Larry Perl

Baltimore County Councilman David Marks is opposing a new request by Towson Associates, Inc., to rezone 305 W. Chesapeake Ave. downtown for a more intensive zoning use. The company wants the option of converting the property to a dormitory.

Oakenshawe is celebrating its centennial with a series of events that started on Valentine's Day and ends in October.

Two self-taught watchmakers have quietly built their 16-year-old Towson Watch Co. into a small but prestigious player in the watch industry, and one that is now buoyed by a major investment by Kevin Plank's Sagamore Ventures.

Gilchrist Center Towson is building a new chapel as part of an outreach effort to Jewish families, who appear to be using hospice care less than some of the other denominations do, at least according to anecdotal evidence

The busy stretch of Cold Spring Lane in the 400-500 blocks is in transition, two years after the death of its main denizen and cheerleader, restaurateur Eddie Dopkin, whose legacy lives on in a ceremonial street sign, Eddie Dopkin Way.

Watson's Garden Center in Lutherville, which closed last month after 60 years in business, will be replaced by a 16,000-square-foot strip shopping center featuring "a mix of traditional retail and service-oriented businesses," possibly including a national bedding company, said Mark Mueller, a leasing agent for the property.

Catapult, a business incubator co-founded by Umar Hameed, 55, of Lake Walker, and Ernie Rafailides, 48, of Timonium, is the newest entrant in Towson's small, but growing industry of startups that offer entrepreneurs and small business owners office space, guest speakers, consulting services and networking opportunities.

The Towson-based organization formerly called the Institute for Christian and Jewish Studies announced last week that it has changed its name to add the word Islamic. The 30-year-old institute, now renamed the Institute for Islamic, Christian and Jewish Studies, already has a diverse staff of Christian and Jewish scholars. It now has two Islamic educators on its staff, including Scholar of Islam Homayra Ziad, a Muslim and native of Pakistan.

North Roland Park Association is one of several community grou in North Roland Park and Poplar Hill who are fighting plans by developers Lawrence Rosenberg, of The Mark Building Co., and Marc Horwitz, of Intrepid Commercial Co., to build a four-story, 174-unit building of 1,200-square-foot luxury apartments and 250 parking spaces on about half of a 12-acre wooded area between Falls and St. George's roads.

Hundreds of customers were milling around the 32nd Street Farmers Market in Waverly with about 40 of the usual 50 vendors on hand. The weekly Saturday morning market is the only year-round farmers market in Baltimore.

Crimes reported in Towson, Lutherville-Timonium Feb. 1-6

The Baltimore County Council on Feb. 9 was expected to consider a bill by Councilman David Marks aimed at easing parking limitations at what is currently Towson Circle. Marks' bill would revise the front, rear and side yard setback requirements, the floor area ratio requirements and the building height requirements for "certain buildings" in the current CT (Commercial, Towson Core) zoning district.

Several Towson residents are circulating a petition asking the Baltimore County Council to keep a proposed Towson Urban Center overlay district north of Towsontown Boulevard, so as not to make future developments in the downtown core too dense. Also, a bill by Councilman David Marks to ease parking restrictions for a development that is proposed on the site of Trader Joe's was expected to be voted on this week.

Wells Fargo Bank branch in 900 block of Fairmount Avenue in Towson was robbed Jan. 29 for the third time since November, 2015 - and the ninth time since 2000. Police say its location off York Road and near the Beltway makes it as alluring to robbers as it is to bank customers.

Friends School lower school librarian John Scott was one of 15 judges on a panel to choose this year's winner of the prestigious Newbery Medal for children's literature, which was recently announced.

Two state legislators are filing bond bills to help Baltimore County defray the cost of purchasing a Radebaugh Florist & Greenhouses satellite property that many Towson residents and community leaders say they want to see turned into a county park or recreational open space.

Two women from Italy met by chance and now have started a business teaching cooking classes and catering parties, making everything from lasagna to cookies, mostly out of one woman's house in Towson.

Baltimore City Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke, who represents much of North Baltimore, said Tuesday that the storm overwhelmed the city government's stated goal of plowing side streets at the same time as main roads. When asked if the goal was achieved, she said, "Apparently not. I'm past that ideal."

Lutherville couple share their memories of watch at Cape Canaveral as the space shuttle Challenger lifted off and then exploded with teacher in space Christa McAuliffe aboard.

Crimes reported in towson, Lutherville-Timonium Jan. 15-22

As residents dig out from the blizzard, the plowing of side streets or lack thereof is making some residents anxious, even as the spirit of neighborhood camaraderie takes root.

Maryland Public Television's ambitious project to honor and thank Vietnam War veterans from Maryland includes a traveling exhibit that will be at the Towson Library Jan. 19-Feb. 7.

