Caliber

The Johns Hopkins University is taking its business-of-medicine program, already a hit in East Baltimore, national through distance-learning centers set up by Caliber Learning Network, a division of Sylvan Learning Systems Inc., Hopkins and Caliber announced yesterday.The venture, to begin in April, marks a first for both parties -- the initial credit offering for Caliber, which began operations this quarter, and the first distance-learning course for Hopkins' School of Continuing Education, according to Betsy Mayotte, assistant dean for electronic and distance education at the school.

PHILADELPHIA -- The truth has taken it on the chin from a well-financed propaganda machine bent on perverting justice as it subverts the facts of the trial of a convicted cop killer, Mumia Abu-Jamal, just given a stay of execution.The effort has been aided by lawyers who will say anything, no matter how false, to attract publicity, and by attention-seeking celebrities and spin doctors.We know from the trial: In the early hours of Dec. 9, 1981, Danny Faulkner, a 26-year-old police officer in uniform, stopped a car driven by Abu-Jamal's brother, William Cook, in downtown Philadelphia.

A career criminal was sentenced yesterday in Baltimore Circuit Court to 170 years in prison, the first 30 years to be served without parole, for attempted murder and handgun charges that resulted from a shootout in which two police officers were injured."

A 14-year-old girl was accidentally shot in the leg last night when a gun apparently belonging to an acquaintance discharged on the fourth floor of the Gallery at the Inner Harbor, Baltimore police said.Mona James of the 900 block of North Central Avenue was taken by ambulance to the University of Maryland Medical Center, where she was treated for a superficial gunshot wound above the right knee and released, a hospital spokeswoman said.Three 14-year-old West Baltimore youths, who were not identified because they are juveniles, were arrested and charged with handgun violations, said police Lt. Edward C. Glacken III.The youths were being held last night at police headquarters pending a decision by juvenile authorities on whether to release them, Lieutenant Glacken said.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- FDX Corp., parent of No. 1 overnight-delivery company Federal Express, posted third-quarter profit that exceeded Wall Street expectations and set a 2-for-1 stock split.The company reported net income climbed to $78 million, or 52 cents a share, in the quarter that ended Feb. 28. Year-earlier profit from operations of $13 million, or 9 cents, was reduced by costs to buy trucking company Caliber System Inc. FDX's per-share earnings exceeded the highest estimate of 48 cents in a First Call Corp.

A 19-year-old Brooklyn man died last night at the University of Maryland Medical Center after shooting himself in the head with a small-caliber semiautomatic handgun he had found, police said.Homicide Detective William Ritz said that about 11 p.m., Roy Rowe Jr., was standing in the living room of his home in the 3600 block of 5th St., and playing with a .25-caliber Titan-brand handgun.Rowe placed the weapon to the right side of his head and pulled the trigger, Ritz said.The detective said several of Rowe's friends witnessed the incident and fled, screaming for someone to call an ambulance.

A 20-year-old man has pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to 30 years in prison for fatally shooting a U.S. Marine inside a hookah bar in downtown Baltimore as the sergeant prepared for redeployment to Afghanistan. The July 2, 2010 killing of 26-year-old Sgt. Chase Love inside the Queens Hookah Bar and Lounge on East Baltimore St., just east of Calvert Street, was one in a string of killings of active-duty servicemen in a six month period. Love, originally from New Orleans, had been visiting Baltimore with fellow Marine, Staff Sgt. Jamal Queen, who lives in Baltimore.

Dr. Steven F. Manekin arrives at my health club with a .44-caliber Magnum holstered on his hip. This is a large, menacing-looking weapon reminiscent of the monster guns toted on the silver screen by Clint Eastwood and Sylvester Stallone.It is a weapon that proclaims itself deadly by its very appearance."Do you always come here carrying a .44 Magnum?" I ask."Not always," answers Dr. Manekin. "I'll carry anything from a. . ." and he reels off a list of weapons of various calibers and makes.

Here's the tally from the Baltimore police commissioner's war on bad guys with guns during the opening minute of 2010: A blue .38-caliber Smith & Wesson with four rounds in the chamber. A 9 mm PA-63 semiautomatic handgun. A .38-caliber Rossi revolver. A Mossburg 12-gauge shotgun. A chrome two-shot, .38-caliber Derringer pistol. Five guns, four suspects, two houses. These guns and arrests were made at rowhouses in East and Northwest Baltimore by police officers who were out by the hundreds over New Year's hunting for holiday revelers celebrating by shooting guns into the air. In all, on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, city police confiscated 29 guns and made 41 gun-related arrests.

In the two years since North County High opened its doors, the football team has won 16 games and been to the playoffs once.And, says Coach Chuck Markiewicz, that was without his players having a complete grasp on the offense."