Fluid

TAMPA, Fla. - One of Jake Arrieta's goals in the early part of spring training is to pound the lower part of the strike zone with his mid-90s fastball, to tempt hitters to chop balls into the ground and let his defense make plays behind him. And in his 1 2/3-inning start Wednesday afternoon against the New York Yankees at Steinbrenner Field, the Orioles right-hander was able to do that, keeping every ball hit in play on the ground. Arrieta got ahead of hitters - his fastball running at 94-96 mph - but he found himself at times too wild with his fastball.

Senior Zach Palmer returned to No. 13 Johns Hopkins after sitting out two games with an undisclosed injury and finished with zero points on four shots in Saturday's 8-4 loss to then-No. 7 Loyola. But rather than take up his usual spot on attack with sophomore Wells Stanwick and junior Brandon Benn, Palmer ran with seniors John Ranagan and John Greeley as members of the second midfield. Senior John Kaestner made his third consecutive start with Stanwick and Benn for the Blue Jays (8-5)

Over the past several weeks my husband noticed gradually increased swelling in his stomach. According to his doctor, the swelling is due to fluid. I would like to know what could cause this and what can be done about it?Ascites, the medical term for an accumulation of fluid within the abdominal (peritoneal) cavity, may progress slowly and not he noticed for several months because it usually causes no pain or other symptoms during the early stages.The first hint may come when a belt or clothing feels tight.

Senior attackman Zach Palmer and senior midfielder John Greeley sat out No. 13 Johns Hopkins' 15-4 thrashing of Navy on Saturday, and their status for this Saturday's regular-season home finale against No. 7 Loyola remains unresolved. Palmer, who is tied for second on the Blue Jays (8-4) in assists (12) and ranked third in points (24), has been sidelined for the team's last two games after sustaining an undisclosed injury during practice on April 10. His absence has been mitigated by the play of senior John Kaestner, who has totaled five goals and three assists in two starts for Palmer.

"You know, this 'chaos' idea makes sense," a seminar participant began, politely enough, upon collaring me at a break, "but I'm not sure the average person is up to it. We need some stability.""Crazy times call for crazy organizations," I'm fond of saying. The personal implications are daunting, as job security becomes a distant memory and even newly acquired skills turn out to have a half-life of just a few years.But the fact is, I agree with the seminar participant. Not only that, I freely admit that I hate change.

A 15-year-old Anne Arundel County boy using lantern fluid to treat his poison ivy was critically injured yesterday when the fumes ignited, burning him and his Brooklyn Park home.Joseph Lickman, who lives in the rowhouse in the 200 block of Southerly Road, about one mile from the city line, suffered first- and second-degree burns over 85 percent of his body.He was flown by Maryland State Police MedEvac helicopter to the burn unit at Francis Scott Key Medical Center in Baltimore, where he was listed in critical condition last night, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Right-hander Jason Hammel had fluid drained from his sore right knee this week and says he believes he is improving - certainly enough to make Friday's scheduled start and stay on the active roster. "I really feel like just getting me out there every fifth day is going to help the team," said Hammel, who is 5-1 with a 3.12 ERA. "Obviously, I don't want to kill the [bullpen], but I think missing me for a couple of weeks right now is probably not in the best interest of myself or the team.

Avast, mateys! That was a heckuva hullabaloo thrown aboard the USS Constellation last weekend. We're talking about the fund-raiser that Baltimore's wacky performance-art group Fluid Movement threw. This is the group that has made Baltimore history by putting on all those zany swim shows in the Patter-son Park pool. This year, Fluid Movement changed venues to the Constel-lation, where it performed "Go-Go Pirate Show," a rather loose interpretation of Treasure Is-land set to a '60s go-go theme.

Three months ago, Susan Gordon, a two-pack-a-day cigarette smoker, was given a harsh diagnosis -- lung cancer. But, last Friday, the Baltimore woman thought she was face-to-face with another villain -- heart attack.She couldn't seem to get her breath. She gasped and struggled. The little breathing she could manage was fast and shallow.Gordon didn't realize it at the time, but she was so sick she might have died right then and there, Dr. Andrew Ziskind, a University of Maryland Medical Center cardiologist, said yesterday.

NEW YORK - Former President Bill Clinton will undergo surgery this week to remove fluid and scar tissue from his chest cavity, a rare complication resulting from his heart bypass surgery six months ago, his doctors said yesterday. Clinton, 58, is scheduled for surgery tomorrow at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center and is expected to remain hospitalized three to 10 days. "This is an elective process," Dr. Allan Schwartz, chief of the hospital's cardiology department, said at a news conference.

