Guides

James Ellis insisted he wasn't fazed by pitching at a major league ballpark. The Poly senior's confidence was backed up by his performance Friday in guiding the Engineers to a 5-3 win over Digital Harbor at Camden Yards. "We were motivated enough because we were playing Digital," Ellis said. "It is always a big game against them." Ellis worked quickly and efficiently for the Engineers, giving up all three of his runs in the third inning while shutting down the Rams the rest of the afternoon in a rain-shortened game that was called after the fifth inning.

In disputing an article, follow these simple steps:  1. Call your opponent a name.  2. Refrain from addressing the original point. 3. Introduce an irrelevant subject.  4. Deny evidence.  5. (Optional) Do not trouble overmuch with spelling and grammar.    I am indebted to Oldcrowandwater, from whose comment on my post "The most famous umbrella since Neville Chamberlain went to Munich"  I was able to divine the essential steps: What a tool.

Joe Cronin may have just about every guide book connected with professional baseball, football, basketball and hockey. But he considers himself a historian, not a collector.The retired meteorologist, who lives near Sacramento, Calif., is a member of the Football Researchers Association and is the Sacramento Kings' team historian.His collection began in the mid-1960s with a Detroit Lions guide he got at a Ford dealership. He also picked up a Green Bay Packers guide, then started writing away for others.

Sunday 5/5 Wine and art Sykesville will host a Fine Art and Wine Festival on May 5 at noon, on Main Street. More than 60 artists, local and national wine, food and live entertainment. Wildflower walk Walk through Hashawha at Bear Branch Nature Center, 300 John Owings Road, with a naturalist on May 5 at 1 p.m. Learn about flowers' lore and uses. Cost is $5. 410-386-3580. Family sounds Carroll County Community Concert Association presents Fabulous Family Entertainment on May 5 at 3 p.m. at Westminster High School, 1225 Washington Road, Westminster.

Downtown Partnership public safety guides are available upon request as escorts for employees leaving businesses in the 106-block Downtown Management District. Escorts are available daily from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. to walk people to a car or a transit stop. To request an escort, call 401-244-8778.

Say you're a homeowner who's sick and tired of your ugly, old first-floor bathroom. You'd love to have it remodeled, but how much will it cost? How will you pay for it? And will you get your money's worth?New York attorney Stephen Pollan realized that millions of Americans ask such questions every year. With the aid of freelance writer Mark Levine, Mr. Pollan authored "The Big Fix-Up," a remodeling guide for the perplexed homeowner.Early on, Mr. Pollan offers sobering advice to do-it-yourselfers -- don't.

When Junius B. Gary is on the beat as a downtown public safety guide, he takes the bitterness with the gratitude. Here's Yvonne Knight, after Gary gives the lost Landover woman directions: "Oh, God, I'm going to have a wonderful day. Thanks!" Here's a man mad at Gary for thwarting his panhandling: "Hey, take my word for it, you can train a monkey to do what he's doing!" The first reaction makes Gary beam. To the second, he smiles wanly and says, "Another satisfied customer." Gary, a 44-year-old Baltimore native, is a foot soldier in a police-trained, business-funded army of men and woman paid to keep tabs on downtown's streets seven days a week.

Mike and Amy Sircy were married in Chicago on April 6. But, by their own admission, it hasn't been the most important event of this month.The couple -- he from his computer in Florida, she at her keyboard in Chicago -- first exchanged greetings in cyberspace about two years ago in romance "chat rooms" organized by America Online, a commercial on-line service provider.Encouraged by their conversations, Mike drove for a face-to-face meeting in Chicago in September. So it made sense that Amy, a homemaker, and Mike, now a computer programmer for the Air Force stationed in Germany, would spend their honeymoon in Baltimore.

When people are long dead, they need a good storyteller to bring them back to life. On Friday and Saturday nights in this ghostly season, seven guides roam the streets of historic Ellicott City, sharing tales of unexplained noises, unnatural visitors and unusual visions along with a healthy dose of history from the area once called Ellicott Mills. "Every story has a source," said guide Marty Schoppert, as he set out Saturday night with a group of visitors on the "Ghosts of Ellicott Mills" tour, sponsored by the Ellicott City Tourism Council.

