Heat

In the wake of WWE's Over the Limit pay-per-view, a new Intercontinental champion has been crowned, four other champions continue to hold onto their titles and John Laurinaitis remains employed. Sunday night's show delivered an evening of quality entertainment and good in-ring performances. On a non-major PPV event, WWE delivered a product that surpassed the expectations of many. Here's a match-by-match look at the show: Battle Royale This last-minute addition to the card was a means of crowning a No. 1 contender for one of the midcard titles.

As Memorial Day approaches and the temperatures rise, some state health officials are reminding residents to take care of themselves and their children and neighbors. The state is activating its heat emergency website, dhmh.maryland.gov/extremeheat , which has information about preventing death and illness. Heat advisories will be issued when it feels like it's at least 105 degrees after heat and humidity are factored. Health officials say at this heat level heat stroke and exhaustion are common.

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.

What if the cable guy was also your home security guy? Maryland consumers are about to find out. Comcast Corp. has launched a marketing blitz this month to sign up customers for its new "Xfinity Home" package, which features a residential alarm system, video monitoring, and temperature and lighting controls, among other features — all manipulated from a touchpad, mobile device or computer. It's not enough for major telecom and cable companies to sell you services for your television, computer and smartphone.

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.

The allegations against Auburn quarterback Cam Newton continue to proliferate. ESPN.com reported late Tuesday night, citing two anonymous sources, that Newton and his father discussed a pay-for-play plan with Mississippi State recruiters. School representatives are said to have relayed that information to SEC compliance officials in January. One of ESPN's unnamed sources, described only as a "recruiter," said Cecil Newton told him it would take "more than a scholarship" to secure a commitment from his son. Auburn coach Gene Chizik said that Cam Newton will start for the second-ranked Tigers against Georgia on Saturday but said nothing about the latest round of accusations.

A look at the week's weather forecast shows the up-and-down flirts with spring may be over. The warmth could threaten some records, but it won't be perfectly sunny every day. Temperatures are expected to top 70 degrees for highs all week, and even reach near 80 degrees. Today should be the coolest of the week, in the mid- to upper-60s. Seventy-five degrees will be the norm for the rest of the week. A day that warm would have come close to Sunday's record high of 75, but beating records gets tougher later in the week.

James will lift Heat Shandel Richardson Sun Sentinel The Heat lost the regular-season series to the Celtics. They responded by eliminating the Celtics in five games. The Heat were swept by the Bulls in the regular season but came back to defeat the Bulls in the Eastern Conference finals in five games. The Mavericks also owned the Heat in the regular season, so expect the trend to continue. The Heat will take care of the Mavs in five games to defeat them for the second time in the NBA Finals.

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.

Everyone complains about the weather, but when the mercury hits the stratosphere, the discontent sounds more like despair. "I'm burning up," Robin Spedalere, who was headed toward a cooling center in North Baltimore, said early Saturday afternoon as the temperature reached 99 degrees. "This is probably the hottest it's ever been in I don't know how long." As it happened, that number was 2 degrees hotter than the previous record for the date, in 1987. By 3 p.m. Saturday, gauges at BWI- Thurgood Marshall Airport reached 100 degrees, and Sunday's forecast called for temperatures only marginally less scorching.

Prepaid debit cards are everywhere these days — and so are their fees. The cards allow you to load cash onto them and are accepted by businesses just like other types of plastic. But you might have to pay a fee to activate the card, make ATM withdrawals, check your balance, talk to customer service or reload money onto the card. Monthly fees can be as high as $14.95, and you could be dinged up to $5.95 if you haven't used the card in a while. "This is sort of a gift card with lots of fees," says Ruth Susswein, a spokeswoman with Consumer Action, which recently published a survey on prepaid card fees.

Goucher got its first NCAA tournament win in program history, edging Washington, 5-4, in a first-round contest Wednesday afternoon. And the Gophers' reward? A second-round date with South Region No. 1 seed Salisbury this Saturday. Goucher is 18-1 and riding a 15-game winning streak, but senior attackman Rory Averett said he thinks the pressure is on the nine-time reigning national champion Sea Gulls (19-0). “They are an incredible team, but I do think it's on them,” Averett said after Wednesday's victory.

Too good to let go K.C. Johnson Chicago Tribune Erik Spoelstra is as linked to Pat Riley as winning. So, yes, even if the Heat go 0-for-2 with the Big Three, Spoelstra will be back as coach. The better question is: Who would Riley get to replace Spoelstra? Riley knows as much as anyone that this roster still remains somewhat flawed. Frankly, that the Heat have overcome their glaring holes at center and point guard speak almost as much to Spoelstra's aptitude as the prodigious talents of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

Just in time for the start of ozone season, the Environmental Protection Agency officially reminds us that Baltimoreans are still breathing unhealthful levels of pollution in their air in late spring and summer. The city and its suburbs were among 45 metro areas nationwide that EPA listed on Tuesday as being in "nonattainment" with air quality standards set in 2008 for ground-level ozone, or smog. Ozone is the byproduct of chemicals emitted in vehicle exhaust and from a wide variety of other sources, including power plants and factories.

Another spell of hotter-than-average weather arrives in Maryland today, and isn't expected to leave for a while. We have been mostly below normal for the past eight days, with Sunday's 70-degree high about normal for this time of year. The last stretch of heat had temperatures near or above 80 degrees from April 14-17, including a record 90-degree day April 16. Since then, three days have failed to break 60 degrees and most have been in the 60s. But temperatures are expected to push 80 degrees from today through the weekend, according to forecasts.

The Boston Marathon turned out to be a hot, sweaty, grueling race for even the most experienced runners. The Boston Globe reported that more than 2,100 people were treated for heat exhaustion, dehydration and other illnesses because of temperatures that reached well into the 80s during Monday's race. It was one of those races where people were just grateful to finish. There probably weren't too many personal records that day. It could be a sign for what's to come for the rest of the running season, which may shape up to be a toasty one. But that's no reason for people to retire their running shoes for the season.

Too good to let go K.C. Johnson Chicago Tribune Erik Spoelstra is as linked to Pat Riley as winning. So, yes, even if the Heat go 0-for-2 with the Big Three, Spoelstra will be back as coach. The better question is: Who would Riley get to replace Spoelstra? Riley knows as much as anyone that this roster still remains somewhat flawed. Frankly, that the Heat have overcome their glaring holes at center and point guard speak almost as much to Spoelstra's aptitude as the prodigious talents of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

In addition to making us miserable, the recent stretch of scorching weather seems to have affected our brains. The record heat — in the high 90s — not only makes it feel like the stultifying days of last summer, it also made some of us display the kind of brain-dead behavior usually reserved for the doldrums of August. How else can you explain these recent events: In the torpor of a 93 degree day, a 25-year-old Baltimore woman decides this would be a good time to teach her 14-year-old niece how drive by letting the teen wheel a van around Lake Montebello.

If you were reading this blog during the heat wave of mid-March, you know we came close but never set any records depite nearing or topping 80 degrees four times between March 13 and March 23. Meanwhile, across the country, records were shattered day after day. In some parts of the Great Lakes region, lows were so warm, they beat the previous records for highs some days. The National Climatic Data Center map above shows just how aberrant temperatures were in the nation's midsection.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Michael Phelps powered back Friday morning after a rather desultory performance the night before, winning his heat in the 400-meter individual medley preliminaries at the Indianapolis Grand Prix. His time of 4:2131, second-best in the field, had his coach Bob Bowman in better spirits. Bowman was steamed Wednesday night after Phelps glided to his finish in the 100-meter butterfly, winning the race but at a slower time than he would have had he put in one more stroke.