Babcock

A few weeks ago, considerable grumbling rolled down the corridors of the Baltimore County courthouse. Several prosecutors were outraged that a judge had stuck his neck out for a defendant in a drug case. That's how the thing was presented to me, anyway. But that's not a fair characterization of what District Judge Lawrence Daniels did. Actually, he did what a subpoena required -- and what other judges have done for white-collar crooks. It was principled and, since Daniels is being considered for promotion to the Circuit Court and cannot afford enemies, what he did took guts.

CONCORD, Calif. -- A coven of witches in Concord says it wants to open a private school with spell-casting and potion-making on the curriculum if a state school voucher initiative is approved by voters in November.Debbie Babcock, who says she is a priestess in the Oak Haven witch coven and a member of the Contra Costa Pagan Association, says the group could open a school with 25 students who would pay their tuition with $2,600 vouchers handed out by the state."Basically, we would run a regular curriculum -- reading, English, math, science.

Jason Miller scored two goals to lead the Utica Devils to a 10-8 victory over the Skipjacks last night before 4,456 at the Arena.The Skipjacks stormed back from a 9-4 deficit to make it 9-8 with 3 1/2 minutes remaining, but could not close the gap. Claude Vilgrain scored the game's final goal with one second left.The loss left the Skipjacks with a 3-2-2 record. It was Utica's second win in six games.Miller scored his third and fourth goals of the season, the first to open the game and the second at the end of the second period.

One hundred years ago today, Nicholas Charles Burke was a 38-year-old Baltimore County judge with a beautiful home and a lTC growing family. His fifth child, Margaret, was born that day.Yesterday, Margaret Burke Allen celebrated her 100th birthdayin style, with about 200 of her father's descendants gathering at the Cromwell Valley Apartments Clubhouse in Towson to feast on birthday cake and family lore.Judge Burke, who went on to serve 15 years as a local judge and another 15 years on the Court of Appeals, the state's highest court, had eight children with his wife, Chloe.

Opponent: Halifax CitadelsSite: Baltimore Arena, 7:30Radio: WITH (1230 AM)Tickets: Good seats available.Outlook: The Skipjacks will attempt to string 2 victories together before going on a road trip for 3 games. The Skipjacks will be without D Bobby Babcock (hand) and LW Steve Seftel (knee), who are injured. Coach Rob Laird will probably start Jim Hrivnak in goal. Hrivnak has been assigned to Baltimore by the Washington Capitals, and the Skipjacks goalie, Ollie Kolzig, has been sent to the Hampton Roads Admirals of the ECHL.

Tarpley requests to see drug counselorDallas Mavericks forward Roy Tarpley requested a meeting with counselors yesterday at a drug and alcohol rehabilitation clinic in Houston where he is an outpatient.Tarpley, who has twice violated NBA drug-abuse rules, missed a team practice and dinner Sunday saying he was ill, but he did not attend practice long enough to allow team doctors and trainers to examine him. Yesterday morning, Tarpley reported to practice but left early without explanation.

The Dayton Raiders 13-14 baseball team went winless in the double-elimination National Amateur Baseball Federation national championship tournament in Northville, Mich., last week.Dayton manager Glenn Babcock said the team ran into one of those streaks where everything they hit hard was caught and everything the other team hit seemed to find a hole."It was still quite a worthwhile experience," Babcock said. "We didn't give up, the players kept rooting for each other, and I was proud of them."

Sometimes it takes a little desperation to get a team going.The Skipjacks, who before the weekend appeared to be fading quickly from the playoff scene in the AHL Southern Division, turned in a rare stellar performance in spite of a grisly road trip of three games in three nights.The Jacks (35-29-5), now holding steady in third place with 75 points, first flattened Springfield (4-3) Friday night, continued on to Hershey for a 6-3 win before shutting out New Haven (1-0) last night.Reasons for the sudden surge abound.

Stu Jackson of the New York Knicks was the first coaching casualty of the 1990-91 NBA season, but others could follow, with the Indiana Pacers' Dick Versace, the Atlanta Hawks' Bob Weiss and the Denver Nuggets' Paul Westhead believed to be on shaky ground.Jackson's demise seemed inevitable. After replacing University of Kentucky-bound Rick Pitino in 1989, he was viewed as only a stopgap until Knicks general manager Al Bianchi could persuade former Phoenix Suns sidekick John MacLeod to accept the job.MacLeod, who was fired by the Dallas Mavericks in December 1989, turned down Bianchi's first offer a year ago, claiming he did not want to uproot his family.