PAGEl Aetrtev., AI On the bench, or in the court, Judge Schulte works mighty hard by Lynn D. Emery At 9:00 every weekday morning, the little metalic blue VW Bug convertible putters up the windy hill ofChurd Road In Ellicott City to the Howard County courthouse parking lot into a reserved space marked District Court Judge. A young attractive woman springs from the car and walks briskly to the Another renaissance ... • • courthouse, briefcase in hand. Inside the courthouse, people are bustling about. The bailiff is preparing the Ellicott City sparkles between Columbia a~ courtroom, a clerk is posting the morning by Bryan Denson Judge Schulte is the first From her lofty perch above the Patapscc attract droves of urban types from the have gone under. g river, Ellicott City, the hilly hamlet and seat Baltimore/ Washington metroplex, it only The overall structure of this multi-faceted 1< and only woman to have .of Howard County, overlooks acres of this raised the hackles on the necks of those haven for the weekend antique shopper and S woods and rolling pastures of bluegrass. firmly entrenched agrarians. In fact, when curious historian has rem~ined unchanged " been appointed judge In The charm of this "Paris of the 80's", this Rouse initially proposed construction he in many ways. Yet, a few/a~thetic choices' 2f "Georgetown of Baltimore", is not so much was turned down by the county council. were made to alter her rustic charm. Paul's hi Howard County. her lofty stature across the river from Eventually, however, Rouse's persistence Market no longer displays cages with live Baltimore, or her ivy-covered aesthetics, but won. rabbits and fowl ready to face the chopping p - docket, attorneys are having last minute In retrospect, it's good Rouse was so block. The enormous rock wall that E conferences with their clients, police tenacious, for when the shopkeepers realized connects Main Street and Tongue Row was officers, defendants, and witnesses are the competition of all the brand new stores sitting outside the courtroom awaiting their in Columbia would attract the attention and cases. dollars of her established clientele, she began The young woman walks to the end of the a massive cleanup campaign. Mabou Min corridor and enters her office through a door Soon, all the dusty antique shops and marked Judges Chambers. She has barely specialty stores began to sport attractive new taken off her coat when she is met by her signs. Decorative cut glass and elaborate secretary who has numerous phone fixtures became the trademark of this town rich load messages for her to answer and letters and in transition. Dusty floors and spider­ webbed corners were restored to their legal forms for her to sign. Judge Diane Gail by Patrick PanneJ/a Schulte's day has officially begun. original spotlessness. Bricks were polished, The Judge's desk is cluttered with files and ferns were hung, sidewalks were widened Bill Raymond stands between the two papers; the largest pile is a stack of files of and an air of metamorphosis prevailed. But illuminated pay phones. His lanky arms are ( cases to be heard that morning which she Browllng through antlquel II a popular all was not well. tucked through the black leather jacket f Many of the bohemians, the artisans who must review by 9:30 when court convenes; paltlme at EUlcott City sleeves of a three-foot-tall puppet named , another pile is correspondence and legal enjoyed the rustic Ellicott City of yore, were John. He is making phone calls. t orders a waiting her signature and yet her oft-neglected history. perplexed or even angry about , all the Hold it. Who is making the calls, the i changes. This didn't stop the businessmen another consists of various law reviews. Forget that two brothers named Ellicott wooden dummy or the balding middle-aged a and women. They had to compete with It's 9: 10 and people are popping in and out founded her in the early 1800's and man behind the figure? Do we actually know? r Columbia or sell out. So they cleaned up, of her office: attorneys request eventually made her an affluent mill town. Will we ever know? f postponements for their cases, the bailiff sunk what money they had into their shops, Hold the line again, will you? This ! Forget that she is the site of the first.railroad and generally waited to see the results. And informs her of which defendants are present, in America. Remember only that her recent promises to be interesting. We are talking ~ an assistant public defender