Gear

For Under Armour, the story was always the same: Form follows function. The Baltimore sports apparel company's gear was designed to keep you sweat-free, while its tight fit showed off the muscular physiques of those lucky enough to have them. The brand was never known for being fashion-forward. But that was then. Now the billion-dollar firm, which as recently as three years ago limited its clothing offerings to shirts, shorts and other athletic wear in only the most basic colors, is looking to up its game — and expand its business — with zebra-print leggings for women and graphic T-shirts with slogans such as "Rain.

Ohio State's Greg Dutton did not get to watch the entirety of Cornell's 16-8 upset of sixth-seeded Maryland in a NCAA tournament first-round game last Sunday. But the junior goalkeeper watched the film, and fifth-year senior attackman Rob Pannell's four-goal, three-assist performance was no less impressive a day or two after the fact. “Rob Pannell is a great player, and he's been a great player there for four years,” said Dutton, a Timonium native and Calvert Hall graduate. “He's probably one of the best players to ever play Division I lacrosse.

This is one of those products Gear Girl wishes she did not have to test. But although she is very careful outdoors, she sometimes misses the warning signs ("Leaves of three ... "). The lack of vigilance leads to little red bumps, a rash and the insatiable desire to scratch 24/7 - the calling card of poison ivy. The American Academy of Dermatology estimates that 85 percent of us will develop an allergic reaction if we touch poison ivy, oak or sumac, so finding relief ranks high on the adventure must-have list.

Calling all kids interested in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) related activities? The first annual HoCo STEM Festival is June 9, 1 to 4 p.m., at Howard Community College. This free community event is the brainchild of the Committee to Enhance STEM, a group of seven individuals with STEM backgrounds, including Ellicott City resident David Gertler, who want to stimulate and encourage students' interest in the emerging fields of science, technology, engineering and math.

On June 25, 2005, BARBARA BUTCHER "BOBBY" (age 63), Prince George's County School Teacher for 38 years died at the Gilchrist Hospice in Baltimore, of natural causes related to pancreatic cancer. She is survived by her husband of 43 years, Alexander Martin Gear of Columbia, MD; sons and daughters in-law, Daniel Melville and K-Lynn Gear of Monroe, VA and John Martin and Mary Gear of Lansing, MI; brother Noll Butcher of Columbia, Ohio and five grandchildren. Mrs. Gear taught at Montpelier Elementary School and Buck Lodge Middle School, where she touched thousands of lives.

Someday, it will feel like fall. And when it finally does, you might feel like stretching all six legs - you and your faithful pooch. A new paperback by Doug Gelbert, Doggin' Maryland ($12.95; Cruden Bay Books; hikewithyourdog.com), rates 100 places in the Free State on their views, trail quality and suitability for dog walking. It spells out, in some cases, which parks have designated areas for you and your best friend, and places where one of you isn't welcome. In addition, it covers beach regulations, what gear your pet will need on the trail and how to keep your dog safe and the trails you hike pristine.

The title on Page 54 of the Ravens' media guide is "equipment manager." But the words barely describe Ed Carroll's multitude of duties with the team. In addition to washing and drying jerseys and pants, creating budgets and ordering new gear, Carroll monitors weather forecasts and has become an expert on grass. He's responsible for meeting the team's equipment needs, which sometimes includes tracking down discontinued products. And he makes sure the Ravens receive fair treatment on the road.

With blue crabs harder to find in the Chesapeake Bay this year than in recent times, Maryland fisheries officials have proposed for the first time limiting crabbers' catches by restricting their gear and harvest times.Environmentalists say the state's move is a good first step toward protecting the bay's last healthy fishery from over-harvesting. But the proposal has set off a civil war of sorts among watermen, pitting crabbers from Southern Maryland and the lower Eastern Shore against those from the Baltimore area.

Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs has taken several subtle digs at New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady throughout the season, but he has been on his best behavior this week. In a news conference with the media in Owings Mills today, Suggs said that he has moved on from any perceived fued with Brady. "I guess the genesis of that was the incident in '09, when I almost hit him below the waist," Suggs said. "That's when it all started, but you grow and mature. As you all can clearly see, I'm not the same guy that I was in '09. I'm definitely 20 pounds lighter.

Never mind that they only had four returning players and finished with a losing record. When members of the Patterson High School lacrosse team talk about their difficult spring, it always comes back to the midseason death of their captain, senior Christopher Clarke. Clarke was fatally shot after practice March 13, an innocent bystander in a street shooting near his home in the Belair-Edison neighborhood. Patterson Principal Laura Lee D'Anna, lacrosse coach Jonathan Kehl and three of Clarke's former teammates remembered him yesterday as they accepted dozens of new and barely-used lacrosse sticks and pieces of protective gear donated to the school by AT&T.