Caves Valley Partners, the developer of Towson Row, has agreed to pay an additional $95,000 in open space waiver fees beyond the $55,000 that the company was required to pay Baltimore County. The additional money will be paid to two community groups, the West Towson Neighborhood Association and the Greater Towson Council of Community Associations.

Man robbed at knifepoint of Galaxy 4 cellphone by three assailants on Jan. 8 at 10:20 p.m.

Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz said he will ask the state to provide the county $74 million — three years worth of funding — to accelerate the completion of $166 million worth of air conditioning and other projects in 36 public schools by 2019. "Whatever you were going to give us over three years, give it to us now," Kamenetz said his pitch will be to the Interagency Committee on School Construction, which administers the state's Public School Construction Program.

When the General Assembly opens its 2016 session today, Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz will be seeking state funding for everything from school construction to transportation projects and road work. But one thing Kamenetz won't be seeking is state funding for a planned Towson circulator bus program that is popular with the County Council and business groups.

Baltimore County's Winter Restaurant Week is also a big week for the 32-year-old Michael's Cafe in Timonium. The family-owned, recently renovated raw bar and grill started by Michael Dellis in 1984, will be honored Monday by Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot, who is stopping by to personally congratulate Dellis for more than three decades of business success in the county's competitive and growing restaurant industry. Baltimore Co. Restaurant week runs Jan. 15-30 and features discount prices

Barbara Dale in October won a national lifetime achievement cartooning award. The longtime Roland Park resident, who was syndicated for a long time, is now doing illustrated novels, though she still does "odd jobs" as a cartoonist. "I'm at this incredibly lucky point in my career, where I can do whatever I'm interested in," Dale says.

The Baltimore County Bureau of Highways is on guard for snow, and county officials this year have extra tools with which to plow and salt county roads, including two new salt domes and eight new dump trucks, each outfitted with a computerized salt spreader.

County Executive Kevin Kamenetz and County Fire Chief John Hohman were on hand for the dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new, $7.6 million fire station at Bosley and Towsontown Boulevard in Towson.

The Hampden Village Merchants Association names Debbie Falkenhan of Falkenhan Hardware as Merchant of the Year. The longtime store is in the 700 block of West 34th Street, which is known as the Miracle on 34th Street because of its holiday lights display. She's active in the community and the store is a local institution.

Some community leaders in the Towson area are also questioning the wisdom of Baltimore City officials sending public housing residents to live in Baltimore County without alerting the county government. This, after The Sun reported that over the past eight years, the city housing authority spent $19 million to finance the purchase of 46 houses in four surrounding counties-- including 30 in Baltimore County -- to serve as public housing for Baltimore residents.

North Baltimore Crime Log

Towson Times Crime Log

Towson resident Daniela Useli, who moved from Italy for her husband's research job at the National Institutes of Health and in 2013 opened a well-received restaurant in Hampden, now is expanding on The Avenue.

Baltimore County Councilman David Marks hands out his annual Fifth District Citizens of the Year awards, including to longtime county Family Crisis Center and Christ Church Society volunteer Jo Marvan. It's been a good year for British native Marvan, who became U.S. citizen this past August.

A College Park man has been sentenced in Baltimore County Circuit Court to 90 years in prison for trying to kill three people who saw him assault his wife.

Towson crime log

North Baltimore Crime Log

The developer of The Flats, a 105-unit, market-rate apartment building planned in Towson, agrees to pay $150,000 in open space fees, not just $5,000, as it previously proposed.

Unseasonably warm weather at the height of the holiday season has not slowed sales of Christmas trees, or kept most people from getting into the Christmas spirit, according to workers at tree stands and people buying trees in the Towson area.

Catherine Burnett, a descendant of the Ridgely family who built the Hampton Mansion in Towson, grew up near the 23-room house and now serves as a board member and volunteer.

Baltimore County police are seeking the public's assistance in identifying a man they believe robbed a woman in her apartment in Towson.

North Baltimore Crime Log

Towson Times Crime Log for week ending 12/6

A push to require set belts on school buses is gaining momentum nationally and in the Maryland legislature -- but the pushback from school systems likely will be over how to fund such a mandate. State Sen. Jim Brochin said he plans to introduce a bill to make seat belts mandatory on school buses statewide to safeguard children, because, "Without seat belts, these kids become projectiles -- literally crash test dummies."

This year's annual Hampden Mayor's Christmas parade will feature a large group of skateboarders, as usual, but with a new twist. The skateboarders will be tied to one of the giant balloons in the parade. At least 20 skateboard enthusiasts will be needed to keep the balloon from lifting them all up, up and away. Organizers are hoping to get as many as 100 skateboarders this year.

Sidebar about what else will be in this year's Hampden Mayor's Christmas Parade