Ease

Greg Cantori plans to downsize when he retires. Really, really downsize. His retirement home is 238 square feet — one-tenth the size of the average new American house — and sits in his Anne Arundel County yard. He and wife Renee can hitch it to a truck and take it with them wherever they go. "It's so cheap — that's what's so cool about this," said Cantori, 52, who envisions a surf-and-turf future, alternating between the house and a sailboat. "We bought the house for $19,000.

Conservationists are decrying a move by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to loosen what critics say is already a lax restriction on shark finning, the controversial practice of slicing the fins off and discarding the body at sea. At its spring meeting Tuesday in Alexandria, Va., the fisheries commission voted to allow fishing boats catching smooth dogfish to more than double the ratio of fins to bodies that they bring back to...

The House approved a bill Friday that would ease state requirements for some developers to keep pollution from washing off their building sites. The vote was 127-13. The measure now heads to the Senate. Developers and local officials have been pressing for some relief from new storm-water pollution regulations scheduled to take effect May 4, arguing that they could cost the state jobs and tax revenues and aggravate suburban sprawl. The bill would exempt some projects already in the works from having to meet the new, tougher requirements for controlling runoff, and it would give breaks to some redevelopment projects.

Late Ravens owner Art Modell might face an easier path to the Pro Football Hall of Fame if the museum follows through on tentative discussions of putting "contributors" in a different voting pool than players. Modell, who brought pro football back to Baltimore, made a list of 15 finalists for the 2013 class, the first time he had gotten that far in the voting since 2001. Modell's death last September at age 87 seemed to spur a reconsideration of his candidacy, which has always been divisive because he moved his franchise from Cleveland.

THERE'S A LITTLE MORE EASE TO DRESS SHAPES THIS SPRING. THE A-LINE AND TRAPEZE INSTANTLY CAMOUFLAGE ALL FLAWS, WHILE THE NEW SHIFTS AND CHEMISES CAN BE FIT QUITE SNUGLY TO FLAUNT A SLIM FIGURE OR WORN MORE LOOSELY TO JUST SKIM THE CURVES.

WASHINGTON -- In one of several desperate bids to ease the tightening grip of United Nations sanctions, Col. Muammar el Kadafi's troubled regime in Libya has held out the prospect of turning over an indicted CIA renegade to appease the U.S. government, according to U.S. sources and a former CIA official.Libya also may be willing to pay millions of dollars in compensation to the families of those who died in the 1988 bombing over Scotland of Pan American World Airways Flight 103 in hopes of pacifying its most outspoken critics and thus easing international pressure, according to families and their representatives.

My best efforts with DVD burners have usually been rewarded with blank disks that wouldn't play in a DVD player connected to my television. But the folks at Sony finally have figured out how to make DVD creation a much more rewarding experience with their DRX-500UL external burner ($400). While an internal version is available, I didn't test that. DVD burning is a good way to back up materials on your computer as well as share video that won't deteriorate over the years. So, a DVD burner that offers few hassles is welcome in the tech world.

Computer users will argue about it endlessly, but a strong case can be made that the Apple Macintosh is the easiest personal computer to use. The reason is Apple's operating system, which uses point-and-click commands. Even so, Apple has developed a new program that makes it even simpler to use the Mac. The software is called At Ease, and it is intended for children, teachers, business executives and people who hate computers.At Ease ($59) is actually a facade for Apple's regular System 7 operating system.

WASHINGTON -- Maryland businessman Richard Tworek has a profitable company with a steady cash flow and a good credit record, but he can't get a new line of credit from the bank he has used for seven years.He is a victim of a credit crunch that has been hampering small business expansion across the nation for the past three years, undermining vital job creation in a period of dramatically increasing unemployment.Today, President Clinton will try to do something about it. Eager to foster economic growth in general and small business activity in particular, he will ease federal bank lending regulations that he and the industry claim have been restricting the flow of credit.

Even with all the dancing, the good venison, the fabulous clothes and witty repartee, no one in the court of Louis XIV ever forgot who was in charge. For the king denied his courtiers the one thing they must have frequently craved:A comfortable place to sit.In late 17th-century France, the king had the only armchair. He gave side chairs only to a chosen few. Nearly everyone else stood, relishing the opulent surroundings, trying not to think about their feet.Real luxury, as Louis XIV knew, is not the same as grandeur.

