Bag

A couple of minor "hiccups" in getting NASA's Spirit rover settled in on Mars have delayed the rover's roll-off from the landing platform until at least Wednesday, Jet Propulsion Laboratory officials said. The problems involved the rover's high-gain antenna, which provides a high-speed data link directly with Earth, and the collapsed air bag that cushioned the craft's landing in Gusev Crater on Saturday. Neither problem was expected to seriously affect the overall mission, the officials said at a news conference yesterday in Pasadena, Calif.

When spice maker McCormick & Co. Inc. convenes its annual meeting today, security will be on high alert. The guards won't be ensuring the safety of top executives or protecting secret company recipes, however. They'll be keeping vigil on the goodie bags. Bags of McCormick products, given to shareholders who attend the annual meeting, are a reflection of the tradition-minded Sparks company and a throwback to when American companies put on the ritz for their annual shareholder meetings.

Alison Sanders was a 7-year-old tomboy, a regular "tree climber," a happy child who brought flowers to her mother and insisted her father give money to panhandlers they passed. Her parents believed she was going to "make a difference" with her life.A year ago this month, Alison was killed by an air bag in a minor, low-speed traffic accident on Charles Street in Baltimore.It is in her death that she is making a difference.Spurred by the loss, her father, Robert C. Sanders, is leading a new parents coalition that is trying to warn people that air bags can kill or injure children.

Henry J. Roth cheated fate in 1944 when severely swollen feet earned him a coveted seat on a train to an English hospital, weeks before his Army division was pounded by advancing Germans in the Battle of the Bulge. Sixty-three years later, a faded relic from his foxhole arrived at Roth's home in Catonsville. Roth, an 85-year-old retired accountant, received the package this week from Belgium. As his mailman and wife looked on, Roth opened the box and pulled out a dark green canvas duffel bag, emblazoned with stenciled lettering: "Henry J. Roth 33383648" It didn't take long for Roth to recognize the bag. It had once contained some of his Army gear and a picture of his wife.

The state's highest court made it more difficult for police to catch drug dealers at highway rest stops yesterday, ruling that officers cannot open an unclaimed suitcase unless it obviously has been abandoned.The Court of Appeals threw out the conviction of Labaron Stanberry of Jersey City, N.J., saying that state troopers had no reason to open his suitcase during a search while his bus was stopped at the Maryland House restaurant on Interstate 95 near Aberdeen.Gary E. Bair, head of the attorney general's criminal appeals division, said the office may file a petition asking the Supreme Court to reverse the ruling because it has broader implications than police searches of luggage at highway rest stops.

Question: Please send me a soil test kit. I want to test my vegetable garden and lawn. Do I need two kits? Are they complicated? I want to get this done right away, but I've never done it before. Answer: The soil test "kit" we offer consists of instructions on how to choose a soil test laboratory, a chart of labs in our region, and a sturdy bag to mail your soil sample to the lab. The information is all on our Web site, and you do not need a special bag to mail a soil sample - a sandwich baggie works just fine.

ATLANTA - In a day marked by surprises in the courtroom, a witness in the murder trial of Ray Lewis testified yesterday that the football player changed his clothes after a deadly street brawl and that she saw another man dispose of a bag that may have held the garments. The man who allegedly disposed of the bag - potentially incriminating evidence that has not been found - gained a tentative immunity agreement yesterday that would allow him to testify after the trial resumes Tuesday. Another witness, Chester Anderson, became the first to testify that he saw Lewis strike one of the victims.

Tired of looking at it collect dust in front of Nick Markakis' locker, Jeremy Guthrie decided to put Markakis' golf bag to good use. Before yesterday's game, Guthrie packed the bag with Markakis' bats, gloves and even a towel. Guthrie then walked out to the outfield with the bag on his shoulder to greet Markakis, who was warming up. As Guthrie tended to the bag like he was serving as Markakis' caddie, Markakis grabbed a bat out of the bag and started swinging and then leaned down and grabbed a towel from the bag to wipe the sweat off his brow.

A North Laurel man was walking home from work at the McDonald's restaurant in North Laurel about 11:45 p.m. Thursday when a robber stole his bag, which contained his paycheck and hamburgers, police said. The victim was walking along All Saints Road near Lyon Avenue when the robber approached him and demanded the bag, police said. The victim refused, and the robber took the bag and fled, police said.

Good morning --Tiger Woods-- You can make sure Phil Mickelson is packing his driver in his bag.