Abundance

WASHINGTON -- Federal officials said yesterday that a recall of beef products linked to a dairy cow infected with mad cow disease now extends to eight states and Guam, as meat associated with the diseased animal was distributed more widely than investigators first believed. Agriculture officials said the likelihood that the beef is tainted is slim, because all of the tissues known to be affected by bovine spongiform encephalopathy -- that from the brain, spinal cord and a part of the intestine -- were removed before the carcass was processed.

The coaches who faced Jerome Shelton and his St. Frances girls basketball team last season never questioned the Panthers' superior level of talent. The Panthers reigned at No. 1 all season, swept every game in the tough Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference and polished it all off with a second A Conference crown in three years. What Shelton's peers still don't quite understand is how he manages to blend all that talent so smoothly. "He's got a ton of kids and I don't know how he keeps them all happy.

Hip-hop queen Missy Elliott has fired off three albums in three years, but she shows no signs of creative exhaustion on This Is Not a Test! She actually improves on last year's witty, inventive Under Construction, remaining engaging throughout a nearly hourlong blend of rap, soul, R&B and dance grooves. The album has truth-telling lightened with humor, bunches of guest stars who never overshadow her, and clever production by Elliott and longtime musical partner Timbaland that has all manner of beeps, jingles, buzzes, whoops and popping in and out of the mix like tiny sonic jack-in-the-boxes.

Book Bash 2003 at Borders Booksellers in Towson will offer participants a chance to talk with more than 60 authors, taste savory foods and delicious desserts from area restaurants, enjoy live music, acquire signed copies of best-selling books and bid in a silent auction - all while fighting one of the most rampant social epidemics of the Baltimore region: illiteracy. Book Bash 2003, which takes place Sunday, will feature appearances by several literary celebrities, including Laura Lippman, author of Every Secret; Arthur Magida, author of The Rabbi and the Hitman: A True Tale of Murder, Passion and the Shattered Faith of a Congregation; award-winning short-story writer Ron Tanner; and Doug Wead, author of the best-selling All The President's Children: Triumph and Tragedy in the Lives of the First Families.

On Wednesday, October 1, 2003, ANDREW M. ERCOLE. Andy died peacefully with dignity and grace, at his home, surrounded by his family, friends and "Bailey". He is the loved husband of Phyllis; father of Sharon, David, Patty, and Michael and Jeff; he is also survived by ten grandchildren, one great-grandchild and an abundance of loving relatives and friends. If desired, Memorial contributions can be made to Hospice of Baltimore or the Humane Society.it is both with a cheer and a smile, that his family will hold a private celebration of his life on Saturday.

"We see it happen three or four times every night," said Patrick O'Connell, the chef and a co-owner of the luxurious Inn at Little Washington in tiny Washington, Va. "They come, they eat dinner, they ask us where the nearest local Realtor is." This, apparently, is how a trend gets its start. Vacationers come to a place that occupies a rarefied spot in the culinary pantheon - in this case, the inn, located in Rappahannock County, in the gently rolling foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, less than an hour and a half from Washington.

OUTTAKES from the summer of 2003: Here's how much rain fell on the bay: An oceanographer friend was sampling Atlantic Ocean water recently about 25 miles seaward of the two Virginia capes -- Charles and Henry -- that bound the Chesapeake's mouth. His instruments were awry, showing salt levels around 16 parts per thousand parts of water, not much more than half what should be in sea water. But on recalibrating, he discovered he was in a virtual river of freshwater pumping from the bay far out to sea, the flow from months of rainfall gushing down the 40-odd tributaries that feed the estuary.

A good center midfielder can create order out of apparent chaos, and spell the difference between winning or losing. He is the most skilled and knowledgeable player on the field, and possesses outstanding vision, courage and split-second decision-making ability. That's why center midfielders are so valued by coaches. This season features a bumper crop of outstanding center midfielders. Some of the best include Patrick Healey of defending Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Division champion Calvert Hall, Mike Marchiano of MIAA runner-up McDonogh, Jeff Routh of state Class 2A finalist Towson and Drew Yates of up-and-coming Curley.

Four years after Homicide: Life on the Street faded from television's prime-time lineup, tourists still pose for photographs in front of the Fells Point landmark that served as police headquarters for Detectives Munch, Pembleton, Bolander and Howard. The carved "BP" on the 1914 building's facade stands for Broadway Pier, but to millions of viewers it became "Baltimore Police." "People really believed it was a police station, they still believe it is a police station," said Vincent E. Peranio, who cast the building as the production designer on the series filmed from 1992 to 1999.

When John Wallace Jr. chose to buy his manufactured home two years ago, it wasn't the quiet neighborhood or skylights that convinced him. Wallace's three-bedroom, two-bathroom home was the model for the Middle River community of Biscayne Bay Village where the surrounding homes had many of the same features. But Wallace, 59, says it stood out from the others in one big way - its space. "The open floor plan is what sold me," he says. Wallace certainly knows that the term "spacious" often is not associated with manufactured homes.