Kentucky Derby winner Orb continues getting accustomed to his temporary Maryland home, which involves mostly eating the grass on a small plot of land outside his stall at Pimlico Race Course. He did that for another 40 minutes -- as per a routine trainer Shug McGaughey keeps with almost all of his horses -- after walking the shed row Tuesday morning. The Malibu Moon colt was due a break after a fast breeze Monday morning at Belmont Park before shipping down I-95 into the home state of his co-owner, Butler resident Stuart Janney III. Orb does not appear bothered by anything at this point.

Companies supplying components for the nuclear power industry are located throughout the United States, including a number in Maryland. These manufacturing firms have developed businesses providing components and equipment required for the maintenance and upkeep of the 104 operating reactors in the U.S. Unfortunately for them, the domestic market is expanding at a very low rate. Currently in the U.S., ground has been broken for five new reactors. These supplying firms would benefit if allowed to participate in the growing international market.

In the stop-and-go world of Baltimore-area traffic, there's a lot more braking than commuters and transportation officials would like. Take Russell Allen, a Federal Hill resident who gets in his silver Ford Edge every weekday morning before 7:30 and steers south toward Fort Meade and the region's biggest bottleneck: Baltimore-Washington Parkway and Route 175. The trip starts fine. But around Route 100, Allen's windshield relfects a dazzling array of red taillights. "And it stays that way until I get to work - four miles and 20 minutes later," said Allen, 52, who works for the Army.

Few situations are more stressful than law school final exams, and 'tis the season. But frazzled test-takers at the University of Baltimore School of Law will enjoy a stress-free zone full of soft fluffy dog love and puppy kisses tomorrow thanks to an enterprising student and Pets on Wheels . Seven therapy dogs and their human volunteers will visit the law school lobby from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, May 3, to de-stress students in the middle...

In a victory for Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, the General Assembly gave final passage Tuesday to a bill easing restrictions on hiring of people with criminal records for jobs at Maryland casinos. The Senate voted XX-XX to approve the House-passed legislation, sending it to the governor. Under current law, an individual who has been convicted of crimes of moral turpiitude and gambling is subject to a lifetime ban on employment at a facility with slot machines. The legislation limits that ban to seven years after a conviction or after a person comes off parole or probabtion.

Ace, a youthful Labrador, bounds across his lawn, fielding tennis balls and hurrying them back to his owner. His tail wags. His coat is thick and shiny. He barks with enthusiasm. To the naked eye, Ace is a strapping example of dogdom. Who would guess that he's had work done? An eye job, in fact. Ace is one of thousands of dogs who've had plastic surgery. A little nip. A little tuck. Eye lifts. Nose jobs. Exactly the sorts of procedures people get. But unlike cosmetic surgery for humans, dogs and cats aren't doing it to look better at their high school reunion.

In a tiny laboratory in Germany, an obscure young pharmacist's apprentice managed to concentrate the power of poppies into crystals that could control coughs, ease pain and tease users into a pleasant slumber. Friedrich Sertuerner, 22, published a paper announcing his discovery in 1805. He was ignored. So he went back to his experiments, injecting dogs with the drug he had extracted from opium and doping himself and his buddies. A dozen years later he published again, this time naming his discovery after Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams.

WASHINGTON - The federal government issued its first ratings of car seats for children yesterday and called for improvements in a life-saving product that many parents have trouble installing correctly. Only three models earned straight A's in the five categories rated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for convenience and ease of use. Two were Graco Comfort Sport models and a third was an Evenflo Tribute. "Our expectation is that all child-seat manufacturers will make A-rated seats before too long," said Jeffrey W. Runge, head of the agency.

With this year's spring training longer because of the World Baseball Classic, the Orioles are pacing some of their pitchers a little slower. Jason Hammel, Wei-Yin Chen, Miguel Gonzalez, Darren O'Day and Jim Johnson did not pitch through the first rotation of Grapefruit League games. Instead, they were scheduled to throw in a simulated game Tuesday morning at the Ed Smith Stadium complex while the team traveled to Bradenton for a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. High winds force their sessions inside, and instead of facing live hitters, they pitched against batters just standing in the box. “It was weird throwing inside the cage,” Gonzalez said.

Gov. Martin O'Malley's plan to make it easier for veterans and their spouses to work in Maryland received warm reviews Tuesday from lawmakers and the Defense Department, but nurses suggested it could leave patients in the hands of unqualified workers. Testifying on behalf of the Veterans Full Employment Act, Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown said easing the transition into the civilian workforce is part of a "sacred obligation" society has to veterans. A Department of Defense official praised the plan as among the most comprehensive in the nation, while Del. Susan W. Krebs, a Carroll County Republican, called it "probably one of the best bills we're going to pass this year.