Welcome to the Most Dangerous City in America....

Ensuring that young victims of violence aren't forgotten

Originally published Jan 3, 2004

by Gregory Kane (Baltimore SUN columnist)


THE CITY began consuming its young early in 2003. The year was only
four days old when a hail of bullets sent Melvin Columbus Williams to
an early death.

"Melvin Columbus Williams IV, 16, of the 6200 block of Plantview Way
was taken to Sinai Hospital by friends after a shooting at 8:30 p.m.
in the 3400 block of Park Heights Ave., and later pronounced dead."
Thus read the story in The Baltimore Sun.

The next day Travon Morris, only 5, was, police said, scalded to death
by his mother, who was sentenced to 20 years for the crime in August.
On Jan. 27, 16-year-old Maurice Ireland Jr. "was shot while standing
with another person in the 800 block of Ensor St.," according to a Sun
story. Davon Alexander Lindsey, 17, was shot in the head and body less
than two weeks later. Dennis Williams and Marcus Davon Johnson, both
16, met similar fates on the street: shot to death.

And so it went in Baltimore in 2003 - children and teen-agers, ranging
in age from 19 years to 2 months old, killed by one means or another.
Some were shot. At least one was run over by a careless driver. A
couple of infants died because of abusive elders. Most received brief
mention in the news media and then, more than likely, disappeared from
the minds of most Baltimoreans.

But there is one place where they were remembered, where candles were
lighted in their memories and their names called Thursday as 2003 gave
way to 2004. At the Cathedral of the Incarnation, the Episcopal church
that stands majestically at University Parkway and St. Paul Street,
about 50 parishioners gathered on New Year's Day in front of the
"Children of the Light" altar. Forty-four candles burned at the altar,
in the rear of the church. Parishioners light one candle for each
Baltimore child they say was killed by violence. Their numbers don't
match exactly the Baltimore Police Department figures for juvenile
homicide victims, and they never will. Cathedral of the Incarnation
parishioners include 18-year-olds, who technically aren't juveniles in
the criminal justice worldview.

Officer Troy Harris of the Baltimore Police Department said the
official figure for 2003 juvenile homicides - victims younger than 18
- is 33, down from 38 the previous year. The difference of 11 in the
police and church counts is exactly the number of those on the
Cathedral of the Incarnation's list who are over 17 years old: Ten
were 18-year-olds and one was a 19-year-old.

"They seem like such kids," Katharine LeVeque, a Cathedral of the
Incarnation parishioner, said of why 18- and 19-year-olds are included
in the memorial and given candles at the altar. "They're really not
grown-ups, even if they are technically. They're so young. It's so
sad. I think about my grandchildren, who are about those ages."

LeVeque's grandchildren range in age from 6 months to 21 years, which
puts them in precisely the age range of almost every homicide victim
memorialized at the altar. She and her fellow church members don't get
much comfort in lumping 18- and 19-year-olds into the adult category
and thereby reducing the official number of children killed, as though
it will be less of a shock. Even with those technical adults left off,
the list still looks pretty shocking: Ten 16-year-old boys were killed
in Baltimore in 2003, along with nine 17-year-olds, three 14-year-olds
and two 15 year-olds. The message is clear: If you're between the ages
of 14 and 17, don't let the sun set on you in this town.

This state of affairs should bring all of us in this city to tears.
That's exactly what happened to Ruth Dearden, another parishioner at
the Cathedral of the Incarnation who thought something should be done
to bring attention to Baltimore's young homicide victims.

"I remembered [South African Bishop] Desmond Tutu crying when he was
talking about a victim of necklacing in that country," Dearden said.
"That's the way I feel about the children of Baltimore."

She approached Van Gardner, the dean of the cathedral, about some type
of memorial service. It was Gardner, Dearden said, who thought up the
candlelight memorial, which ends each year with a prayer service in
which parishioners come up and blow out each candle, symbolizing the
start of a new year.

