Houston

Hundreds of people lined up on sun-drenched asphalt Saturday to see if they could get regular payouts, in the form of paychecks, from the new Maryland Live! Casino, a slots casino scheduled to open at Arundel Mills mall in about three months. "I hope I get lucky enough to get a position," said Mark Ellison, who's from West Baltimore. "They want people who are willing to go the extra mile so customers come in and enjoy spending their money. " The operators of what will be the state's largest casino hosted a job fair Saturday with the Anne Arundel Workforce Development Corp.

Cody Joyce received a harsh introduction to the cutthroat world of college basketball recruiting less than a week after he accepted his first Division I scholarship offer. Fresh off an official visit and commitment to Marist last June , Joyce returned to his Anne Arundel County home only to get the news two days later that the Red Foxes had rescinded his scholarship offer .  “That was a low point. That was a really low point,” Joyce said Thursday. “But it's one of those things where the next day I was like, 'Alright, I'm going to figure out where I'm going to go next and pretty much prove that the [Marist]

The rest of the country considered Houston's win over UTEP in the Conference USA tournament to be an upset. After all, UTEP had won 16 games in a row and was ranked 25th nationally. But Houston coach Tom Penders said the win was not an upset. I profiled Penders and Houston in today's paper. Here are some quotes not in the article. "I told the team going into the playoffs that we had the best team in the conference. We had beaten UTEP in the regular season," Penders said. Prior to the title game, the team had battled injuries.

The Ravens landed the veteran wide receiver and kick returner that they have been seeking, agreeing to a two-year, $7 million deal today with former Houston Texans wide receiver Jacoby Jones. Jones visited with Ravens officials over the past couple of days. The news was first revealed on Twitter by current Ravens, Vonta Leach and Bernard Pollard who were teammates of Jones' in Houston, and it was confirmed by industry sources. Jones, who caught 31 balls for 512 yards and also served as Houston's primary punt returner, was released by the Texans last week.

Dave Dickerson has a dilemma this week going into Friday's opening-round NCAA tournament game between Maryland and Houston in Spokane, Wash. Will he root for the school where he played four years, earned his degree and won a national championship as an assistant coach? Or will the fourth-year Tulane coach pull for a fellow member of Conference USA? Don't ask. "It's going to be an interesting matchup for me. I'm right in the middle of this thing," said Dickerson, who played at Maryland for Lefty Driesell and Bob Wade from 1985 through 1989.

Et cetera Randallstown alum Womack is Houston-bound Former Randallstown basketball guard Tione Womack has signed with Houston. The former first-team All-Metro player, who led the Rams to two state titles, has spent the past two years at Hagerstown Community College. Womack averaged 10 points, 7.6 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 2.9steals as a sophomore. "Tione has a pass-first mentality that creates easy scoring opportunities for his teammates and is a quick, solid on-ball defender," Cougars coach James Dickey said in a news release.

Dave Dickerson has a quandary this week going into Friday's opening-round NCAA tournament game between Maryland and Houston in Spokane, Wash. Will he root for the school where he played four years, earned his degree and won a national championship as an assistant coach? Or will the fifth-year Tulane coach pull for a fellow member of Conference USA? Don't ask. "It's going to be an interesting matchup for me. I'm right in the middle of this thing," said Dickerson, who played at Maryland for Lefty Driesell and Bob Wade from 1985 through 1989.

On July 26 2004, HOUSTON R. KNIGHT SR., husband of Marjorie E. Knight. Friends may call at the FAMILY OWNED MARCH FUNERAL HOME EAST, 1101 East North Avenue on Sunday after 10 A. M where the family will receive friends on Monday at 11:30 A.M. Funeral services will follow at 12 noon. See www.marchfh.com

Suddenly on November 4, 2007 JOHN C. HOUSTON, JR. Devoted father of Amanda Heffner and Samantha Houston. Loving grandfather of Robert W. Wetzel, Jr. Loving son of Juanita Houston. Dear brother of Bonita Riley. Visitation at Kaczorowski Funeral Home, P.A., 1201 Dundalk Ave. on Thursday from 2-4 & 6-8 P.M. Funeral Service on Thursday at 7:30 P.M. Interment Private.

On January 28, 2005, EARLINE V. HOUSTON devoted wife of James E. Houston. On Sunday, friends may call at the VAUGHN C. GREENE FUNERAL SERVICE, 5151 Baltimore National Pike, from 3 to 8 P.M. On Monday, Mrs. Houston will lie instate at Sacred Full Gospel Church, 20 W. North Avenue, where the family will receive friends from 10:30 to 11 A. M with services to follow. Inquiries to (410) 233-2400.

