Fall Series

The second round in Annapolis Yacht Club's three-week Fall Series regatta went off under sunny skies last weekend.The 85 smaller boats of the five cruising one-design divisions, PHRF C and MORC, completed a 7.7-mile windward-leeward course after a morning postponement on Saturday.On Sunday the six grand-prix IMS 1 contestants completed a 16.85-mile course while the remaining 82 big boats of the three IMS splits, the three PHRF A divisions, PHRF B and the J/35s sailed 12.35 miles.So far, the only perfect record was turned in by the weekend's biggest corrected time winner, John White of Severna Park and the crew on his unnamed DB-2, sailing in PHRF B on Sundays.

"Homefront," "Civil Wars" and George Lucas' "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles" made it. '"Baby Talk," "Pros and Cons," "Anything But Love" and "Capitol Critters" got axed. And Delta Burke is coming back to prime time.ABC announced its fall schedule late yesterday, adding seven new series and canceling eight. And the network that finished last in ratings but first in earnings is sticking with niche programming targeted at young viewers -- the group advertisers most want to reach. Demographics remains the name of the game at ABC."

Saturday's light and tricky air and Sunday's big wind shifts made things difficult, but not impossible, for the Annapolis Yacht Club's second weekend of its traditional Fall Series.With 112 boats registered in the Saturday cruising one-design, PHRF C and MORC classes, and 115 signed up for Sunday's PHRF A-1, A-2 and B, IMS and J/35 starts, AYC Fall Series is going strong this year and competition in many classes and fleets remains very close.In Saturday's fleet, only Michael Bay and his crew on Babe, returning to racing after an absence early in the season, have scored two aces.

The Annapolis Yacht Club's Fall Series continued last weekend with the second set of races in the three-week event.It drew 113 starters in five handicap classes and a J/29 one-design division out to a 15.3-mile windward-leeward contest on Saturday.Eighty-three starters were in MORC, PHRF-C and five cruising one-design classes with the faster divisions tackling Olympic courses of 9.7 miles and 6.2 miles for some of the others.Saturday's clear skies and breezy 15- to 18-knot conditions saw the fleet speed around the course in good time, with the biggest of the boats -- Jack King's Frers 62 Merrythought -- finishing less than 2 hours after starting.

The Howard County Striders concluded their summer series of races last Sunday at Longfellow Elementary School. Rod Young, recent winner of the Brighton Dam Challenge, captured top honors in the men's 6-mile race with a time of 32 minutes, 22 seconds. Michelle Lee, the only female competitor, won the women's 6-mile race in 46:53.In the men's 2-mile event, Ray Ramey broke free from Roger Calvert during the first half of the race and clocked a 11:47. Calvert posted a time of 12:33. Michelle Kriegel claimed victory in her first Striders race.

In better times, Morgan State coach Chris Fuller might be able to laugh at his team's 6-for-26 shooting from three-point range, or at Norfolk State's 14 steals, 37 trips to the free-throw line and 63 percent second-half shooting. For now, however, the foibles constitute the price of progress for the youthful Bears team, which dropped to 2-13 and 2-3 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference yesterday with a 78-70 loss to the Spartans at Hill Field House. "We are playing a lot of people who didn't play a lot last year," Fuller said.

At 12:30 p.m. today, Anne Arundel Community College's Women's Institute hosts a screening of the film Eyewitness to War as part of its fall film series. The film tells the story of Gladys Arnold, a Paris-based Canadian reporter who was overcome by the horrifying scenes she saw covering World War II and became an anti-war activist. The screening is at the Humanities Building, Room 112, 101 College Parkway, Arnold. Admission is free. Call 410-777-2807.

They're back. That is, Cinema Sundays at the Charles, the deal where you get bagels, movies and critics at one shot at the Charles on a Sunday morning. The movie is an art film slated for release in the near future; you're getting a sneak preview. The critic is always a giant in the field.This Sunday's edition, first in a new fall series that will run through Oct. 29 with the 8th blank, offers a French comedy that has great fun playing with notions of celebrity as a focus of worship in a media-crazed and dominated society.

Cooperative extension to hold workshop on farm equipment The Maryland Cooperative Extension and Future Harvest - A Chesapeake Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture, will sponsor a workshop and field day on choosing equipment for small farms from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday at the Central Maryland Research and Education Center - Clarksville Facility, 4240 Folly Quarter Road. The workshop, "Choosing a Tractor and Equipment for Your Small Farm," will cover the basics of purchasing new or used tractors, tillers, mowers, sprayers and other implements.