Cane

Old-fashioned Southerners know few things are slower than molasses in winter. They also know that no matter how long it takes, pouring that molasses is worth the wait.The dark, sugar-cane syrup imparts a deep, homey flavor -- as well as a shot of sweetness -- to baked goods, meats and other dishes.One whiff of an open jar of molasses might turn off the uninitiated -- the sweetener bears a strong, almost smoky odor. But molasses wins over even skeptics once they sample its flavor in gingerbread, pork loin, chicken, muffins or baked beans.

Earth Alley 3602 Elm Ave., Hampden 410-366-2110 Hours: 5 p.m.-8 p.m. Wednesday; 4 p.m.-8 p.m. Thursday; noon-7 p.m. Friday & Saturday; noon-5 p.m. Sunday Just in time for an eco-friendly holiday, Earth Alley has opened in Hampden. The gift and home accessories shop with the grass-green facade is one with the planet, so to speak, and features sustainable design and fair-trade items. Owner Eva Khoury likes to think of many of the things in her store as "upcycling" - things like purses made of old records, tires and magazines; picture frames from parts of old boats; and tree-free greeting cards created with sugar cane fiber.

With the holidays fast approaching, you may be feeling a little tense about finding that perfect gift for loved ones or friends, especially if they are disabled or elderly.If so, we can help.From hundreds of items available, we've selected 10, most priced under $50, that will make life a little easier for those having trouble with daily activities such as getting up from a chair, hearing the telephone ring or writing with a steady hand. Maybe you want to select an item for yourself. All the products can be purchased through a catalog, Web site or by calling a toll-free number for a store near you (details below)

LIVERPOOL, England -- Philip Williamson is on a mission to put the sting back into British classroom discipline.With the Bible as his guide and a now idle paddle as his instrument, the soft-spoken principal of the Christian Fellowship School is a proponent of the judicious use of corporal punishment.He's even prepared to go to a human rights court for the right to strike students who cross a disciplinary line."We're talking about a smack on the hand or the leg," Williamson says. "Nothing to damage or injure the child, but to give them a clear message that what they have done is very wrong."

Guatemalan authorities have arrested a sixth suspect and are pursuing a seventh in the rape and robbery last month of a group from St. Mary's College of Maryland who were traveling near Guatemala City on an educational tour.U.S. Embassy officials and the National Civilian police in Guatemala say Roni Leonel Polanco of Guatemala City was arrested Wednesday in the capital.Polanco is one of a group of seven armed bandits who Guatemalan police allege forced the 16 students and three staff members from the Southern Maryland college from a bus and into a sugar cane field, where they robbed the victims and raped five of the women.

SALISBURY -- For Rudolph and Honiss Cane, life has been about picking their battles and moving forward. And on the slow-to-change Eastern Shore, the brothers say, the next election is just one more reason to remain focused on the prize of equal opportunity.The men are veterans of the struggle to eliminate the at-large voting systems and other election laws that black leaders blamed for keeping them from power for decades.Rudolph, 63, a two-term Wicomico County commissioner, is bent on becoming the first African-American from the nine-county peninsula to win a seat in the General Assembly.

SALISBURY -- For the first time, the only majority-black legislative district on the Eastern Shore will be represented by an African-American lawmaker.Rudolph C. Cane of Hebron yesterday successfully ended his four-year quest to win a seat in the House of Delegates.With all the ballots counted, the Democrat won 63 percent of the vote to 37 percent for his Republican opponent, Jacqueline B. Jones, a 43-year-old black professor at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.Lost by 20 votesCane, a former Wicomico County commissioner, acknowledged he never stopped running for the seat he lost by 20 votes in 1994.

SALISBURY -- Thwarted four years ago in a bid to elect the Eastern Shore's first African-American state legislator, activists and politicians are vowing that history will not repeat itself in Tuesday's primary vote.Still, the last-minute entry of a white challenger to two prominent black candidates in the peninsula's only majority-black legislative district is familiar.In the 1994 general election, the delegate's seat from District 37A slipped away from a pair of African-American hopefuls in favor of a white candidate.

Huddling on a narrow sleeping berth on a train barreling through the Vietnamese night, trying to keep camera equipment from smashing, several endangered leopard kittens from starving and a disagreeable conductor at bay was not the sort of predicament Karin Muller expected to find herself in when she chose to spend seven months exploring Vietnam alone at age 28.The Swiss-born Muller, who grew up in New Jersey, Puerto Rico and Australia and holds both Swiss...

A Baltimore man was arrested Monday at the Reese & Community Volunteer Fire Company carnival grounds after a state trooper found a sword in a walking cane the man was using.Kenneth E. Kutcherman, 29, of the 1300 block of N. Carey St. was charged with carrying a deadly weapon and released yesterday after posting a $25,000 corporate bond, court records showed.In charging documents, Tfc. Charles K. Hahn said he was dispersing an unruly crowd at the carnival about 9: 10 p.m. when a patron told him a man had a cane sword.

