Parochial Schools

As many of you know, I was born and raised in solidly working class Arbutus. My family's Protestantism qualified us as an anomaly; the majority of the neighborhood kids were Catholic. Most attended local Catholic schools such as Ascension, Our Lady of...

Father Tom Batsis, the new president of Encino Crespi, loves opera, plays and movies. If he didn't have to attend a single football or basketball game, he jokes, "I'd die a happy priest." "I'm about as non-jock a jock as you're going to find,'' he...

In my favorite line from one of my favorite movies, "The Shawshank Redemption," Morgan Freeman's character Red goes on about how he has been in prison so long that he didn't think he could ever make it on the outside. Tim Robbins' unforgettable character,...

We know an awful lot about the numbers. What we don't know about are the numbers. For days now, even with the official Big East divorce announcement pending, we have known that UConn, Cincinnati and South Florida will get $20 million to $25 million as...

Oh, how well I remember Catholic Schools week. How could I forget the Burger King booklets? Again this year, the schools have been doing some fun and serious events during the week. Last week I visited some of the Mishawaka and South Bend Catholic...

The UConn women had routed Oakland by 72 points Wednesday night, and now here was Geno Auriemma talking about how he had planned to teach at the school's international branch campus in Florence, Italy, this spring. Auriemma was preparing for a three-week...

It’s a very tough situation right now at Boston College. They’ve always been pretty strong, but I think their recruiting has gone down the last couple of years and it’s showing now. They don’t have quite the talent they’ve...

Officers with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department arrested a 62-year-old music teacher for allegedly starting a fire that killed her husband four years ago.   Police said Gwendolyn Kirch, a teacher at St. Pius X Catholic School, is...

With his gig at the Steppenwolf Theatre now seemingly an annual event, Tony Fitzpatrick is taking on the air of Garrison Keillor, and his motley crew of sidekicks is looking a bit like a cut-rate cast of "Prairie Home Companion." As seen from the back...

There is way too much sadness in the world today. Stories of people turning their lives around are a welcome change. I recently met a man named Mike, from San Diego, whose roots are in El Centro and Brawley. As a child he faithfully went to church,...

I thought it best to wait a while to decide if I should comment on the speech by Notre Dame law Professor Nicole Stelle Garnett as reported in the July 9th South Bend Tribune. It seemed so arrogant and outrageous to me that I thought I might be...

The North Hagerstown High School Key Club will hold its inaugural car, truck and motorcycle show Saturday, June 4, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the North High parking lot. Registration will be from 8 to 10 a.m. Registration costs $12 in advance or $15 on...