Jim Palmer wonders aloud: "Now what do you do? Do you walk Millar, with his numbers (against the Red Sox reliever Snyder) and pitch to Huff?"

Guess Terry Francona wasn't listening.

Two pitches later, the game was over -- Millar taking it into the seats.

Ba-boom!

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 8:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

A perfect day for me -- a visit from an old New England chum, a fine lunch involving backfin, the Orioles winning in the 10th over the Red Sox -- disappointing, I'm sure, the Obnoxious Nation at Camden Yards (Enjoy the Jersey Turnpike, you chowderheads!) -- and New York pulling within 4 of Boston. Slowly, but surely, the Red Sox are gonna choke. (Hey, that Gagne deal is working out great, ain't it?) There's only one way to shut up the Hub-of-the-Universe crowd, and this is it! Thank you, Miggie. Thank you, Kevin. Go Birds!

The only bummer is: Birds got to beat the Yanks, and that will hurt New York's run at the Red Sox. So my theme of the week is: Go, Devil Rays!

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 6:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Why getting Baltimore to a better place, finally breaking through the last remaining major problems and reaching the tipping point of social progress, is so important to the entire region. The expected growth from BRAC in the next five years points this up. We really need a new generation of public-spirited yuppies to take charge of the city and to get involved in county and state government and develop a whole new vision for how the city and surrounding areas interact. There used to be more talk about regionalism -- but the politicians who pushed that idea, over each jurisidiction remaining in wholly independent orbits, seem to have disappeared. The Baltimore metropolitan area really needs a resurgence of this kind of holistic thinking and planning, and Martin O'Malley has the grand opportunity to lead this effort. If he's worried about being seen as biased toward Baltimore, he should drop the concern and use his impressive political network to get the entire region believing that a greater Baltimore means a greater Baltimore region and a greater Maryland.

Have a great Sunday.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 7:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

Sorry I am to hear of the looming departure from city government of Felix Mata. He's one of the city's most effective employees, from what I've seen. He's been serving as Project Director of the Baltimore City Ex-offender (XO) Initiative, putting him right on the front lines of the effort to reduce the city's recidivism rate by helping to find employment for men and women coming out of our prisons. It has been tough, particularly since 9/11/2001, but Mata has been persistent and a true-believer in the cause. I got this message from him last night:

"It is with great sadness that I must inform my friends of prisoner reentry and juvenile justice that I will be leaving my position(s) as of August 14th. My experience with you, our government partners, and elected officials have been outstanding and I will truly miss the great people who have continued to make prisoner reentry a priority. On a happy note, I have accepted a position with the federal government which will allow me to continue to support prisoner reentry nationally starting on August 20th."

Mata wore two other hats: Baltimore's Director of Prisoner Reentry and Juvenile Justice and Executive Director of the Governor's Advisory Council on Offender Employment Coordination.

This is a big loss for the city.
Good luck, amigo.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 5:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

The Baltimore Blackbirds -- that's Baltimore's indoor football team -- have announced the resignation of Head Coach Chris Simpson. Simpson, who was 1-12 with the Blackbirds, guided the team through its inaugural season. "We wish Chris well in any future endeavors and thank him for his service with the Blackbirds," stated team Vice President John Wolfe. The team has already been contacted by a number of qualified candidates. Said Wolfe: "With Baltimore's proud football tradition and the passion of its fans, this has quickly become one of the most sought-after positions in indoor football. We have no doubt we will find a head coach who provide Baltimore with the winning team it deserves."

Inquire at Jay.Pelham@baltimoreblackbirdsfootball.com

Guys named Augie given preference.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 1:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

All things considered -- he asked his father to be his campaign treasurer, and obviously trusted him, but dad turned around and spent $40,000 of campaign funds on personal needs -- Keiffer Mitchell is handling this screw-up pretty well. He disclosed his father's bad decisions, fired his dad as treasurer (but not as dad), and his father repaid the campaign. This was obviously humiliating for Mitchell -- and the last thing he needs as he tries to gain ground on Sheila "Vote For Me, We're Arresting Fewer People" Dixon. But his handling of the mess has been impressive. In Mitchell's favor: His political career has not been marked by ethical lapses, and this one appears to be fully on the father, not the son.