needs to know if what results! about A Prelude To Death In Venice, a play t history stands as a monument to all small Ellicott City stands proudly today, a his case can be heard last as he has another towns that they too can have rebirth. And which 'will be performed by New York-based t case in another courtroom at the 'same time symbol of what hard work and dedication experimental theatre group Mabou Mines what rebirth! has done to preserve a town which might that morning. In the late 60's, when James Rouse and . on April 22 at 1 pm and 8 pm in the UMBC In all this confusiori, Judge Schulte keeps friends decided to build Columbia, Ellicott Theatre. "From what I understand, the play , her cool while eyeing the clock as it is nearly City stood merely as an isolated outpost is not only tragic but it is. done in a very time for her to go on the bench. She wisks on where farmers from western portions of the comedic way," says Sergei Tschemisch, her long black robe which conceals her county would come to trade. So when Rouse Chairman of the UMBC Theatre proposed plans to build this model city and Department. "I am curious to see what it is CONTINUED ON PAGE 8 about." XTC sparks crowd Joan Jett earns at Painter'S Mill her '8 by Jay Grubb by Jay Grubb It was a great evening, even though my important fact. It's much easier to compare companion decided I'd rather have my beer )ett to male singers like Mick Jagger, than Joan Jett-Bad Reputation Boardwalk poured down my neck instead of inside my fabricated females like Pat Benatar. She has Remember The Runaways? That all-girl mouth. But, soaked in beer or not, it was one that kind of full force gutsiness. band that was high on tease but low on of the best concerts so far this year. Jett left the crowd hot and ready for XTC. talent? Okay, so Joan Jett was one of the First there was the place, Painters Mill, It must have been contagious because XTC dear girls, let's just forget about all that. Jett sort' of a Capital Centre shrunk down to the churned through their set with playful is on her own now, and it's obvious who was "right" size. A little over 2000 seats is big abandon. From the herky-jerky rhythms of responsible for The Runaway's occasional enough for a mass event feel, but not so large "Real by Reel" and "Respectable Street" to glimmers. But really, forget it-this makes all that you think you're in the Goodyear blimp the smooth pop of"Life Begins At The Hop" that look pale. watching ants. And they serve alcohol, which and "Towers Of London", the band proved Finally a girl who can sing rock. Jett's you can drink if you don't feel like wearil1git! that they are excellent' musicians. By the time voice is real, she makes Pat Benatar sound Then there was the music. Jules and the the boys from Swindon got their new single like Olivia Newton John. plain wimpy. She Millionaires started things off with a pretty "Generals and Majors" the audience was up rips through "Bad Reputation" and "Don't forgetable set. There were some nice touches and jumping around in a frenzy. Abuse Me" with all the gusto of one of the of gospel and boogie, but that's all I can Some people (especially critics) forget that boys. In the latter cut, Jett even holds her remember. even though XTC's music is fairly complex, own against the thundering bass and drums Soon Jules was gone and Joan Jett blazed when all's said and done it's still dance music. of ex-Sex Pistols, Steve Jones and Paul on to the stage. This ex-Runaway puts I asked Andy Partridge, XTC's amiable Cook. enough energy in her performance to power guitarist and singer whether the band That doesn't mean Jett is' a punk rocker. the entire East coast for a couple of years. considers itself experimental or progressive. Oh,~there is some of that here, but the style Clad in an Orioles T-shirt, JeU and The "We don't consciously try to be smart, and has more in common with the glitter rock of Blackhearts heated up the crowd .as they tore we don't try to be dumb. We just want to be T. Rex, early Bowie (Ziggy), and Mott the through most of the material on the new Bad popular .. .it'sjust the way we play together." Hoople. This becomes clear on the perfecUy Reputation LP. An added treat was her After the show at Painter's Mill there are a chosen covers. Gary Glitter's "Doing All spirited rendition of the Rolling Stone's lot of people who hope they keep playing Right .With The Boys," and the irr~stable infamous "Starfucker", which points out an together for along time.