Firecracker

The Los Angeles district attorney's office said late yesterday that it expected to make a formal criminal charge as a result of Saturday's firecracker incident outside Dodger Stadium.New York Mets outfielder Vince Coleman has been identified by another player as the person who threw a lighted firecracker from a vehicle, an action that apparently resulted in injuries to at least three persons.The district attorney met with officials of the Los Angeles Fire Department's arson unit yesterday, which has been investigating the incident.

Country music might have a history of making its women play by the rules. But Miranda Lambert has made a career of speaking her mind. Lambert's effortless ability to break your heart one moment (the Grammy-winning ballad "The House That Built Me") and find glee in revenge the next ("Kerosene," a song about Lambert burning down her cheating boyfriend's house, would make her hero Loretta Lynn proud) that makes her one of country music's most vital talents. "Four the Record," her latest album released in November, finds the 28-year-old newlywed (she married fellow country star Blake Shelton last May)

The Los Angeles district attorney's office said late yesterday that it expected to make a formal criminal charge as a result of Saturday's firecracker incident outside Dodger Stadium.New York Mets outfielder Vince Coleman has been identified by another player as the person who threw a lighted firecracker from a vehicle, an action that apparently resulted in injuries to at least three persons.The district attorney met with officials of the Los Angeles Fire Department's arson unit yesterday, which has been investigating the incident.

On April 28, Madonna's final album for Warner Records - her home base for 25 years - debuts. The first single, a duet with Justin Timberlake titled "4 Minutes," has rocketed up the Top 40 Countdown meter faster than any song in the chart's 38-year history. It is No. 1 on iTunes. Perhaps most significantly, Ellen DeGeneres shimmies to it every day on her TV show. (Ellen now equals Oprah in shaping cultural cravings. If either of these women says, "Buy it! Love it!" - millions do.) So Madonna's swan song for Warner might be her biggest hit ever.

LOS ANGELES -- New York Mets outfielder Vince Coleman threw a firecracker from a parked car at Dodger Stadium Saturday, and the Los Angeles Fire Department is investigating whether the incident was related to injuries reported by three fans who had attended the game.Los Angeles outfielder Eric Davis said Coleman was sitting in Davis' Jeep after the Dodgers' 5-4 victory Saturday when he threw the firecracker.A 33-year-old woman, an 11-year-old boy and a 1-year-old girl were treated for injuries at local hospitals, according to Jim Wells, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Supersports Arena in Eldersburg will sponsor a Firecracker 500 Bicycle Race and Family Fun Day from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.Bicycle races for all ages are available. Activities start with races by experienced, licensed riders at 8: 30 a.m. Spectators can also race, and medals will be given through third place.During the afternoon, children age 2 and older can participate in age-graded races. Cost is $10 for ages 11 and older, free forchildren younger than age 11.Races start about 2: 15 p.m. and are one-quarter mile for ages 2 to 5, one mile for ages 6 to 10, and five miles for ages 11 to 17, 18 to 34 and 35 and older.

Bob Markey, president of the White Rose Motorcycle Club in York County, Pa., just wanted the spectators at the Jefferson Hill Climb motorcycle race to have a good time Sunday.But a troublemaker with a powerful firecracker spoiled it, permanently injuring a Carroll County woman."You put your heart and soul into getting these events started," said Mr. Markey, whose club has sponsored the event since 1956. "From day one, it has been a family-oriented event. People who make trouble are not welcome."

A 27-year-old Essex-area man was rushed to the Shock-Trauma Unit in Baltimore early today after a large firecracker he was holding in his left hand exploded, blowing off four fingers and injuring his stomach, Baltimore County police said.The man, Calvin B. Hoffeld, of the 4000 block of Briarpoint Road in Miami Beach, was listed in serious condition.Police said Hoffeld was hosting several friends at a party when he decided to light a large firecracker and playfully throw it near his guests as they left about 3 a.m.After Hoffeld lighted the device, police said, the last guest closed the front door.

Los Angeles authorities pitched a felony charge at Mets star Vince Coleman yesterday in the firecracker-tossing incident outside Dodger Stadium 12 days ago that left three persons injured.The charge was far more severe than the misdemeanor that had been expected because Coleman is alleged to have thrown the equivalent of a quarter-stick of dynamite, said Bill Hodgman, a spokesman for the Los Angeles district attorney's office.But Coleman, 31, was charged only with one felony count of unlawful possession on an explosive device.

IT HAD to be a firecracker. .....The quick popping sound that interrupted our seventh-grade English class could be nothing else. It was Jan. 20, 1983, a Thursday, and my classmates and I were sitting through a grammar lesson. There were 10 minutes to go until lunch.Our school, Parkway South Junior High, was an orderly, well-regarded place ensconced in a western suburb of St. Louis. The pupils were predominantly middle-class and, on the whole, we took our budding educations seriously. In our community, a bang in the distance meant a firecracker, a cap gun or a backfiring engine -- petty fractures in the white noise of suburban life.

Woodlawn High School was evacuated twice yesterday, the first time after a firecracker was set off in a stairwell and then after small fires were set in two trash cans, police and school district officials said. Administrators were breaking up a fight among four girls in the cafeteria about 7:45 a.m. when someone set off at least one firecracker in a stairwell, creating smoke, according to police and school district officials. About 10:30 a.m., two small fires were set in trash cans, said Baltimore County school district spokesman Charles A. Herndon.

