Druid Hill

Currie probe looks at possible influence deals

The federal investigation into state Sen. Ulysses Currie's work for Shoppers Food Warehouse is centered on whether the grocery chain paid the lawmaker to use the prestige of his office to secure favorable legislation and actions by state agencies, according to newly released documents that detail electronic phone records and surveillance of the prominent lawmaker's home.

Target opens at mall in city

Target - the big-box store with the bull's eye logo and funky TV ads - has arrived in Baltimore.

MTA to embrace hybrids

The Maryland Transit Administration will put up to 500 fuel-saving hybrid-electric buses on the street by 2014 in an effort to reduce harmful emissions and noise, Gov. Martin O'Malley announced yesterday.

Jean Marbella: Projects are nice; but so are ethics

Over at Mondawmin Mall yesterday, shoppers negotiated their way through the ripped-up parking lots and blocked-off construction sites of a continuing $70 million project that promises to reverse the shopping center's long, slow decline. The talk was of things like the soon-to-open Target - no longer a big deal in the suburbs but the city's first - and the 10 for $10 "bonus buys" at the already open Shoppers Food Warehouse.

Watchdog

Accidental river floods city park path

THE PROBLEM // A broken pipe in Robert E. Lee Park caused water to pour down a path for more than a week.

Independence Day

This schedule will be in effect today for the Fourth of July holiday.

Currie can get papers

State Sen. Ulysses Currie is entitled to have copies of materials seized from his home during an FBI raid in May, as well as the search warrant affidavit filed by the U.S. attorney's office, federal Magistrate Judge Paul W. Grimm ruled yesterday.

Currie linked to mall plan

State Sen. Ulysses Currie, whose ties to Shoppers Food and Pharmacy are under federal investigation, intervened several times in recent years on behalf of the grocery store chain when it was seeking public financing and other concessions as part of the multimillion-dollar redevelopment of Mondawmin Mall in West Baltimore, according to interviews and records obtained by The Sun.

Independence Day

This schedule will be in effect tomorrow for the July Fourth holiday.

Independence Day closings announced

This schedule will be in effect Friday for the July 4 holiday.

Polar bear from N.M. sent here to breed

A polar bear has arrived at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore from the Albuquerque (N.M.) Biological Park as part of a breeding loan program, zoo officials said yesterday. Scientists hope 11-year-old Anoki will mate next year with Magnet, the Maryland Zoo's polar bear. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Polar Bear Species Survival Plan recommends that Magnet breed with Anoki and Alaska, another polar bear at the Maryland Zoo.

MTA Park & Ride lot is to reopen today

The Mondawmin Transit Center Park & Ride Lot is set to reopen today, according to Maryland Transit Administration officials. The lot - which includes 140 spaces - is to provide parking for the public transit center and the redeveloped Mondawmin Mall, the MTA said.

Former city lifeguards make a splash

Children splashed each other in the pool, squealing and giggling. Sunglasses-clad lifeguards perched on a high chair, watching for signs of trouble. Parents coaxed the little ones who eyed the water with apprehension.

City streets close over weekend

It's going to be a challenging weekend for getting around Baltimore.

Currie inquiry extends reach

State Sen. Ulysses Currie has added prominent Baltimore defense attorney William H. Murphy Jr. to his legal team as the federal investigation into the Prince George's County Democrat has expanded to include inquiries about West Baltimore's Mondawmin Mall.

YouthWorks seeks 120 more jobs

Mayor Sheila Dixon's administration has met its goal of finding summer jobs for 6,500 students this year but is still seeking commitments from local businesses to secure positions for about 120 young people, city officials said yesterday.

Memorial Day schedule

This schedule will be in effect today.

Memorial Day schedule

This schedule will be in effect tomorrow:

Zoo says goodbye to famed 'Lady'

Gretchen, age 22, spent her last day of life at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore atop the grassy hill where she had long endeared herself to thousands of families and children, grazing pleasantly with a herd of four other giraffes.

Memorial Day schedule

This schedule will be in effect Monday.

Laura Vozzella: She didn't mean kitty-cat

Lesley Stahl used a naughty FIVE-letter word in her commencement address at Loyola College, a grad tells me. It came as the CBS newswoman came to the word "pusillanimous" in her speech.

Memorial Day schedule

This schedule will be in effect Monday.

Family reunions in the park

Under a pavilion at Druid Hill Park, a little girl deftly twirled a hula hoop.

Laura Vozzella: Clothes didn't make the man

If Anthony Brown ever gets his fill of politics, he might consider a second career as a tuxedo model. The lieutenant governor has already appeared, decked out in a snazzy penguin suit, in a magazine ad for Kustom Looks Clothier.

340-lb. toddler debuts at zoo

Freshly scrubbed and primped for his grand entrance at the appointed moment yesterday morning - exactly 10 minutes before 10 - the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore's baby elephant was introduced to his public, not at all fazed by the crowd thrilled to catch their first glimpse of the scampering calf.

Local Easter egg hunts

Animal views at Maryland Zoo

The African exhibit at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore gives visitors a chance to glance at animals they wouldn't see in their backyard - giraffes are rarely seen traipsing down North Avenue - but also offers an opportunity to get to know them.

Man, 45, fatally stabbed

A male resident of Lakeview Tower Apartments in the 700 block of Druid Park Lake Drive died yesterday after being stabbed outside the building, police spokesman Agent Donny Moses said. Dalion Stanley, 45, was arguing with someone about 2:50 a.m. when he was stabbed in the chest, Moses said, and was pronounced dead at Maryland Shock Trauma Center at 3:40 a.m.

Watchdog

Leaning light pole signals a hazard

THE PROBLEM // A pole supporting a traffic signal and street light at Greenspring Avenue and Druid Park Drive had been leaning since it was hit by a car about a year ago.

Sun Profile

He talks; officials gulp

It has been a hot, dry month of Code Reds and cooling centers - just the weather that M. Gordon "Reds" Wolman loves.