General Public

A state agency has begun allowing district courts to delay public access to case files for up to 24 hours, a move that it says is necessary to handle periods of high demand but that news organizations worry will become standard procedure. So far, court officials and press advocates say, the case file request forms prepared by the state have been used only occasionally and in Montgomery County. But John J. Murphy, the executive director of the Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association, said he's worried that will change - and that the days when members of the public or news media can walk into a clerk's office and look at a file will be over.

What significant people, institutions or events in Maryland's African-American history have been largely overlooked by the general public? The Sun will devote much of its Opinion*Commentary page on Feb. 18 to responses to this question.We are soliciting essays on this subject of about 700 words. Submissions will be edited. We will publish a selection of essays.The deadline for submissions is Feb. 12. they should include the name and address of the writer, along with day and evening telephone numbers.

The question of whether the city's influential quasi-public agencies can continue to decide in secret how to spend millions of taxpayer dollars has been raised anew after a Baltimore judge ruled last week that the Pratt library must conduct more of its business in public.The ruling by Judge Joseph H. H. Kaplan, administrative judge of the Baltimore Circuit Court, allowed the Pratt administration to close the St. Paul Street library branch over the objections of neighborhood groups that said they felt they were left out of the process.

WASHINGTON -- In a move to head off restrictive legislation, more than a dozen companies that use cyberspace to disseminate personal information, including Social Security numbers, announced yesterday that they would voluntarily limit access to it.But first, consumers will have to take steps of their own to restrict that access, by requesting that their names be removed from databases of private information made available to the general public.The agreement involves 14 "look-up" service companies, including Lexis-Nexis, that account for about 90 percent of the traffic in personal information.

They arrived even before Albert Belle's grand slam Friday dashed hopes of an O's sweep, dragging chairs, sleeping bags and credit cards to Camden Yards, eager to buy tickets for the next series.And they were still there last night, after Roberto Alomar's homer snagged a berth in the American League Championship Series for the Orioles, transforming those tickets from possible seats into golden passes.By 10 o'clock last night, all 30,000 tickets available to the general public -- 10,000 for each home game -- for the series with the New York Yankees were sold, split between the O's box office and Ticketmaster.

WASHINGTON -- Once again a welfare-reform bill seems to be moving from the Republican Congress to President Clinton's desk for signature or veto. The last time it got there, Mr. Clinton vetoed. He leaned in part on a hokum study from his own Department of Health and Human Services. It purported to show that reform would push a million children into poverty.But the central question in the debate is this: ''Does welfare encourage illegitimacy?'' After all, children in the households of never-married women are about eight times more likely to grow up beneath the poverty line.

If you're one of the 25,000 fans who called or wrote for ticket information after the Ravens announced their move to Baltimore, you will get a ticket application a few days before most people -- but that's it.The Ravens and Maryland Stadium Authority were inundated with queries from fans after last November's announcement. The rTC names were kept on file but those fans will receive no priority in the awarding of seats.They will, however, receive ticket applications in the mail a few days before the general public.

There's something peculiar about a bill when virtually everyone testifying in favor of it also insists on being exempted. It's a great idea, as long as they don't have to abide by it. The bill would sharply limit access to the records of the Motor Vehicle Administration, much of which are now generally open to anyone willing to pay a fee. As the bill is now drawn, the only ones who would be denied this access would be the public and the media.At present anyone can obtain the name and address of a motor vehicle's owner simply by plunking down a $5 fee. Mass marketers and other businesses can buy lists of registered owners at bulk rates.

One year ago today, Bill Clinton was elected president with a plurality of only 43 percent of the votes. After nine and a half months in office, his approval rating is only 1 percent higher, according to a poll by the Times Mirror Center for the People and the Press. Both the influential elite and the general public display an uncertainty about the American role in the world -- one could call it incipient isolationism -- that surely reflects the indecisive leadership of this administration.

Wayne Simonsen doesn't have season tickets to Oriole Park at Camden Yards, but he may have the next best thing.As a waiter in the posh Camden Club restaurant on the seventh and eighth floors of the warehouse behind right field, he has a clear view of the action whenever he looks out the window."