Now that quarterback Joe Flacco is poised to become the highest paid player in the NFL by virtue of a $120.6 million contract, the Ravens aren't expected to use the franchise tag on any of their other unrestricted free agents. Although Monday afternoon marks the league deadline to use the designation, general manager Ozzie Newsome has already stated that Flacco was the Ravens' lone candidate to be named a franchise player. The Flacco contract, which includes a record $62 million payout during the first three years, won't become official until the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player takes and passes a physical and signs his contract Monday.

TAMPA, Fla. - One of Jake Arrieta's goals in the early part of spring training is to pound the lower part of the strike zone with his mid-90s fastball, to tempt hitters to chop balls into the ground and let his defense make plays behind him. And in his 1 2/3-inning start Wednesday afternoon against the New York Yankees at Steinbrenner Field, the Orioles right-hander was able to do that, keeping every ball hit in play on the ground. Arrieta got ahead of hitters - his fastball running at 94-96 mph - but he found himself at times too wild with his fastball.

A hazardous materials crew was called to clean up a spill of automotive fluids into a small stream following a single vehicle accident north of Rocks State Park in northern Harford County Wednesday afternoon. A Honda Accord traveling north ran off Route 24 a few hundred feet north of Coen Road, flipping over and landing in the stream around 3:38 p.m., according to Rich Gardiner, a spokesman for the Harford Volunteer Fire & EMS Association. The driver, whose name and age were unavailable, was taken by ambulance to a regional trauma center, Gardiner said.

Two men were arrested Tuesday morning on drug charges after a Baltimore County bomb squad found a chemical inhalant in the basement of a rowhouse in the Parkville-Hillendale area the previous day. Justin Trionfo, 19, who lived at the rowhouse in the 8300 block of Ridgely Oak Road, and Kahrl Retti, 18, of the first block of Bideford Court in Carney, were both charged with two counts of intent to distribute the inhalant found. The inhalant consisted of water mixed with Super Tech starter engine fluid, police said.

Right-hander Jason Hammel had fluid drained from his sore right knee this week and says he believes he is improving - certainly enough to make Friday's scheduled start and stay on the active roster. "I really feel like just getting me out there every fifth day is going to help the team," said Hammel, who is 5-1 with a 3.12 ERA. "Obviously, I don't want to kill the [bullpen], but I think missing me for a couple of weeks right now is probably not in the best interest of myself or the team.

For the first time in decades, flouncy, flowered dresses, hat boxes and shopping bags filled a storefront window at Howard and Lexington streets, once the center of Baltimore's retail district. Ladies in pearls and long gloves, wild-haired hippies and a giant bag of Utz potato chips whirled around the first floor of the former Stewart's Department Store Sunday afternoon — on roller skates. The performers, part of Fluid Movement, a Baltimore group best known for its elaborate and creative water ballets, staged a play on skates commemorating the area's history as "The Hub," the center of city shopping in the era before malls.

A Pasadena couple is seeking $6 million in damages after employees at a Pasadena Roy Rogers Restaurant left spit or some other fluid on their cheeseburgers nearly a year ago, according to a lawsuit filed yesterday in Anne Arundel Circuit Court.Carl E. and Darlene M. Coffey say that "large amounts of mucous-like fluid" slid off their cheeseburgers when Carl Coffey lifted the buns to inspect the sandwiches they had bought in the restaurant's drive-through lane, according to the suit.The couple is suing McDonald's Corp.

Go-go dancing, Jell-O salads and yellow raincoats will help transport the audience from Maine to Las Vegas in the course of an hour during Fluid Movement's latest water ballet, Postcards from the Deep End: The Flurry Family Vacation. In 1998, Fluid Movement, a community-based performance art group, was founded. After a three-year break from its specialty of water ballet, Fluid Movement returns to the pool to tell the story of a family vacation gone awry. Family Vacation chronicles the past adventures of the Flurry family in the ensemble's typically unconventional ways.

In his talk this month regarding the history of Liberty Reservoir, James Slater Jr., water resources program manager for the Baltimore Metropolitan Council, said most of the water in Carroll County stays here a while, but not for long. Slater, a Finksburg resident and former compliance and environmental programs director for the county, spoke Nov. 17 at the Finksburg Library, at the monthly meeting of the Finksburg Planning and Community Council. He said Carroll's outward flow of water is because of a geological formation called Parr's Ridge, which intersects the county at a southwest by northwest angle.

Hazel Croner, a prolific fashion illustrator who sketched for Baltimore's department stores and their national magazine ads, died of lung disease Oct. 27 at Northwest Hospital Center. The Owings Mills resident was 98. In her 70-year career, she was a fashion illustrator for Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Town & Country and Glamour and was a courtroom artist and on-the-spot summertime boardwalk painter at Rehoboth Beach, Del., and Atlantic City, N.J. Her department store artwork for the old Schleisner's and Hutzler's appeared in the society sections of Sunday papers and in theater programs for decades.