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March 2004 President's Message : I want to thank Martha DelPizzo for volunteering to serve as our Education Committee chair. This is a challenging position, considering all that is happening with education right now. Fortunately, a strong committee is forming to help her with this work. And education is what our March meeting is all about. Our neighboring communities are working to start a charter school at St. Elizabeth's. Stephanie Simms, who is leading that effort, will talk about it and how we can help to make it a reality. Also, Sister Bobby English will talk about neighborhood efforts to build a new public school. WELCOME! A new congregation has moved into the church at Baltimore and Chester-the Spanish Church of God, lead by Pastor Sebastian Tirado. Pastor Dodson's congregation has moved to a larger building on South Oldham Street, allowing Pastor Tirado's congregation to have a larger building. REPORT: MEETING ON JUVENILE CRIME THE POLICE WANT TO KNOW! The Baltimore City Police want your input--How do you view police officers? Do you think they could be doing a better job? Let them know by getting involved in special feedback meetings that are held every Tuesday evening. This program is designed to bring 10 residents and officers from each district together to discuss day-to-day interactions. Each district meets with a facilitator. The sessions are held every Tuesday at the Police Headquarters building 601 E Fayette Street from 6:30-9 p.m. Transportation can be provided from the Southeast District office at 5:30 if you want to go as a group or that is more convenient. A light dinner is provided. This is a great way to understand the problems faced by the police officers and to let them know the frustration experienced by residents. Call Officer Penn at 410-637-8848 to let him know you are interested. If you get an answering machine, leave your name and number and state that you are calling about the USA (Uniformed Sensitivity in Action) program. He will then get back to you and schedule you for a Tuesday evening. COMMUNITY DUMPSTER CALENDAR OF THIS YEAR'S BHA EVENTS (MORE TO COME) BHA COMMITTEES AND MONTHLY MEETINGS Block Rep/Crime Prevention: Wednesday, March 17th, 7 p.m., 2105 E. Baltimore St. The committee meets monthly to share information from our 20 block representatives and to coordinate action. Contact: Carolyn Boitnott, 410-522-4991, e-mail c.boitnott@verizon.net . Remember that you can use the on-line CitiTrack Service Request System as an alternative to calling 311: https://baltimore.customerservicerequest.org/web_intake_balt/Controller MARCH BUTCHERS HILL GENERAL MEETING COMMODORE JOHN RODGERS, USN How ironic! Commodore John Rodgers - "father of the United States Navy" - was not at sea, but commanding a land force of militia, sailors, and marines in the 1815 defense of Baltimore. And his name locally is associated with an earthworks, "Rodgers Bastion," still discernable near the Pagoda in Patterson Park. The Commodore was at that time captain of the US frigate Guerrière. But that ship, having been recently launched, was not yet ready for service. By the time it was, the treaty of Ghent had been signed, ending the war. John Rodgers literally ran away from his home near Havre de Grace in order to become a sailor. He was apprenticed to Baltimore's Captain Benjamin Folger, and, as he turned 20 in 1793, was hired as captain of the Baltimore merchant ship Jane. Five years later President Adams appointed him a Lieutenant in the US Navy, serving aboard the Baltimore-built frigate Constellation. Rodgers served with distinction both in the undeclared war with France and the ensuing wars with the Barbary states. The lack of quick communication with America required him to exercise considerable military judgment and diplomatic skill. He was promoted to Captain a year after joining the navy, and on his first Mediterranean cruise in 1802-03, was given command of a squadron. This entitled Captain Rodgers to the semi-official title "Commodore," which he held until his death in 1838. (The USN did not have "Admirals" until after the Civil War.) At that time, Rodgers was wooing Minerva Denison of Havre de Grace. Not entirely trusting the adage "absence makes the heart grow fonder," he commissioned a brooch for her containing a miniature of Rodgers, entwined locks of her hair and his, and a pearl-surrounded motto: "L'Esperance nourrit l'Amour" ("hope nourishes love"). That locket is at the Maryland Historical Society, a donation of John and Minerva's descendants. Rodgers's land service defending Baltimore was prophetic, for he served after the war largely at a Washington desk job. During the war of 1812, the navy more than doubled in number of officers and expenditures, and also revealed some significant management shortcomings. Commodore Rodgers recommended a Board of Naval Commissioners to oversee all naval materiel and yards, and President Madison appointed Rodgers the