It would be nice to think that come Dec. 31, 2004, there will be no
candles burning at the "Children of the Light" altar, but Baltimore
being what it is - not "Charm City" or "The City That Reads" or the
city where we "Believe" or anything else our politicians say it is -
that will never happen. So the parishioners at the Cathedral of the
Incarnation will continue to light the candles. But just as important,
they'll continue with their efforts in tutoring and conducting food
and school supply drives at Abbotston Elementary School - a short
drive away - and with their efforts in providing money for Habitat for
Humanity to build homes in Sandtown-Winchester.

"We believe," LeVeque said, with not the slightest hint of a pun
directed at the latest political slogan, "that we've got to do more
than just light candles."

Wrong. The most dangerous city in America is Holiday City a sub divsion
of Toms River NJ. Roaming gangs of Senior Citizens show up at
restaurants for things called "Early Birds". There sheer volume
intimidates any other patron of the establishment. They drive thier
motorized wheel chairs in supermarkets with total abandon. They hold
cult meetings on Sundays called Quilting Bees and Knitting Circles.
You better not get near these cult meetings or they'll jab you with
their knitting needles or horrors attack you with false teeth in hand.
I've witnessed entire blocks terrorized by grannies hopped up on V8
juice. The gents are just as bad they think nothing of clearing a movie
theater by playing "Hay little boy pull my finger." If you are sitting
where they want to sit, they will wack you over the head with their
walkers. One hapless college aged fellow was sent to the local hospital
emergency unit for stitches.

Stay away from Holiday City unless you want some half blind octogenerian
high on Ovelteen and Geritol to pinch your cheecks untill your face is
streatched beyond recognition and exclaime "My junior have you grown!"
Then she will demand to know when you are getting married.

Oh the horror! The humanity, Holiday City, ya' gotta stay away if you
know what's good for you. 8-)


On 01/06/2004 10:51 AM dutch plucked Senior Frog's Magic Twanger and said:

Ensuring that young victims of violence aren't forgotten

Originally published Jan 3, 2004

by Gregory Kane (Baltimore SUN columnist)


THE CITY began consuming its young early in 2003. The year was only
four days old when a hail of bullets sent Melvin Columbus Williams to
an early death.

"Melvin Columbus Williams IV, 16, of the 6200 block of Plantview Way
was taken to Sinai Hospital by friends after a shooting at 8:30 p.m.
in the 3400 block of Park Heights Ave., and later pronounced dead."
Thus read the story in The Baltimore Sun.

The next day Travon Morris, only 5, was, police said, scalded to death
by his mother, who was sentenced to 20 years for the crime in August.
On Jan. 27, 16-year-old Maurice Ireland Jr. "was shot while standing
with another person in the 800 block of Ensor St.," according to a Sun
story. Davon Alexander Lindsey, 17, was shot in the head and body less
than two weeks later. Dennis Williams and Marcus Davon Johnson, both
16, met similar fates on the street: shot to death.

And so it went in Baltimore in 2003 - children and teen-agers, ranging
in age from 19 years to 2 months old, killed by one means or another.
Some were shot. At least one was run over by a careless driver. A
couple of infants died because of abusive elders. Most received brief
mention in the news media and then, more than likely, disappeared from
the minds of most Baltimoreans.

But there is one place where they were remembered, where candles were
lighted in their memories and their names called Thursday as 2003 gave
way to 2004. At the Cathedral of the Incarnation, the Episcopal church
that stands majestically at University Parkway and St. Paul Street,
about 50 parishioners gathered on New Year's Day in front of the
"Children of the Light" altar. Forty-four candles burned at the altar,
in the rear of the church. Parishioners light one candle for each
Baltimore child they say was killed by violence. Their numbers don't
match exactly the Baltimore Police Department figures for juvenile
homicide victims, and they never will. Cathedral of the Incarnation
parishioners include 18-year-olds, who technically aren't juveniles in
the criminal justice worldview.

Officer Troy Harris of the Baltimore Police Department said the
official figure for 2003 juvenile homicides - victims younger than 18
- is 33, down from 38 the previous year. The difference of 11 in the
police and church counts is exactly the number of those on the
Cathedral of the Incarnation's list who are over 17 years old: Ten
were 18-year-olds and one was a 19-year-old.

