Fabian

Halethorpe man, 36 found shot to death A Halethorpe man was found shot to death in a Pumphrey home early yesterday, Anne Arundel County police said. Officers said they found the body of James William Fabian, 36, of the 4200 block of Twin Circle Way at 2:20 a.m. in a trailer park on Nann Avenue. Several people inside the home said they had been assaulted in a burglary, police said. Detectives think Fabian knew his assailants. They have not identified suspects or determined a motive. Relatives reached at Fabian's home yesterday afternoon declined to comment.

WHEN A POLICE OFFICER issues an order to stop, most of us obey. Those who don't usually find themselves in trouble. Failure to obey seems to be at the heart of the case that ended up with Fabian Gray, a 16-year-old Meade Village resident, being hospitalized with a variety of injuries.Eyewitness accounts differ, but every one seems to agree on a few facts. Last Friday afternoon, the teen-ager was riding a dirt bike on Meade Village Circle back and forth at speeds of up to 60 mph. Sgt. Brian Heger, with the Youth Activities Program in the western Anne Arundel County community, stepped onto the street to talk to the teen.

Timing is everything. However, at some mutual fund companies, following the advice of market-timer newsletters is now a no-no. Market timers basically tell their subscribers when to get in and out of the stock market.Fidelity Investments and SteinRoe & Farnham, are refusing the "buy" orders of investors who follow the advice of such timers. SteinRoe gave its investors the word in a blunt letter, worded similarly to one sent out by Fidelity: "During periods when we believe widespread market-timing activity is occurring, we reserve the right not to accept telephone exchange orders into our equity funds.

A spokesman for Michael S. Steele defended the new Republican National Committee chairman yesterday against claims by a convicted felon that Steele misused campaign funds from his 2006 Senate bid. Curt Anderson, a political consultant and Steele spokesman, said the allegations had been "fabricated" by Steele's former campaign finance chairman, who was seeking a more lenient sentence in an unrelated criminal case. The Washington Post outlined the accusations in yesterday's editions, including a claim that Steele's campaign paid money to a company owned by his sister for services never performed, and the improper use of tens of thousands more in campaign money.

IN THE DAWN of the 21st century, the family garage has evolved into an extension of the home, with room enough for sport utility vehicles, minivans, bicycles and strollers. According to industry watchers, lifestyle changes and demands during the past few years have shifted the trend in new construction and retrofit garages from "less is more" to "more is better," especially when it concerns the use of space. Americans are transforming their garages to wipe out clutter and find better ways to store belongings.

Nine Queens neatly meets the twin demands of any con-man caper. It keeps us amused as a scam unfolds and leaves us satisfied when its secrets are revealed. The chief players here are Ricardo Darin as a practiced street hustler and Gaston Pauls as the son of another con man. Because he needs a ton of dough fast to help out his dad, Pauls joins up with Darin and swiftly becomes part of a scheme that could net the pair $450,000: selling some rare old German postage stamps known as the "Nine Queens" to a shady financial wizard and philatelist who is about to be deported.

William R. Miles Sr., 82, NSA division director William R. Miles Sr., a retired National Security Agency division director and former Navy submariner, died Sunday from complications of heart-bypass surgery at St. Joseph Medical Center. He was 82 and lived in Catonsville. After 17 years at the NSA at Fort Meade, he retired in 1973. Born and raised on Walbrook Avenue in West Baltimore, Mr. Miles attended Polytechnic Institute before he enlisted in the Navy. He spent his entire career aboard submarines and, during World War II, completed 13 patrols in the Pacific.

Hollywood history is replete with tales of decadence and derangement, luck and inspiration, whimsy and high drama. And these qualities are on prominent display in AMC's wickedly nostalgic series, "The Lot," a weekly journey through the offices and backlots of the mythical Sylver Screen Studios that begins its second season at 10 tonight. What began as a four-part series last year is being expanded to 13 episodes for 2000. "The Lot" stars Jonathan Frakes ("Star Trek: The Next Generation")

HOLLYWOOD -- The conversation among the half-dozen hunters gathered on the porch of an old farmhouse in Greenwell State Park in St. Mary's County was chock full of anticipation, despite a chilling northwest wind and occasionally heavy rain."

WASHINGTON - Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele said yesterday that he will provide records from his 2006 Senate campaign in Maryland to the FBI in an effort to speed an apparent federal probe into allegations of improper campaign spending. Steele confirmed that his sister, Monica Turner of Potomac, was recently contacted by FBI agents looking into allegations that his campaign paid a company she owned more than $37,000 in 2007 for campaign work that was never performed.