Why Does Charm City Get The 15-Foot Statue Of Edgewood’s Own Rock Star Frank Zappa?

It was in Edgewood that Frank Zappa first inserted radioactive pellets into his nostrils. Now he’s being honored, sort of, with a 15-foot statue that was donated by his Lithuanian fans to the City of Baltimore. But why Baltimore? True, Zappa - the guitar-playing, anti-drug musician - was born in Charm City, but, as I’ve already mentioned, it was in Edgewood where he might have gotten off to his mind-bending start.

Let me get one thing off my chest from the get-go here, I’m much more a fan of Zappa’s story than I am his music. Blasphemy you say? Well, try to find a song of his that can compete with stories of his early life in Harford County. Zappa’s dad worked at what was then known as Edgewood Arsenal, but today is known as the Edgewood Area of Aberdeen Proving Ground. Zappa’s got some pretty good recollections from those days, including tasting DDT and wearing space helmets that left you to drown in your own vomit. Good stuff. Read the story »

“Why Didn’t I Call?” A Night In Shock Trauma Through The Eyes of a Drunk Driver

My mouth had struck so hard that some of my teeth remained embedded in the steering wheel where the EMS team had to literally pick them out. This was the scene and it wasn’t pretty. Allow me to repeat that, my mouth had struck so hard that some of my teeth remained embedded in the steering wheel. Some other teeth had fallen to the floor uprooted from their home, they would never be the same.

From my lower lip to my chin there was nothing but serrated flesh, it had been completely ripped apart - gaping wide open - revealing my gums and the jagged dentin that remained. My smile no longer ruled. Just raw nerves totally exposed, and shocked as hell to be disconnected from their dominion. My jaw was now gazing out in all its glory and menacing in a world where it had no business and I would surely pay the price. It was a freakish and bloodied mess. What had I done? Read the story »

1,000 Words About a Picture: Harford County Councilman Dion Guthrie and Sen. Hillary Clinton White Marsh Photo-Op

Perhaps as a last-ditch effort to help drum up support for the sinking presidential candidate, or maybe just to show it off before it became completely irrelevant, Harford County Councilman Dion Guthrie unveiled a photograph last week showing him and Sen. Hillary Clinton meeting, shaking hands and evidently discussing the state of the Union while she was campaigning in Baltimore County.

Guthrie, a Democrat representing the Edgewood and Joppatowne area, passed the picture along to a small group of associates and, upon further inquiry, explained the photo opportunity came in mid-February when Sen. Clinton made a stop at the General Motors Allison Transmission Plant in White Marsh. Read the story »

Miller, Martin, Cullum Elected to Havre de Grace City Council

Miller -490
Martin -458
Cullum -412
Correri -375
Anderson -356
Gamatoria -326
Walker -174

It was a beautiful Election Day in Havre de Grace on Tuesday; it seems like it is every year, although maybe that’s because I still have lingering frostbite from the frigid Aberdeen Election Day of this past November.

This was a strange election for Havre de Grace, really unlike any other I can remember from my 8 years or so covering elections in Harford County. There were no issues that truly caught traction, no real spats or bad blood between any of the candidates (at least none which was spilled publicly) and no one running for office with a bold plan for change. Read the story »