Inches

Four young men broke into the Stadium Place YMCA in Waverly early Tuesday and stole a 60-inch television, a portable oxygen tank and food, and also damaged a vending and bank machine, Baltimore police said Wednesday. A spokeswoman for the YMCA of Central Maryland had said on Tuesday that the break-in was confined to the lobby of the building on East 33rd Street, the site of the old Memorial Stadium. She had declined to say if anything was taken, but said damage was quickly cleaned up. The police report details far more extensive damage.

The sun is out and skies are blue Tuesday, and that must mean the nor'easter that wetted the region this weekend has passed. The storm's precipitation was much-needed, though it didn't solve all of the state's drought problems in one fell swoop. The official count at BWI Marshall Airport was 1.4 inches from Saturday afternoon through Monday. That cut down the deficit from normal rain levels to about 4 inches, with 8.34 inches so far this year and 12.41 inches in a normal year.

Maryland employers added 1,500 jobs in March - thanks entirely to growth in the private sector - but the state's unemployment rate inched up as the pool of would-be workers expanded more rapidly. The jobless rate was 6.6 percent in March, up from 6.5 percent in February, the U.S. Department of Labor estimated Friday. That's because the labor force, the number of adults working or looking for work, grew by 4,200 people in March, according to the agency. An improving economic situation typically brings out more job seekers, as people who had been discouraged by earlier difficulties get back in the hunt.

Though occasional flurries fell in Baltimore throughout the afternoon and evening, the city was spared the predicted snow accumulation that brought out the salt trucks and sent people home early from work and school. What happened to the winter weather forecast for Wednesday? "There was a larger mass of warm air invecting inland than expected," said National Weather Service meteorologist Matthew Kramar, who is stationed in Sterling, Va. That warm air coming off the ocean pushed the rain-snow line farther west, leaving Baltimore with a wintry mix that was mostly rain, he said.

While the good intentions of a "plastic bag tax" for store shopping bags to prevent pollution is admirable, I do take one issue to Mr. Pasalic's letter (Leader, Jan. 19). Specifically the line "five cents never put anyone into poverty. " One thing is for certain, once you give the government an inch with taxes, they eventually take the mile. Take a look at your phone bill. Many years back the government said, "We're gonna add just a teeny weeny tax on your phone bill. It's just a few cents and it's for the children's education!"

Brief snow showers that fell Tuesday afternoon are creating slick roads in Baltimore and its surrounding counties, according the National Weather Service. Road temperatures at or below freezing in Baltimore County, Harford, Howard and Carroll counties will cause water freeze and cause icy spots, the special weather statement Tuesday evening said. According to the State Highway Administration, Interstate 695 northeast of Baltimore and Interstate 83 north of the beltway are moving slowly because of the snow flurries.

The National Weather Service has posted a winter storm watch for Saturday for all of Western Maryland, and for the northern tier of counties, including Carroll, Frederick, Harford and northern Baltimore County. The watch called for the "potential" of 5 or more inches of snow in portions of the state on Saturday, beginning overnight Friday as rain, then changing to snow Saturday morning and continuing through Saturday afternoon. The weather service predicted a small pocket of 6-inch accumulations in extreme northwestern Carroll and northeastern Frederick, surrounded by gradually diminishing totals of 4-, 2- and 1-inch totals.

Maryland's unemployment rate in September continued to inch upward for the fourth straight month, according to U.S. Labor Department data released Friday. But economists saw positive signs in the fact that more people reported that they were in the workforce. The Maryland jobless rate rose to 7.4 percent last month from 7.3 percent in August. This year's low was 6.8 percent in May. Because the jobless rate is based on a survey that asks whether people are employed or looking for work, the increase could indicate that discouraged workers who had been sitting on the sidelines have resumed their job search.

Alyssa Parker comes running across the field with joy in every stride. When she gets to the sideline, the Glenelg senior catches her breath and before anyone can say anything, she asks, "Do you know that bees are born full grown?" She loves trivia like that - and the laughs she draws from imparting such nuggets. Parker, one of the most talented players to ever play field hockey in Maryland, isn't shy off the field. And one would think she wouldn't be shy on the field either, given that she's about to become only the second player in National Federation history to score 100 goals and 100 assists in a high school career.

Up to an inch of snow is predicted for high elevations in the western half of Garrett County from late Saturday through early Sunday, according to National Weather Service forecasts. Precipitation became a wintry mix in the evening and is expected to change to all snow overnight, according to the forecast. Snow is expected as far north as Grantsville, near the Pennsylvania border, and as far south as Oakland. The weather service reports that the warm ground will limit snow accumulations but that an inch of snow is possible on higher ridges.