Practice times are subject to change, so call 410-261-RAVE (7283) for updates. Monday: Quarterbacks, rookies and select players report to camp. No practices and no autograph sessions. Tuesday: 8:45 a.m., 3:30 p.m. Wednesday: 8:45 a.m., 3:30 p.m. All veterans report to camp. Thursday: Practice closed to public and media. Friday: 8:45 a.m., 2:45 p.m. First full-squad practices open to the public. Saturday: 8:45 a.m., 2:45 p.m. Next Sunday: 8:45 a.m., 2:45 p.m. Aug. 3: 8:45 a.m., 2 p.m. (special teams)

Citing concerns for safety and the accused youth, an Anne Arundel County judge barred the public from the trial of the younger of two teenagers charged in the May 30 death of 14-year-old Christopher David Jones of Crofton. Judge Philip T. Caroom's ruling, issued Monday, allows the news media at the trial, but with a request that they voluntarily agree not to publish the names of the 14-year-old boy who is charged and names of witnesses who are juveniles. Caroom issued the order after learning of death threats against the 14-year-old while the boy was at one detention center.

A state agency has begun allowing district courts to delay public access to case files for up to 24 hours, a move that it says is necessary to handle periods of high demand but that news organizations worry will become standard procedure. So far, court officials and press advocates say, the case file request forms prepared by the state have been used only occasionally and in Montgomery County. But John J. Murphy, the executive director of the Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association, said he's worried that will change - and that the days when members of the public or news media can walk into a clerk's office and look at a file will be over.

Despite complaints about deer eating suburban shrubs and farm crops, fears of Lyme disease and being involved in a vehicle accident with a deer, half of Marylanders questioned in a new wildlife management survey think the state's herd is just the right size. That is part of the preliminary results of a poll of 1,200 residents this spring by Responsive Management that is part of the effort to update Maryland's 10-year deer-management plan, which helps determine hunting seasons and regulations.

The fight against construction of a 23-story luxury complex in downtown Columbia comes down to one person -- maybe. In a remarkable turn, confusion has replaced clarity and that is not likely to change soon. After quickly rejecting the legal standing of three opponents, the Board of Appeals deadlocked on the fourth, and final, challenger: Joel Broida, who resides less than 200 feet from the site where the 275- foot tower would stand. That standoff produced chaos and delay and prompted both sides to question the propriety and legality of the board's actions.

BIG BAD VOODOO DADDY The mid-'90s explosion of swing music took the music industry (and most of the general public) completely by surprise. A few bands like Big Bad Voodoo Daddy made careers out of the throwback, which peaked after a few years. BBVD, which comes to Rams Head in Annapolis Tuesday and Wednesday night, released a live record and a brass-filled Christmas album in 2004. The band continues to tour regularly, sharing their take on '40s and '50s era swing. Both shows are at 8 p.m. Tickets are $46.50.

WASHINGTON -- September 11 looks to be losing its power to shape how Americans view foreign policy. Immediately after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the general public and opinion elites rallied to the muscular foreign policy that the Bush administration favored. Today, with more than 2,000 U.S. soldiers dead in Iraq, an activist foreign policy holds much less appeal. That at least is the conclusion that emerges from a new poll of elite and grassroots opinion conducted by the Pew Research Center and the Council on Foreign Relations.

TOKYO - Were it not for the Internet, Takafumi Horie might not have become the richest, brashest Japanese entrepreneur of his generation. And were he not so rich and brash, he might never have caught the eye of Junichiro Koizumi, Japan's prime minister, and become a celebrity candidate for Parliament, running as an ally of Koizumi in today's election. But the T-shirt-wearing, spiky-haired founder of Livedoor, a Japanese Web portal and huge e-commerce site, can't use the Internet or any other digital technology to make his case.

WASHINGTON - Members of the military and their families say the Defense Department did not send enough troops to establish a stable peace in Iraq, according to a poll released yesterday. The military community also said the Bush administration has relied too heavily on inadequately prepared National Guard and reserve forces. Even so, members of the military on active duty and their families favored President Bush over Sen. John Kerry by a nearly 3-to-1 margin, according to the National Annenberg Election Survey.

WASHINGTON - Intelligent, well-intended people are distributing the anti-terrorism alerts that have been sweeping across the country. But the citizens are confused and the media are confounded. Unless we change the way we announce threats, we will numb America to real dangers, lower our guard and increase our vulnerability to attack. But first a sympathetic word about why communicating fair warning of attack is so difficult. The warnings really speak to two different audiences. Law officers and likely targets (such as the owners of power plants or private aircraft)