Et cetera Randallstown alum Womack is Houston-bound Former Randallstown basketball guard Tione Womack has signed with Houston. The former first-team All-Metro player, who led the Rams to two state titles, has spent the past two years at Hagerstown Community College. Womack averaged 10 points, 7.6 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 2.9steals as a sophomore. "Tione has a pass-first mentality that creates easy scoring opportunities for his teammates and is a quick, solid on-ball defender," Cougars coach James Dickey said in a news release.

One of his closest friends was shot and killed in a case of mistaken identity. The prep school program he signed on to play for suddenly folded. And his family - including his newborn son - was more than 400 miles away. For Tione Womack , life after high school proved to be an unexpectedly jarring introduction to the real world. “It was just like a pause on my life,” said Womack, who graduated from Randallstown in 2008 and enrolled at Queen City Prep in North Carolina.

In the crowded glass and steel lobby of the Houston school headquarters, Principal Susan Monaghan paused briefly to touch the shoulder of her boss, a man with far less experience in the education field and young enough to have been her student. "I am OK, right?" she asked, searching his face for reassurance. S. Dallas Dance told her everything would be fine. Dance had initiated an audit after she discovered money missing from her budget in a case that has been referred to authorities, ending her ordeal.

S. Dallas Dance, chief middle schools officer in the Houston school district, has been chosen as the next superintendent in Baltimore County. Dance, 30, had only two years of teaching experience in public schools, and therefore needed and received a waiver for the position from interim state Superintendent Bernard Sadusky. State law requires superintendents to have three years' experience. The four-year contract has yet to be drawn up, but Baltimore County school board president Lawrence Schmidt said Dance will earn about $250,000, about $60,000 less than Joe Hairston, who is leaving the job on July 1 after 12 years.

The Howard County school board announced Monday its two finalists for superintendent, and whoever gets the job could make county history. The candidates are S. Dallas Dance, chief middle schools officer in the Houston Independent School District, and Renee A. Foose, deputy superintendent of Baltimore County Public Schools. Howard officials said they believe that if chosen, the 30-year-old Dance would be the youngest superintendent in the county's history; Foose would be the first woman.

The Ravens have long prided themselves on their organizational depth and their teamwide philosophy of "Next man up," believing no injury and no defection big enough to challenge their status as one of the league's elite teams. That mindset will seemingly be challenged once again as in a span of a couple of hours Wednesday, the Ravens lost two defensive starters and locker-room leaders and remained on the verge of seeing one of their standout offensive linemen sign elsewhere. Outside linebacker Jarrett Johnson, who spent the first nine years of his career in Baltimore, agreed to a four-year deal with the San Diego Chargers.

On July 13, 2004, SANDRA L. HOUSTON, devoted wife of Jerome E. Houston Sr. Beloved mother of Christine Mines, Esther Johnson, Chanel Farmer, Sharon, Jerome Jr., and Jonathan Houston. She is also survived by twelve grandchildren, one sister, Darlene Gross, and a host of other relatives and friends. Friends may call at the FAMILY OWNED MARCH FUNERAL HOME WEST, INC. 4300 Wabash Avenue on Sunday after 10:00 am. where the family will receive friends on Monday at 6 PM., follow by Funeral Services at 7 PM. See: www.marchfh.

Update 2 p.m. Monday: Preliminary Nielsen ratings say 3.5 million viewers watched Winfrey's interviews Sunday night. That is more than twice the previous high of 1.6 million for any program ever on her OWN channel. And she rated highest with the target demo of women 25 to 54. Read on for my overnight rave of Winfrey's interviewing performance. There is no reason to whine about missing Oprah's syndicated show when she is doing work like this on OWN. Oprah Winfrey 's OWN cable channel might still be underperforming, but the legendary talk TV host showed in an interview with members of Whitney Houston's family Sunday night that she can still bring it like few others on television.

I went to church on CNN Saturday, and it was one of the most powerful, uplifting and spiritual experiences I've had in years. Yes, watching six hours of cable TV coverage of Whitney Houston's funeral was a spiritual experience, and I am not using that word carelessly. It was profound and elevating, and the way in which media bring us together for such experiences makes up for one hell of a lot of cable TV's daily sins. CNN certainly wasn't the only cable channel with wall-to-wall coverage.