Ignited

Losing to your archrival can sting for a long time, especially when it comes in the regional playoffs, deals your team its only loss of the season and propels that rival on to the state championship. Elizabeth Barranco and her Severna Park girls lacrosse teammates drew on those feelings Saturday to drive an early second-half barrage and avenge that regional semifinal loss to defending state Class 4A-3A champ South River. Barranco scored the first two goals as the No. 6 Falcons rallied for five in less than seven minutes, cooling off hot South River goalie Kelsea Donnelly en route to an 11-8 victory over the No. 5 Seahawks in the season opener for both.

Lawmakers are moving forward with two starkly different versions of legislation intended to increase the use of ignition interlock devices for convicted drunken drivers, setting up a possible impasse over a final bill. The Senate gave preliminary approval Tuesday to a bill that would require the devices for all convicted of drunken driving. The bill is supported by MADD Maryland and other highway safety advocates. The House took the same step Wednesday with legislation supported by the liquor lobby that would narrow use of the devices to repeat offenders, those under 21 and drivers with a blood-alcohol content of 0.15 percent.

MADD can be maddening. In a legislative fight, advocates from Mothers against Drunk Driving don't always play by Annapolis rules. This has been a source of immense frustration to the Democratic leadership of the House of Delegates. While the Senate threw off the influence of the liquor industry last year and voted overwhelmingly for a tough, MADD-backed bill requiring the installation of ignition interlock devices on the vehicles of all convicted drunken drivers, House leaders balked and the bill died.

Drunken-driving accident fatalities have been on the rise in Maryland. In 2009, 162 people lost their lives in alcohol-related crashes, a sharp increase from the year before. But time and time again, a key committee in the Maryland General Assembly has refused to support an effective prevention measure that has worked well in other states. This year could be different. The House Judiciary Committee is holding hearings this week to consider legislation intended to expand the use of ignition interlock devices that force drivers to prove their sobriety by blowing into a breathalyzer — both to start the vehicle and at periodic intervals while driving.

The Maryland men's lacrosse team needed a spark in a big way, and 6-foot-5 Grant Catalino fit the bill nicely. The senior attackman scored four of his game-high five goals in the second half to propel the No. 3 Terps (2-0) to a convincing 20-8 thumping of No. 14 Georgetown before 3,966 at Byrd Stadium Saturday afternoon. The number of goals surrendered and the margin of defeat were the highest for the Hoyas (1-1) since a 20-8 setback to Virginia in an NCAA tournament quarterfinal in 2006.

The animal cruelty trial for the twin teens accused of setting fire to a pit bull stretched into its fourth day Wednesday as prosecutors tried to show that inconclusive lab tests on a dog collar did not rule out the use of flammable substances. Lawyers for the suspects Travers and Tremayne Johnson called a fire investigations expert to cast doubt on Baltimore police lab tests that showed unknown substances on the collar. The tests did not reveal the use of common "ignitable liquids," such as gasoline or propane.

An "incendiary device" ignited inside a package at a U.S. Postal Service processing center in Washington on Friday, just hours after Maryland officials warned that the threat against government agencies — from someone described as a likely "lone wolf" — continues. The parcel was similar in design and shape to the two received Thursday in Maryland, which were addressed to the governor in Annapolis and the state's transportation secretary in Hanover and accompanied by identical handwritten notes.

When the Orioles dismissed Dave Trembley and formally introduced Juan Samuel as their interim manager on Friday, the most pressing question was about as obvious as the myriad of on-field issues that led to the decision. Is this change we can believe in, or just change for the sake of change? Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail said during an afternoon news conference that nobody is blaming Trembley for the worst win-loss record in the major leagues, and that nobody is expecting the team to make a miraculous about-face now that the former third base coach is in charge.

Those of us in the 200-Pound Drinking Men's Club of Maryland would like to thank House Judiciary Committee Chairman Joseph F. Vallario Jr. for protecting our right to slam down six margaritas in an hour without having to fear being told to install some high-tech gadget on our cars to keep us from driving drunk again. Under legislation that passed the Maryland Senate under prodding by Mothers Against Drunk Driving, we 200-pounders would have been told by the Nanny State that we couldn't drink more than a measly three of our favorite tequila drinks in 60 minutes without the risk of being saddled with an ignition interlock device for six months.

The 2010 edition of the Maryland General Assembly's lawmaking session will close today with a traditional midnight confetti drop, but for many, the end came a while ago. After Republican Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s official announcement last week that he was challenging Democratic incumbent Martin O'Malley in a rematch for governor, the shift from legislating to campaigning was abrupt. Ehrlich began a tour of the state, promising to lower taxes. O'Malley immediately departed from the capital, forgoing direct involvement in some final bill negotiations for a "Jobs Across Maryland" push he intends to maintain for some time.