Ability

On a hot summer day, it's hard to see how the Conowingo Dam could hurt the Chesapeake Bay. Anglers line the shore below the 94-foot high impoundment, casting out into the gently roiling Susquehanna River for rockfish breaking the water. Yet unseen, on the other side of the dam, millions upon millions of tons of sediment and nutrient pollution are slowly building up that could wreak havoc on the bay if they get through. "It's an invisible problem," said Michael Helfrich, the Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper, as he watches the fishermen.

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blakeand her allies on the city's Board of Estimates today voted down a $7.4 million contract with IBM for switching city offices to voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) phones because she believes there needs to be greater coordination between the Municipal Telephone Exchange, which is part of Comptroller Joan Pratt's office, and the Mayor's Office of Information Technology. And who could argue that isn't needed? Switching the phone system could save the city millions of dollars a year, but doing so without the significant participation of the workers who maintain Baltimore's computer network could lead to costly mistakes.

Keli Smith Puzo ran out of options early last month. Her 9-month-old son, Ian, had a highly contagious virus, and her babysitter was incapacitated with the stomach flu. More than 2,000 miles from friends and family, the U.S. women's field hockey forward had no one else to take care of her two young boys. For the first time during her four-month stay in San Diego training with the national team, she would have to miss practice. It was a trying day for the 33-year-old Smith Puzo.

It's no secret that the success of Orioles rookie  Wei-Yin Chen this season will depend on how the Taiwanese left-hander adjusts to opponents once they've seen him a while. But Chen looks like he's trying to beat batters to the punch. Sunday was Chen's 14th major league start, so teams have plenty of tape on the lefty. It was the first time he faced the Braves in his big league career, but with every week, teams are getting their second look at Chen. Newness lasts only so long.

The first time Frank Moraff entered his chocolate Labrador retriever Cali in aquatic competition at 8 months old, she stopped short at the edge of the 40-foot dock and stared as the toy he'd flung, and that she so desperately wanted, went sailing into the air without her. After considerable urging, "she finally slid off the dock and did a belly flop," he recalled, shaking his head and smiling. But in her second attempt that same day, she redeemed herself and jumped 17 feet. "I was thrilled," said the longtime Columbia resident, who is a member of Chesapeake DockDogs, a canine dock jumping club formed in 2003 that has 60 families as members.

Johns Hopkins owns a 58-26-1 advantage in their series with Navy and has won 37 of the last 38 meetings. The No. 9 Blue Jays (9-2) have dropped two of their last three contests, including Saturday night's 9-6 decision to No. 8 Maryland. Since compiling a four-game winning streak, the Midshipmen (5-6) have dropped three straight. Here are a few factors that could influence the outcome at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis on Saturday. 1) Navy's Pat Kiernan.

The horde passes in a blinding blur of bright, logo-laden polyester jerseys and $10,000 full-carbon-frame bicycles measured in grams not pounds, zooming over impossibly gorgeous —- and remarkably steep — Alpine vistas. It's enough to make you want to leave your bike in the garage. Those sleek, graceful racers and their expensive racing bikes, not to mention the 8 percent grades of the mountains, can intimidate the amateur rider whose only exposure to organized bicycle riding is the occasional glance at the Tour de France on TV. Not to let the air out of your tires, but if you think all bike rides are grueling ordeals with champagne sprays at the finish line, you haven't tried one of the Baltimore region's bike rides.

At first, the video of a man being beaten and stripped in downtown Baltimore appeared to be just another tantalizing shock clip for the Internet. But in recent days, thanks to social media users as far away as California, it could prove instrumental in solving the case. Police have made no arrests in last month's attack, but they said tips were flooding in about the identity of the man shown punching a disoriented victim before others ripped off his clothes, took his belongings and humiliated him on the sidewalk outside a city courthouse.

The media -- mostly national but some in Baltimore -- took aim at Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco back in February when his agent, Joe Linta, told The Baltimore Sun that “if the game is about wins and losses, he has to be in the top five [quarterbacks].” That comment was often taken out of context. Linta's point was that Flacco is a winner -- his 44 regular-season wins are the most by any quarterback in his first four NFL seasons -- and he was suggesting that Flacco should get paid as such . After all, Linta is tasked right now with convincing the Ravens to give his client a lucrative contract extension.

A nuclear scan helped doctors diagnose Animal Kingdom with the start of a stress fracture in his hind end. The injury won't require surgery, and the Kentucky Derby winner could return to full training after 30 days of rest and 60 days of light work. But his connections also raised the possibility of retirement so that the colt could be put out to stud. "Team Valor's interest is to run the horse for another year," Team Valor International CEO Barry Irwin said in a statement.