Demotion

A dispute that began in May involving the demotion of a popular former assistant principal at C. Milton Wright High School remains unresolved. Christopher Battaglia, the former assistant principal at the high school who is appealing his demotion from assistant principal to teacher, met with the superintendent and the school district's lawyers Friday. After a seven-hour meeting, he told a group of supporters rallying outside, "It's not over." Battaglia's hearing was recessed and scheduled to continue at a date that has not been set, said Harford County Public Schools spokesman Don Morrison.

Ravens coach Brian Billick denied an ESPN report yesterday that he demoted starting quarterback Tony Banks earlier in the season partly because he refused to tuck in his jersey during the final preseason game.Banks became No. 3 behind Stoney Case, who had become a favorite of Billick's by winning the team's final two preseason games in the closing minutes. The week before the team opened the season on the road against St. Louis, Banks was the subject of several trade rumors. Billick admitted at the time that he would listen to any offers for Banks.

You're not a friend of Friends of Harford in debate over 0) growthIn reference to your editorial "Straitjacket for Harford" (Sept. 29), evidently you have little desire to support folks who are opposed to a historical trend that began in the 1950s and has continued for too many years.Americans have always been extremely wasteful of their resources -- we've cleared land by burning square miles of forests. But the modern trend, building massive new communities and commercial properties in rural America, is the most damaging of all. Forests recover from fires, but when we pave roads and parking lots and erect structures of all kinds on virgin land, we have destroyed its ability to produce food and enhance our air and water quality forever.

On the field: The first five Boston Red Sox hitters singled off Orioles starter Scott Erickson in the first inning, resulting in three runs and much grumbling among the Camden Yards crowd. It was the second time in two nights the Orioles were down 3-0 before coming to bat.In the dugout: Erickson faced a different Red Sox lineup than the one originally posted. Left fielder Wil Cordero was a late scratch because of the stomach flu. Troy O'Leary moved from right to left, Darren Bragg moved from center to right and Jesus Tavarez was inserted in center, batting ninth.

An Anne Arundel circuit judge yesterday denied a state trooper's request to reverse her demotion, ruling that the penalty was not excessively harsh for allegedly trying to fix a speeding ticket.Judge Lawrence H. Rushworth said there was substantial evidence that Trooper Kimberly Brooks offered hockey tickets to another trooper two years ago if he would drop speeding charges against a Washington Capitals hockey player.A police trial board held a hearing and found Brooks guilty of administrative violations and demoted her in October 1995.

Ravens defensive tackle Larry Webster has been suspended for the 1996 season for violation of the NFL's substance-abuse policy.The suspension, announced by the team yesterday, is the result of a third positive test during Webster's five-year NFL career. Webster, 27, an Elkton native and former University of Maryland standout, signed with the Cleveland Browns as a free agent on May 4, 1995.He was suspended nearly three months later for six games of the 1995 regular season after a second positive test.

Maryland State Police Superintendent David B. Mitchell yesterday fired a major who was convicted by an administrative board last month of sexually harassing six female troopers and a departmental secretary, going beyond the panel's recommendation that he just be demoted.Maj. Edward E. "Earl" Dennis Jr., 44, the highest- ranking state police supervisor ever to be charged with sexual harassment, served in the Bureau of Drug and Criminal Enforcement in Columbia. A 22-year veteran, Dennis had been accused of exposing himself to a female trooper in his office, hugging and kissing other female troopers against their will and repeatedly running his fingers through the hair of the secretary.

MILWAUKEE -- Outfielder Tony Tarasco had no idea the Orioles were going to send him to Triple-A, a move they made after yesterday's game. In fact, he made arrangements to fly his mother and son from Los Angeles to meet him with the team tonight in Oakland, Calif.But any immediate reunion will have to take place in Rochester, N.Y., or another International League city. Tarasco, hitting .238, was demoted, and in his place, the Orioles purchased the contract of veteran outfielder Luis Polonia, who joins the team today.

A state trooper who won a commendation for her role in a 1991 shootout asked an Anne Arundel Circuit judge yesterday to reverse her demotion for allegedly trying to fix a speeding ticket for a Washington Capitals hockey player two years ago.Trooper Kimberly Brooks was demoted from trooper first class to trooper and suspended for 15 days in October 1995 after a police trial board found she offered hockey tickets to another trooper to drop speeding charges against...

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- It was an overcast afternoon. Jeffrey Hammonds sat in the opposing dugout at Harrisburg's RiverSide Stadium and talked about being sent down to the Double-A Bowie Baysox to rehabilitate his injured right knee.Dark clouds loomed behind Hammonds, but in front of him, there was a window of sunshine.The same can be said of Hammonds' career. The herniated disk in his neck in 1993, the reconstructive knee surgery after last season and the shock of Sunday's demotion -- he is trying to put all that behind him. Hammonds is focused on fulfilling his potential and becoming an everyday major-league outfielder.

