Free Republic

Construction for a maglev train line that would take passengers from Washington to Baltimore in 15 minutes could alter a D.C. neighborhood and affect nearby properties for years, District officials said Monday. A maglev station in the Mount Vernon Square area has the potential to change the character of the neighborhood and bring “substantial construction and long-term operational implications on nearby properties,” Andrew Trueblood, director of the D.C. Office of Planning, said in a statement that urged residents and city leaders to engage in the federal review of the multibillion-dollar project. The 40-mile “superconducting magnetic levitation train system,” commonly called...

Just before the start of this year's baseball season, the group representing workers who clean up the peanut shells and plastic beer cups at Oriole Park at Camden Yards thought they had reached a breakthrough on getting higher salaries. advertisement advertisement Not only had the United Workers Association persuaded the Maryland Stadium Authority to bring in a new contractor that pledged better wages and better treatment, the workers said that Orioles owner and labor champion Peter G. Angelos had personally phoned the group to say he would help. "I thought it was just a tremendous thing that he was willing...

Orioles' chaplain goes to bat for God By George P. Matysek Jr. Staff correspondent Father John Bauer was looking for a cold drink on a hot day at the ballpark when God threw him a curveball. It happened when the Baltimore Orioles’ season ticket holder stepped up to a booth where designated drivers receive free soft drinks in exchange for not drinking alcohol at the game and giving a safe ride home to their friends. The concession stand workers discovered this particular O’s fan was a priest when they saw his driver’s license showing a portly Redemptorist cleric in a...

Before the game, the Orioles announced that Thursday's series finale has been moved up from 7:05 p.m. to 12:35 p.m. in hopes of getting the game in and allowing the Yankees to catch their flight to Tampa Bay afterward. The announcement came only 12 hours after a team spokesman insisted there was no chance it would be changed. No doubt the decision also had to do with the bottom line: If the game is played Thursday, the Orioles get to keep the gate, but if the game is postponed, it will be made up next weekend at Yankee Stadium, with...