Early Today

A 74-year-old woman found beaten to death at her home and two men who were shot several times in their apartment were among the four latest victims of Baltimore homicides late last night and early today, city police reported.Also slain was an unidentified man in his late teens or early 20s who was shot to death on a northeast Baltimore street.Police had no suspects in any of the cases early today.Police identified the woman as Jeromia B. O'Neal, who lived alone in the 1200 block of N. Caroline St. in East Baltimore.

Maryland morphs back into wintry conditions today, with morning rain changing over to snow this afternoon as it turns blustery and cold. The National Weather Service in Sterling, Va., issued a wind advisory for Central and Western Maryland until 7 p.m. A cold front will push across the state, forcing temperatures to plummet from a high of near 50 degrees early today into the mid 30s. The chill follows yesterday's spring tease that brought a high of...

At least 75 police officers went last night to a crowded section of Druid Hill Park where a young man had been shot and critically wounded.The 21-year-old victim, who was not identified pending notification of relatives, was shot at least five times in the torso and head, a homicide detective said. He was taken by ambulance to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where he was undergoing surgery early today.The shooting occurred on a hillside overlooking the park's swimming pool, which had been rented for a private party being attended by hundreds of young people.

After waiting five days for a rescue plane, a sick employee stationed at the South Pole will be flying out early today to get medical treatment. The Twin Otter rescue plane arrived at the National Science Foundation's Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station at 5:13 p.m. yesterday. The name of the male employee of Raytheon Polar Services based in Centennial, Colo., has not been released. Unconfirmed reports indicate he is suffering from bladder problems that could require surgery. The rescue effort had been delayed for five days because of bad weather.

An off-duty Central District police officer died early today after being shot during an exchange of gunfire with two or three men during an attempted robbery at an East Baltimore carryout.Two suspects were wounded in a struggle between the officer and the would-be robbers, investigators said.Officer Herman Jones Sr., 50, a policeman for 23 years, was pronounced dead at Johns Hopkins Hospital from a bullet wound to the pelvis that apparently severed the femoral artery. He died in surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital about 40 minutes after being admitted.

A three-alarm fire raced through an exclusive hotel complex in Hunt Valley last night, causing an estimated $500,000 damage and forcing the safe evacuation of one guest, a Baltimore County fire official said today.In other fires in Baltimore and Baltimore County early today and yesterday, an elderly man was critically burned and 29 residents of a Rosedale apartment complex escaped safely.Also, two area landmarks were damaged by blazes believed to have been intentionally set. A three-alarm fire heavily damaged a building at the vacant American Brewery complex in East Baltimore and a blaze early today caused serious damage to the Overlea Diner in the 6600 block of Belair Road.

When romance sours, as it apparently did in the relationship between Frances Lindner, 74, and Paul Donald Webb, 65, things can get pretty nasty.State Deputy Fire Marshal Robert Thomas said Mr. Webb was arrested about 5 a.m. today on Pulaski Highway at Mohr's Lane after a "low-speed chase" involving 11 patrol cars from the Maryland State Police, Baltimore County police and the fire marshal's office.Mr. Thomas said Mr. Webb, an Essex retiree who had been dating Ms. Lindner for about six months, faces numerous criminal charges.

Temperatures plummeted into the teens early today in Baltimore and at Baltimore-Washington International Airport, while forecasters were keeping a nervous eye on a weather system that could bring light snow tomorrow.Ken Shaver of the National Weather Service said the mercury dropped to 18 degrees in the city and 12 degrees at BWI early today. As cold as they were, the lows hardly approached the record for this date in the city -- zero in 1936.A front moving into the area from the west will bring cloudy skies and a slight chance of snow tomorrow, mostly on the lower Eastern Shore.

A Baltimore County man remained in serious condition today after being the first pedestrian hit on the Mass Transit Administration's Central Light Rail line.The man apparently had stood on the tracks and turned his back to an oncoming train when he was hit last night in Lutherville.Baltimore County police said the victim's family reported he had been depressed and talked of taking his own life.MTA Police Chief Larry M. Engleman said John J. Szymanski, 36, of the 8200 block of Jeffers Circle in Ridervale, a small community across the Beltway and south of Lutherville, stepped out of a wooded area on the east side of the rail line south of Seminary Avenue about 9:30 p.m. The man appeared to make no effort to get out of the northbound train's path before it struck and threw him to the side of the tracks, Chief Engleman said.

FORT MYERS, Fla. - As rare back-to-back tropical storms - one a hurricane, the other likely to become one - churned toward Florida, Gov. Jeb Bush declared a statewide emergency and mobilized the National Guard yesterday. Tourists were told to evacuate the low-lying Florida Keys. "Tomorrow's going to be an interesting day, to say the least," said Ben Nelson, state meteorologist for the Florida Division of Emergency Management. In 150 years of reliable storm data, he said, there was no precedent for two hurricanes striking Florida in such rapid succession.