Curfew

iButtons: cool chipsStudents at Celebration School in Florida aren't just using computers in their school -- they're wearing them. Students were issued iButtons, or computer chips encased in stainless steel, that they wear on key chain, ring or dog tag. With the tiny computer, students can access the school's intranet, store personal info, or pay for things in the school cafeteria. But sneaking in after the bell just got a lot tougher. Classroom doorknobs will have computer chips that read the students' iButton and forward the time and attendance record to the main office.

SALISBURY -- Salisbury's toughest neighborhood is about to become the test site for Maryland's first voluntary curfew -- a plan that police say is the logical next step in a nine-month battle to reclaim a community scarred by drugs and violence.Police are asking parents for permission to stop juveniles who are out past midnight and drive them home, beginning immediately. Patterned after a program that began in Charleston, S.C., in 1994, the outreach will take place in the Church Street area -- one of 35 communities designated last summer as crime "Hotspots" in Maryland.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Maryland coach Gary Williams plans to bench sophomores Terrell Stokes and Laron Profit for the start of tonight's NCAA tournament opening-round game against the College of Charleston for breaking curfew at last week's ACC tournament in Greensboro, N.C.Williams declined to talk about the situation last night, but a source within the team said that Stokes and Profit will likely play. Junior Matt Kovarik is expected to start for Stokes at point guard, with junior Rodney Elliott taking Profit's place in the starting lineup.

Ravens defensive tackle Larry Webster has been here before, but yesterday's visit to Memorial Stadium seemed brand-new to him.Webster, who played at the University of Maryland, has worn three different uniforms at Memorial Stadium. While with the Terps, Webster squared off against Penn State and Clemson here. Then he played here for the Dolphins four years ago, when Baltimore, during its quest for an expansion team, played host to an exhibition game between Miami and New Orleans."Everything is new. New team, new turf, and it's time for us to start a new tradition," Webster said.

Lawmakers in Howard, Anne Arundel and Prince George's counties want to keep their suburbs quiet by creating a youth curfew zone across much of Central Maryland.Dels. Frank S. Turner of Howard and Marsha G. Perry of Anne Arundel have drafted legislation that would require youths younger than 17 in their counties to be off the streets and in their homes from midnight to 6 a.m. Saturdays and Sundays, and 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. other days -- or their parents could be fined.It also would be in effect 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on school days.

Q: Our 15-year-old daughter is very interested in a boy at school. Last week he asked her to go to a movie -- her first date. Any suggestions on how we should handle this?A: Dating is a part of your daughter's normal maturing process. The question suggests that you've agreed to let her go and we agree with you on that point. If you and your spouse haven't discussed your expectations about dating with her, now is the perfect time to begin. We believe it is much better to formulate general guidelines about matters such as dating beforehand, rather than having you and your daughter discover that you each had widely varying expectations abut what constitutes acceptable dating behavior.

After a similar law was struck down by the state's highest court last week, Baltimore's curfew for juveniles was suspended yesterday by Police Commissioner Thomas C. Frazier.Since January, 1,177 teen-agers have been detained at a holding facility at the Northern District. Many of those later were arrested on outstanding juvenile warrants.Mr. Frazier said the year-old curfew, aimed at keeping youths off of the city's increasingly violent streets after 11 p.m., was voided after Court of Appeals Judge John C. Eldridge struck down an almost identical curfew in Frederick as unconstitutional.

Another article Wednesday should have stated that an incident in which bottles and batteries were thrown at Councilmen Lawrence A. Bell III and Martin O'Malley occurred at the intersection of Park Heights and Belvedere avenues.The Sun regrets the error.Baltimore City Councilmen Lawrence A. Bell III and Martin O'Malley made a late-night tour of Park Heights Avenue yesterday in an effort to document the need for a curfew.They got a graphic demonstration of the kind of thing that convinces them one is needed when a group of youths threw batteries and soda bottles at them.

Amid an emotional debate over keeping youths safe from the violence on the streets of Baltimore, the City Council began working yesterday to reinstate a nighttime curfew.Five days after the police chief suspended Baltimore's curfew for juveniles, the council returned from summer recess to begin revising the law to resolve constitutional concerns.At an emergency session at noon, Councilman Lawrence A. Bell III announced plans to alter the city's year-old law to have it enforced again by the end of the week.

More than a dozen shootings over the past two days, most involving teen-agers, left Baltimore officials searching for answers and calling for the immediate reinstatement of a nighttime curfew.Three people died and at least 12 were wounded in a surge of violence that began at 8:50 a.m. Sunday and continued into yesterday afternoon.Police officers, paramedics and doctors struggled to cope with the aftermath. The unwelcome reprise of summer nights past had City Council members vowing to act this week to bring back a curfew for juveniles, which the police chief suspended Friday out of constitutional concerns.

