Heat

May. 18, Post Time: 10:45AM Entries and comments provided by the Maryland Jockey Club First - Purse $55,000, AOC $25,000-$20,000, 3 yo's & up, One And One Sixteenth Miles Post, Horse, Jockey, Trainer, Odds 1 Aussi Austin, Rosario, R.Rodriguez, 3-1 2 Bob's Gone Wild, Vargas, J.Lopez, 20-1 3 Jarrod's Commando, Karamanos, C.Garcia, 10-1 4 Warrensburg, Boyce, D.Barr, 20-1 5 Benny Or Local, Cruise, D.Kobiskie,...

Isolated thunderstorms are possible Wednesday afternoon and evening as humidity and warmth surge during the day, according to forecasts. Temperatures are expected to reach into the mid- to upper 80s, potentially surpassing 90 degrees, with a slight southwesterly wind, according to the National Weather Service. BWI Marshall Airport reached 76 degrees by about 9:30 a.m., while the Maryland Science Center reached 79 degrees. Dew points were in the lower 70s around the region about 10:45 a.m., making the air feel thick and moist across the region.

Bob Baffert strode into the Preakness stakes barn Friday morning, shouting toward Orb's trainer Shug McGaughey loud enough so all could hear. "OK, Shug, I'm here to take away that media spotlight for you," he said. Baffert, indeed, is one of the few people in the sport who could have swiped some of the attention from McGaughey and his heavily favored colt this week . Baffert has won the Preakness five times, and on three occasions he's moved on to Belmont with a chance at the Triple Crown.

Succulents aren't just for the desert anymore. These heat and humidity lovers, with their dramatic leaf shapes and their striking colors, are the answer to the Mid-Atlantic summer and perfect for containers, pots and window boxes, even vertical gardens. And they have one more advantage. "I love the idea of having plants but not actually having to take care of them," said Catonsville DIY blogger Jocie Hagan, who offered a workshop on planting succulent dish gardens recently at Home Depot in Ellicott City.

Many men will experience prostate enlargement as they get older, some to the point that it will cause urination problems. Dr. Michael Naslund, director of the Maryland Prostate Center at the University Maryland Medical Center, said there are many options for treatment, including surgery, drugs and lifestyle changes. What is the prostate and how does it function in the body? The prostate gland sits beneath the bladder in men. The primary function of the prostate in a young man is to produce some of the fluid in the ejaculate and to transport urine and sperm out of the body through the urethra.

Gardeners are forever looking for something to wrap a flower bed around. There has to be a bed along the front of the porch, and others might be carved out around a garden shed, a birdbath or the trunks of shade trees. For many people, there's another opportunity right out by the curb: the mailbox. A garden bed around a mailbox gives gardeners a chance to put their horticultural stamp where it's sure to show. In the midst of handsome shrubs, interesting ornamental grasses or hard-working annual and perennial flowers, a standard-issue mailbox on a post becomes a piece of functional art. When there's a flower bed to visit, the trip out to the mailbox is much more interesting, even if the postman brings nothing but bills.

IF YOU LIVE in a part of the country where spring is about 10 minutes long, and then summer comes roaring in, you may already have started thinking about the approaching air conditioning season.If you live in an old house, you may also already know that retrofitting can be a problem.However, you do have a number of options.The easiest solution is to simply install window units. The advantage is that they are economical to use: You cool only the room you want, and only when you want it.The disadvantages are that they are unsightly from the outside, and hard to seal against the weather so they usually need to be removed and reinstalled each season.

Guess who was the highfalutin cook of my family when I was growing up? Me. I stayed busy whipping up French dishes a la Julia Child or concocting chili-laden Chinese stir-fries. My mother was more than happy to stay out of the kitchen, but she was a very good basic cook. Her fried fish, shrimp scampi and this homey slumgullion were among her classics. Slumgullion is said to be old Gold Rush slang for stews made from leftovers, according to The New Food Lover's Companion. My mother always started hers fresh.

It's the Ravens' first home playoff game since 2007, and depending on the outcome of the Denver-New England game, it could be their last home game until next season. So let's make this tailgate count. Since the weather this weekend is predicted to be in the 30s, you'll want something to chase off the chill. That's where the meatball sub comes in. It's easy to make at home and assemble in the parking lot - or at home, if that's where you'll be watching. Meatball subs Makes 10 six-inch subs Prep and cooking time: 11/2 hours Meatball ingredients: Makes 20 2-ounce meatballs 1 ounce extra virgin olive oil 1/2 medium yellow onion, minced 5 cloves of garlic 1 pound ground beef 1 pound mild Italian sausage (casing removed)

The Boston Celtics are heading to the second round of the NBA playoffs and a matchup with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Ray Allen scored 24 points, making five 3-pointers in the second half, to help host Boston beat Miami 96-86 in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series on Tuesday night and eliminate the Heat. With Heat star Dwyane Wade due to become a free agent — along with James — it could be an eventful summer in Miami. Boston advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals thanks to 16 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists from Rajon Rondo.

