Fort Lauderdale

Even in South Florida, where years of mayhem and madness had many residents believing they could no longer be shocked, the Willets sex scandal trial is off the charts.Kathy and Jeff are no ordinary couple.On the one hand, if they are convicted, there may be nothing unusual about a hard-working hooker and her protective pimp trying to make a few bucks off the local citizenry. So they got caught. Another day, another routine arrest, from a region where the summer blockbuster criminal news is about a Kennedy family member accused of rape and a former Panamanian dictator awaiting trial in a cushy jail.

Southwest Airlines and subsidiary AirTran Airways announced Wednesday that they will add as many as four daily nonstop flights between BWI Marshall Airport and Fort Lauderdale, beginning Sept. 6. The additional flights mean the merged airlines will be running up to 10 daily round trips between the two cities. The new flights will be offered through the end of Southwest's published schedule on Feb. 13. As a promotion, AirTran is offering fares as low as $59 one-way on many flights between Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport and Fort Lauderdale between Sept.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Deep in the bowels of th Broward County Governmental Center, there's a copy machine that turns itself on and spews paper as if possessed. There are computer screens that convulse and black out. And the electric typewriter in the corner clacks away -- even though it's unplugged.Poltergeists? Haunted microchips?"We've got a serious problem here, but we have no idea what's causing it," said Sue Baldwin, a records controller. "So far, we don't think it has any supernatural origins."

Winterfest Boat Parade takes place Dec.12 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., with as many as 100 decorated yachts cruising the Intracoastal Waterway. $153 AirTran Fort Lauderdale $157 Southwest Fort Lauderdale $179 Delta Fort Lauderdale Restricted round-trip fees as researched online Wednesday, the day the Travel section goes to...

American Trans Air, a small Indianapolis-based carrier, will begin nonstop service from Baltimore-Washington International Airport to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Los Angeles starting in mid-December.During off-peak times, the airline is offering introductory one-way fares of $99 to Fort Lauderdale and $169 to Los Angeles, and round-trip for double the fare. Typical of a growing number of discount flights at BWI, the ATA flights do not have advance purchase or minimum stay requirements.The airline is the latest in a series of low-cost carriers that have launched discount service at BWI since Southwest Airlines spearheaded the trend more than a year ago.The six-day-a-week service to Fort Lauderdale will operate seasonally from Dec. 16 to April 30. The daily flight to Los %J Angeles will operate six days a week from Dec. 18 to Jan. 7 and less frequently after that.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- This town has a science museum and a beautiful new beach. But it has become too stodgy of late and needs an infusion of college students.So say entrepreneurs who are inviting thousands of Spring Breakers back to Fort Lauderdale."Now most of the strong anti-Spring Break opponents have been removed from office," said a letter from Concierge Consultants, the group that organized the movement. "The majority of businesses and residents of Broward want Spring Breakers back."

Almost two months after the Orioles expected to gain approval to begin construction of a new spring training complex in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., they appear to be drawing closer to a resolution. A Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman confirmed this week that officials are reviewing documents submitted by the city of Fort Lauderdale, which could be the final step in making a decision. The Orioles want to tear down and rebuild 48-year-old Fort Lauderdale Stadium, which has served as their spring home since 1996, but they need the FAA's consent because it sits on airport property.

The Orioles and West Palm Beach, Fla., city officials have held preliminary discussions regarding the feasibility of constructing a million spring-training facility that could host the club as soon as 1999, according to city and team officials.Having just lost two major-league teams as spring tenants, one to Orlando and the other to surrounding Palm Beach County, the city envisions a 10,000-seat facility located on a 100-acre site that once served as a dump site.The Orioles represent a natural and attractive tenant as they continue to encounter halting progress in talks with Fort Lauderdale over renovations to aging Fort Lauderdale Stadium.

An excited bunch of Orioles filed out of the Fort Lauderdale Stadium clubhouse yesterday for the first workout of spring. They were greeted by about 20 fans ... and a nice, stiff wind. It was cold enough that several Orioles, including some who had trouble getting to Florida because of snow and ice on the East Coast, scurried back to the clubhouse to grab a sweat shirt or a jacket. "It's all relative," manager Sam Perlozzo said. "If I called up north right now and complained, I don't think I'd get any sympathy.

No beach, not even Malibu or Waikiki, is more celebrated in popular lore. College students, on the screen and off, romped on Fort Lauderdale beach, the place "where the boys are." Travis Magee, the fictional detective, lived there aboard a boat at Bahia Mar.Yet over the years, Fort Lauderdale beach flourished and fell, its famous Strip becoming a seedy string of T-shirt shops and bars. Roadways congested, sidewalks littered, the sand smelling of old beer and coconut oil, the beach was held hostage by young revelers -- Spring Break year round.

