Clay

The redevelopment of a played-out clay pit in Prince George's County will include an unexpected bonus for paleontologists and school kids: a dinosaur park. The developer of an industrial park on the site has donated 7 1/2 acres of the 700-acre Muirkirk property for a public dinosaur preserve, complete with ancient tree species and an exposed layer of clay that has yielded up bits of dinosaurs for more than a century. One of the latest finds - kept quiet for almost a year while the land was transferred to the government and fenced - was the 2-foot-long leg bone of a still-unidentified plant-eater.

An FBI review of the 2005 death of Robert Lee Clay, a prominent Baltimore businessman and advocate for minority entrepreneurs, supports a conclusion by city police and the state medical examiner's office that he committed suicide, according to an FBI letter made public yesterday. The agency said investigators reviewed police reports "covering Mr. Clay's background, business relationships, and financial affairs leading up to his death," which revealed "a somewhat stressful time in his life.

WARREN, Mich. -- On the floor inside a model of a future General Motors rear-wheel-drive car - perhaps the next Chevy Impala - a sculptor shaves away clay with a hand tool to create the shape of a dashboard. As curling strips of mud-brown clay fall around her, it's obvious this is methodical, precise, old-fashioned work. Nearby, inside GM's Virtual Reality studio, designers donned 3-D glasses and evaluated 300 to 400 sketches of the next-generation Chevy Aveo being projected onto three screens.

Lester Clay, the Wilde Lake boys basketball coach who has been in the hospital for tests and treatment since Dec. 18, was relieved last Friday when he finally received a definite diagnosis.Originally, doctors had feared spinal cancer or multiple sclerosis; instead, Clay has sarcoidosis, an inflammatory disease that can attack almost any organ, but in Clay's case attacked his spine.The disease, which has weakened his arms and legs, is treatable with medication. Clay said Monday that he hopes to be recovered enough to play some small role by the time Wilde Lake reaches the basketball playoffs.

1963: Navy's Staubach wins Heisman1964: Clay stuns Liston1965: "Havlicek stole the ball!"1966: Orioles sweep Dodgers

Just days before the city's mayoral primary, thousands of racist leaflets began appearing on the street corners of Baltimore exhorting white voters to support the candidacy of City Councilman Martin O'Malley to save the city from "Blacks and Jews."Attached to each handout is a letter signed by Robert L. Clay Sr., an African-American businessman who claims to have intercepted the hate-filled diatribe purportedly from a group calling itself the Aryan Blood Brotherhood."I'm not necessarily interested in tarnishing anyone's candidacy," said Clay, who paid to duplicate and distribute thousands of copies of the letter.

PARIS -- The red clay at Roland Garros has the same rich look as the suede they're selling in the expensive fashion houses on Rue du Faubourg and Avenue Montaigne.And the clay at the French Open is costly, too.Yesterday, when the last of the men's quarterfinalists were determined, the likes of world No. 1 Yevgeny Kafelnikov, No. 2 Pete Sampras, No. 3 Patrick Rafter and No. 4 Carlos Moya were nowhere in sight. The clay, it seems, is very costly this season. Never before in the modern era has Roland Garros been without its top four men's seeds this early.

"It's pretty apparent that Mr. Bush became the odds-on favorite to get the Republican nomination because he was born with a famous political name." -- Gail Collins in the New York Times.Columnist Collins is not the only one to think that, but if history is any guide, odds are Governor Bush is probably a dead duck. Having a famous political name is not a compelling asset in presidential politics.In this century only one man with a famous political name associated with a former president has himself been nominated for presi-ent.

WINTERTON, South Africa -- In the hands of Bonnie Ntshalintshali the clay takes on a strikingly African beauty, to be painted in vibrant African colors.It might be a complicated ceramic collage of a traditional Zulu wedding, a sculpture of Daniel in the lion's den, a decorated teapot, or a brightly plumed bird, all done with childlike simplicity but with an artistic touch.These are the trademarks of Ardmore Ceramic Studio, where Zulu potters and painters such as Ntshalintshali are attracting national and international attention with an eclectic collection of free-form art.Their work can be inspired as easily by the Bible as the jungle, by ancient myth or modernity.

WHEN LAST seen in the full flowering of his devotion to civic virtue, brotherhood and the democratic process, Robert Clay was getting into Del. Howard "Pete" Rawlings' face for his perceived crime of daring to endorse Martin O'Malley for mayor of Baltimore.As Rawlings strode across War Memorial Plaza early last month, that was Clay standing next to Julius Henson, who was then the key trouble-shooter (and creator) for Lawrence Bell. Henson was the one screaming at Rawlings. Clay was the one standing next to Henson, holding aloft the sign that said, "O'Malley is A Hypocrite."

