Ebola

Tonight's CBS movie is not great, maybe, but Robert Duvall's good ol' boy mechanic in "Days of Thunder" is well worth watching. A cable documentary also takes an alarming look at the spread of deadly viruses.* "The Best of Maryland State of Mind" (8 p.m.-9 p.m., MPT, Channels 22, 67) -- This special highlights previous stories aired in a quarterly series that Maryland Public Television produces with the University of Maryland System. Host Scott Simon, of National Public Radio, introduces stories that range from robots being designed for space to Towson State University's dance company, which tutors football players in the graceful art. MPT.* "Beverly Hills, 90210" (8 p.m.-9 p.m., WBFF, Channel 45)

It's Baltimore against the Great North Country all night, as the Orioles and CFL Football Club are both in action in Canada. One of the great comedy sitcom episodes of all time is also on view on cable.* "Inside Maryland" (7:30-8 p.m., MPT, Channels 22, 67) -- The weekly news magazine of regional affairs includes an interview by reporter Annette Gibbs Davis with urban planner James Rouse, designer of Baltimore's Harborplace. Why? The once-controversial waterside development is marking its 15th anniversary this year.

Phew! Check out the current social ills on display in tonight's series lineup, including sexual harassment (ABC's "Schoolbreak Special"), mercy killing ("Murder, She Wrote"), baby-selling ("New York Undercover") and the Ebola virus in a hospital ("New York News"). No wonder they're singing Marvin Gaye's urban blues on MTV!* "Schoolbreak Special: Boys Will Be Boys" (4 p.m.-5 p.m., WMAR, Channel 2) -- Joan Van Ark ("Knot's Landing") and Ami Dolenz star in this repeat drama about sexual harassment.

Let's just cut to the chase.* "Nova" (8 p.m.-9 p.m., MPT, Channels 22 and 67) -- This is a real-life chiller, thanks to a "Nova" film crew that spent four weeks in Zaire chronicling an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus. PBS.* "Coach" (8:30 p.m.-9 p.m., WMAR, Channel 2) -- Tim Conway guest-stars as an inept gardener. As long as he's not in character as Dorf. ABC.* "Frasier" (9 p.m.-9:30 p.m., WBAL, Channel 11) -- Niles finally gets his chance with Daphne? Must be more to this than meets the eye NBC.* "Home Improvement" (9 p.m.-9:30 p.m., WMAR, Channel 2)

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. -- Scientists at a tiny biotechnology start-up company have engineered the first AIDS vaccine that looks promising enough to merit a large-scale human trial.The VaxGen Inc. study, which will begin sometime this year, will involve 7,500 healthy volunteers, cost $20 million and take three years to complete. If it is successful, the vaccine would be available to the public in the early part of the next century.The vaccine -- which AIDS activists say is a significant advance in the fight against the disease -- reintroduces a strategy that several years ago was widely thought to have failed.

A two-way lineman and two-year starter for the defending Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B Conference champion Cavaliers, Sam Eckert also plays lacrosse. The 6-foot-1, 180-pound senior has a 3.5 grade point average and is a member of the National Honor Society and the Ski Club. What about an encore for the football team that set a school record for wins (10-1)? Oh yeah, definitely. Last year we had a bunch of great seniors, and this year we have a few kids coming back and are really working hard.

As we approach the 25th anniversary of the first Earth Day next month, the political pendulum in the United States seems to be swinging in Homo sapien's direction. The new powers-that-be in Congress mock the preservation of the spotted owl and tell a Maryland representative they would rather hear constituents' horror stories about efforts to protect endangered species than scientific testimony. On a state level, the opposition mounts against measures designed to limit air pollution and deforestation.

In the last century in the developed world, death's face has become wrinkled. In 1900, one of death's most common visages was that of a 5-year-old child struggling for breath, trying to clear his or her lungs of fluids caused by the sudden assault of pneumonia or perhaps influenza. Today, death's favorite weapon is a lethal blockage in one of the arteries of the heart, caused by plaques that form gradually during 70 years or more of life. So, what dramatic changes in the Grim Reaper's handiwork can we expect in the next 50 years?

Lab specimens of anthrax spores, Ebola virus and other deadly pathogens disappeared from the Army's biological warfare research facility at Fort Detrick in the early 1990s, during a turbulent period of labor complaints and recriminations among rival scientists there, documents from an internal Army inquiry show. The 1992 inquiry at the Frederick facility also found evidence that someone was secretly entering a laboratory late at night to conduct unauthorized research, apparently involving anthrax.

WASHINGTON -- A tuberculosis researcher yesterday called on the United States to launch a $100 million program to create detailed genetic blueprints for 25 of the world's most dangerous microbes.Mapping the genomes of the pathogens that cause tuberculosis, cholera, plague and other illnesses would help scientists design urgently needed diagnostic techniques, treatments and vaccines, said Dr. Barry Bloom of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.Infectious diseases remain the "No. 1 killer in the world," causing more deaths than either cancer or heart disease on a global scale, he told members of the Congressional Biomedical Caucus at a regular monthly meeting.