Here's the statement Mitchell issue to supporters: "

As you may have heard, I recently had to make some difficult decisions regarding my father and his role as my campaign treasurer. I want to thank you for the outpouring of support I have received.
I love my father very much. He spent countless hours tutoring me as a child, cheering me on in my endeavors, and reminding me always of the importance of serving your community. He set the example by giving numerous hours to the community as a doctor, often without remuneration. As you can imagine, my family and I are dealing with some very personal and difficult issues.
Upon learning of the problems at issue, I took immediate steps to correct matters and the campaign is moving forward.
Now it is time to focus on this campaign because we need to change Baltimore for the better. In the last 24 hours alone, this city has seen four murders. There have been 190 so far this year. Just this week we saw two uniformed officers shot while in their vehicle. Baltimore has seen enough of this violence and we need to address this crisis so we can build on all that is truly great about Baltimore.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 1:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)
        

Reader Charles Shubow has more to add:

Everyman Theatre's new home in '08 across from the HIPP. . . . Sunsets at Shucker's in Fells Point. . . . Tapas at Pazo. . . . A taste of Spain ordering Shrimp in Garlic at Tio Pepe. . . . Sitting with your dog, having dinner outdoors in Fells Point (if your pet joins you on a Wednesday, you get a 10% discount.) . . . Unlike some cities...you can ACTUALLY get tickets to great symphony music. . . . $8 tickets to see the Orioles or $35 for Club Seats and "All you can eat and drink. "

See the column, and check out the blog entries.

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 11:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Greetings from the Aberdeen Proving Ground regional BRAC office!  Just wanted to say that we loved your list on the 100 things to enjoy about Baltimore!
We’ve been fighting an image battle throughout this BRAC process, and a lot of things captured on your list are things we’ve been trying to promote to the incoming Army employees.  It is sometimes hard to express the love we all have for some of the traditional Baltimorean things, but we’re working hard to showcase all that the Baltimore region has to offer.
Anyway, just wanted to let you know we thought your list was great.  Thank you for writing it.
-- Nicole Katsikides, BRAC Coordinator, APG Regional BRAC Office
 
Good Morning!!
As always,you have become one of our favorites,since moving to Bawlmer!!
However,I would have liked two more additions to today's column.
# 1-the BMA-also free,as well as the Walters
And # 2-the fabulous American Visionary Art Museum.
Since you are promoting city living,these newcomers,living downtown,can easily walk to the latter. A bigger hike to the BMA.
Anyway,keep on writing,and enjoy today.
Each day is a gift!!
Minna Katz

Good article Dan, but you forgot John Waters and "Hairspray," Hon.
Frank P. Gavin

Very upbeat column today BUT you forgot Trinacria’s.
JoAnn Cricchi

Dan - you forgot the AVAM Kinetic Sculpture Race!

And Berger's cookies!
-- Dan Rosen

Dan,
  The Natty Boh guy on top of Brewers Hill winks about
every 20 seconds!!  Get your watch battery checked!!
(I only know this because  I can see him out of my
bedroom window every night).   Great list, laughed my
ass off!  Keep up the great writing.  You help make my
morning commute much more enjoyable!!
                          Sandy Glovinsky

I loved your column inviting BRAC re-locators to become new neighbors.  We in Harford County also celebrate the great attributes in Charm City and many of our residents are glad we live close enough to an urban area to experience its culture and diversity.  Although sometimes tongue-in-cheek, your 100 reasons to consider Baltimore showed our regions true heart, our pride, and our excitement about the future.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts,
Roxanne Lynch, Director, Harford County Office of Gov't & Community Relations

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 6:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Readers had a lot to say -- and a lot to add -- after grazing on my list of 100 reasons to move to Baltimore (if you're in the BRAC migration). Here's more:

One great part of Baltimore missing from your list, unless I missed it -  The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Marin Alsop. We were in Lenox Mass. recently, the summer home of the other BSO and wandered into an antique store.We started talking with the owner and when she heard that we were from Baltimore couldn't stop talking about Marin Alsop and how lucky we were to have her.
-- Eugene M. Lipman, Cockeysville

Hey Dan great article this morning about the people moving to Charm City. But i think you forgot one of the most important reasons and that is you can play HIGH STAKES POKER 7 days a week without any fear of getting arrested. Just think of all the gas you would save by not having to drive to Atlantic City.By the way i thought your Poker article 2 weeks ago was great as well, but i will keep trying to find somebody besides me to get these games stopped . If you are still interested i can introduce you so you can get in on some of the action. Have a great day
--Blanca

As a lifelong Bawlmer girl, I can't help but think you left out Hot crabs and cold beer at Obryickis hon! and maybe crabcakes from G & M seafood. I did enjoy the list.
-- Colleen Hosler

Thanks dan, I recieved your ,"Reason's," from a homesick Balto transplant who lives in Arizona.
-- George A. Keys

