Attention

Bob Baffert strode into the Preakness stakes barn Friday morning, shouting toward Orb's trainer Shug McGaughey loud enough so all could hear. "OK, Shug, I'm here to take away that media spotlight for you," he said. Baffert, indeed, is one of the few people in the sport who could have swiped some of the attention from McGaughey and his heavily favored colt this week . Baffert has won the Preakness five times, and on three occasions he's moved on to Belmont with a chance at the Triple Crown.

Would it surprise you to learn that Fast Company magazine just ranked Maryland the third-most innovative state in the nation? Or that Maryland took the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's No. 1 spot for both innovation and entrepreneurship? It's a fact: In our state's dynamic mix of world-class universities and professional schools, institutes for advanced research, teaching hospitals, think tanks, hubs for start-up businesses and more, there exists this mysterious, economically essential activity known as innovation.

The Sun ran a story on page 3 about the theft of two bikes from a garage ("Two bikes are stolen from Jenna Bush Hager's garage," June 20). Someone broke into my store, causing damage, and stole over $5,000 worth of cigarettes. I spent $7,000 upgrading security! We didn't even make page 4! jcggordan

Ohio State's Greg Dutton did not get to watch the entirety of Cornell's 16-8 upset of sixth-seeded Maryland in a NCAA tournament first-round game last Sunday. But the junior goalkeeper watched the film, and fifth-year senior attackman Rob Pannell's four-goal, three-assist performance was no less impressive a day or two after the fact. “Rob Pannell is a great player, and he's been a great player there for four years,” said Dutton, a Timonium native and Calvert Hall graduate. “He's probably one of the best players to ever play Division I lacrosse.

Its incredible that with all of the articles on HIV and AIDS, the fact that the FDA has finally approved of a 15-minute over-the-counter test for HIV has barely been mentioned ("Rapid at-home HIV test gains federal approval," July 4). You talk about unprotected sex, you talk about abstinence, you talk about condoms, etc., but here we have a method to "privately and immediately " determine whether your partner is HIV positive. One would think this would be a strong deterrent for unprotected sex, but it seems like it's a taboo subject.

With at least two cable television shows — VH1's "The OCD Project" and A&E's "Obsessed" — featuring people struggling with obsessive-compulsive disorder, awareness may be on the rise. And Dr. Charles Mansueto hopes to give attention to the disorder on a more local, grass-roots level. Mansueto, of the Behavior Therapy Center in Silver Spring, has been treating those with obsessive-compulsive disorder for more than 25 years, and he says that the illness can be effectively managed.

Really, it is amazing that the victory by Scott Walker was almost ignored by your paper ("The lesson of Wisconsin," June 7), but it is surely a victory for those who understand the choice we must make in November and get rid of the amateur in the White House. What would happen to The Sun today if there was a choice for readers here? It would fold if there was any choice in Maryland for the morning paper. If there was a choice, you may be sure my subscription would lapse today. Mike Sherman

And you wonder why the rest of the country calls Baltimore bush league, no pun intended. Here is young lady, daughter of a two-term president and granddaughter of a president, vice president, head of the CIA, Congressman and World War II Navy pilot hero who could be living in tall cotton in Texas (vs. crime city Baltimore) and teaching in an exclusive community. But she is here teaching inner-city kids in this cesspool city, and some people get bent out of shape because she got a little "extra" attention because she was robbed ("Jenna Bush burglary commands attention," June 24)

Hansen does not need to try to be noticed. The nearly all-white colt always stands out among his peers. Yet on Thursday morning, the Breeders' Cup juvenile champion did all he could to draw the attention of a robust crowd on his first day this week at Churchill Downs. A 10-1 choice on the morning line for the 138th Kentucky Derby, Hansen's antics didn't leave trainer Mike Maker concerned. "Looks like he really had his eyeballs on Take Charge Indy out there," Maker said.

No. 7 Maryland's defensive approach to Saturday's road contest against No. 12 Colgate sounds like a simple task: pay a lot of attention to Peter Baum. That's easier said than done. The junior attackman leads Division I in points per game (5.7) and goals per game (3.9) and was named the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year last week. The Terps are still debating whether to assign sophomore Michael Ehrhardt or freshman Goran Murray to Baum, but Ehrhardt - who has shadowed Johns Hopkins senior atatckman Chris Boland and Navy sophomore attackman Tucker Hull this season - said Baum is unlike any other player the defense and defensive coordinator Kevin Warne has faced thus far. “He can do everything,” Ehrhardt said.

