“Common Ground” founder Walt Michael takes time to strum his guitar on the lawn of “The Hill” (McDaniel College). In the crucible of the ’60s, young Walt Michael went to West Virginia as a poverty-fighting volunteer. Among the mountain peop...

Builder Robin Ford used salvaged stone and beams in a recent renovation. Stone from a deconstructed barn near Manchester now graces the exterior of a $2 million-plus house in Baltimore County. The enhancement is part of a growing trend in reclaiming ...

Master Gardener Diane Brown picks up seeds to begin planting. How and Where to Start Growing ThingsSpring arrives, and a gardener’s heart beats faster in anticipation of plump, juicy tomatoes and succulent green beans, roses and butterfly bushes. O...

Garlands of barbed wire trimmed with bows of homespun; a nine-foot tall Christmas tree bearing thousands of glimmering hand-blown Victorian glass ornaments; an indoor tree decked with birdhouses; outdoor trees laden with bird-friendly fruit, and on t...

When a massive stroke knocked out Jimmy Henderson’s vision in one eye, hearing in one ear, and his ability to eat and balance, the Westminster house painter and his wife confronted a decision that millions of older Americans face: How can I live as...

Taneytown residents Richard and Lorraine Moale traded their conventional water heater for a tankless model that heats water only as needed. In Taylorsville, John and Konnie Pavlik hired a professional energy auditor to assess their house to learn whe...

Jean Lawyer of Westminster wants to look her best in every season. The retired home economics teacher, 75, greets summer with regular pedicures and manicures and a sunless tan to give her legs a healthy glow. Lawyer is not alone. Make-up, skin and ha...

On any given day, an increasing number of Carroll Countians are aiming their buns skyward and their heads down like puppies inviting play, standing wide-legged with one knee bent and arms outstretched like Japanese warriors, or using their abdomens a...

As Donna Scrivner cooks breakfast at her Westminster home, she thinks about her son, Ryan Payne. Has he had dinner? Is he all right? Seven hours ahead and 6,000 miles east, Marine Cpl. Ryan Payne may be having a hot meal in the mess hall or grabbing ...

You leave your car in the parking lot while you work or shop or have lunch. When you return, you find a scrape or dent where someone’s car door hit yours. Or someone backed into your car and left the evidence on your bumper. Or a vandal ran his key...