Today's column couldn't have been more timely or appreciated on a personal level. I grew up outside of Annapolis and spent the past ten years after college living in various places in Anne Arundel County. Last summer I purchased a rowhome in Brooklyn that I'm fixing up, and I have been making the (mostly successful) adjustment to a more urban lifestyle.
I am currently dating a lovely woman who was born, raised, and still resides in Sacramento, California. About two weeks ago, we finally came to the conclusion that it was time to take the next step in our relationship, and she has agreed to move to Baltimore.
Like a lot of people unfamiliar with Charm City - myself still included to some degree - her only knowledge of the City is the often negative depictions in the national media and Baltimore's top ten status on a lot of less than flattering lists. In short, she had a lot of concerns about relocating here based on her perception of Baltimore. I was actually overjoyed when she told me she had never seen "The Wire," as it probably wouldn't have helped my case.
Undoubtedly, the City has negative issues of crime, drug abuse, poverty, politics, etc. it needs to address. You know that better than most. You write about these issues often in your column. But, as with today's column, you also write eloquently and passionately about the GOOD  in Baltimore - its rich potential, its quirky and endearing culture, its vibrant arts and entertainment.
When I began to highlight the positive aspects of Baltimore for my girlfriend, I admitted right up front that, so far, I really haven't taken as much time to get to know the ins and outs of Baltimore as I have wanted. In between my career, home renovations, and just making the general transformation into a responsible homeowner and concerned City resident, I have not had nearly as much time to get to know the City and  the good things it has to offer. In fact, I told her I'm excited that we'll have the opportunity to explore Baltimore and experience the great aspects of this City together.
Of course, after reading today's column, I emailed it to my girlfriend, and I guess all I can say is thank you.
Thank you for giving me 100 arguments for Baltimore's existing goodness and great potential. Thank you for giving me a checklist of restaurants, museums, and events that my girlfriend and I can use to guide our explorations and activities. And, most importantly, thank you for never giving up on Baltimore; for constantly reminding people that, despite all its problems, Charm City is wonderfully unique and beautiful place and does indeed HAVE charm; and for encouraging its residents, both old and - like me - new, to be proud of their City and to get involved in making it an even better place.
Be happy, be well, and BELIEVE.
-- Andy DeVilbiss

 

GOOD list, Dan, but you forgot the BSO, Hon Fest, Belvedere Square, Loch Raven Reservoir.  Lake Montebello will soon be open again for biking and jogging.  You mention DC and Philly, so why not the Eastern Shore?  The Ironbirds, Keys and Baysox are close, too, and WAY less expensive than the O's!  Thanks again.
-- Dottie Doepke

Nice list. I’ll keep a copy on my wall just to remind me why I love this town. Thanks for the lift.
-- Billy D.

As it turns out, I'm moving from the Seattle area next week (leaving Aug. 7 to drive across) to see the row houses looking for new owners.  I was impressed last year by Adam Meister's Tech Balt project, which was geared to "rybbys".  I flew out last August to see for myself and was able to meet Mr. Meister, who is now running for office in District 11.  Now, I'm trying to spread a similar idea among  my pre-retirement Seattle friends (age 45+), since many of us are priced out of Seattle proper.  The places we can afford are very nice condos, etc., but are expensive, far from work and not culturally urbane.  If you can sell Charm City to people like us, you might fill a few more row houses.  I'm sure Baltimore could use some more red hats, house cats, and wicker.  I promise to do my part!  FYI, few, if any, cities are as charming as Seattle.  Seattle is my favorite town, but there are already people living under its bridges.  Not enough room under Interstate 5 for old secreta!
ries like me!
-- Pam Tucker

# 78  thanks you for the mention in today’s column   : *)
Cheers!  From the MRT

I am Denny Olver good job with your list of 100 reasons why Baltimore has its charm. You are quite a well mannered person I say that as if my own Mother told that to me and she did. You interviewed my mother around 1983, when the Hatton Center opened. She was the relative that you talked to in the family home at 603. As I sad you are nicer than me as I would have listed the departure of
Chip Franklin as a good thing ... if they bring back my Uncle Alan Prell it would really make my day
'Dennis from Highlandtown'

There are times when I have been frustrated by the tone of your articles.  I have found myself challenging your assumptions about the city.  I have taught in West Baltimore at a public, zone high school for the past two years as a member of Teach for America, and your picture of the City's schools has been less than hopeful at times. HOWEVER, I greatly appreciate your article today.  I find a great deal of hope for the future of the City as I read through your "Top 100."  You really made me feel proud to call myself a Baltimorean.  There is great promise for the next five years, and I am excited to be a part of it with you.  Thank you again for your article, and please keep that positive spirit coming!  Hope you have a great rest of the week.
Best,
Bill Ferguson

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 6:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Hi Dan. I read your article in today's paper about the charms of Baltimore.  I am interested in mom and pop places to eat. Do you know any good ones in the area?

Rachel Thomas
Event Management Administrative Assistant
Baltimore Marriott Inner Harbor
110 South Eutaw Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
Phone (410) 209-2840
Fax (410) 410-962-8585
Mobile (410) 903-2148

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 10:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)