The shooting of Kendra Diggs and the subsequent barricade by her alleged attacker presented a challenge Tuesday for police and emergency responders. Under the threat of further gunfire from the off-duty Baltimore police officer, officials said, they were unable to render medical aid to the dying woman. "When you have a person who is down … what we're trained on is that you don't jeopardize six or seven police officers in your emotional reaction to save that person," Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts said in an interview Wednesday.

While my wedding and bridal showers are still a ways away I can't help but think of them often. One of the things that has constantly been on my mind is all the attention I will be receiving. I am fine with this on my wedding day because I know I will be sharing the spotlight with my husband-to-be. However, when it comes to the bridal shower all eyes are on me and the thought of this terrifies me. I am a shy person and don't usually enjoy being the center of attention. I am comfortable and outgoing around close friends and relatives so if the shower is on the smaller side it should be fine but if it ends up being a good amount of people it makes me nervous.

Sarah Dorl and James Frieson both regularly took care of many jobs that helped their respective teams, tasks that wouldn't show up in a score sheet. But the work Dorl did for the Dulaney basketball team and Frieson put in for Towson football finally earned some notice Monday night when they won top honors at the 73rd Annual McCormick Unsung Heroes Awards banquet at the Hunt Valley Inn. Dorl and Frieson became the 70th and 71st winners of the Charles Perry McCormick Scholarship, established in 1969.

When the calendar turns to April and May, the postseason becomes a pressing matter for those teams jockeying for a position in the NCAA tournament. For Stevenson, which is ranked No. 4 in the latest United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association poll, the road to the Division III NCAA tournament appears to be a one-lane thoroughfare as the Mustangs went 8-0 in the Middle Atlantic Conference and is poised to win the league tournament and the accompanying automatic qualifier. But where the team might land in the NCAA tournament is nearly as significant.

No. 12 Washington College's 7-6 come-from-behind win against No. 5 and reigning national champion Salisbury on Wednesday night may prove to be a psychological lift for a program that had dropped 12 straight contests to the Sea Gulls. Perhaps more immediately, the victory might propel to the Shoremen (11-2) to their second consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament regardless of how they fare in the Centennial Conference tournament. With a 4-2 record in the league, Washington is currently third behind conference leaders Dickinson (12-0 overall and 5-0 in the Centennial)

Author George Saunders is having the kind of year that could lead the former roofer and slaughterhouse worker to imagine that someone is spritzing the air around him with a giant bottle of perfume. "The way things have been going recently, it's as if I had a personal sprayer walking behind me and making sure that the world always smells sweet," says the New York-based writer, who will visit Baltimore on April 13 to headline the 10th annual CityLit Festival. With the publication in January of his new book, "Tenth of December," Saunders, 54, a professor at Syracuse University, has been receiving the kind of attention seldom given to short-story writers - even those who, like him, received a 2006 MacArthur "genius" grant.

Where is the outrage for the 200-plus violent murders that take place in Baltimore City year in and year out? Where is the national discourse on this crisis? Why don't we have a national moment of silence for each and every victim of these endless, senseless murders? Why doesn't the president of United States give nationally televised speeches for each one of these individuals and their families? Are the victims in Baltimore City and their families not as important as those that were struck down in Tucson, Ariz.

Reigning national champion Salisbury has captured 17 league titles in the 20-year history of the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC), but this season's campaign may be the most critical to the program. Wednesday night's 10-8 loss to No. 3 Stevenson dropped the No. 6 Sea Gulls to 10-3 and may have endangered the team's bid for an at-large berth in the South Region of the NCAA tournament. Coach Jim Berkman also pointed out another side effect of the setback. “We might have lost the opportunity to host some playoff games,” he said.

John Pittas' mother spent six months in a Pennsylvania facility recovering after an auto accident, then moved to Greece to be with her other children. Left behind: $93,000 in unpaid care bills. The facility sued to collect - from John Pittas. A court sided with the care facility last year and ordered the son, who runs a diner in Schnecksville, Pa., to pay up. The basis of the lawsuit is a so-called filial support law, which requires adult children to be responsible for the care of indigent parents.