The sound hits the ear with explosive force. The vibrations ride through the ear canal, blow out the ear drum, and when they reach the cells critical to hearing, cells so sensitive that they can detect the sounds of a fly's wings, the noise shears them to pieces.For all the dangers firecrackers pose this holiday weekend, experts say the most underappreciated risk may be hearing loss.If set off close enough, a firecracker can permanently damage hearing in an instant. The sound, rather than arriving as vibrations lapping ashore in gentle waves, smashes the ear like a tidal wave.

IT HAD to be a firecracker. .....The quick popping sound that interrupted our seventh-grade English class could be nothing else. It was Jan. 20, 1983, a Thursday, and my classmates and I were sitting through a grammar lesson. There were 10 minutes to go until lunch.Our school, Parkway South Junior High, was an orderly, well-regarded place ensconced in a western suburb of St. Louis. The pupils were predominantly middle-class and, on the whole, we took our budding educations seriously. In our community, a bang in the distance meant a firecracker, a cap gun or a backfiring engine -- petty fractures in the white noise of suburban life.

Supersports Arena in Eldersburg will sponsor a Firecracker 500 Bicycle Race and Family Fun Day from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.Bicycle races for all ages are available. Activities start with races by experienced, licensed riders at 8: 30 a.m. Spectators can also race, and medals will be given through third place.During the afternoon, children age 2 and older can participate in age-graded races. Cost is $10 for ages 11 and older, free forchildren younger than age 11.Races start about 2: 15 p.m. and are one-quarter mile for ages 2 to 5, one mile for ages 6 to 10, and five miles for ages 11 to 17, 18 to 34 and 35 and older.

Singer, songwriter and musician Lisa Loeb had her first hit single before she even recorded her first album."It was a mixed blessing," says Loeb, who has just released her second album, "Firecracker." The hit single in question, "Stay," first released on the soundtrack for 1994's "Reality Bites," propelled Loeb into the spotlight. "I had written it without entertainment-industry interference. It was done in a pure way."But with the single's success came tour dates and a slew of marketing responsibilities that did not allow Loeb time to get to work on her first album for nearly a year.

WASHINGTON -- The early reviews from the theater critics of the political community say the Senate hearings on the financing of President Clinton's campaign last year have fallen short. These days we seem to require our politicians to entertain us as well as to write laws.The problem for Sen. Fred Thompson, the Republican leading the investigation, is, of course, that much of the pertinent information already has been spread on the public consciousness by the press.Thus, we have known for several months that Mr. Clinton helped install John Huang at the Democratic National Committee and that Mr. Huang subsequently raised a huge amount of money that had to be returned because its origins were illegal, or at least suspect.

LOS ANGELES -- At least three people were injured late Saturday afternoon when New York Mets outfielder Vince Coleman flipped a firecracker out of a car in the players' parking lot at Dodger Stadium.The car, a 1991 Jeep Cherokee, was driven by Dodgers outfielder Eric Davis. Coleman and Mets teammate Bobby Bonilla were passengers.Injured in the blast, according to reports, were Cindy Mayhew of Covina and two unidentified children, a 1-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy.Mayhew complained that the noise aggravated an existing ear condition.

Runners who want to get in a bit of racing before the parades and fireworks begin on the Fourth of July will have a lot of opportunities.The Dundalk Heritage 6K will start at 7:30 a.m. in Dundalk, and the Choptank River Run will begin at 7:55 a.m. in Cambridge.Kingsville again will hold its Firecracker 5K, beginning at 8 a.m., and the Arbutus Firecracker 10K will take place in Arbutus, also beginning at 8.Those who prefer evening running might want to check out Frederick's Fourth 5K in Frederick at 7 p.m.And those who would prefer to skip Independence running might want to check out the Independence 4-Miler in Havre de Grace on Saturday at 8 a.m.*Maureen Hall set Baltimore Road Runners Club records in the 1,000-yard and 2,000-meter runs Wednesday night in the BRRC's Track Series No. 2 at McDonogh School.

There will be no shortage of hot racing over the Fourth of July weekend.The action gets under way Saturday at 8 a.m. in Kingsville with the Firecracker 5K. Offering first-, second- and third-place awards of $100, $75 and $50 for males and females and top masters prizes of $75, the race is scheduled Saturday to avoid a conflict with the community's annual Fourth of July parade.Says race coordinator Patty Von Paris: "The parade always is on the Fourth. We changed the date of the race because it helps the police plus it gives the runners the opportunity to run the other races on July 4th."

A 32-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of throwing an explosive that resulted in a Westminster woman losing four fingers, state police said yesterday.Robert Lee Potter of Littlestown, Pa., was charged with causing or risking a catastrophe and recklessly endangering another person Sunday at the Jefferson Hill Climb, a motorcycle race near York, Pa.The arrest was made after police received leads and videotapes from some of the 4,000 people who attended the event, police said.Mr. Potter is believed to have thrown an M-80, a powerful firecracker, in the direction of security guards as they tried to calm a rowdy crowd, police said.