Gay Bar

Manicure and Martini Night Where: Central Station, 1001/1003 N. Charles St. When: 7 p.m. Wednesday Why: Look and feel fantastic with a $5 general manicure and a few $5 medium-shelf martinis at this gay/lesbian bar in Mount Vernon. Might want to get there a little early so your name's at the top of the sign-up sheet. Information: 410-752-7133, www.centralstationpub.com. Admission: No cover.

C HOUSTON -- A columnist for the Houston Post was fired yesterday after granting interviews about his own homosexuality, topic his editors had told him not to write about.The dismissal grew out of events that began when the columnist, Juan R. Palomo, sought to announce his sexual preference in a column that decried the lack of public outrage over the slaying of a 27-year-old banker, Paul Broussard, on July 4.Mr. Broussard was killed when 10 youths allegedly chased down and attacked him and two companions as they left a gay bar in Houston.

Here's our round-up of the week's most notable concerts. For more shows, check out FindLocal . Ticket prices do not reflect any additional surcharges and taxes. On Monday, the avant-country act Lambchop plays Rams Head on Stage for the first time ( $20 ). On Tuesday, Detroit's the Black Dahlia Murder plays Rams Head Live ( $18 ). !!! and Shabazz Palaces will bring eclectic sounds to Sonar ( $13/$15 ). Promising pop-punk act the Wonder Years plays the Ottobar ( $13 )

In the spring of 1987, several weeks before his graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy, Midshipman 1st Class Joseph Steffan was called into a conference room."

Baltimore homicide detectives are fanning out in the city's gay community showing mug shots of a suspect charged with killing a Montgomery County man in April.The suspect, Gary Ray Bowles, 32, is a transient believed to be from Alexandria, Va., authorities said.The FBI is seeking a serial killer in the slaying of a 72-year-old Savannah, Ga., man May 5 and the killing of a 37-year-old Hilliard, Fla., man May 19.Authorities said Mr. Bowles is wanted for questioning in two other cases: an April 11 slaying in Jacksonville, Fla., and a May 15 slaying in Daytona Beach, Fla., authorities said.

JERUSALEM -- After midnight at Shushan, the only gay bar in Jerusalem, Tallulah Bonnet, a local drag queen, was on stage, lip-synching another number before an enthusiastic crowd. Spirits were high, but there was an undercurrent of apprehension after plans for a gay pride parade today set off violent street protests in Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods and raised fears that the marchers might be attacked. "Who's afraid here?" an announcer asked from the stage. "Who's going to march even though they're afraid?"

Yesterday, we had the first new TV series of 1995. Tonight we have the year's third new telemovie (the networks unveiled the first two Sunday), as well as new episodes of "Frasier" and "NYPD Blue."* "Wings" (8-8:30 p.m., Channel 11) -- For some reason, perhaps that of its affable leads, this series manages to get renewed, even though what it brings to the table is somewhat meager. Tonight, though, should be worth a look: Valerie Mahaffey of "The Powers That Be" is a guest star, for the second time, as a somewhat unstable woman with a crush on Joe (Tim Daly)

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. -- Every Friday and Saturday night, scores of off-duty Marines flock to a Jacksonville bar to shoot a game of pool, cure a bout of loneliness or dance until the wee hours.By the book, they are risking stiff fines or even jail time, since Camp Lejeune, the largest Marine Corps base on the East Coast, has declared the bar, Friends Lounge, off limits to the installation's 43,000 Marines and sailors. It is a gay bar and conflicts with the military's ban on homosexual behavior.

A Pasadena man who has spent the past three years in prison after pleading guilty to a murder he insists he did not commit has been granted a new trial.Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge Robert H. Heller Jr. overturned Bernard L. Ward Jr.'s 1989 first-degree murder conviction and the life sentence that followed.Mr. Ward had blamed his decision to plead guilty to murder -- after all the evidence had been heard at trial but before the case had gone to the jury -- on the advice of what he called a lying, corrupt and incompetent defense attorney who had been outwitted during the abbreviated trial.

TODAY SCIENCE UNCORKED: THE GENIUS OF WINE: What could be more genius than pairing a wine tasting with an exhibit about Leonardo da Vinci's great inventions? This event pays tribute to da Vinci's homeland by featuring the wines of Italy. Guests at the Maryland Science Center, 601 Light St., will learn about Italian wine regions and vintages from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tickets are $40 for members, $45 for nonmembers. Admission includes wine, food and a tour of "Da Vinci: The Genius." All participants must be 21 or older.