Fourth Set

Ellicott City developer Michael L. Pfau withdrew last week his fourth set of house designs under review by Howard County's Historic District Commission, which must approve the plans before he can begin construction on a 15-home development in the town's historic district. At the developer's request, the commission scheduled an "advisory" meeting Jan. 28 to give Pfau -- president of Trinity Homes Inc. -- more direction on how he can modify the designs to meet the panel's guidelines. "I think it's been an incremental process," said Stephen Lafferty, deputy director of the county Department of Planning and Zoning.

The Baltimore Orioles' final season in Memorial Stadium presents many opportunities for baseball memorabilia collectors.Some collectibles are Orioles promotions. Others are souvenirs that can be purchased at the stadium.From Aase to Zuverink, the Orioles are putting all their players on cards. The cards will be in four sets, with the first three given to fans of all ages on May 17, June 28 and Aug. 11. The fourth set will be available only at Crown gas stations. Each of the other sets also will be available at Crown, but only after it is given away at the stadium.

WESTMINSTER -- The lure of the sea and the song of the whale were just too much for 28 fourth-graders at Westminster Elementary School to resist.Last month, they told their teacher they wanted to take a whale-watching cruise, and they refused to take no for an answer."

A little more than a month after postponing her Diamond World Tour concert in Baltimore, Rihanna delivered a stellar performance last night at 1st Mariner Arena. The rescheduled performance appeared to have little effect on her screaming fans. The pop princess pulled out all the stops, performing hit after hit. She started with a very dramatic opening scene, where she appeared to be kneeling in a black cloak. She launched into "Mother Mary," "Phresh off the Runway" and "Birthday Cake.

Four young people charged in a videotaped attack on a drunken tourist, who was beaten, robbed and stripped in front of a city courthouse on St. Patrick's day, pleaded guilty to their roles in the crime Monday, the Baltimore State's Attorney's Office announced. Three of them were sentenced to prison time - though most of the terms were suspended - and the fourth is set to be sentenced in December. The video, distributed online, appeared to show a disoriented man standing with a group in front of the east building of the Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. Courthouse.

Boys' Latin battled back to win the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B Conference volleyball championship, 3-2, against visiting St. Paul's on Friday by taking the fourth set, 28-26, and the final set, 15-13. The Crusaders beat the Lakers twice this season and were undefeated entering the championship match. Cross country Baltimore City Championship: The Edmondson boys and Western girls each successfully defended their titles in the Baltimore City cross country championship.

No. 4 River Hill took a two-set-to-one lead over North Hagerstown in the Class 3A volleyball championship before losing a five-set thriller to the Hubs, 25-19, 22-25, 14-25, 25-23, 15-11. Amber Wiswell had 19 kills to lead the Hawks, while Cassidy Davis contributed 12. The Hawks held a 20-19 lead in the fourth set, but North Hagerstown's Peyton Wallech (21 kills) and Autumn Fisher (21 kills) each had two kills down the stretch to help the Hubs squeak a 25-23 win. In the fifth set, the Hawks took a 9-8 lead, but a series of River Hill errors and well-placed shots by Fisher gave the Hubs the win. “It's frustrating,” said River Hill coach Lynn Paynter said.

WIMBLEDON, England — Andy Roddick never did figure it out. The big serve that kept kicking up chalk dust, the cruelly low-bouncing ground strokes, the slippery volleys that would skid past a lunging Roddick — all of it was just too perplexing until the three-time Wimbledon finalist who was seeded fifth trudged off Court 2 with a soggy towel draped around his slumped shoulders. Yen-Hsun Lu, a 26-year-old son of a chicken salesman from Taipei, Taiwan, who said he gave himself little hope after the fourth set, beat Roddick 4-6, 7-6 (3)

WIMBLEDON, England — Roger Federer cocked an eyebrow once during the fourth set of his Wimbledon quarterfinal match against rosy-cheeked Tomas Berdych. Berdych, a talented 24-year-old from the Czech Republic, had just hit a looping forehand that was deceptively powerful. The ball landed deep in the corner of Centre Court, just a smidgen past the tip of Federer's racket. The point gave the Czech player a service break in the fourth set and it proclaimed what was about to happen: Federer will not be Wimbledon champion and won't even be a semifinalist.

There was no mystery about Seton Keough's strategy entering the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference volleyball championship at Roland Park on Friday night. It was another night of feed the monster. The Monster - otherwise known as senior outside hitter Ijeoma Igwe - delivered, giving the No. 3 Gators their first-ever IAAM championship in volleyball with a victory over defending champion Archbishop Spalding, 27-25, 25-20, 16-25, 25-18. Igwe finished with 21 kills on the night.