Reliever Chris Ray, who appeared to be the Orioles' closer-in-waiting at the start of the season, was demoted to Triple-A Norfolk on Thursday after two rough months. Ray was 0-1 with a 9.39 ERA in 17 games, allowing 16 earned runs in 15 1/3 innings. He had been pulled from his late-inning role and was used sparingly in the past few weeks, pitching just five times since May 9. "He needs to work in an environment that is going to give him an opportunity to succeed and work on his delivery and repeat it," Orioles manager Dave Trembley said.

STILL FIGHTING With the Orioles apparently set on going with 13 pitchers and just 12 position players, reserve infielder Chris Gomez appears to be the odd man out for the Opening Day roster. But he made a late case for inclusion Tuesday in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., going 3-for-5 with a double and a run scored and playing steady defense at shortstop. Gomez got off to a horrible start at the plate this spring, managing just one hit in his first 18 at-bats. That's the reason his average was at .200 after a three-hit day. PENN NOT MIGHTY Hayden Penn gave up six runs over 3 2/3 innings in what was cast by manager Dave Trembley as a make-or-break outing.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Koji Uehara was pretty proud of himself yesterday. "I pitched a perfect game," he said with a smile. In reality, Uehara pitched a perfect inning before the clouds opened up and delayed Sunday's exhibition game against the New York Mets at Fort Lauderdale Stadium. He struck out the first two batters he faced and got center fielder Jeremy Reed to ground out to second, and the infield was under water before the Orioles could get through the bottom of the inning. The game was delayed for about 80 minutes, so Uehara went to the covered bullpen area next to the back fields and simulated four more innings of work, throwing a total of 76 pitches.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -The Orioles' evolving rotation competition is down to six pitchers for three spots as manager Dave Trembley on Tuesday ruled out David Pauley for one of the starting vacancies. "There are other guys ahead of him right now," Trembley said. "The two rainouts hurt us. We're coming down toward the end of this. I would highly doubt he'll get another start. If anybody gets another start, I'll try to get it for [Hayden] Penn because he got bumped." Pauley, who was acquired from the Boston Red Sox this offseason for reliever Randor Bierd, has struggled this spring, compiling an 8.18 ERA in five appearances (three starts)

FORT MYERS, Fla. - Jeremy Guthrie walked out of Dodger Stadium on Sunday night just after Mark DeRosa connected for a two-run double, the eighth-inning hit cutting Team USA's deficit against Japan to two runs and breathing life into its chances of making it to the final of the World Baseball Classic. At the time, Guthrie, an analytical thinker if there ever was one, was torn. The last thing he wanted was to leave an experience in Los Angeles that he said "can't be matched" one game short of his and his teammates' ultimate goal.

JUPITER, FLA. - The muddled race for the Orioles' open rotation was further clouded yesterday, this time by the weather. The Orioles were supposed to have home-and-away split-squad games with the St. Louis Cardinals yesterday, but hard rain on an uncovered field at Fort Lauderdale Stadium forced the Orioles to cancel their home game. That meant they had to reduce their pitching outings by half, postponing performances by two rotation candidates: Hayden Penn and Brad Bergesen. Also, Danys Baez, who was supposed to pitch today, has been pushed back to tomorrow.

Sammy Sosa homered in his first exhibition game with the Orioles, but the Florida Marlins scored twice off reliever Rick Bauer in the sixth inning and took a 3-1 victory. Left-hander Erik Bedard blanked the Marlins on one hit over three innings, but Bauer allowed two runs and six hits in three innings. Dave Borkowski gave up a run in the eighth. Mike Lowell's single off Bauer broke a scoreless tie in the sixth. The Orioles put the tying runs on base with two outs in the ninth before Walter Young flied to right.

The Orioles will return to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for spring training next year, vice chairman of finance Joe Foss said yesterday, but club officials will continue trying to find a permanent site where the major- and minor-league players can train together."

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -No one should be surprised, but when the Orioles dispatched their three top pitching prospects to the organization's minor league camp in Sarasota over the weekend, the whole optimism-of-spring thing sort of went along for the ride across Alligator Alley. Brian Matusz could light up Fort Lauderdale Stadium with his curveball. Chris Tillman and Jake Arrieta could make the future appear as if it's just around the corner. The three of them created so much buzz during the early weeks of spring training that it was easy not to notice that the major league pitching staff they will someday lead was quietly coming unraveled.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -Brian Roberts walked briskly from the dugout toward the batting cage one morning last week and waited for Matt Wieters to finish spraying balls around Fort Lauderdale Stadium. When Wieters' batting practice round was done, Roberts, an eight-year veteran and two-time All-Star, presented him with a cup of water as Orioles manager Dave Trembley, hitting coach Terry Crowley and first baseman Aubrey Huff broke into laughter. Roberts' gesture was in mock deference to the newest Oriole, who is being touted as everything from a future Hall of Famer to the franchise savior before he has played a big league game.