"They seem like such kids," Katharine LeVeque, a Cathedral of the
Incarnation parishioner, said of why 18- and 19-year-olds are included
in the memorial and given candles at the altar. "They're really not
grown-ups, even if they are technically. They're so young. It's so
sad. I think about my grandchildren, who are about those ages."

LeVeque's grandchildren range in age from 6 months to 21 years, which
puts them in precisely the age range of almost every homicide victim
memorialized at the altar. She and her fellow church members don't get
much comfort in lumping 18- and 19-year-olds into the adult category
and thereby reducing the official number of children killed, as though
it will be less of a shock. Even with those technical adults left off,
the list still looks pretty shocking: Ten 16-year-old boys were killed
in Baltimore in 2003, along with nine 17-year-olds, three 14-year-olds
and two 15 year-olds. The message is clear: If you're between the ages
of 14 and 17, don't let the sun set on you in this town.

This state of affairs should bring all of us in this city to tears.
That's exactly what happened to Ruth Dearden, another parishioner at
the Cathedral of the Incarnation who thought something should be done
to bring attention to Baltimore's young homicide victims.

"I remembered [South African Bishop] Desmond Tutu crying when he was
talking about a victim of necklacing in that country," Dearden said.
"That's the way I feel about the children of Baltimore."

She approached Van Gardner, the dean of the cathedral, about some type
of memorial service. It was Gardner, Dearden said, who thought up the
candlelight memorial, which ends each year with a prayer service in
which parishioners come up and blow out each candle, symbolizing the
start of a new year.

It would be nice to think that come Dec. 31, 2004, there will be no
candles burning at the "Children of the Light" altar, but Baltimore
being what it is - not "Charm City" or "The City That Reads" or the
city where we "Believe" or anything else our politicians say it is -
that will never happen. So the parishioners at the Cathedral of the
Incarnation will continue to light the candles. But just as important,
they'll continue with their efforts in tutoring and conducting food
and school supply drives at Abbotston Elementary School - a short
drive away - and with their efforts in providing money for Habitat for
Humanity to build homes in Sandtown-Winchester.

"We believe," LeVeque said, with not the slightest hint of a pun
directed at the latest political slogan, "that we've got to do more
than just light candles."

Actually, Baltimore was recently rated as only the third most
dangerous city after Detroit and Washington, DC respectively. That's
still not too reassuring! This was in an article that was rating the
safest cities.

Russ

On 6 Jan 2004 07:51:38 -0800, (dutch) wrote:

Ensuring that young victims of violence aren't forgotten

Originally published Jan 3, 2004

by Gregory Kane (Baltimore SUN columnist)


THE CITY began consuming its young early in 2003. The year was only
four days old when a hail of bullets sent Melvin Columbus Williams to
an early death.

"Melvin Columbus Williams IV, 16, of the 6200 block of Plantview Way
was taken to Sinai Hospital by friends after a shooting at 8:30 p.m.
in the 3400 block of Park Heights Ave., and later pronounced dead."
Thus read the story in The Baltimore Sun.

The next day Travon Morris, only 5, was, police said, scalded to death
by his mother, who was sentenced to 20 years for the crime in August.
On Jan. 27, 16-year-old Maurice Ireland Jr. "was shot while standing
with another person in the 800 block of Ensor St.," according to a Sun
story. Davon Alexander Lindsey, 17, was shot in the head and body less
than two weeks later. Dennis Williams and Marcus Davon Johnson, both
16, met similar fates on the street: shot to death.

And so it went in Baltimore in 2003 - children and teen-agers, ranging
in age from 19 years to 2 months old, killed by one means or another.
Some were shot. At least one was run over by a careless driver. A
couple of infants died because of abusive elders. Most received brief
mention in the news media and then, more than likely, disappeared from
the minds of most Baltimoreans.

But there is one place where they were remembered, where candles were
lighted in their memories and their names called Thursday as 2003 gave
way to 2004. At the Cathedral of the Incarnation, the Episcopal church
that stands majestically at University Parkway and St. Paul Street,
about 50 parishioners gathered on New Year's Day in front of the
"Children of the Light" altar. Forty-four candles burned at the altar,
in the rear of the church. Parishioners light one candle for each
Baltimore child they say was killed by violence. Their numbers don't
match exactly the Baltimore Police Department figures for juvenile
homicide victims, and they never will. Cathedral of the Incarnation
parishioners include 18-year-olds, who technically aren't juveniles in
the criminal justice worldview.

