Closet

Perhaps you saw the report on Drudge about "closet-gate,"  which broke this weekend , in which staffers for Vice President Joe Biden constrained a Florida journalist to closet during a fundraiser at a wealthy developer's house. But what you haven't heard about -- until now -- is the 4-minute phone call that preceded that deprivation of freedom. Through our well-placed sources at the White House, we present to you the entire transcript of that phone call between party host Alan Ginsburg and the vice president.

On weekday mornings, I'll post the most controversial, shocking and (of course) ridiculous stories for your reading pleasure. That way, when you walk into work, you'll be the master of witty conversation. National • Shocking: Rolling Stone publishes "Kill Team" photos from Afghanistan . (Rolling Stone) Warning: These are truly horrifying. Do not look if you are disturbed easily.  • Just following orders: Vice President Joe Biden's s taffers apologize for confining reporter to closet during fundraiser.

Remember when a walk-in closet was considered a luxury item in a home? Now, what makes any fashion fan salivate is the idea of a closet room. Baltimore interior designer Amanda Austin says more and more homeowners are converting a room to a closet. "No one likes to dig for things; having things stashed underneath the bed," says Austin, who has created her own closet room. "I do think people are willing to have a smaller bedroom for a larger closet. ... I think everybody wishes to live in a state of convenience and bliss.

Have you ever seen the show "Hoarders"? I'm fairly certain that if my grandfather were alive, he would have been featured on the reality TV series. He had good intentions and meant to sell his many collections of rare, interesting and unusual items, but he was a pack rat nonetheless. His collecting always outpaced his selling. And while the main living areas of his house were fairly uncluttered, the basement and garage were unnavigable. He also had several outbuildings, sheds and mobile homes on his property loaded with stuff.

A 52-year-old former Army officer who worked as a JROTC instructor at a Howard County high school will go on trial Monday in the sexual assault of a 17-year-old female student over a two-day period last May. Thomas Morrow, the attorney for Charles Ray Moore of Bowie, said that his client has proclaimed his innocence. Jury selection at the Howard County Circuit Court was expected to begin Monday morning. According to Wayne Kirwan, a spokesman for the Howard County State's Attorney, an expanded jury pool was necessitated by the large amount of publicity generated by this case.

George Anderson of Washington County asks: I sighted-in my shotgun two years ago. I take good care of it, clean it and keep it stored in a closet. Should I spend the money and time to go to the range again this year? Outdoors Girl can image a beautiful buck, 8-point rack, walking directly toward your tree stand. You can hardly believe your eyes when it stops just 25 yards off and turns slightly to give you a clean shot. Visions of venison filling your freezer dance in your head.

A 51-year-old JROTC instructor at a Howard County high school has been charged with having sex with a 17-year-old female student in a school supply closet, authorities said. Police say Sgt. Charles Ray Moore of Bowie had sex twice with the senior member of the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Atholton High School in Columbia over a two-day period earlier this month. Moore, of the 3100 block of Aventine Lane, was charged Monday with sexual child abuse and sexual child abuse by a person in a position of authority, Howard County police said.

C leaning out your closets can be overwhelming, yet satisfying. So imagine how it feels to clean out approximately 500 strangers' closets for a school yard sale: exhausting, yet fabulous! Well, maybe it wasn't so fabulous when I opened a trash bag full of in-line skates and kneepads that had obviously been nibbled on by a mischief of mice. But most of the stuff donated to our public high school's music foundation flea market was in decent condition. Still, it takes a special kind of volunteer to work all day unpacking and sorting other people's treasures.

I n an era of History Channel TV and gushers of new books, documentaries and movies on historical subjects, you'd think business would be booming at the Maryland Historical Society. Yet when the state's oldest cultural institution announced last month that it was cutting staff, programs and hours of operation for the second time in three years to cope with a $617,000 budget deficit, one didn't have to look far for the reason. The society's current exhibition, a reasonably in-depth exploration of Marylanders' participation in World War II and its impact on subsequent state history, deals with a perennially popular subject that one might expect to draw crowds of visitors.