Couples

Married women who keep silent during marital disputes have a greater chance of dying from heart disease and other conditions than women who speak their minds, new research shows. But the same can't be said of married men who keep disagreements to themselves. They had the same life expectancy during the 10-year study as men who spoke out. The research, which spanned from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, was the latest to show that how couples fight affects not only their relationship but their health.

On an ordinary Saturday, the Rev. Phil Landers performs one or two weddings, allowing time in between to mingle with the guests and maybe snap a few photos. But July 7, 2007, is no ordinary Saturday. Wedding watchers say the 7/7/07 date, with its string of lucky sevens, is the most sought-after wedding day in a century, chosen by couples eager to start their lives together with luck on their side. So Landers' schedule is shaping up to be a road trip, a marathon of matrimony that will have him driving throughout the Chicago metropolitan area, marrying five couples.

SINGLE PEOPLE, unite. You have nothing to lose but the "singles penalty" in the federal income tax.You've probably never heard of it. Everyone shouts about the "marriage penalty." But singles pay more than marrieds do on the same income.Congress' $792 billion tax-cut proposal would make the disparity worse.Under the famous marriage penalty, two working people might pay more in taxes as a couple than they would as two singles. But that applies only to a portion of married taxpayers.The rest pay less as a couple than they would as two singles.

Three years ago, Julie and Michael McCalpin had the foresight to circle their magic date: April 9, 1999.Long before they married, or even so much as picked out a china pattern, the couple had staked out their reproductive future.In two weeks, the McCalpins will spend what could be politely termed as "quality time" together to fulfill their long-held goal: conceive a "Millennium Baby," a little Y2K bug of their own."It's a unique opportunity that few people have ever had," said Julie McCalpin, 28, who spends the balance of her day restoring a 90-year-old home in suburban Portland, Ore. "When Mike and I first started getting serious, we knew we wanted children, and we saw this date coming up and we thought we should be ready to go."

"Breakfast on Other Planets," a pair of love stories by Rob Handel, will make its world premiere at AXIS Theatre, beginning Wednesday. The first half of the evening concerns an agoraphobic ex-guerrilla fighter and her neighbor, a jaded young artist. The second half focuses on a couple taking their first cross-country drive together. Handel, a Vermont-based playwright who has had plays producd in London and New York, is a former student to Putlitzer Prize-winner Paula Vogel.AXIS' production is directed by Brian Klaas and features Sharol Buck, Darlene Deardorff, Joseph Riley and Kyle Riley.

Cornelious and Alice Pullen, both 70, say they're too busy living to plan for what the future might hold.Robert and Jean Zoerheide moved to a retirement community long before their children and friends thought they should even be considering such a change.Santiago and Ida Rain have found themselves in other circumstances. Married 58 years, the couple has been forced to live apart for the past two years -- and likely the rest of their days -- after Ida's failing health made it impossible for her husband to care for her.Three couples.

LOVE BLOOMS on the job, the item in a glossy magazine announced to the world, with pictures of the saucy, middle-aged couple inset into the story.The only hint that this was no ordinary courtship between two interesting and powerful people came buried in the piece: "Both will have to leave long-term marriages," the reporter noted, almost as an afterthought. The story made no further mention of the other lives left like so much flotsam in the wake of this romance, an abandoned wife and husband, a child who will spend his adolescence shuttling between two households.

Who says government doesn't have a heart? The Howard County Circuit Court clerk's office will open Valentine's Day to marry couples like Scott Guile and Tina Claburn."

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Fred Couples looks much the same whether he is leading a tournament or is out of contention, and the tournament often looks the same to him whether it's a major championship such as the 62nd Masters or some early-season event on the West Coast.He looks as if he's about to fall asleep."I'm nervous," he said yesterday, "but it's a calm nervous."In this case, it was the calm before what could be a raucous final round at Augusta National.Though the 1992 champion built the lead he has either held or shared since the tournament began, shooting a 1-under-par 71 for a 54-hole total of 6-under-par 210, all Couples or anyone else had to do was look at the names and scores below him on the leader board to know what's in store today.

They're an unobtrusive bunch - a lot like you, me and the couple next door. They work and play and laugh and cry as they trudge along on life's everyday treadmill.But these people are different. Not better, not worse. Just different.They hear the voice. The visceral voice that whispers an eternal, personal truth: No babies, no maybes.They are married couples who have chosen not to have children. And there are millions of them quietly living fulfilling lives - and millions more on the way as American society evolves and gradually expands the boundaries that define traditional families.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is a month old today, but there is still a lot of confusion about the tax breaks. Tax professionals have been answering readers' questions on the stimulus package on our consumer blog at www.baltimoresun.com/consuminginterests. Here are answers to frequent questions: First-time homebuyer credit This is worth 10 percent of the purchase price, up to a maximum credit of $8,000. To get it, you must buy a house between Jan. 1 through Nov. 30 this year.

