Caught

An 18-year-old man was sentenced to 25 years in prison yesterday after pleading guilty to first-degree murder in the beating death of a man sleeping on a bench in West Baltimore. Donavan Troy White of Edenton, N.C., was caught on a police surveillance camera at Calhoun and Cumberland streets bashing Joel Bradley, 39, over the head with a 3-foot-long tree branch in October 2006. White then rifled through Bradley's pockets and left him bleeding on the ground. White, who committed the attack on his 17th birthday, apologized to the victim's family yesterday in court, saying he did not intend to kill Bradley, according to prosecutors.

Eight years later, Justin Armour can picture the play: a 54-yard pass that he caught for a game-winning touchdown in overtime. The Ravens won in Atlanta that day, giving Armour his brief fling with fame. Of his 37 catches for the Ravens in 1999, none was bigger for the 6-foot-4, 210-pound wide receiver. "I'd just come into the game, and when I started downfield, the safety took one look at my big ol' white legs and let me go," Armour said. "The best part was that I caught the ball in the corner of the end zone where the traveling Ravens fans were sitting."

WASHINGTON -- U.S. companies added fewer jobs than expected in October and the unemployment rate held at 4.6 percent, as the Labor Department caught investors off guard yesterday by mistakenly releasing its employment report a day early on the Internet.Last month's increase of 116,000 jobs was the smallest gain in seven months and fell short of analysts' forecasts of a gain of 180,000. A revision to September's employment figures showed the economy added 157,000 jobs that month, more than twice the 69,000 previously reported.

State biologists have bagged a bundle of bad news: a 3-inch fingerling that looks a lot like a baby northern snakehead, the invader from overseas that has infested a pond in Crofton. Snakehead stalker Joe Gillespie - the Crofton angler who landed a 26-inch specimen two weeks ago - packed the little green creature in a plastic bag and gave it to Maryland Department of Natural Resources biologists yesterday. Gillespie told them he netted seven more just like it Monday night, said DNR spokesman John Surrick.

America hates a liar -- or, at least, it hates a liar who gets caught. Lies, per se, are not un-American, of course. By design, Hollywood, the American mythmaker, is and always has been a cottage industry of fancies and fakes. It has infected the whole of American life so much that we are almost unable to distinguish between real and celluloid life -- a truth richly examined in "Life: The Movie" by Neal Gabler (Knopf, 290 pages, $27.50). We like our history revisionist, our effects sanguinary and our endings sanguine.

The locations Piney Run: Bass are hitting large rubber worms, double-blade spinnerbaits, and "wacky" worms, says Bud Henkel at the park office. Fish in the shallows early morning or late evening. Bluegills and crappies are beginning to appear. Small nightcrawlers, jitterbugs and tiny poppers will do the trick. The piers and the edge of the hydrillas continue to be hot. Claudia Davis Burn of Owings Mills caught a 38-inch tiger musky that weighed 12 pounds. Prettyboy Reservoir: The water is down 32 feet, says Duke Nohe of the Maryland Aquatic Resource Coalition.

Fishing derby participants get certificatesManchester Parks Foundation recently presented certificates at its annual youth fishing derby.Paige Shaw and Zachery Ritz caught the first fish. Kellie Pope and Laura Rill caught the last fish. Jeremy Ritz and Jeffrey Rill caught the longest fish.The heaviest fish were caught by Kyle Forbes and Jennifer Hyde. Rickey Hyde and Matt Thurston caught the smallest fish.Jeremy Ritz caught the most fish in his age group. In the older group, Jennifer Hyde, Zachery Ritz and Ashley Ritz caught the most.

"I could talk about all the fish we caught, but that would be a lie. We never caught anything. We mainly sat there in the boat and caught sunburn." Donald Carson Son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Harry Carson, on childhood fishing trips with his father "I might not be standing here today, Coach." Ahmard Hall Tennessee Titans fullback and a former Marine, answering a question from an assistant coach about what would have happened if someone had made a mistake in Hall's previous job