Q: A group of us are going to Paris to visit the major museums -- the Louvre, d'Orsay, Pompidou, Picasso and Orangerie. Are there English-speaking guides who could go with us to visit them?A: Here are some English-speaking guides who can lead groups through the museums of Paris, or organizations that can provide them. The Pompidou museum does not accept private guides. The museum, telephone 44.78.12.33, will provide an English-speaking guide for a tour of 60 to 90 minutes for $100. To visit with a group you should make arrangements with the museum at least two weeks in advance.

Before Green Day won over Broadway with an ambitious anti-war album, it was a simple-minded punk trio from Berkeley with an album called "Dookie" and song titles such as "Geek Stink Breath" and "Words I Might Have Ate. " While the band's sound has evolved greatly since forming in 1987, Green Day has maintained a knack for writing songs with lasting appeal. Here are five that still hold up well. "Who Wrote Holden Caulfield?" (from 1992's "Kerplunk!") This isn't the best song for name-checking the protagonist of "The Catcher in the Rye" (that honor belongs to Piebald)

As far back as Robert Lewis can remember, he has been fascinated by what he heard on the radio — he would even sneak a receiver under his pillow when he was younger so he could listen to music late at night. Decades later, he's still feeling that joy of radio. As the executive director of the Radio Reading Network of Maryland, he's bringing it to others who need it: fellow blind people in Maryland. "I enjoy going to work every morning," says Lewis, 63. "I've always loved radio, so I'm blessed to be able to come back to where I've started.

Baltimore County has scheduled a series of public meetings and workshops on the potential redevelopment of parts of the U.S. Route 40 corridor in Middle River. The meetings will be held at Rosedale Baptist Church, located at 9202 Philadelphia Road. "Input from community residents, businesses, and property owners will help craft a long-term vision that could guide redevelopment over the next 25 years," county officials said in an announcement of the meetings. "Decisions about whether or when to redevelop property will be made by property owners.

Fewer moms scheduled early deliveries when hospitals used a tool kit to promote full-term pregnancies, according to a research funded by the March of Dimes and others. Researchers looked at deliveries at 25 hospitals who used the tool kit and found that C-sections performed with no medical reason and inductions of labor fell 83 percent. The March of Dimes called the results promising. They said babies born before full-term are at increased risk for serious health problems.

With four vineyards conveniently located in practically each corner of Harford County, you don't have to travel all the way to Sonoma to sip award-winning wines, experience scenic vistas and learn all about the winemaking process. In 2010, Harford County government, along with Baltimore County government and the Maryland Winery Association, created the Piedmont Wine Trail “in hopes that people would cross county borders and spend more time (and money in local businesses) in their quest for good wine,” according to Wini Roche, tourism and marketing manager for Harford County government.

now playing "42" (PG-13). Story depicting how Jackie Robinson and Brooklyn Dodgers General Manager Branch Rickey changed the game of baseball by breaking the color barrier. With Chadwick Boseman, Harrison Ford and Nicole Beharie. TownMall Cinemas (1:00, 4:00, 7:00 p.m.) "The Croods" (PG). A prehistoric family embarks on a journey into the world when their cave is destroyed. With Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone and Ryan Reynolds. TownMall Cinemas (1:10*, 4:30, 6:50* p.m.)

Since her first foray into painting using a kid's watercolor set, Alice Webb has come a long way. Growing up in Annapolis in the 1950s and 1960s, she did needlework and crafted get-well cards for hospital patients at her mother's bidding. But she was never exposed to the fine arts, which weren't a focus of the nuns at St. Mary's Parish, where she attended Catholic school. It wasn't until she had two sons of her own that the Ellicott City resident of 37 years stumbled upon a life-changing aptitude for art when a teacher asked whether she could draw well enough to create a poster for a school fundraiser.

One of the best ways to discover America is on four wheels -- by car, truck, sport utility, minivan.And, making it easier to do the discovering are the many travel guides and computer map programs available.Recently released is " '97 Great Vacation Drives" from U.S. News & World Report. This annual magazine-style publication provides not only information on great drives but also tips on making them more enjoyable, with topics ranging from learning the rules of renting a car to keeping peace with the kids in the back seat.

A global nonprofit that battles the spread of viruses has moved into the University of Maryland BioPark after sprouting from the university's Institute of Human Virology. Global Virus Network is the west side research park's newest tenant. It moved from incubator space in the virology institute, within the University of Maryland School of Medicine. GVN combines the resources and expertise of 30 virology research centers in 21 countries, helping them to share information and ideas to explore vaccine development, understand virus behavior and respond to viral outbreaks.