Highlights
Al Capone, the most notorious gangster in American history, was born to Italian immigrant parents in Brooklyn, New York, in 1899. He was given the nickname Scarface as a young hoodlum after being cut in the face during an altercation. (His friends, however, called him Snorky, which means elegant.) As a member of New York's Five Points Gang, Capone went west to serve as muscle for Chicago crime boss "Big Jim" Colosimo. When Colosimo was murdered, Capone's friend Johnny Torrio took over as Chicago's top mobster, and when Torrio barely survived an assassination attempt, he fled Chicago and left Capone in charge. The fortunes to be made from alcohol sales during Prohibition led Capone on a vicio...
Al Capone, the most notorious gangster in American history, was born to Italian immigrant parents in Brooklyn, New York, in 1899. He was given the nickname Scarface as a young hoodlum after being cut in the face during an altercation. (His friends, however, called him Snorky, which means elegant.) As a member of New York's Five Points Gang, Capone went west to serve as muscle for Chicago crime boss "Big Jim" Colosimo. When Colosimo was murdered, Capone's friend Johnny Torrio took over as Chicago's top mobster, and when Torrio barely survived an assassination attempt, he fled Chicago and left Capone in charge. The fortunes to be made from alcohol sales during Prohibition led Capone on a vicious campaign to eliminate his competition. Capone's reign of murders culminated in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre in 1929. He often avoided conviction through jury tampering and witness intimidation, but he was finally brought to justice in 1931 on charges of federal income tax evasion. After seven and a half years in prison, Capone was freed in 1938 as his syphilis grew worse. He died in 1947.
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For Union Memorial, Al Capone's tree keeps on giving
Who says Al Capone was a bad guy? Well, lots of people do. But he did at least one nice thing in his life. He donated two Japanese weeping cherry trees to Union Memorial Hospital in 1939. Now, the hospital is selling carvings from a broken limb of one of...
Tags: Hospitals and Clinics, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Auction Service, eBay Inc., Syphilis
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Rosenstein: Federal prosecutors did the right thing in crack cases
The U.S. Attorney's Office approves reduced sentences for criminals who deserve them, but with the caveat that some crack cocaine dealers seeking early release from federal prison are violent. The Sun obscures the issue by claiming that federal crack...Tags: Cocaine, Rod J. Rosenstein, Drug Trafficking, Murder, Prisons
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The roaring '20s are back at Havre de Grace's Graw Days Festival
During an era of sophisticated fun, The Graw drew locals and travelers alike to the racetrack in Havre de Grace to watch the eleganthorses run and, most likely, bet a dollar or two. Celebrating these golden years of the town's historic racetrack, Havre...Tags: Jane Russell, Havre de Grace, Kentucky Derby, Festive Events
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Harford County has fun-filled Halloween adventures for the entire family
When most people think of Halloween, images of pumpkins, witches and ghosts usually come to mind. Whether you like to be scared senseless in a haunted house, learn more about true ghost stories or prefer a simple hayride on the farm to pick out pumpkins,...Tags: Holidays, Ghosts (supernatural entities), Havre de Grace, American Legion, Tourism and Leisure
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Memories of Little Italy
Dining@LargeA sweetly illustrated new book arrived on the Antipasto Desk, America's Little Italys: Recipes & Traditions from Coast to Coast. Its author, Sheryl Bellman, devotes about half of the book's geography to the Little Italy neighborhoods in Manhattan and the....Tags: H.L. Mencken, Little Italy (Baltimore, Maryland), Manhattan (New York City), Italy, Thanksgiving
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As snow comes down, so do the trees
Local arborists have been swamped with calls to deal with damage to historic cherry trees, common oaks and towering evergreens loaded down by the overwhelming snowfall.
"We can't even begin to get a handle on it," said Frank Fogle, arborist for...Tags: Montgomery County (Maryland), Hospitals and Clinics, Montgomery (Montgomery, Alabama), Anne Arundel County, Mount Vernon
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Why pension staff let thief stay on job: 'Not in our purview'
Sun StaffIncredulous legislators grilled Maryland pension system executives yesterday about how they could have failed to get rid of a money manager who had been indicted for fraud. The money manager, Alan B. Bond, would go on to steal millions from the pension...Tags: Nathaniel J McFadden, Arts, Howard County, Retirement, Pension and Welfare
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An eerie prison unlocks its famous history
Associated PressIt was once the most famous prison in the world. Alexis de Tocqueville praised it; Charles Dickens hated it. Al Capone sat out a gang war there, partying with prison guards in a cell decorated with oil paintings and oriental rugs. Brad Pitt even went...Tags: Holidays, Social Sciences, Brad Pitt, Bucks County, Bastille Day
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Cases crumble, killers go free
Sun StaffFirst of three parts In one of the last pictures ever taken of him, Quortez Jackson looks sleepy. His eyes - his pretty, almost girlish, brown eyes - are half closed. His face is relaxed. The winsome ear-to-ear grin hangs slack at the corners. On the...Tags: Arts, Regional Authority, Local Elections, Bars and Clubs, Benjamin L. Cardin
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Valentine trivia contest
SunSpot StaffThe correct answers have stars next to them. 1. Who starred in ABC's short-lived "Cupid?" A. Alan Ruck B. Jeremy Piven* C. Martin Mull D. Ayre Gross 2. Who are Cupid's parents? A. Mercury and Venus* B. Nemesis and Aphrodite C. Narcissus and Venus D....Tags: Holidays, Jeremy Piven, Martin Mull, ABC (tv network), Freddie Prinze, Jr.
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An Editorial: Getting away with murder
The contrast is astonishing. Last year, Boston (population 558,000) recorded 35 homicides; Baltimore (population 675,000) had 314. Even New York, with 10 times more people, had just 629 homicides. These numbers tell a powerful story. Starting nine years...Tags: Regional Authority, Local Elections, Car Safety Tips and Advice, Defendants, Murder
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Ex-senator tells how he picked an untouchable, Patrick Fitzgerald, to be U.S. attorney in Chicago
Politicians were dancing and singing all along the Chicago Way on Wednesday, after U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald announced he would step down. "I can hear the champagne corks popping all the way over here, and I'm in Virginia," said banker and...
Tags: Rod Blagojevich, Regional Authority, Republican Party, Chicago Tribune, Chicago City Hall
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