When the National Federation of the Blind held its annual gala this year, it introduced its new name: The Cane Event. "The cane, which is the symbol of blindness, is a symbol of independence," NFB president Marc Maurer said. "A lot of people think if you become blind, your independence is gone. But we celebrate this event because this cane, in my hand, means I can go wherever I want to ... whenever I'd like to be there. And this is a symbol of the work we do in the National Federation of the Blind."

William Devereux Zantzinger, the white Southern Maryland tobacco farmer who became infamous because of a Bob Dylan song about his fatal assault on a black Baltimore barmaid in 1963, has died. Zantzinger, 69, died Saturday and was buried yesterday, according to the Brinsfield-Echols Funeral Home in Charlotte Hall. No cause of death was reported. The Southern Maryland aristocrat was convicted of manslaughter in the death of 51-year-old Hattie Carroll. His crime never escaped memory after Dylan recorded "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll," released in a 1964 album.

It was an ordinary curb in southwest Baltimore, but to Michael Hutchison it felt like a cliff above the unknown. For minutes on end, his white sneakers flirted with the concrete edge as he contemplated the canyon beyond - a torrent of traffic called Patapsco Avenue. Hutchison was intent on bettering his fears. For the first time, he would try to cross all eight lanes of that canyon, aided by a long white cane, months of training and his teacher, Mario Carranza, trailing behind. Blinded by a stroke four years ago at 38, he badly wanted to win back his freedom.

Earth Alley 3602 Elm Ave., Hampden 410-366-2110 Hours: 5 p.m.-8 p.m. Wednesday; 4 p.m.-8 p.m. Thursday; noon-7 p.m. Friday & Saturday; noon-5 p.m. Sunday Just in time for an eco-friendly holiday, Earth Alley has opened in Hampden. The gift and home accessories shop with the grass-green facade is one with the planet, so to speak, and features sustainable design and fair-trade items. Owner Eva Khoury likes to think of many of the things in her store as "upcycling" - things like purses made of old records, tires and magazines; picture frames from parts of old boats; and tree-free greeting cards created with sugar cane fiber.

Cane should be one of the new season's most noteworthy shows. Should, because Jimmy Smits is here, and so are Rita Moreno, Nestor Carbonell and Hector Elizondo. Should, because the themes are so expansive and the idea so compelling. Should, because the guy who produces this also created one of the better shows (American Dreams) of the past few years. That's a lot of "shoulds." Now, how about an "is" or two? OK. In fact, Cane, premiering tonight at 10 on CBS, is one of the mysteries of the fall season, and (indeed)

Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. chose Kristen Cox - the legally blind head of the state disabilities office - as his running mate yesterday, a pick that makes a play for female voters and aims to show that the governor's brand of conservatism is tempered by compassion. Cox, 36, is a mother of two who has never run for elected office and is little known outside State House circles. A former Washington lobbyist for an advocacy group for the blind, she joined Ehrlich's administration in 2003 and became a department secretary when he elevated her office to Cabinet-level status.

What is Demerara sugar and what can I use as a substitute? Demerara sugar is a type of semi-unrefined sugar named after the Demerara River in Guyana. A Dutch colony on the river's banks, also called Demerara, was the site of one of South America's earliest sugar-cane works. Sugar must be laboriously extracted from plants - either sugar cane or beets. Sugar cane is a tall, fat grass whose stalks are woody and jointed like bamboo. Once harvested, the cane is crushed and the "juice" is subjected to a battery of refining operations to remove impurities before being crystallized into white sugar.

THE HALLWAY is lined with the classroom chairs of little children. The man behind me walks with a cane and must seat himself on a different chair every time we move toward the voting booths. It is 7 o'clock Tuesday morning, and I am already the 25th person in line. The man with the cane points it toward the children's lockers in this packed elementary school hallway that serves today as Precinct 56, Ward 27 of the city of Baltimore. "Look at this," says the man with the cane. There are first names on each of the lockers.

Carey K. Miller knows the euphoria of winning a Maryland Million race. She did it in 1987, when her homebred Angelina County won the Maryland Million Oaks. Yesterday, Miller attended the post-position draw at Pimlico for the 19th Maryland Million races Saturday because Ribbon Cane, Angelina County's daughter, is entered in the $100,000 Distaff Sprint. If Ribbon Cane wins - and she's riding a four-race win streak - then the 5-year-old would become the first offspring of a Maryland Million winner to win a Maryland Million race.

Tori Capuano rode in a stroller into the winner's circle when Captain Bodgit, trained by her father, Gary Capuano, captured the Florida Derby and Wood Memorial Stakes in 1997. Now, Tori, 8, stands tall and smiles for the photographer when Dad saddles a winner, as he did yesterday at Timonium. The Capuano-trained Ribbon Cane blitzed to a seven-length victory in the $50,000 Alma North Stakes, the first of two stakes at the eight-day Timonium fair meet. The second stakes, the $50,000 Taking Risks tomorrow on Timonium's closing day, might also belong to Capuano.