Gary

Gary Rand II has been named principal of St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School in Hampden, the Archdiocese of Baltimore confirmed Tuesday. His predecessor at St. Thomas Aquinas, Sister Marie Rose Gustatus, was principal for 32 years and has been a School Sister of Notre Dame for 50 years. She retired earlier this month. Rand, 37, of Frederick, is already at St. Thomas, where school starts Aug. 27. He previously served as principal of St. Andrew's Catholic School in Silver Spring for one year and as principal of St. Clement Mary Hofbauer School in Rosedale for two years.

In the spring of 1989, an up-and-coming Division I basketball coach returned to his alma mater, leaving a prestigious job and a burgeoning national reputation behind. The coach was aware that his new program was about to be sanctioned by the NCAA for violations committed by his predecessor, but when the penalties hit nearly a year later, he was surprised by their severity. There were times Gary Williams second-guessed his decision to help rebuild a Maryland program still reeling from the scandal surrounding the cocaine-induced death of All-American Len Bias three years before, and the turmoil that enveloped the Terps during Bob Wade's tenure.

Had the opportunity to talk to Orioles scouting director Gary Rajsich today. Here are some highlights. I'll have a little more later. Rajsich was expecting to get financial permission at some point Thursday and then would begin negotiating with players. Pre-signing physicals - the precursor to officially agreeing to a contract -- will begin Monday and Rajsich is hopeful that some of the team's Top 10 draft picks will be in attendance. Top pick Kevin Gausman is still playing with LSU in the super regionals this weekend so he obviously won't sign until after his season is completed.

When the Orioles officially hired baseball-lifer Gary Rajsich as their director of scouting in November, Toronto Blue Jays pro scouting director Perry Minasian sent a message to a friend. "You just stole one of my best scouts," Minasian texted Orioles manager Buck Showalter. "And one of the great people in the game. " Rajsich (pronounced ray-sitch) has been involved in pro baseball since he was drafted out of Arizona State University in the 11th round by the Houston Astros in 1976.

A motorcyclist was killed in a single-vehicle crash Sunday evening on Route 99, Howard County police reported. Gary Alan Lynch, 45, of the 1200 block of Adgate Court in Woodbine was driving a 2002 Honda CBR 900 motorcycle west near Alpha Ridge Park. It went off the road and struck a post about 6:16 p.m., according to a police news release. Lynch and a passenger were taken to Howard County General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Speed and failure to stay within the lane may have been factors in the crash, according to a preliminary investigation, police said.

Actor Kevin Bacon brought his star power to a charity event Wednesday at the University of Maryland, College Park. But the cheers the actor received were not as loud as the hoots and hollers directed toward the six student groups competing for $5,000 toward their favorite causes. The competition — called the "Do Good" Challenge — is part of an effort by the school to make philanthropy more of a focus in academics and student life. The winner was The Food Recovery Network, which developed a system of collecting food from campus dining halls that would otherwise go to waste and distributing it to homeless shelters.

Gary Williams spent this college basketball season out of coaching for the first time in more than four decades. A fundraiser for the university and an analyst for the Big Ten Network and ESPN 980 in Rockville, Williams was honored Wednesday night at the Sports Legends Museum at Camden Yards ahead of the 10th anniversary of Maryland's national championship. The 67-year old sat down with The Baltimore Sun prior to the "An Evening With Gary Williams" celebration to discuss the anniversary.

The average tenure of an American museum director is about six years. It's a tough job, requiring the gifts of a scholar-historian, expert business manager, public relations genius and civic booster all rolled into one, and it's definitely not for the faint of heart. Yet Gary Vikan, who announced this week that he is stepping down as director of the Walters Art Museum after 18 years in the post, not only made it look easy but seemed to enjoy every minute of it. Mr. Vikan's long tenure at the Walters saw a significant expansion of the museum's collections and programs as well as its presence in the community and online.

An Edgewater man was sentenced to six years in prison and a Crofton man pleaded guilty Friday for their involvement in a Gambrills-based mortgage fraud scheme in which they stole nearly $5 million for their personal use, prosecutors said. Gary Pierce, 44, was sentenced Friday to six years in prison for his part in a wire fraud conspiracy to divert funds that were supposed to be used to pay off mortgages during home transfers on 17 Maryland properties, according to a statement from Maryland's U.S. Attorney's Office.

Gary Vikan, who has been a dynamic force at the helm of the Walters Art Museum for 18 years, will leave the post of director in June 2013, or when his successor is in place. "I really made the decision in November 2008, when I was 62," Vikan said, "but that's when the stock market was plummeting. So I picked 65. " The museum weathered the economic downturn successfully, thanks to Vikan's leadership, said Walters board chairman Douglas Hamilton Jr. "Gary has carried us through the economic downturn," he said.