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Injuries may have sapped the Ravens of starting linebackers Ray Lewis and Terrell Suggs for Sunday's contest against the Washington Redskins, but the Ravens will still feature free safety Ed Reed in their defensive backfield. And the Redskins are fully aware of the eight-time Pro Bowler's potential to wreak havoc at FedEx Field. “Ed Reed, he's the top of that defense,” Washington's exciting rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III said after Wednesday's practice. “With Ray Lewis being out, he is the leader of that defense.

As if the Ravens offense didn't have enough to worry about in Sunday's showdown against the NFL's top-ranked defense, the Pittsburgh Steelers might just welcome back a seven-time Pro Bowler to the fold. Strong safety Troy Polamalu fully participated in Wednesday's practice, his first since straining his right calf during a 16-14 win against the Philadelphia Eagles on Oct. 7. It would appear that the league's Defensive Player of the Year in 2010 is moving forward towards returning for Sunday's contest at M&T Bank Stadium.

Every time Westminster's football team set a record this fall, quarterback Deryk Kern said it simply provided more motivation toward the Owls' ultimate goal - winning the Class 4A state championship. Kern gave the No. 4 Owls another dose of motivation Friday night when he tied the state record for touchdown passes in a season early in the first quarter and had a hand in nine touchdowns as the Owls set a Class 4A playoff record for most points by a winning team with a 62-28 victory over Sherwood.

Don't forget, the annual Mobbies Awards Bash is Wednesday at the Creative Alliance. Now in its fourth year, the Mobbies are the Baltimore Sun's awards for Maryland's best blogs and social media accounts. Voting was conducted in 23 categories, including best politics blog, pro sports blog, personal Twitter account, Instagram account. There's a food and dining category, too. The winners will be announced on Wednesday at an election-themed happy hour sponsored by Flying Dog Brewery and Clementine at Creative Alliance.  There's more information on the Mobbies Facebook page.

Lois W. Uram, a retired Mercantile-Safe Deposit & Trust Co. accountant, died Oct. 9 of complications from dementia at Gilchrist Hospice in Towson. She was 82. The daughter of a certified public accountant and a homemaker, Lois A. Weidemuller was born and raised in Bellevue, Pa., where she graduated in 1949 from Bellevue High School. She studied bookkeeping at night in Pittsburgh while working for the Federal Reserve Bank there. In 1955, she married John Uram, who taught in Baltimore County public schools, and the couple moved to Arbutus.

Gustav "Gus" Baer, a retired executive and certified public accountant who had a second career as a pianist entertaining Nordstrom shoppers with his spirited renditions of Cole Porter, Duke Ellington and George Gershwin classics, died Oct. 9 of a neurodegenerative disorder at the Emeritus Pikesville senior-living facility. The longtime Baltimore County resident was 84. The son of a businessman and a concert pianist and music teacher, Mr. Baer was born in Baltimore and raised on Sequoia Avenue in the city's Ashburton neighborhood.

North Harford literally ran right over C. Milton Wright on Thursday night. The Hawks rushed for 394 yards and four touchdowns, overwhelming the visiting Mustangs with their ground game en route to a 42-6 victory in an Upper Chesapeake Bay Athletic Conference matchup. North Harford coach Ken Brinkman said he wanted to see what the Mustangs would be able to handle. The Hawks started running early, and C. Milton Wright wasn't able to stop them as North Harford ran left, right and up the middle.

All of us can agree that the findings of a recent state audit of the Baltimore City school system are unacceptable. There is no excuse for wasting money, and the burden is now on the city schools leadership to fix the problems. While we monitor that progress, it's time to take a step back and consider how to move forward to benefit our kids. We cannot allow these financial missteps to sidetrack us from providing high-quality educational environments for our children. Concerns by some elected leaders about the city school system's ability to handle its finances could cloud the prospects of an important piece of legislation that will be considered by the General Assembly early next year - a measure that would allow us to begin rebuilding our aging and inadequate school buildings.

Despite this season's election-year politics, the Obama administration needs to acknowledge mistakes at the U.S. consulate in Libya, where four Americans were killed last month in an apparent terrorist attack, and to learn from them. That's the only way to make sure such tragedies aren't repeated in the future, and it's also the only way to move forward if we are to be successful in apprehending the perpetrators and bringing them to justice. The attack on the American consulate in the eastern city of Benghazi, in which U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens died, became the subject of heated debate at congressional hearings in Washington this week.

Politicians and the media urge holding teachers accountable for the performance of schools and their students. As a classroom teacher, I support accountability, and I'm willing to be evaluated on student test scores and student/administration evaluations. However, as I read our article on financial mismanagement and lack of oversight in the city schools I asked myself whether in fairness to taxpayers - and the good of students - there isn't more accountability to go around ("Schools get 'F' in finance control," Oct. 7)