Members of the summer government class at Annapolis High School succumbed to public speaking jitters when they testified against a proposed curfew in Annapolis in front of several members of the city council. Many testified in quiet voices, stared down at their notes and rushed through their statistics. But their words were clear: A late-night curfew for those under age 18 doesn't make sense. The bad apples are going to flout the rules, just as they are doing now, said Garrett Green, who will begin his sophomore year this fall: "They're going to just keep on doing what they're doing."

A disturbing increase in homicides has Annapolis officials considering possible curfews. But more research needs to be done before any restrictive proposals are put in place. Maryland's state capital was understandably and rightly upset at the shooting death of a 17-year-old boy last weekend. The Annapolis High School student's killing brought the city's homicide total to four this year - half of the record total of eight in 2007. Nearly all the murders this year and last occurred in private, low-income or public housing communities.

Rejecting the possibility of a curfew limited to public housing communities in Annapolis, city lawmakers are instead looking into enacting a citywide curfew for youngsters to help reduce violent crime. Joining in a chorus of criticism since Mayor Ellen O. Moyer floated the idea this week, the eight aldermen on the city council all said yesterday that targeting selected neighborhoods could be unconstitutional and would discriminate against people based on their socioeconomic status. "The people who are committing the crimes are not only living in public housing," said Alderwoman Classie Hoyle.

Annapolis Mayor Ellen O. Moyer has asked city leaders to consider imposing a curfew on youths citywide or on all residents of the 10 public housing communities after the shooting death this week of a 17-year-old boy. She is also calling on city lawmakers to consider requiring those entering public housing to show identification or proof of residency, and starting a gun buyback program in the state capital, where four homicides have occurred this year,...

In the fourth violent incident on a Maryland Transit Administration vehicle in as many weeks, a 14-year-old boy who was out after curfew was shot and wounded on a bus in West Baltimore early yesterday. The latest attack - the first involving a gun - comes amid growing public concern about safety on the region's public transit systems and shortly after MTA and police officials announced steps to protect passengers on buses and rail transit. Sterling Clifford, a City Hall spokesman, said Mayor Sheila Dixon is concerned about the attacks on MTA buses.

BAGHDAD -- U.S.-led forces did battle with Shiite Muslim militiamen in southern Iraq yesterday and killed at least 20 suspected fighters, the military said, while car bombs and other violence left at least 40 people dead in the capital following days of calm brought on by a curfew. Violence also erupted again in Samarra, north of Baghdad, the site of a bombing last Wednesday that targeted a revered Shiite shrine and prompted officials to clamp curfews on Baghdad and Samarra. Police said four people died when a suicide bomber rammed his car into a Samarra school that was being used to house police officers.

City officials and police are warning Southeast Baltimore residents and business owners that a widely distributed letter announcing an impending neighborhood curfew is a hoax. The letter, dated March 1, is addressed "Dear Resident" and written on city letterhead with Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon's signature at the bottom. It states that because of surging crime in the area, a curfew will take effect between 2:30 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. beginning April 1. Anyone found outside during those hours would be required to carry identification or a "valid work permit," indicating that they either live or work in Southeast Baltimore, the letter states.

College Park -- The bars here were scoured for football players Tuesday night, and there was a strict curfew - a crackdown to avoid a repeat of last year's Halloween brawl at the Cornerstone Grill and Loft. Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen, who was awoken about 1:30 a.m. on Nov. 1, 2005, said 65 players were checked in their rooms Tuesday night. Friedgen said yesterday that he reminded his players "it ruined our season last year." Nine players were involved in an altercation last fall, which police said began after a woman complained of being groped in the bar. Four players were suspended for one game, and several others faced sanctions for violating team rules, including underage drinking.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The government clamped a 24-hour curfew on the capital yesterday, shortly after U.S. forces arrested the bodyguard of a prominent Sunni leader on suspicion of plotting a suicide attack inside Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone. A statement from the U.S. Army said the man was part of an al-Qaida cell "in the final stages of launching a series of ... attacks" that would have used several vehicles and possibly suicide vests. It said a seven-member cell believed to be linked to vehicle bombings in southern Baghdad was planning the attacks on the area that houses the Iraqi government and U.S. and other embassies under heavy military protection.

Harford County officials, concerned about a persistent crime problem in Edgewood, are considering imposing a nighttime curfew on juveniles and suing landlords to evict tenants who engage in criminal activity. The county plans to start by aggressively using a state law rarely enforced here that uses civil lawsuits to force out occupants of a property who engage in drug activity, said State's Attorney Joseph I. Cassilly. The nuisance ordinance is used often in Baltimore, where more than 10,000 suits have been filed by the state's attorneys office and community groups since the law was enacted in 1991.