Galleria

W. D. FlackesW. D. Flackes, 72, a veteran radio reporter who for decades interpreted the conflict in Northern Ireland for British and BBC World Service listeners, died Sunday in London. Known as "Billy Flakjacket" and one of the best-known broadcasters in the province, he worked for the BBC from the 1960s, when the Irish Republican Army renewed its struggle for a united Irish state, until 1982.Jack BruscaJack Brusca, a 56-year-old painter who worked with an airbrush in acrylic paint, died of complications from AIDS on Saturday at Cabrini Medical Center in Manhattan.

Bells are ringingRemember that old, sexist joke about women going to college to earn their Mrs.? Well, don't laugh. Though it's not the place to find a future groom, A Wedding Galleria's new workshop series -- a sort of mini-college for future brides -- does everything but offer a diploma. It's designed to "transfer the naive bride-to-be into an informed, prepared woman of the '90s."Judging from some of the proposed topics of the series, "naive" is one thing future brides cannot afford to be. A sample: "The Two-Career Family: Time, Space, Energy"; "Communicating: What Happens When the Bells Stop Ringing?"

The Wilde Lake High School PTSA will sponsor a Parent Night for Wilde Lake High School parents only from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 30 at the Jim Rouse Theater, 5460 Trumpeter Road. The topic will be "Surviving the High School Years and Beyond: Your Student's Sexual Health." Robin G. Sawyer of the University of Maryland School of Public Health will speak about trends in adolescent sexual behavior, and offer practical information for surviving your child's high school years. He will also discuss the college experience.

HOUSTON -- A few steps from Neiman-Marcus displays of $14 chocolate popcorn truffles and one aisle over from Princess Marcella Borghese's cosmetic spa, Ron Franks was having a Clark Gable fantasy.Mr. Franks and many of Maryland's 100-member Republican National Convention contingent were doing their best to revive the Houston economy.Until yesterday, the GOP conventioneers were a disappointment the shopkeepers here. "Windowshop 'til you drop" seemed to be their motto.But Mr. Franks had come to help change that -- with style.

HOUSTON -- The well known and the powerful often appear before the Houston Forum, one of the city's elite speaker venues. Sen. John McCain gave a recent talk, as did Michael Chertoff, the homeland security secretary. But the speaker who incited the greatest interest was one of Houston's own: Kenneth L. Lay, the former chairman of Enron Corp., who spoke yesterday. It was a rare appearance for Lay, one of particular note because he goes on trial next month in Houston on criminal charges that could send him to prison for decades.

One of the county's largest black-oriented festivals will take place at Howard Community College tomorrow.Black FESTAC '96, short for Black Festival of the Arts and Culture, is scheduled to run from noon to 8 p.m. at the Galleria at the college in west Columbia.This year's festival is expected to attract more than the 5,000 people who attended last August, said organizer Christopher Onyejiaka, a Howard County substitute teacher.The free event features storytellers, musicians, artists, dancers, singers, gospel rappers and 50 to 100 vendors.

Community College to hold annual job, career fair Thursday Howard Community College will hold its annual Job/Career Fair from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Thursday in the Galleria of the Science and Technology Building, 10901 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia. The fair is being held in cooperation with the Howard County Chamber of Commerce. Representatives from 100 companies will be available to speak with students and area residents about full- and part-time jobs, including summer employment.

Cirque du Soleil opens a one-month run of "Quidam" under a 2,500-seat blue-and-yellow big top at Tysons Galleria in McLean, Va., tonight. The new show marks the French-Canadian theatrical circus' return to the Washington area after a three-year absence."

Tickets for next month's annual Orioles FanFest, which well be held Jan. 19 at the Baltimore Convention Center, went on sale today. FanFest, which features autograph and Q&A sessions with current and former Orioles players and coaches as well as clinics, exhibits and interactive games, will he held from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tickets can be purchased on the Orioles team website, at the Oriole Park box office, at the Orioles team store at the York...

The new McCormick & Co. headquarters officially opened this week in Sparks with some of the features that were popular at the firm's old spice factory in downtown Baltimore.While the $13 million headquarters is a modern, three-story structure with two levels of underground parking, the spice company's famous Elizabethan-style Tea House and the murals of Baltimore artist Edwin Tunis, painted during the 1920s, are part of the new interior.Both were removed from the McCormick spice factory on Light Street before it was demolished in 1989.