Contract Negotiations

Contract negotiations between county and police union officials are deteriorating, despite high hopes from both sides that an agreement would have been struck by the end of last month.As the parties prepare to meet again today, Fraternal Order of Police President Dennis Howell warned that this meeting may be the last."We're still talking but we're probably coming to a closure of discussions," he said. "We're allowed all day to try and work out the differences. If we don't, I don't know that there's going to be a whole lot more talk."

The union of flight attendants at US Airways rejected an offer for binding arbitration in its 3-year-old labor dispute yesterday, triggering a 30-day "cooling-off" period after which the employees are free to strike or take other action against the airline. The Association of Flight Attendants rejected the National Mediation Board's offer to resolve its stalled contract negotiations with US Airways Group Inc. Under federal law, the union must wait for the cooling-off period to expire before calling a strike, but it can continue to negotiate.

With rape charges in Howard County being dropped against David Wingate, the San Antonio Spurs of the NBA said they will decide in about a week whether to seek to re-sign the former player.Howard County State's Attorney William R. Hymes today opted not to proceed with a rape trial against Wingate, the former Dunbar High and Georgetown University basketball star, after the complainant decided to not continue to press charges.Wingate's agent, William L. Strickland, said he would contact the Spurs on Sunday when the team plays the Bullets in Washington.

Question of the day NEXT QUESTION With the Yankees and Red Sox out of the playoffs, has your interest in baseball's postseason increased or decreased? Selected responses to today's question will be printed Monday on The Kickoff page. Please e-mail your answer (about 25 words) to sports@baltsun.com by 3 p.m. tomorrow. Include your name, address and a daytime telephone number for verification purposes. Online Sun exclusives Baltimore Marathon Coverage of today's Baltimore Running Festival, including the Balti more Marathon.

Contract negotiations between Giant Food Inc. and its dairy ** workers appear to be going more smoothly than the last round of union contract talks, which ended in a five-week walkout by truck drivers.Teamsters Local 246 President James R. Arndt said late yesterday that he expects a new contract to be ready for the 100 dairy workers to vote on tomorrow."We are right now making good progress," Arndt said.A contract with the 18 ice cream workers and 70 dairy workers expired Feb. 22, but the two sides agreed to extend negotiations until today.

Each morning, Monday through Friday, we'll hook you up with some reading material to skim through as you slug down coffee and slack off at the start of your workday. ** Bryant McKinnie was a no-show at Ravens camp for personal reasons. Rookie Courtney Upshaw is faring well in his first days of training camp. Jon Harbaugh is looking at the heat as a test for his players. Joe Flacco says contract negotiations aren't going to be a distraction in the coming weeks.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- Center fielder Mike Devereaux recently avoided an arbitration hearing when he signed a one-year contract worth $3.025 million. Now, he would like to avoid the unpleasantness of year-to-year contract negotiations altogether by agreeing to a long-term deal this spring."

The union of 7,500 mechanics and cleaners at US Airways called off its threatened strike yesterday so members can vote on a tentative employment contract, bringing a possible end to negotiations that have dragged on for nearly four years and cut deeply into the air carrier's profit.Neither the airline nor the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers would discuss details of the agreement, which still must be approved by the union membership.But traders on the New York Stock Exchange seemed pleased with the news.

Forty Anne Arundel County police officers came to a forum last night sponsored by the Teamsters union, which wants to represent the officers in contract negotiations with the county and to provide them with the "finest legal defense protection available."The Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) represents the officers now. But the Teamsters say they are promising a better legal plan that would allow the officers to choose their own lawyers. They also pledged to aggressively represent the officers in negotiations with the county.

In the second contest in a little more than a month, the Fraternal Order of Police and the Teamsters Union will square off today in a runoff election that will decide on a bargaining unit for about 550 Anne Arundel County police officers. The winner will get a two-year contract to negotiate with county officials for officers' pay and benefits, and to represent the police in grievances. Officers will vote between 7 a.m. and 5: 30 p.m. at the county's fire training academy in Millersville.