For those fixated on collecting stuff both valuable and strange, spring cleaning is a dirty word.
Alex Bready, Candy Man1,400 PEZ DispensersEven though Alex Bready, 27, works as an inventory planner and buyer, he can only estimate how many PEZ dispensers he owns: "About 1,400." "Collecting is embedded in my DNA," he says: His grandfather collected Maryland rye whiskey bottles and sports memorabilia; his grandmother collected doorstops, cookie cutters, and rabbits; and his father collects...
Before the starting bell of the 134th Preakness Stakes, those who know horse racing best tell of an industry on the brink.
Horse racing has a long and storied history in Maryland, but it's not one tied just to colorful jockey silks, the roar of the gamblers, or the beauty of the beasts: It's about jobs, land preservation, and a way of life. Sure, Preakness-related expenditures still impress: In 2007, they totaled $23.8 million and generated $1.4 million in state and local taxes. And the racing industry employs...
Eight famous Baltimoreans show off their favorite ladies.
Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. debated with Mama Ripken over whose eyes were bluer. Ace of Cakes' Duff Goldman curled up on a sofa and playfully placed his head in his mother's lap. Fox 45's Jennifer Gilbert read potty-training passages from her mother's diary, and
Governor Martin O'Malley and his mom tussled over how often he keeps in touch. To mark Mother's Day 2009, we checked in with some of...
Richard Pryor’s daughter finds a home— and happiness—in Baltimore.
In early 2006, still reeling from the loss of her father, groundbreaking comedian Richard Pryor, and the dissolution of her six-year marriage, actress-singer-writer Rain Pryor packed up her Prius and headed east for a new beginning in Baltimore. Baltimore had made its mark on Pryor, when she performed her one-woman show Fried Chicken and Latkes at Morgan State University in 2004.
“I was...
A peek inside the lives of first-year doctors.
Victoria Saah Giffi furiously scribbles patient information on a notepad, like a waitress taking breakfast orders during the morning rush.
Sitting in the large atrium at the University of Maryland Medical Center downtown, she is technically on a break, but only technically—the pager at her waist starts beeping before she gets the notebook into the pocket of her white lab coat. The 27-year-old...
After years living in the 'burbs, the MPT doyenne gets the snazzy urban condo she deserves.
It's a good thing Rhea Feikin isn't superstitious. Almost two years ago, the longtime Maryland Public Television personality sold her Stevenson home of 42 years and moved into a swank new condo on Charles Street in Baltimore. "I always knew I wanted to live in the Charles Street area," she explains. "My friends live in this area, and I was tired of being the designated driver!" But literally a...
Economy be damned, Pat Turner keeps the buzz going on his new Silo Point condos.
Silo Point sits on a ragged section of Baltimore's once-industrial waterfront, a stone's throw from Fort McHenry, where the harbor heads out to the bay. The building's stark profile—long neck and step-down shoulders—is visible from several angles: from Highlandtown and Johns Hopkins Hospital, from downtown Baltimore's Center Club, from the entry points to the Harbor Tunnel, from the surrounding...
While coming down hard on local politicos, Maryland's State Prosecutor is enduring a loss of his own
For most folks in state and local government, State Prosecutor Robert A. Rohrbaugh is the last person they want to hear from.
Just in the past six months, his corruption investigations have ensnared Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon for alleged perjury, theft, and receiving illegal gifts; developer Ronald Lipscomb and City Councilwoman Helen Holton on bribery charges; and Baltimore County Councilman...
Stephen Hunter swaggers from print journalism to the best seller list and the silver screen.
I stand next to Baltimore writer Stephen Hunter at On Target, an indoor pistol range in the Severn Square Shopping Center. He casts a pitiful glance at my dust-covered, snub-nosed Smith & Wesson .38 Special, a poorly maintained, wildly inaccurate relic from the 1970s that I've brought along for the day's exercise. Hunter turns away and loads his own weapon—a .38 caliber Colt Officer's Model...
Her husband's murder transformed a young wife into a victims' rights advocate. Will Anna Sowers' activism make Baltimore safer?
Anna Sowers knew something was wrong when her husband didn't respond to news that she'd just spotted Scottie Pippen in a bar. She'd planned this all-girls weekend in Chicago for months. During a break between the spring and summer terms in Sowers' graduate school schedule, the group—four Baltimore friends, all professionals in their 20s and 30s—would relax and enjoy each other's company in the...