The Baltimore inspector general has issued a new report on the death of Robert Lee Clay, a prominent local businessman and minority business advocate whose May 2005 death, officially ruled a suicide, has been viewed with suspicion by family members and community leaders. But the mystery continues because the inspector, Hilton Green, would not say what he found. Green, whose job charges him with investigating waste, fraud and abuse in Baltimore, spent the past 5 1/2 months interviewing people he said were not available or willing to talk to city homicide investigators when they initially investigated the death.

PARIS -- Normally, Serena Williams exhibits all the nervousness of a shark in a goldfish pond, so her confession of jitters here illuminates a French Open task she labels "uphill." It's no wonder she hopped up and down all final-like on the Court Suzanne Lenglen after her 2 1/2-hour, first-round squeaker in the wacky wind of Tuesday afternoon, considering her 2009 clay-court preparation amounted to three tournaments, two countries, zero wins, three losses and one retirement. As she moves toward her remarkable 38th second round in 38 grand-slam tournaments, this clunky preparation also rates less persuasive than it would be for all other players, for here is a 27-year-old who has the phoenix routine down well enough that she once won an Australian Open from 81st in the rankings.

This town isn't big enough for two Michael Phelpses. Baltimore still has its Olympic superstar, but it is losing the newspaper with the like-named CEO. And it is a loss. Of local color. (We'll miss The Baltimore Examiner's "Bludgeoned!" "INSANE?" and other punchy New York Post-style headlines.) Of social status. (I never felt richer than when The Examiner, supposedly delivered only to the most affluent homes in Baltimore, made its first, surprise appearance on my humble Southwest Baltimore driveway.

On August 13, 2008 DANIEL CLAY. Friends may visit the family owned MARCH FUNERAL HOME EAST, 1101 E. North Avenue on Tuesday after 2 p.m. where funeral services will take place on Wednesday at 1 p.m.

A satellite orbiting Mars has found widespread deposits of clay - mineralogical evidence that very early in its history, the red planet was a watery place with broad lakes and flowing rivers. While the findings provide no direct evidence that life ever thrived in those Martian waters, clay on Earth is very good at preserving traces of organic matter. The deposits identified and mapped by a Maryland-built instrument aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are already influencing the selection of landing sites for the space agency's next Mars lander, which will search for evidence of past or present life.

online Check tonight for a video of the conversion of the arena at baltimoresun.com/arenacross

BETTY L. (Roberts) REID, 72, passed away at the home of her daughter on Saturday, November 10, 2007. She was the wife of Palmer Reid who died in 2001. Mrs. Reid was born in Asheville, North Carolina on May 4, 1935, to the late Clara L. Adkins. Betty is survived by four children, James G. Clay of Florida, Carol L. Nilsson of Maryland, Shere L. Mongan and Merril L. Clay both of Seven Valleys; eight grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, and one sister, Sandy L. Brewer of South Carolina.

Elmer Klavens, a pharmacist in Baltimore from 1931 until his retirement in May at the age of 95, died of heart failure Friday at his home in the Ranchleigh neighborhood of Baltimore County. He was able to keep working three decades beyond the normal retirement age because he loved what he did and enjoyed helping people, said a son, Stuart Klavens Clay of Pikesville. Mr. Klavens died about five months after he filled his last prescription at the Chestnut Pharmacy in Hampden. "I encouraged him to keep working because it kept his energy level up," Mr. Clay said.

Our neighbor saw about 15 bats flying out of our attic. I understand that they eat mosquitoes, but can't they be rabid? What do we do? Bats are good because they eat so many pest insects, but because of disease they should not cohabit with humans. Do not attempt to handle the bats. To remove them, use an exclusion device so that when they exit the attic they will not be able to reenter. Bats are a protected species. They cannot be excluded when their young are inside, otherwise the flightless pups will be trapped.

On September 5, 2007 DEBORA JONES loving mother of Geisha Clay, Ciera Clay, and Rosalind Jones. She is also survived by her loving parents Etha and John Johnson, Sr., sister Vontia Johnson, brothers John Jr. and Nedrick Johnson; daughter-in-law Rashima Williams and a host of other relatives and friends. Friends may call at the family owned MARCH FUNERAL HOME WEST, INC., 4300 Wabash Avenue on Tuesday after 9 where family will receive friends on Wednesday at 11:30 followed by funeral services at 12.