The commander of the Baltimore Police Department's Southeastern District, who was suspended last month as internal investigators examined his office computer, has been demoted and will return to patrol, police said. Maj. Roger Bergeron, an 18-year veteran who oversaw the district for nearly three years, accepted a demotion to the rank of lieutenant and will return to a yet-to-be-determined patrol district effective Sunday, according to Anthony Guglielmi, the department's chief spokesman.

While his Orioles teammates were bound for Seattle after Sunday's 9-6 loss to the Los Angeles Angels, reliever Chris Ray was returning to Baltimore to have team doctors look at his right shoulder. Ray entered a 6-6 game in the seventh inning Sunday with the bases loaded and no outs, and walked both batters he faced. "My arm slot was down," Ray said after the game. "I could feel it. I just couldn't get [my arm] up. That's why everything was going off the outside corner." Ray declined to comment later when he was asked whether he felt fine physically.

A dispute that began in May involving the demotion of a popular former assistant principal at C. Milton Wright High School remains unresolved. Christopher Battaglia, the former assistant principal at the high school who is appealing his demotion from assistant principal to teacher, met with the superintendent and the school district's lawyers Friday. After a seven-hour meeting, he told a group of supporters rallying outside, "It's not over." Battaglia's hearing was recessed and scheduled to continue at a date that has not been set, said Harford County Public Schools spokesman Don Morrison.

After weeks of accusations that he had leaked a sensitive internal document to the media and had been abusing compensatory time off, Capt. Gregory Carlevaro was called into Sheriff R. Thomas Golding's office and told that he had a day to accept a demotion or retire, according to court records. But when Carlevaro asked why he had been demoted, Golding told him he was not "buying [Carlevaro's] story" and that he'd lost confidence in him. "I just can't pinpoint anything right now," Carlevaro said he was told.

This was the season when many expected Daniel Cabrera to go from tantalizing talent to ace starter, but instead, Cabrera's spotty control and waning confidence became growing concerns to the Orioles, and the club optioned him to Triple-A Ottawa on Friday in hopes that he will rediscover his dominating form. Team officials said the move was more about repairing Cabrera's mind and mechanics than addressing the club's flaws. "We felt like Daniel was going a little backwards on us," manager Sam Perlozzo said.

WASHINGTON - Congressional Democrats demanded yesterday an investigation into the demotion of a senior U.S. military contracting official who publicly criticized a no-bid contract awarded to Halliburton Corp. for work in Iraq. With more than 20 years experience in government procurement, Bunnatine Greenhouse had been the Army Corps of Engineers' top contracting officer until she was demoted Saturday to a lower-level staff position. A military report indicated that she was demoted for poor job performance.

WASHINGTON - John Riggs spent 39 years in the Army, earning a Distinguished Flying Cross for bravery during the Vietnam War and working his way up to become a three-star general entrusted with creating a high-tech Army for the 21st century. But on a spring day last year, Riggs was told by senior Army officials that he would be retired at a reduced rank, losing one of his stars because of infractions considered so minor that they were not placed in his official record. He was given 24 hours to leave the Army.

Who's hot Diamondbacks reliever Ste phen Randolph is holding op ponents to a .127 batting aver age. Who's not Paul Abbott of the Indians is winless in his past five starts, al lowing 27 runs - 24 earned - 34 hits and 15 walks in 21 2/3 innings. Line of the day Jose Cruz, Devil Rays RF AB R H RBI HR 4 3 4 2 1 He said it "I did the job last year. I like the job. I had a blast. It wasn't a demotion or a promotion." Jeremy Affeldt, Royals pitcher, on moving from starter to closer while Mike MacDougal works on his control in the minors On deck The Athletics will retire Reggie Jackson's No. 9 today, 11 years after the Yankees retired his No. 44.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The former superintendent of the Air Force Academy, Lt. Gen. John Dallager, has been demoted by one star, in the clearest move yet to punish a commanding officer after the sexual assault scandal at the school. A statement issued Thursday said that Air Force Secretary James Roche had stripped Dallager of one of his three stars, so he will retire Sept. 1 as a major general. The demotion came on the eve of Dallager's first public testimony since the scandal erupted, after female cadets came forward to say they had been raped at the school and were discouraged from reporting the abuse.

Baltimore police Lt. Robert R. Richards, who has had a stormy relationship with the department, has been found guilty of several infractions by a trial board and is awaiting word on whether he will be fired. A three-member board, composed of a Baltimore County lieutenant and a captain and lieutenant with the Maryland Transportation Authority Police, tried Richards on 14 charges this month. He was found guilty of nine, including making false statements and insubordination, said his attorney, Domenic Iamele.