Danger

SARASOTA, Fla. - Right around the time major league teams first began taking notice of a talented young outfielder playing at Crenshaw High in South Central Los Angeles, a harsh reality check came for Trayvon Robinson. The Orioles outfielder was in the 10th grade when his mailbox started to fill with questionnaires from big league clubs, inspiring hope in a place where young men are far more likely to become gang members than major league baseball players. Then, one day, shots rang out from outside his family's housing complex.

If there is some good to arise from the tragic death of Nathan Krasnopoler - the 20-year-old Johns Hopkins University student killed while riding his bicycle on University Parkway by an 83-year-old driver who didn't notice him in the bike lane - it may be to call greater attention to the dangers of Maryland's aging driver population. Today, Mr. Krasnopoler's parents were in Annapolis to brief the House Environmental Matters Committee on the latest data provided by the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration documenting the threat.

Adam Lankford thinks there's an oft-repeated misconception about suicide attackers that isn't merely wrong. It's potentially deadly. Lankford is the Baltimore-born terrorism expert who has just published a book titled "The Myth of Martyrdom: What Really Drives Suicide Bombers, Rampage Shooters, and Other Self-Destructive Killers. " The book, parts of which were written in Baltimore, deflates common assumptions about the psychology of those who claim they murder strangers to advance political goals.

A Loyola University Maryland undergraduate student is at a local hospital recovering from bacterial meningitis, a school spokesman said Thursday. The student was taken to the emergency room of the unnamed hospital Wednesday after being examined at the university health center, said spokesman Nick Alexopulos. The student was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis today and is in stable condition. Alexopulos did not give further details about the student or how  the disease was contracted.

Norman Meadow's commentary promoting nuclear power over wind energy as a solution to climate change leaves out serious unsolved problems that wind does not present ("Nuclear blows away wind," Feb. 1). Huge piles of highly radioactive waste are sitting all over the world in vulnerable spent fuel pools lacking containment structures or backup generators. The Japanese government was considering an evacuation of Tokyo in the event of an explosion at one. As we expand our reliance on nuclear power, we also expand this Achilles heel of the nuclear industry.

These days it's hard to imagine anyone going to a sporting event -- particularly one as epic as the Super Bowl -- without bringing a smart phone to record the moments. Did anyone catch the Ravens at their own pep rally on Monday? Almost ALL of them where making videos and taking pictures as they were being honored by the city, aiming the phones out into the crowd. So leave it to the extended warranty company SquareTrade to figure out why this is dangerous to the health of your phone.

At least two cold-weather-related deaths were confirmed in the Baltimore area during last week's snap of frigid weather, and more dangerous cold is in the forecast. Hypothermia was a factor in the deaths of an elderly Baltimore County woman and an elderly Baltimore man during the week that ended Monday, according to a weekly report from state health officials. The total number of cold-weather-related deaths that state medical examiners have confirmed so far this winter has reached 14. Hypothermia occurs when body temperature drops below 95 degrees, causing vital organs to shut down.

President Barack Obama and Baltimore Ravens safety Ed Reed have something in common. Both love the game of football but would be hesitant to expose a son to its physical dangers. "I am a big football fan, but I have to tell you, if I had a son, I'd have to think long and hard before I let him play football," said the president in an interview with The New Republic. "I'm with Obama," said Mr. Reed. "I have a son. I am not forcing football on my son. ... All I can do is say, 'Son, I played it so you don't have to.'" During a Super Bowl week press conference in New Orleans, Mr. Reed noted that the dangers of the game had now captured the president's attention: "When you've got the president talking about it, you got something.

Amid the boasting typical of a governor's budget proposal, Gov. Martin O'Malley's new spending plan includes this peculiar claim to fame: The O'Malley administration has managed to effectively eliminate Maryland's structural budget deficit not just once but two times. This is a bit like bragging that you've married the same person twice - it suggests you've gotten to the right place in the end but glosses over some unpleasantness in the middle. The fiscal unpleasantness, in Mr. O'Malley's case, was particularly severe, and to be fair, not really his fault.

Aside from the business suit he was wearing, which he joked was rented for the occasion, Sam Zell was never more himself than when he appeared at a New York lender conference in April 2007 to hawk his $8.2 billion buyout of Tribune Co. Slinging one-liners and a couple of his trademark expletives, the self-assured billionaire held a crowd of potential backers in thrall as he explained why he was willing to bet his reputation on a transaction that...