The actual origin of Memorial Day, once called Decoration Day, is unclear, except that at first it was most certainly a response to the terrible tragedy of the Civil War in which so many Americans on both sides died on and off the battlefields.Read More

SAN ANTONIO – A top journalist who is a veteran of covering violent conflict in Mexico and Central America has a sober warning for anybody who smokes marijuana: If it comes from south of the border, “it’s heavy with the blood of innocent people.”Read More

Babies cry less when they hear the sound of the harp. That’s not a mothering tip but an observation of nurses in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Mercy Medical Center, Baltimore, on days when harpist Cathy Maglaras wheels in her 12-pound Celtic instrument to strum tenderly in the company of incubated preemies.Read More

ADAMSTOWN – As the 2000s approached, Sam and Delores Keiters were nearing their third decade of living in Montgomery County’s Silver Spring.Read More

Gov. Martin J. O’Malley signed a number of bills into law May 13, including House Bill 1111/ Senate Bill 614 establishing a Maryland Commission on Capital Punishment and Senate Bill 238/ House Bill 75 requiring nonpublic schools to receive a report when one of their students is arrested for a serious offense. Both measures were...Read More

NEW YORK – Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York is a man familiar with the inner workings of the Catholic Church but once described himself as “a sort of fish-fry and bingo guy” who preferred being “in the field ... on the front lines ... with the folks.”Read More

Edward Whitesell calls it “the fulfillment of a dream.” At the same time Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien ordains three men to the transitional diaconate during a May 10 liturgy at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore, the archbishop will also ordain Mr. Whitesell a permanent...Read More

WASHINGTON - The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops urged the U.S. government to “redouble its efforts to assist Iraqis” in providing safety for its citizens, especially religious minorities.Read More