(An earlier version of this post included incorrect information about Maryland Gas & Electric, its pricing and whether it offers a "green" gas plan involving carbon offsets. The Sun regrets the errors.) ---------------- (Another in an occasional series of guest posts by GreenLaurel.com blogger Laurel Peltier) Marylanders have a choice in purchasing electricity for their homes to buy "green" power generated by wind turbines. They don't have as many options when it comes to natural gas for heating and cooking, but there is one company offering consumers a convenient if slightly pricier way to reduce the climate impact of their fuel choice -- through carbon offsets.

A significant warm-up is forecast Wednesday in the Baltimore area, with highs in the mid- to upper-80s and possible storms late in the afternoon or evening, according to the National Weather Service. That is more than 20 degrees warmer than the past few days' highs, which have remained in the lower 60s. It is a swing of 50 degrees from Tuesday morning's low of 34 degrees at BWI Marshall Airport, which tied a record set in 1996. Lows Wednesday morning are forecast to be close to those high temperatures from recent days, bottoming out around 60 degrees in the city and in the 50s further out. Temperatures are forecast to rise quickly, to 70 degrees by mid-morning and 80 degrees by midday, according to the weather service.

Weather disasters including tornadoes, the derecho storm and Hurricane Sandy caused at least $48 million in property and crop damages in Maryland last year, the costliest since 2003, according to data released Thursday. Five people also died from extreme weather - high temperatures, for the most part - and 10 people were injured. The data do not include things like traffic deaths or electrocutions from downed power lines, considered to be indirectly caused by the weather, said Brenton MacAloney, a meterologist with the National Weather Service in Silver Spring.

When Heat Press last ran in Maryland, he finished third in a three-horse race. Yet his owner - the same man who managed to turn the idea of quick-drying fabric into an athletic apparel empire that brought in nearly $2 billion in revenue last year - spent much of Monday touting the horse's chances against the best 3-year-olds in the country. Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank has never been one to pay the odds much mind. On Monday, he bounced from interview to interview, assuring each camera and recorder of his faith in the inconsistent colt.

Cooler temperatures, though still well above normal for this time of year, are forecast in the Baltimore area Thursday, with cloudy skies and highs in the mid-70s, according to the National Weather Service. Partly to mostly cloudy skies are forecast, with calm winds for most of the day. But winds could be increasing and thunderstorms moving through in the evening and through Friday morning as a cold front passes through. Winds could reach 15-20 mph in the evening. Forecasters predict an 80 percent chance of thunderstorms after midnight, with about three-quarters of an inch of rain possible.

As record heat baked Baltimore, a wave of violence unfurled across the city: six shootings and eight people wounded over a period of less than eight hours. The first shots were fired around dinnertime Wednesday, and the violence continued until after 2 a.m. Thursday. Police have no suspects in any of the crimes - which included two double shootings - and believe the seven wounded men and one injured woman will survive. Several academic studies of crime suggest that it's no coincidence that the outburst of violence came as the temperature at the Inner Harbor hit 96 degrees.

Dwyane Wade knows what he's going to hear for the next few days while he's in Chicago: So, why didn't you pick the Bulls? "I expect to hear that for a while," Wade told The Associated Press on Wednesday from Chicago, where his Wade's World Foundation will hold events involving more than 1,000 children this weekend. "Whatever jersey I'm wearing, I'm still here," said Wade, who met with the Bulls twice before re-signing with the Heat. "I'm still in the community. … It had nothing to do with Chicago.

An excessive heat warning is in effect for central and southern Maryland and part of the Eastern Shore from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday. High temperatures could reach a record-breaking 104 degrees, according to the National Weather Service, with heat index values up to 110 degrees. A high of 101 degrees from a heat wave in 2010 is the record for BWI Marshall Airport on July 7. That means a high risk of heat exhaustion or other heat-related illnesses, the weather service warns.

Midweek Madness wonders, like the rest of you, what's up with this weird weather? In Baltimore, we're expecting 90 or thereabouts, and it's only the second week of April. Seems like a great excuse to drag out Irving Berlin's "Heat Wave. " And this being Midweek Madness, that means a great excuse to find a delicious performance from the vaults of 1960s TV.

Maryland skipped over spring and went straight to summer-like weather Tuesday, as a "Bermuda high" system more common to June or July created a chance for record-breaking heat on Wednesday. Temperatures reached 85 degrees at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport and 89 degrees in downtown Baltimore on Tuesday. That is 20 degrees above normal, and even more of a departure from what has been a chilly spring - March was, on average, colder than December. The long wait for warmth meant Baltimoreans flocked to the outdoors.