NATIONAL
Bush names Hopkins physicist
Physicist Michael Griffin of Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory was chosen yesterday by President Bush to lead NASA as the agency prepares to resume space shuttle flights and tries to meet the White House goal of sending astronauts back to the moon. If confirmed by the Senate, Griffin will become the agency's 11th administrator. [Page 1a]
Police hunt Atlanta judge's killer
A man being escorted into the Fulton County Courthouse in downtown Atlanta for his rape trial yesterday stole a deputy's gun, killed the judge and two other people and carjacked a reporter's vehicle to escape, setting off a widespread manhunt and creating chaos across the city. Hundreds of police swarmed the area in search of the suspect, identified as Brian Nichols, a former high-school football standout from Baltimore. [Page 1a]
WORLD
Spain honors bombing victims
Led by King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia, Spaniards marked the one-year anniversary of the devastating Madrid train bombings with a silent five-minute vigil at noon yesterday. Traffic came to a halt, motorists stepped from their cars, trains made unscheduled stops, and workers left their offices to pay tribute to the 191 killed. The attacks by Islamic militants opened a new phase of terrorism in the heart of Europe. [Page 11a]
Court reinstates rape convictions
Pakistan's highest Islamic court reinstated the convictions of five men sentenced to death for raping a woman on the orders of village elders in 2002. A lower court had overturned the convictions March 3, provoking condemnation from human rights groups worldwide. [Page 14a]
MARYLAND
Sarbanes to leave the Senate
Maryland's Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes said yesterday that he will not seek re-election in 2006, ending three decades in the Senate and opening a scramble for his seat that could dramatically restructure state and federal races next year. A reliably liberal Democrat who was first elected to the Senate in 1976, Sarbanes said he was announcing his plans this early to give potential candidates a chance to organize. [Page 1a]
Baltimore man shot in Woodbine
A Baltimore man was found fatally shot in a field near Woodbine yesterday after an exchange of gunfire with two Carroll County sheriff's deputies. Craig Eugene Hill Sr., 31, had burst into the Westminster apartment of a former girlfriend about a half-hour before, saying he had killed someone and planned to shoot her and himself. He was cornered in a field after running through a radar trap in the woman's stolen car. [Page 1b]
SPORTS
MLB asks to meet committee
Major League Baseball has requested a meeting for Monday with a congressional committee that subpoenaed ballplayers to testify at a hearing next week on steroid use in the sport, according to committee and baseball aides. The requested meeting is a sign that baseball and the House Committee on Government Reform, which have been publicly feuding, are privately trying to reach an agreement about the scope of Thursday's hearing. [Page 1c]
UNC rallies past Clemson
Raymond Felton scored a career-high 29 points, including his team's final 10, as top seed North Carolina stormed back from a 13-point deficit with under eight minutes left to defeat ninth seed Clemson, 88-81, in an Atlantic Coast Conference tournament quarterfinal at MCI Center. [Page 1c]
Declan's Moon sidelined until fall
Declan's Moon, the undefeated Maryland-bred gelding seen as a potential boost to racing, has suffered an injury that will sideline him until at least the fall. The leading contender for the Kentucky Derby, Declan's Moon injured his left front leg while winning the Santa Catalina Stakes last weekend at Santa Anita Park, said Ron Ellis, his trainer. [Page 1c]
BUSINESS
U.S. trade deficit soars
The U.S. trade deficit hit $58.3 billion in January, the second highest in history, as clothing imports from China surged with the lifting of global quotas Dec. 31. January's trade gap was 4.5 percent higher than December's $55.7 billion and was just below the record $59.4 billion in November. [Page 12c]
Tech council director resigns
Penny Lewandowski, a technology advocate before and after the dot-com bubble burst, will step down as executive director of the Greater Baltimore Technology Council in May to take a position with a Michigan foundation that helps entrepreneurs develop new businesses. [Page 12c]
Microsoft to pay $60 million
Microsoft Corp. has agreed to pay $60 million to Burst.com Inc. to settle a patent infringement suit alleging that it stole Burst's technology for sending video and sound over the Internet. Microsoft also will get a nonexclusive license to Burst's technology as part of the settlement. The case was being heard in U.S. District Court in Baltimore. [Page 12c]
TODAY
Decorator-undertaker to the elite