Joe Budge has been a familiar face at Annapolis city council meetings, speaking out on issues related to downtown. Later this month, he'll move from the public microphone to the dais as he's sworn in as the council's newest alderman. Budge, 60, was selected by the Annapolis Democratic Central Committee on Tuesday to replace former Ward One Alderman Richard E. Israel, who stepped down in April because he planned to move out of the city and into an assisted-living facility. Budge joins the council at a busy time, as aldermen finalize the city's annual budget and prepare to deal with planning and rezoning issues for the City Dock area.

Laurel has undergone many changes since the 1980s, but one thing has remained consistent over the years: the Laurel Board of Trade's annual Main Street Festival. This year's Main Street Festival, the 33rd one overall, will be held on Saturday, May 11, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Main Street will be closed to traffic between southbound Route 1 and Seventh Street for the festival, which could attract upward of 100,000 people. The festival usually hosts about 300 vendors and service organizations are spread out along the street, said Janet Able, treasurer of the Laurel Board of Trade.

By virtue of their unblemished records in the Capital Athletic Conference, reigning national champion Salisbury and St. Mary's are in the driver's seat for the top two seeds and accompanying first-round byes in the league tournament. But that hasn't diluted the significance of Saturday's tilt at Seahawk Stadium in St. Mary's City. The Sea Gulls (12-3 overall and 5-0 in the conference) have finished in first place in the league 16 times since the CAC was formed for the 1993 season, but their reign of dominance ended in 2009 and 2011 when Stevenson took home the championships.

Patterson Hood doesn't hesitate to acknowledge that his band, Southern rock veterans Drive-By Truckers, almost called it quits last year. He doesn't elaborate on details but concedes that "personal [stuff]" was eroding the band from the inside. "I spent a lot of last year soul-searching whether it was time to pack it up and call it a day. I truly did," Hood said. "I spent two years with that in the back of my mind, a nagging thing. I didn't like where the band was at. " Hood laughs at the idea now. With the recent departures of bassist Shonna Tucker and guitarist John Neff, Hood says, Drive-By Truckers is rejuvenated.

At the recent Maryland state championship for the FTC class of FIRST Robotics, the Havre de Grace High School Spears and Gears team placed 14th among 32 teams entered in the competition held at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel. The small Havre de Grace robotics team, consisting of Allison Grabowski, team captain and lead engineer; Tucker Barnes, software programming; and Kenny Hallock, worked feverishly in weeks leading up to the Feb. 23 competition to complete and refine its Bot, according to team faculty advisor Craig Kostyshyn.

Democrats in the House of Delegates, who for the first half of this legislative session shied away from the issue of raising money for transportation, will draft a revenue package of their own in answer to one proposed earlier by Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller. House Speaker Michael E. Busch said his party will consider various tax options in a bid to raise at least $600 million a year for transportation. Democratic delegates have been spurred into action by the Virginia legislature's approval last week of a plan to raise $880 million for transportation through a combination of tax increases and transfers of funds from other budget priorities.

L.A. Gear plans layoffs, closingsAfter more than four years of losses and attempts to restructure the company, L.A. Gear Inc. says it is laying off about 30 percent of its workers and closing some or all of its seven outlet stores.About 160 people were notified of the cuts this week and jobs were eliminated across the board.The Santa Monica, Calif.-based athletic footwear company will decide by the end of November as to which outlets will be targeted. L.A. Gear has stores in California, Texas, Arizona and Florida.

SARA GEAR BOYD, 67 Vermont lawmaker Sara Gear Boyd, a former Republican leader in the Vermont Legislature and secretary of the Republican National Committee, has died. She was 67. Ms. Gear Boyd died Tuesday of cancer, her family said. The Burlington native and University of Vermont graduate rose to prominence at a time when her home city was moving to the left and had elected socialist Bernie Sanders as mayor. Ms. Gear Boyd was elected to the Vermont House in 1984, serving from 1985 to 1992, the last four years as majority leader.

Loyola head coach Charley Toomey thought assistant Dan Chemotti made perfect sense when he talked him into playing No. 3 Maryland in between games against Towson and UMBC. And then Chemotti, the Greyhounds former defensive coordinator, took the head coaching job at Richmond. "I must have been crazy at time," said Toomey, laughing one day after No. 1 Loyola (2-0) beat Towson, 14-9. "But Duke does it every year, and John Danowski does a great job of preparing his team. " "I think we will have a great group of seniors and this will help us prepare for the conference and possibly the NCAA tournaments," Toomey said.

NEW ORLEANS - The elusive presence of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick could become a unique challenge for the Ravens' defense Sunday night. Should they fail to contain the 49ers' unpredictable read-option Pistol offense at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, winning the Super Bowl shapes up as a challenging proposition for the Ravens. The Ravens have already been defeated twice this season by athletic quarterbacks, falling to the Philadelphia Eagles' Michael Vick and the Washington Redskins' Robert Griffin III. In those losses, the Ravens allowed a combined 906 yards of total offense.