Import

Last month, when 14-year-old Malala Yousafzai was shot and wounded by the Taliban in Pakistan, the world responded with outrage. That she was simply defending her right to an education made the event even more astounding. Her almost superhuman courage represents the face of an entire generation of girls around the world who struggle against extraordinary odds to get an education. Malala's struggle is at once unique and ubiquitous. Most girls in the developing world are not shot on a school bus. Yet they continue to face high barriers that keep them from school and make education an uphill struggle.

Is it too late to put fertilizer on my lawn? All fertilizing must be done before November 15th by law. Tall fescue, a cool season grass most appropriate for Maryland, grows rapidly in the fall. Fertilizing at that time encourages good root growth, which is critical for strong turf all year round. Lawn fertilizer now has at least 20 percent slow release nitrogen, which will feed the grass during the winter. Fertilizing on frozen soil is never a good idea because it may wash off and pollute waterways.

Among the queries considered by the Anne Arundel County Council this year are issues large and small that lawmakers have asked voters to resolve: Should the Anne Arundel County Council take a vacation in August? What day should the county executive deliver his annual budget to the public? Should the county executive retain line-item veto authority? How should a council member convicted of a felony be removed from office? The council placed a total of 15 local questions onto the ballot this year, making Anne Arundel's the largest ballot in the state and drawing concerns about voter fatigue.

Last month, a Republican-aligned polling firm called on hunters and fishermen nationwide to get their views. Some of the results were unsurprising: Outdoorsmen regard themselves as politically conservative and register Republican over Democratic by a more than 2-to-1 ratio. But here's one response that may have caught President Barack Obama and his re-election team by surprise, if they noticed it at all: A majority of these sportsmen believe global warming is the cause of this past summer's high temperatures and want the White House and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to limit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions.

The eerie sound of a pipe organ fills the air on Ocean City 's boardwalk as families, couples and solitary fans enter the seaside ride filled with severed heads, torture chambers and other ghoulish delights. Trimper's Haunted House is a vacation staple that has stood in the same location since 1964. But this boardwalk icon is far more than a nostalgic reminder of summers past. The house is an important part of the legacy of Bill Tracy, master of dark rides, those amusement park staples that ferry patrons through interiors where lighting, sound and creative displays are designed to amuse - or terrify.

Reading your article on health care insurance last month I was struck by how Maryland is attempting to make health care services available to all state residents at an affordable price ("Maryland picks model for essential health insurance benefits," Sept. 27). I was gratified to see that the state government recognizes what a critical issue pain management has become. As workers in a hospital emergency room in a small town in Maryland we see many individuals who experience chronic pain and come to the ER for treatment.

Henry Alford, author of 2012's “Would It Kill You to Stop Doing That? A Modern Guide to Manners,” will join the Howard County Library System for its Choose Civility symposium Oct. 11 at the Miller Branch Library in Ellicott City. The writer is known for his contributions to The New Yorker, The New York Times and Vanity Fair and is often heard on National Public Radio. Alford says manners are “a perennially interesting topic to a large group of people because we've all been dealt misdeeds and everyone has a grievance.” He agreed to share more of his perspectives on civility with Howard Magazine.

Not so long ago, many believed the advent of social media would contribute to more substantive discourse in modern campaigns. But no such luck in our hotly contested presidential race. Sideshows have ruled the day. From caged dogs on car roofs to birth certificates to out-of-context alleged gaffes, it's been "gotcha politics" played out in real time. If it seems the daily one-hit wonder stories enjoy a longer than normal shelf life, they do. Well-financed super PACs are at least partly to blame.

The Occupy Wall Street movement was created to make people aware of issues that aren't usually discussed in the mainstream corporate media: the greed of the powerful, the destruction of the environment, violence against women and gays and the perpetual war waged for oil and other resources, with the utter waste of young lives it entails. Mainstream media describe the "free market" in positive terms such as "wealth creation. " But the never use the more accurate term "systemic poverty.

When twin brothers Jeremy and Michael DeGraffenreidt decided to pick musical instruments when they were younger, nobody close to them was surprised which ones they chose. Jeremy, brash and outgoing, wanted to bang on drums. Michael, laid back and analytical, was determined to master the saxophone. Their contrasting personalities can also be found at different ends of the soccer field at Loyola this season, making the No. 2 Dons a prime contender for this year's Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference championship.