Officer Troy Harris of the Baltimore Police Department said the
official figure for 2003 juvenile homicides - victims younger than 18
- is 33, down from 38 the previous year. The difference of 11 in the
police and church counts is exactly the number of those on the
Cathedral of the Incarnation's list who are over 17 years old: Ten
were 18-year-olds and one was a 19-year-old.

"They seem like such kids," Katharine LeVeque, a Cathedral of the
Incarnation parishioner, said of why 18- and 19-year-olds are included
in the memorial and given candles at the altar. "They're really not
grown-ups, even if they are technically. They're so young. It's so
sad. I think about my grandchildren, who are about those ages."

LeVeque's grandchildren range in age from 6 months to 21 years, which
puts them in precisely the age range of almost every homicide victim
memorialized at the altar. She and her fellow church members don't get
much comfort in lumping 18- and 19-year-olds into the adult category
and thereby reducing the official number of children killed, as though
it will be less of a shock. Even with those technical adults left off,
the list still looks pretty shocking: Ten 16-year-old boys were killed
in Baltimore in 2003, along with nine 17-year-olds, three 14-year-olds
and two 15 year-olds. The message is clear: If you're between the ages
of 14 and 17, don't let the sun set on you in this town.

This state of affairs should bring all of us in this city to tears.
That's exactly what happened to Ruth Dearden, another parishioner at
the Cathedral of the Incarnation who thought something should be done
to bring attention to Baltimore's young homicide victims.

"I remembered [South African Bishop] Desmond Tutu crying when he was
talking about a victim of necklacing in that country," Dearden said.
"That's the way I feel about the children of Baltimore."

She approached Van Gardner, the dean of the cathedral, about some type
of memorial service. It was Gardner, Dearden said, who thought up the
candlelight memorial, which ends each year with a prayer service in
which parishioners come up and blow out each candle, symbolizing the
start of a new year.

It would be nice to think that come Dec. 31, 2004, there will be no
candles burning at the "Children of the Light" altar, but Baltimore
being what it is - not "Charm City" or "The City That Reads" or the
city where we "Believe" or anything else our politicians say it is -
that will never happen. So the parishioners at the Cathedral of the
Incarnation will continue to light the candles. But just as important,
they'll continue with their efforts in tutoring and conducting food
and school supply drives at Abbotston Elementary School - a short
drive away - and with their efforts in providing money for Habitat for
Humanity to build homes in Sandtown-Winchester.

"We believe," LeVeque said, with not the slightest hint of a pun
directed at the latest political slogan, "that we've got to do more
than just light candles."

respond here or email responses to

Me went to college dort and remember the slogan they
had on the benches...."The City that Reads" except
they forgot the 's' so it read, "the city that read."
woops. Dem people be idioten.

Gerald (yes, I can write better than that but felt like
writing it that way )




Russell Patterson wrote:
Actually, Baltimore was recently rated as only the third most
dangerous city after Detroit and Washington, DC respectively. That's
still not too reassuring! This was in an article that was rating the
safest cities.

Russ

On 6 Jan 2004 07:51:38 -0800, (dutch) wrote:


Ensuring that young victims of violence aren't forgotten

Originally published Jan 3, 2004

by Gregory Kane (Baltimore SUN columnist)


THE CITY began consuming its young early in 2003. The year was only
four days old when a hail of bullets sent Melvin Columbus Williams to
an early death.

"Melvin Columbus Williams IV, 16, of the 6200 block of Plantview Way
was taken to Sinai Hospital by friends after a shooting at 8:30 p.m.
in the 3400 block of Park Heights Ave., and later pronounced dead."
Thus read the story in The Baltimore Sun.

