Hagen

A 49-year-old Baltimore man who works as a paramedic for a private ambulance company was charged this week with soliciting sex from a minor over the Internet in Pennsylvania and is scheduled to have preliminary hearing before a district court judge Monday. Scott Richard Brown, 49, of York, Pa. was arrested at a train station in North Hills, Pa., after authorities said he exchanged lurid e-mail messages and pornographic pictures with a person he believed to be a 12-year-old girl named Patty.

On May 2, 2006, MARY M. (nee Miller) of Lutherville, beloved wife of Dennis G. Mc Kernan; daughter of Margaret C. "Peggy" Corroum Miller and the late A. Warren Miller; sister of Deborah M. Hagan; sister-in-law of Scott M. Hagen; aunt of Chase J. Hagen. Also survived by nieces and nephews. Friends may call at the ELINE FUNERAL HOME, 11824 Reisterstown Road at Franklin Blvd., on Friday 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 P.M. Services will be held on Saturday at 1:30 P.M. at the Reisterstown United Methodist Church, 246 Main Street, Reisterstown.

On June 22, 2005, VIRGINIA CRUSE, 84, passed in Timonium, MD. Wife of John J. Brenza, mother of Charles Cruse, Linda Hughes, Susan Von Hagen, Bryant Cruse, and Donald. Memorial Services will be held 11 A.M. Tuesday, June 28, 2005, at St. Mary Anne's Episcopal Church, 315 South Main Street, North East, MD. Arrangements by Crouch Funeral Home, 127 South Main Street, North East, MD. For condolences visit www.crouchfuneralhome.com

WASHINGTON -- In the hands of Margaret Hagen, an anecdote can be a deadly weapon. Here is an example from her new book, ''Whores of the Court'':''David Willard Phipps Jr., a Gulf War veteran, was convicted of first-degree murder . . . for killing his wife's lover, Michael Presson. Phipps did not deny killing Presson. . . . He claimed that he was unable to formulate the mens rea [intent] for first-degree murder because he was suffering from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.''Judge Julian Guinn of Tennessee apparently thought this claim did not hold water and instructed the jury, 'I charge you that post-traumatic stress disorder and major depression are not defenses to a criminal charge.

Tom Bedlam By George Hagen Random House / 464 pages / $25.95 George Hagen's second novel opens, memorably, in Victorian London. "It is quite possible that Emily Bedlam was simply a very good woman," Hagen writes, "but to her son, Tom, she appeared insane." This sentence -- lightly rhythmic, gently humorous -- introduces our hero, who accompanies his mother each morning to the hellish porcelain factory where she paints happy faces on figurines. Emily, the embodiment of Christian virtue, smiles at scorn and turns the other cheek when slapped.

Uta Hagen, 84, the actress whose brutal, braying performance of Martha in the original production of Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? galvanized Broadway in the 1960s, died Wednesday at her Manhattan home. She had been in poor health since a stroke in 2001. It was as Martha in Mr. Albee's corrosive 1962 tale of a combative marriage that she gained her biggest Broadway success. Her portrayal, opposite Arthur Hill as George, was fierce and uncompromising. The play won five Tony Awards, including acting prizes for both of them.

BaseballAthletics: Agreed to minor-league contract with IF Domingo ++ Cedeno; invited him to major-league camp.Dodgers: Named Scott Sharp and James Merriweather to scouting staff.Giants: Signed P Trevor Wilson to one-year contract. P John Johnstone avoided salary arbitration by agreeing to $692,500, one-year contract.Padres: Agreed to terms with 2B Carlos Garcia, 1B Graham Koonce, IF-OF Eric Owens, OF Darren Bush, P Jeff Darwin, C Charles Frank and C Kevin Lidle on minor-league contracts.

DESPITE THE RECENT reunification of Germany, a revolution of taste marches on.Dinner tables in what used to be East Germany are slowly becoming laden with the rich foods West Germans enjoyed for years. Due to government regulations, East Germans went without luxury foods since World War II. Items such as butter, cream, beef, chocolate and coffee were always scarce. The small amount of dairy products and livestock East German farmers produced were mostly exported to other Iron Curtain countries.

County government to close for Labor Day Carroll County government offices will be closed tomorrow, Labor Day. Carroll County public libraries, public schools and senior centers also will be closed, as will Northern Landfill and the Recycling Center. Historical Society sets antiques appraisal day The Historical Society of Carroll County will hold its annual antiques appraisal day from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Carroll Post, American Legion, 2 Sycamore St., Westminster. Accredited appraisers will give verbal estimates of value on American furniture, folk art, primitives, glassware, porcelain, quilts and textiles, clocks, militaria, jewelry, silver, pewter and fine art. Appraisers include James Callear, International Society of Appraisers (ISA)

Television is neither good nor bad in some strict aesthetic sense. Good television is programming that connects with the currents of our lives and helps us see ourselves as part of a larger whole.By that definition, Danny Thomas, who died yesterday of a heart attack, made good television -- very good television.It started in 1953 with "Make Room for Daddy," the weekly sitcom starring Thomas as Danny Williams, a nightclub performer. The show's focus was the Williams' household, which included his wife (Jean Hagen)