Backpack

"Prepare for Success," Howard County's backpack and school-supplies drive, is continuing through Tuesday. Drop-off boxes to collect backpacks and school supplies for Howard County children in need will be in county government office buildings, libraries, Columbia village centers, Columbia Association sites, the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, British American Auto Care, the Body Factory, Play Wise Kids, Magellan Health Services, Champs...

LONDON - The emergence of suspected links between last week's attempted transit bombings and the deadly July 7 blasts here make it increasingly likely that a single terrorist network directing multiethnic, British-based cells was behind both plots, officials said yesterday. As the investigation continued, police announced yesterday the arrest of a man in a working-class area of South London, where authorities have conducted a manhunt for the four fugitives whose backpack bombs failed to detonate Thursday on three trains and a bus. Few details were given about the suspect, who was held under anti-terror legislation along with two other men arrested Friday in South London.

The Howard County Board of Education is struggling with who can have access to the school system's "backpack mail" service. For years, the school system has sent home in student backpacks, hundreds of fliers from organizations -- except for material that proselytizes. A continuing legal challenge in Montgomery County, however, has forced the school system to rethink that distribution system. Procedures limit the organizations that can use this service to school programs, government agencies and nonprofit groups.

Two tiny out-of-state vacationers have given wildlife biologists a "Eureka!" moment. A couple of endangered bats - chestnut brown with a Garbo-esque shyness and a Chuck Yeager need for speed - have relocated from the deep recesses of a limestone cave to leafy hickory trees in Carroll County. They're called Indiana bats, although these two winter in Pennsylvania's Canoe Creek State Park. And fewer than 400,000 of them are left in the United States. Biologists have long suspected that Indiana bats make the trek to Maryland each summer to fatten up on bugs and have their young.

Outdoors Maryland Tomorrow, 5:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. MPT "Backpack Passport: The Outdoors Maryland Field Guide to Camping." "Backpack Passport" is a primer of tried-and-true basics as well as a showcase of innovative equipment and techniques. From weekend family camping to wilderness backpacking, "Backpack Passport" explores the how-to's of hassle-free camping in a journey across diverse landscapes that also highlights "where-to" possibilities -- from seaside weekend family camping to quickie urban getaways to remote mountain trekking.

The Howard County school system sends home hundreds of fliers from various organizations in student backpacks. Now, the school system will have to rethink who can use the "backpack mail system" after the Board of Education learned yesterday that it needs a policy addressing the issue because of a recent court decision. A community-based committee will be created to recommend a policy to the school board in the coming months. "This is such a significant issue before the board," said Courtney Watson, the board chairman.

Aran Gordon should be easy to spot amid the throng running in today's Baltimore Marathon. He's the one toting a knapsack. The guy who looks like he veered off the Appalachian Trail. Or a scoutmaster in pursuit of his troops. Which begs the question: Of the 3,000 runners, why is Gordon the one with a 10-pound pack strapped to his back? Because he's training for a bigger race, one that makes this one seem like a walk in Druid Hill Park. For Gordon, 44, of North Baltimore, today's 26.2-mile race is a prologue to the Marathon des Sables (Marathon of the Sands)