The next day Travon Morris, only 5, was, police said, scalded to death
by his mother, who was sentenced to 20 years for the crime in August.
On Jan. 27, 16-year-old Maurice Ireland Jr. "was shot while standing
with another person in the 800 block of Ensor St.," according to a Sun
story. Davon Alexander Lindsey, 17, was shot in the head and body less
than two weeks later. Dennis Williams and Marcus Davon Johnson, both
16, met similar fates on the street: shot to death.

And so it went in Baltimore in 2003 - children and teen-agers, ranging
in age from 19 years to 2 months old, killed by one means or another.
Some were shot. At least one was run over by a careless driver. A
couple of infants died because of abusive elders. Most received brief
mention in the news media and then, more than likely, disappeared from
the minds of most Baltimoreans.

But there is one place where they were remembered, where candles were
lighted in their memories and their names called Thursday as 2003 gave
way to 2004. At the Cathedral of the Incarnation, the Episcopal church
that stands majestically at University Parkway and St. Paul Street,
about 50 parishioners gathered on New Year's Day in front of the
"Children of the Light" altar. Forty-four candles burned at the altar,
in the rear of the church. Parishioners light one candle for each
Baltimore child they say was killed by violence. Their numbers don't
match exactly the Baltimore Police Department figures for juvenile
homicide victims, and they never will. Cathedral of the Incarnation
parishioners include 18-year-olds, who technically aren't juveniles in
the criminal justice worldview.

Officer Troy Harris of the Baltimore Police Department said the
official figure for 2003 juvenile homicides - victims younger than 18
- is 33, down from 38 the previous year. The difference of 11 in the
police and church counts is exactly the number of those on the
Cathedral of the Incarnation's list who are over 17 years old: Ten
were 18-year-olds and one was a 19-year-old.

"They seem like such kids," Katharine LeVeque, a Cathedral of the
Incarnation parishioner, said of why 18- and 19-year-olds are included
in the memorial and given candles at the altar. "They're really not
grown-ups, even if they are technically. They're so young. It's so
sad. I think about my grandchildren, who are about those ages."

LeVeque's grandchildren range in age from 6 months to 21 years, which
puts them in precisely the age range of almost every homicide victim
memorialized at the altar. She and her fellow church members don't get
much comfort in lumping 18- and 19-year-olds into the adult category
and thereby reducing the official number of children killed, as though
it will be less of a shock. Even with those technical adults left off,
the list still looks pretty shocking: Ten 16-year-old boys were killed
in Baltimore in 2003, along with nine 17-year-olds, three 14-year-olds
and two 15 year-olds. The message is clear: If you're between the ages
of 14 and 17, don't let the sun set on you in this town.

This state of affairs should bring all of us in this city to tears.
That's exactly what happened to Ruth Dearden, another parishioner at
the Cathedral of the Incarnation who thought something should be done
to bring attention to Baltimore's young homicide victims.

"I remembered [South African Bishop] Desmond Tutu crying when he was
talking about a victim of necklacing in that country," Dearden said.
"That's the way I feel about the children of Baltimore."

She approached Van Gardner, the dean of the cathedral, about some type
of memorial service. It was Gardner, Dearden said, who thought up the
candlelight memorial, which ends each year with a prayer service in
which parishioners come up and blow out each candle, symbolizing the
start of a new year.

It would be nice to think that come Dec. 31, 2004, there will be no
candles burning at the "Children of the Light" altar, but Baltimore
being what it is - not "Charm City" or "The City That Reads" or the
city where we "Believe" or anything else our politicians say it is -
that will never happen. So the parishioners at the Cathedral of the
Incarnation will continue to light the candles. But just as important,
they'll continue with their efforts in tutoring and conducting food
and school supply drives at Abbotston Elementary School - a short
drive away - and with their efforts in providing money for Habitat for
Humanity to build homes in Sandtown-Winchester.

"We believe," LeVeque said, with not the slightest hint of a pun
directed at the latest political slogan, "that we've got to do more
than just light candles."


respond here or email responses to

Gerald Sylvester wrote in
link.net:

Me went to college dort and remember the slogan they
had on the benches...."The City that Reads" except
they forgot the 's' so it read, "the city that read."
woops. Dem people be idioten.

Gerald (yes, I can write better than that but felt like
writing it that way )


Why?