Farley

The running shoes are vintage 1982, slightly soiled, clearly worn, with a periwinkle "swoosh against a white background." Two bucks at the swap meet, right?Try again.Eighty dollars.Yes, $80 at Stateside, a used-clothing store in Southern California. These used sneakers are worth more than some styles of new Nikes.Just as used or old Levi's became wearable collectibles in the early '90s, older models of Nike, trailed distantly by Adidas, Converse and Puma, are poised to be the next trend in recycled fashion to arrive in the United States from Japan.

Only the smartest students take the humanities course at Liberty High School, but it doesn't have to be that way, says English teacher Dorothy "Dottie" Farley.She's using a recent $2,000 national award to modify the course with CD-ROM technology. Her hope is that more students and teachers will embrace the humanities -- a mix of the arts, architecture, literature, dance, theater and language."It's a celebration of human achievement -- what makes human beings want to create," Farley said of the course, now offered to accelerated students in their senior year.

Ricky Farley of northeast Baltimore headed west for the first timelast week to find his field of dreams in Iowa with the Sioux City Explorers of the independent Northern League, where former major-league pitcher Oil Can Boyd serves as player-manager."

The funnies are turning serious.In recent weeks, fans of several popular comic strips have seen their usually sunny favorite characters endure real-world troubles.Early last month, the mother in "Curtis" was assaulted near an ATM machine in front of her horrified younger son, Barry. Then she suffered a miscarriage.In "Luann," a teen-age main character was seriously injured in a car wreck. The driver, his cousin, was drunk. And in "For Better or For Worse," Farley, the beloved family dog, died after saving young April from the icy clutches of a raging river.

You think the Oklahoma City bombing was a tragedy?You think the murder of all those people, all those little children, was sad?Well, it was. But a cartoon dog dying, that's a real tragedy. That's really sad.Allow me to explain:"For Better or for Worse" is a comic strip that runs in about 1,500 newspapers around the world, including The Sun. I like it a lot.It is drawn by Lynn Johnston and portrays the life of an imaginary family, the Pattersons.There's a mother, father, three children and two dogs.

Move over Chuck Norris and Steven Seagal. Rocky Farley wants a piece of the action.OK, maybe the Edgewood resident doesn't want to be a movie star, but the fifth-degree black belt is heading to New York in the next couple of weeks to audition for kick-and-chop stunt roles.It's a dream come true for Richard Michael Farley, nicknamed "Rocky" by his father, who has been hooked on martial arts ever since he picked up a karate magazine at age 12."Kids would say, 'How come you're wearing those funny-looking pajamas,' " says Mr. Farley, referring to the sport's uniform of baggy pants and loose-fitting jacket.

Michael Yockel, the editor of City Paper, Baltimore's largest alternative weekly newspaper, was fired yesterday after five years on the job."I was entirely shocked," said Mr. Yockel, a 41-year-old Baltimore native who has worked at City Paper off and on for 14 years. "I have no idea why I was dismissed."The paper's general manager, Donald Farley, walked into the editorial offices after this week's edition was sent to the presses, Mr. Yockel said, and announced, "I think it's time for a change, and that Michael Yockel and City Paper ought to have a parting of the ways."

By selecting Dorothy Farley as Maryland's high school English teacher of the year, the Maryland Council of Teachers of English has honored a deserving instructor. Affectionately known as "Far" by her students at Liberty High School, Ms. Farley embodies all the qualities of an excellent educator.She is demanding, flexible, attentive, enthusiastic, helpful. Although she teaches English, she sees her job as one of introducing high school students to the rich, rewarding and complex world of literature.

With affectionate respect, her students call her "Far." Dorothy Farley considers the name "a term of endearment.""Far" also reflects the lengths to which the chairwoman of the Liberty High School English department takes her students. The Maryland Council of Teachers of English recently recognized those efforts and selected her as the Maryland High School English Teacher of the Year."Mrs. Farley's dedication to her profession extends far beyond the walls of her classroom where she is a known and respected master teacher," wrote Barry D. Gelsinger, Carroll County supervisor of English and modern/classical languages, in his nomination letter.

Two men were injured, one seriously, in a fire today at a house in the 400 block of W. 23rd St. in Remington.One of the men may have been saved from more serious injury when a bystander broke his fall from a second-floor window.Timothy Yates, 25, the more seriously injured victim, was taken to the Francis Scott Key Medical Center Burn Unit with extensive burns on his hands and body. He was in critical condition.The second victim, Brian Farley, 27, who had been sleeping in the house, jumped from a window.