Lately, it seems everything is free. Free pancakes at IHOP. Free subs at Quiznos. Free nights at hotels. Free days at Walt Disney World. Free tickets to Universal Studios. The problem is most of it is stuff you don't really want or need. (When is BGE gonna give me a month's supply of heat for free? In Neverary.) The other problem is you have to spend money to get to the free part. But here's a free offer that could have a happy ending and end up costing you absolutely nothing except a few words.

With wedding season upon us, a new crop of newlyweds will be trying to figure out how to agree on spending their money smarter. But because opposites can attract in both love and money, that task could derail wedded bliss. Newlyweds, whether young people or those on the second time around, need to find common ground on a number of money issues. But spending might prove particularly challenging. In fact, many longtime married couples struggle to achieve spending harmony, or at least a truce.

In a move to bolster gay rights, the Maryland Senate gave preliminary approval yesterday to a bill that would allow domestic partners to make medical and funeral decisions for each other, share a nursing home room and visit at their hospital bedsides. With efforts to grant same-sex couples the same legal recognition as married couples sputtering in the General Assembly, legislation to grant rights piecemeal might be the best hope for gay-rights advocates this year. The legislature also is considering measures to exempt domestic partners from inheritance and certain real estate taxes, which proponents say are needed if broader protections are not enacted.

ORLANDO, Fla. --Fred Couples made four birdies in his opening six holes, shot 5-under 65, and golf finally felt fun. Tiger Woods couldn't hit the green with a wedge, struggled to shoot even par, and he finally looked human. The Arnold Palmer Invitational delivered a few surprises yesterday, none bigger than Couples, 48, booming tee shots, taking only 23 putts and finishing atop the leader board with J.J. Henry. "This doesn't make me the guy to beat," Couples said. "If I can play like that, it makes it a lot easier.

Delonte Mohamed was taken with Satrina McDuffie's intuitive nature. She was unable to resist his "mushy side," hidden to most by a rough exterior. Within a few months, they knew: It was love. A year later, the couple are expecting a baby boy, adding to McDuffie's brood of two toddlers. Money is tight, their families disapprove of the relationship, and they bicker a lot. Still, they hope to get married one day. They're just not sure how to get there. So every Tuesday, McDuffie, 22, and Mohamed, 21, attend a counseling program at Baltimore's Center for Urban Families tailored to couples like them: young, struggling and with a baby on the way. It's part of a nationwide marriage movement aimed at combating poverty.

Married women who keep silent during marital disputes have a greater chance of dying from heart disease and other conditions than women who speak their minds, new research shows. But the same can't be said of married men who keep disagreements to themselves. They had the same life expectancy during the 10-year study as men who spoke out. The research, which spanned from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, was the latest to show that how couples fight affects not only their relationship but their health.

When word spread late last week that Maryland's highest court was close to a decision on the same-sex marriage lawsuit, Charles Blackburn and Glen Dehn began planning their wedding. They couldn't help themselves. They felt certain that legal recognition of their 29-year relationship was within their grasp. The wedding would be at the First Unitarian Church in Mount Vernon. Blackburn's daughter would give him away. They would "invite the world." Yesterday, those plans were put on hold.

On an ordinary Saturday, the Rev. Phil Landers performs one or two weddings, allowing time in between to mingle with the guests and maybe snap a few photos. But July 7, 2007, is no ordinary Saturday. Wedding watchers say the 7/7/07 date, with its string of lucky sevens, is the most sought-after wedding day in a century, chosen by couples eager to start their lives together with luck on their side. So Landers' schedule is shaping up to be a road trip, a marathon of matrimony that will have him driving throughout the Chicago metropolitan area, marrying five couples.

While acknowledging that police made a mistake in bursting into the wrong apartment for a drug raid, Annapolis Mayor Ellen O. Moyer yesterday cautioned that the city needs to maintain aggressive drug enforcement. She said police are investigating the incident as well as their procedures "to assure that this kind of mistake does not happen again." The report is expected within two weeks. Though she declined to comment on Wednesday's incident until she sees the report, Moyer praised the department's efforts to combat drug use and dealing.