Ease

No one knows for sure if Loyola University belongs in the top echelon of lacrosse teams this season, but it will be fun to see if the Greyhounds can get there. Loyola continued its impressive and strong beginning to the 2012 season by stunning Duke, 13-8, Saturday at Ridley Athletic Complex. There has been doubt about how good the Greyhounds (5-0) are, but a lot of it can be erased now. In the last decade, Duke has become just as synonymous with lacrosse as Johns Hopkins, Virginia and Syracuse.

Prior to this season, the anticipated return of Jake Bernhardt was expected to anchor Maryland's midfield as he registered 14 goals and three assists as a junior last season. But a shoulder injury has sidelined Bernhardt through the team's first three games. That might sound like a liability, but the play of the starting midfield of senior Drew Snider (five goals and two assists), junior John Haus (4, 5) and redshirt sophomore Mike Chanenchuk (3, 2) builds in a cushion for coach John Tillman to ease Bernhardt back to the team at a reasonable pace.

When William G. Carter, Jr. wanted to construct an indoor riding ring on his Edgewater horse farm, county officials piled on the requirements. For his proposed building, which would allow the dozen or so horses boarded at his 141-acre Dove Hill Farm to exercise indoors in inclement weather, Anne Arundel County building inspectors told Carter he would have to include emergency exits, bathrooms and a ramp for the disabled. The add-ons, for a building not used by the general public, would have cost more than $100,000 — a cost that pushed Carter to drop his plan.

Gov.Martin O'Malley appeared before a House committee today to push his bill to spur offshore wind development, while an aide outlined tweaks to the measure to win over manufacturers and other businesses concerned about how much it would increase their electricity bills. Speaking to members of the House Economic Matters Committee, the governor stressed that building 50 to 100 massive wind turbines off Ocean City would generate jobs while also helping to ease the state's reliance on power from climate-altering coal-burning power plants.

As the Orioles' pitchers and catchers conduct their first spring workout Sunday at the Ed Smith Stadium complex, two of the team's most valued arms will be closely monitored. Left-hander Zach Britton , ailing from lingering left-shoulder inflammation, had a successful second throwing session Saturday in Sarasota. He will get Sunday off before taking a major step forward — throwing on back-to-back days for the first time — Monday and Tuesday. And right-hander Jim Johnson , the favorite to secure the closer role this spring, will be slowed by lower-back discomfort.

The number of Maryland homeowners behind on their mortgage payments but not yet in foreclosure inched downward in 2011, numbers released Thursday showed. It was the second consecutive year of improvement, but it wasn't enough to bring the state back to the levels seen before the foreclosure crisis began in 2007 — or even close to those levels. More than 100,000 homeowners without pending foreclosure cases were at least one month behind on payments at the end of last year, compared with an average of 50,000 at year-end in the first half of the last decade.

More than 500 Maryland moms delivered babies at home last year, but as such births become more popular, a dispute is brewing over whether to make the process a more viable option in the state. Home births are on the rise in the United States with deliveries jumping 29 percent between 2004 and 2009, according to data by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released last week. Maryland home births increased at an even more rapid clip of 62.5 percent. But supporters of home births say that Maryland still places too many restrictions on obtaining a midwife, and they have started a grass roots movement to ease the standards.

Tens of thousands of Marylanders could benefit from two initiatives by the Obama administration that are designed to ease the burden of federal student loans. Under one, borrowers with low pay and high education debt could see a big drop in their monthly loan payments starting next year. The other nudges borrowers to consolidate certain federal loans, and also offers a small reduction in their interest rate for doing so. Some criticize the White House for failing to provide more relief to students overwhelmed by loans, particularly private student loans.

"Near-retirees," as those of us of a certain age are often called, are getting a lot of mixed messages. Fortune magazine reports that companies are hanging onto their baby boomers because they fear a brain drain - a loss of skills and institutional knowledge. In 1985, the magazine says, about 11 percent of people over 65 worked full- or part-time. This year, the figure is more than 18 percent. However, while unemployment among older workers is 6.2 percent, significantly below the national rate of 9.1 percent, it is double what it was three years ago. And the U.S. Government Accountability Office says that those 55 and older who lose their jobs wait an average of three times longer than they did in 2007 - from 11 to 31 weeks - before they find work.

Harford County plans to open its first new elementary school in about a decade this week to ease crowding throughout the Bel Air area. Red Pump Elementary School expects about 600 students at the $26 million project, built north of the county seat. Harford County's elementary schools were redistricted this year and now most are below capacity. Most children are transferring from four elementaries in the Bel Air area. The first day of school Monday in Harford as well as Baltimore City and Howard and Baltimore counties was postponed because of Hurricane Irene.