christianity

Heavy rains Sunday, as well as a critical Baltimore Ravens game kept the typical large crowds away from the annual Christmas Open House tour of historic Havre de Grace churches.

Nicholas James Kiladis, 79, was the former contracts administrator for the Maryland Transit Administration

Maryland's newest job-training program is part of a national movement to get employers more deeply involved with efforts to develop a skilled workforce — a shift that has gathered steam in the last decade as federal funding for training shrank.

A group of Catonsville nuns who claimed that the new federal health care law's contraceptive coverage requirement would violate their religious beliefs are actually exempt from the mandate, a U.S. District Court judge concluded Friday.

Cecilia S. Poffel, a homemaker who lived for many years in Parkville, died of cancer Thursday at Harford Memorial Hospital. The Perryville resident was 76.

Thomas J. "Arky" Vaughan, a retired constable and Senior Olympian who played basketball for 75 years, died Thursday of a massive stroke at Stella Maris Hospice. He was 85.

Churches of all size congregations, practices and denominations will open up their doors on Sunday for the annual tour and open house at Havre de Grace's historic 19th and 20th Century churches.

Looking back at the month of April 2013 in Harford County

Good luck in 2014. May you accomplish all your new year's resolutions

Letitia Clark Sexton, a volunteer tutor and former department store designer, died of congestive heart failure Dec. 20 at the Blakehurst Retirement Community in Towson. She was 90 and had lived in Stevenson.

Arthur Anthony "Art" DeCarlo Sr., a defensive back for the Baltimore Colts who played on the fabled 1958 championship team, died of dementia complications Dec. 21 at his home in Birmingham, Ala. The former Ellicott City resident was 82.

Howard County's only professional orchestra, Howard County Concert Orchestra, will perform a Spanish New Year's Celebration, Sunday, Jan. 12, from 4 to 6 p.m., at Ellicott's City's St. John's Episcopal Church.

Christmas Eve worshipers at Columbia's Village of Oakland Mills tonight will do the interfaith shuffle.

Schedules for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

Chances are, unless you have a particular interest in the continent of Africa, you may have never heard of the Central African Republic. But you should be paying attention because there is a humanitarian crisis of immense proportions occurring there.

Eva A. Burton, a homemaker who was active in the United Methodist Church, died Monday of complications from a stroke at her daughter's Chestertown home. She was 100.

Alicia I. Floyd, a homemaker and volunteer, died Dec. 13 of Alzheimer's disease at her home in the Brightwood retirement community in Lutherville. She was 75.

May your Christmas celebration be one of joy with family members and friends for the next 12 days...remember, the partridge in a pear tree? In Great Britain and Canada, folks celebrate Boxing Day (Dec. 26) with an exchange of gifts.

Howard County datebook

James J. Cadden, a retired Baltimore police homicide detective and decorated World War II veteran, died Monday of a swallowing disorder at his Cockeysville home. He was 88.

Groups that meet regularly in Howard County

Fifth-grade students from Rodgers Forge Elementary shared some holiday cheer this season with a special visit, aptly named "Santa to a Senior," to the Springwell Senior Center in Baltimore.

It's hard to argue that we're fighting a War on Christmas when so many combatants don't know what they're fighting for. How are we supposed to understand why maintaining Christmas as part of our culture is important, when we don't understand what Christmas represents?

A man is in custody after he barricaded himself inside a Hampton home for nearly seven hours Wednesday, Baltimore County police said.

Curran W. "Cub" Harvey Jr., former president of T. Rowe Price Associates Inc. who later was a founder of New Enterprise Associates, a venture capital firm, died Sunday of pneumonia at Naples Community Hospital in Naples, Fla. He was 84.

Angela M. Keister, a retired Baltimore County Courthouse secretary and avid gardener, died Dec. 11 of dementia at the Presbyterian Home of Maryland in Towson. She was 98.

Baltimore County police say a person has barricaded themselves inside a Towson home Wednesday morning, and are asking residents in the area to stay inside.

Maryland Catholics need to heed Pope Francis' call for change.

Monsignor Edward Michael Miller, the longtime pastor of St. Bernardine's Roman Catholic Church who was recalled as the "shepherd" of West Baltimore, died Sunday as he prepared to say Mass. He was 68.

Patricia H. Grymes, a homemaker and an avid Chesapeake Bay sailor, died Dec. 11 of cancer at her Towson home. She was 85.

Efie R. Barnett, a retired real estate agent, died Sunday of respiratory failure at her Timonium home. She was 79.

When Baltimore County residents Rick and Carol Bernstein brought homegrown fruits and vegetables to their local food bank in the mid-1990s, it was a surprise to the workers there to receive something other than canned goods and dry pasta.

Rose G. Vassallo, a retired construction firm bookkeeper, died of complications of renal failure Thursday at the Ellicott City Health and Rehabilitation Center. She was 84 and lived in Ellicott City.

Frances B. Hale, former longtime Redeemer Parish Day School secretary whose roles ranged from planning school activities to soothing students and applying Band-Aids to their scrapes, died Dec. 4 of heart failure at the Broadmead retirement community in Cockeysville. She was 85.

Roberto I. Gutierrez, co-founder of a Baltimore based international freight forwarding and customs brokerage, died Monday of dementia at Arden Courts in Riderwood. He was 93.

Mac McGarry, the avuncular TV quizmaster of ¿It¿s Academic¿ who spent a half-century pitching local teenage contestants hundreds of thousands of fastball trivia questions about topics as diverse as Shakespeare, Michelangelo, Chubby Checker and the chemical makeup of paint, died Dec. 12 at his home in Potomac, Maryland.

December is National Tie Month.

Anna's House and Early Head Start of Harford County, programs of Catholic Charities, are initiating a new collaborative relationship in the areas of fundraising and volunteer outreach in Harford County. This new partnership is designed to allow Anna's House and Early Head Start to deliver services more effectively and efficiently to families living in poverty.

When Columbia Pro Cantare performs "A Christmas Noel" on Sunday, Dec. 15, at 3 p.m., at Christ Episcopal Church in Columbia, the audience can expect an eclectic program.

Groups meeting regularly in Howard County

Sarah W. McCardell, a Govans homemaker who happily cared for her 10 children while teaching them lasting values and life lessons, died Friday of a stroke at the University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center. She was 89.

Delegation of venture capital people and quasi-Chinese government officials tour the Green House Residences at Stadium Place to see the Green House model for caring for the elderly. China has a an aging population and is behind the curve on caring for them.

This is your last chance to score a home run with the Atholton Athletic Boosters during the annual holiday tree sale.

St. Barnabas Episcopal Church has good news to share. On All Saint's Sunday, Nov. 3, the Sykesville parish broke ground on a new hall,

Patricia H. Burch, a homemaker and Loyola High School benefactor, died Nov. 30 of Alzheimer's disease at the Edenwald retirement community. She was 89.