Since the housing market began its dramatic landslide last year, I’ve been pushing my fiancé to buy a house under the impression that this may be the most affordable time for first-time buyers. There’s a lot of real estate out there for sale, most of which has been sitting stagnant for several months. The lenders and agents continue to harp that this is a buyer’s market. And they’re right—it’s the best time to be a buyer if you’re not trying to sell a house first and have 20 percent to put down.
Being 20-Something Today
I’ve learned a lot since I started looking at homes, and one of those lessons is that unless you can put 20 percent down on a house, you’re monthly mortgage is going to be painful. There isn’t a lot of incentive for young people just getting started to do anything other than ...Continue Reading
As a writer and a movie-lover, I’ve long admired Sylvester Stallone’s brilliant early effort as the writer, star, and visionary behind the first Rocky movie.
Back then, a still-poor Stallone famously held out against studio offers that would have cast a more well-known actor as the lead while lining his pockets with a huge payday. In the end, he got to make the movie he wanted; the result is a moody, realistic, and inspirational film.
In the decades since, Stallone has unapologetically rested on the laurels of his bold, early success. There was one scene, I admit, in the latest installment of Rocky that got to me. But that moment came well before the old fighter stepped into the ring and took his shirt off, where he quickly made Mark McGuire and Barry Bonds look like steroids taste-testers.
There is a new restaurant in Aberdeen causing a stir (no, not that one, this one is actually open) , although at first glance, you may have been a bit confused by it’s name. At least, that’s how I felt after seeing the sign for “Mamie’s Cafe – With Love” in the Beards Hill Plaza a few months ago. I stopped by one day while grocery shopping at Klein’s to peek in the windows, and after seeing it’s antiqued, shabby chic decor, decided it was a place I would never step foot in.
Bud Selig’s contract as the Major League Baseball Commissioner has been renewed yet again. What started out as an interim position has moved well beyond what the term “interim” denotes. It began in September of 1992 when Selig replaced Bart Giamatti (the commish that banned Pete Rose). Selig was elected unanimously by the baseball owners in July 9, 1998. He’s been along for the ride ever since.
Selig was born as Allen H. Selig on July 30, 1934 in Milwaukee. He made his money as a car dealer. He had strong community ties and a true penchant for the game. He bought the Seattle Pilots for $10.8 million.
Ultimately, he’d lose his investment and his team until 1970 when a Seattle bankruptcy court order brought the Milwaukee Brewers back into business. Eventually, he became a majority owner of the Brewers. He is the only baseball commish to have owned ...Continue Reading
J. Robert Hooper, the former state senator representing the northern portions of Harford County, died last night at his home in Street after a long battle with cancer.
Hooper was owner and operator of Harford Sanitation Services and a former Harford County councilman who resigned from his state senate seat last month because of his failing health.
Around the county he was beloved for his homegrown demeanor and generosity. Hooper was known as a friend of the farmer and pushed for agricultural preservation and environmental measures, yet also understood the concerns and issues of small business owners.
It’s budget season in Harford County, when public hearings are held, pleas for funding are made and grumblings about taxes waft through the air. At one such hearing last Wednesday night, Harford County Public Schools were a hot topic. But don’t you wonder what the Board of Education does with its money? Let’s look at one example.
A few years back, the Board of Education approved a series of high school reforms known as Comprehensive Secondary School Reform (CSSRP). One of the core concepts behind reform was that students would be more engaged in school if they could take more electives, which also meant that students would spend less time in classes covering math, science, English and social studies.
The idea was that something had to be done to improve student achievement; and this was definitely something. Despite warnings from teachers, parents, students, a few brave administrators and a boatload of research, ...Continue Reading
I know that sounds far-fetched (I mean, previously, the best thing that ever happened to Port Deposit was getting mentioned on four separate instances by Ripley’s “Believe it Or Not”), but when ABC’s popular Extreme Makeover: Home Edition television show rolls into town it’s hard to get things wrong.
But they nearly did this time.
In mid-October the cast and crew of the show, which takes disadvantaged, underprivileged and otherwise down-on-their-luck families and heaps upon them a new mansion filled with untold riches, rolled into Cecil County to visit Freedom Hills Therapeutic Riding Program.
For a quarter-century the Luther family has operated its non-profit program, which offers horseback rides as a type of therapy for people with physical and developmental problems. Things took a turn for the worse about a half-year ago when family patriarch, Carl Luther, died leaving the rest of the family ...Continue Reading
It looks like Randy Rudy’s job as chief of the Aberdeen Police Department is safe – at least for the time being – although it remains unclear whether Mayor Mike Bennett is giving the chief a chance or simply had his hands tied thanks to a parting gift from the city’s former mayor.
In an email written by Bennett last week and provided by Art Helton, the mayor made it clear he wants Rudy to remain the city’s police chief, but, beyond that, he wants Aberdeen’s top cop to be the one running the department. Under the administration of former Mayor Fred Simmons it was often questioned who was running the Aberdeen Police Department – Rudy or Simmons.
“Chief Rudy is a law enforcement professional whom I respect. I have had several conversations with him over the past month and shared with him my desire for him to run his dept,” Bennett ...Continue Reading
UPDATE: Five hours ago I was sitting behind a microphone in a CBS Radio studio in Baltimore and now I’m sitting in front of a computer in my house in Jarrettsville. Having had sufficient time to process my morning radio segment on the Ed Norris Show on WHFS 105.7 FreeFM, here is how it all really went down.
First off, I got tons of support from friends and faithful Dagger readers. Here is a sampling of some of the emails pulled from The Dagger’s inbox, pre-show:
Email Guy: “I WANT TO MEET ED NORRIS…I HAVE FOLLOWED HIM SINCE HIS NYC DAYS..CAN YOU HOOK ME UP NEXT TIME YOU GO???”
Email Gal: “Did I read this correct? Are you going on the Ed Norris show?
Are you tripping? Psyche!”
Thanks for the inspiration and encouragement everybody.
It looks like Gov. Martin O’Malley has backed off a proposal to implement a two-tier system of driver’s licenses in Maryland that would have created one license for documented, legal citizens and another identification card for undocumented, illegal immigrants.
Instead, the state will implement a system by 2010 complying with the federal Real ID standards requiring proof of citizenship prior to issuance of a driver’s license. Once in place, anyone applying for a driver’s license in Maryland will need to produce a birth certificate, Social Security card, passport or other valid forms of identification available only to citizens of America.
