Facial Hair

When is the best time to start shaving? My 14-year-old son wants to start, but I think he's kind of young.As far as we know, there isn't any law of nature or biological fact that allows us to say with certainty when an individual should begin shaving. The decision, therefore, should be according to your son's desires, although some schools or businesses have codes regarding beards and mustaches.Facial hair growth proceeds in an orderly sequence during the latter stages of puberty (around age 13 or 14)

When Eric Tirado, the New York man charged with murdering state police Cpl. Theodore D. Wolf, showed up cleanshaven for a court appearance March 26, prosecutors were taken aback by the change in his appearance.Tirado, 26, of the Bronx, had a mustache and beard when he was charged with the March 29, 1990, murder, and he looked the same as late as March 8, when the state served notice that it would seek the death penalty against him.By coming to court cleanshaven, Tirado has "substantially altered his prior physical appearance," prosecutors Michael D. Rexroad and Timothy G. Wolf said in a motion filed yesterday.

The first day of workouts gave Orioles players one chance to break the club's facial-hair policy. That's it. Relievers Jamie Walker and Chad Bradford sported full beards. Relievers George Sherrill and Ryan Bukvich wore goatees. And manager Dave Trembley wore a look of amusement that isn't going to last through the weekend. A long-standing team rule allows only mustaches, and they can't extend past the corners of the mouth. "I told them that I'm not old enough to play golf, but they have a mulligan today," Trembley said.

One of the biggest sideshow attractions at Tuesday's Media Day circus was Steelers defensive end Brett Keisel, who is sporting a beard that makes Zach Galifianakis ' facial hair look like a little scruff. The beard has become so legendary, it actually got interviewed by FOX Sports' Alex Marvez. "It's really not that itchy," Keisel told Marvez on Tuesday. "I shampoo and condition. It's actually pretty soft. People are pretty surprised when they touch it. I've gotten used to it. " Keisel's beard inspired NFL Network to rank the top 10 beards in NFL history, and the homeless man's beard of Ravens safety Ed Reed was seventh on the list.

Baltimore County police today were searching for a man who raped a 75-year-old Randallstown woman in her dining room and threatened her with a kitchen knife.The rape occurred shortly before 1:30 p.m. yesterday after the woman had returned home from shopping, police said.As she entered the house, a man was in her kitchen. He grabbed a kitchen knife and threatened her, police said.The man raped the woman in the dining room and left the house, taking only the knife with him, police said.The woman received minor cuts to her hand from the knife, police said.

The FBI's Bank Robbery Task Force is seeking help in identifying a man they dubbed "Speed Racer," who is suspected of robbing banks in the Baltimore area. The nickname is related to a pair of robberies he is believed to have committed within minutes of each other last May. The first of those robberies occurred at 11:19 a.m. on May 9 at the American Bank on Ridge Road in Ellicott City. About 15 minutes later, the same man is believed to have robbed a Hopkins Federal Credit Union in Baltimore County, according to FBI officials.