Board's first president, a job just below Cabinet rank. The Commodore served in that position for nearly 20 years, interrupting his tenure for one last voyage in 1824-27, when he was Commander of the US Mediterranean Squadron. BURGLAR ALARMS AND FALSE ALARMS Following the example of many other cities, Baltimore has adopted a program requiring registration of burglar alarms and a schedule of fines for excessive false alarms. Called the Baltimore False Alarm-Reduction Program, the new law requires registration of all burglar alarms in any structure within the city and payment of a $20 annual registration fee. There is a fine of up to $500 for failure to register. The program does not apply to fire alarms, only to burglar or security alarms. After registration, there is never a fine for actual alarms such as a break-in or attempted break-in, and you are granted up to two false alarms within a 12-month period. There are fines for the third and any subsequent false alarms. Those fines start at $50 for the third false alarm, and increase by an additional $50 for each additional false alarm. (For example, the fifth false alarm would be fined at $150.) There is an appeals process for all false-alarm citations. if you feel that the citation was issued erroneously. If your alarm is monitored through a service that does not call the police directly, then you will not be fined unless the police are actually called to respond to your alarm. The program is not administered by the Police Department, nor will police officers change their patterns of response to alarms based on the registration status of the building or the previous pattern, if any, of false alarms. Only after a police call in which it is determined that the alarm is false will the fines be levied by the Baltimore False-Alarm Reduction Program. Since October, the city has been processing the databases of alarm companies and mailing our registration notices to "alarmed" owners. If you have not yet received a notice, it may be because your alarm company's database has not been processed yet. If your alarm is independent of a service company (for example, one that is wired into your electric service and merely rings a bell on the outside of the building), then you should contact the Baltimore False-Alarm Reduction Program at 410 234 0348. This information was prepared from a phone conversation with staff at the Baltimore False-Alarm Reduction Program. Contact them with any detailed questions. COMMUNITY BULLETIN BOARD THE BUTCHERS HILL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION expects to acquire 2140 East Baltimore Street and 5 South Chester Street in the very near future. The properties will then be re-offered on a sealed bid basis to all interested parties. Further information may be found at http://butchershillcdc.org . THE ART WALL AT SIMON'S OF BUTCHERS HILL Lauren E. Simonutti graduated from the University of the Arts, Philadelphia, in 1990 with a BFA in Photography. She then moved to New York City where her fine arts degree enabled her to attain numerous positions in the food service, cocktail waitressing and bartending industries throughout the early nineties. The mid to late nineties introduced her intimately to the world of medicine including intensive care, orthopedics, physical therapy, wheelchairs (primarily single arm propelled), adjustable dial leg braces, bone growth stimulation (a phrase she find amusing), titanium steel insertion rods and repeated reconstructive surgery, as the result of her introduction through and rapid expulsion from the windshield of the car that ran her over as she was walking home on the Lower East Side. Throughout it all, events, injuries, individuals, dreams, nightmares, life, still life, and visions of afterlife have been faithfully recorded, processed, printed and when necessary toned, painted or otherwise altered. Amidst the 21st century Lauren finds herself relatively intact and inexplicably grounded, having purchased a delicate wreck of a house in Baltimore which has become her primary model and largest work in progress thus far. Earned Income Tax Credit and Free Tax Preparation: If you earned less than $33,000 last year, you could be eligible for thousands of dollars in tax credits even if you don't own any income taxes. If you worked at all, even if you are unemployed now, you could be eligible for benefits designed to help working families, and you do not have to pay to have your taxes filed. Rach Community Action Center has well-trained community tax preparers. Call the centers at 3411 Bank Street 410-545-6513 or 1400 Orleans Street at 410-396-9468. UPCOMING EVENTS AT SIMON'S Classic Schwinn "Collegiate" bicycle from about 1979. 3-speed, chrome demi-fenders, all spiffed up for your Patterson Park riding! $95 Call Rick at 410-342-7061. Tax Preparation: CPA Tax Specialist offers personal service at reasonable rates. Barbara A. Gilmour, 410-342-7061 days or evenings.
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