Ivory

On December 10, IVORY LEE DICKENS Friends may call the family owned MARCH FUNERAL HOME WEST, INC., 4300 Wabash Avenue, on Sunday, after 12 Noon, where family will receive friends on Monday, at 1:30 P.M. See www.marchfh.com

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast - In the ghetto called Sans Fil, the raw sewage in the streets is ankle deep and flies swirl about, but the people glow with joie de vivre. Abdrahman Guindo sits in front of his tiny home in the muggy heat, watching the throbbing river of life. He is wearing extravagant diamante baggy pants of silver and white eyelet fabric, with matching shoes specially made for the Eid festival at the end of Ramadan. Guindo watches small girls in gauzy party dresses and glowing women in long, fancy gowns picking their way delicately through the smelly black mud. The squalor may be suffocating, but as people are fond of saying in Ivory Coast, "We stand tall."

"Unfinished business" was the Dunbar football team's motto entering yesterday's Class 1A state title game with No. 7 Joppatowne, and the fourth-ranked Poets went out and got it done. Nathan Irby rushed for 189 yards and his 35th touchdown of the year, and receiver Darron Edwards caught four passes for 157 yards and his 18th score of the season in a 16-14 victory for the Poets (13-1) that dethroned Joppatowne (11-3) at M&T Bank Stadium. Eric Carter, Antonio Salter and Derrick Session led Dunbar's defense with fumble recoveries, Kyle Johnson had a sack, and linemen Antonio Powell, Yusuf Dorman-El, Cecil Crowell, Alan Bosworth and John McCoy cleared the way for Irby as the Poets overcame a 6-0 halftime deficit in recording their 13th straight victory.

Joppatowne set the tone for last night's Class 1A state semifinal against visiting Allegany on the first play from scrimmage. Quarterback Anthony Preston faked a handoff, quickly bounced to the outside and ran untouched for a 66-yard touchdown. Preston went on to rush for 158 yards, threw for a touchdown on his only completion and led No. 10 Joppatowne to a surprisingly easy, 30-0 win over Allegany. The victory let defending state champion Joppatowne (11-2) return to the title game. The Mariners will meet the winner of today's game between No. 5 Dunbar and Queen Anne's.

DAKAR, Senegal - France evacuated more of its citizens from Ivory Coast yesterday after days of anti-French violence, and opposition leaders from the West African country met with South African President Thabo Mbeki, who is trying to mediate a new peace deal. Ivory Coast was calmer after waves of rioting and looting that broke out Saturday. Government ministers called on citizens to go back to work. Some shops reopened and taxis were back on the streets. The country's president, Laurent Gbagbo, strongly criticized France's handling of the crisis.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa met yesterday with the leaders of Ivory Coast and declared that they were committed to peace, despite days of anti-French violence in the main cities and attacks by government troops on northern rebels. But violence continued for a fourth day in the major city of Abidjan, and United Nations officials expressed concern about the continuing anti-French messages being broadcast on state media. French soldiers at the Hotel Ivoire in Abidjan, close to the residence of Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo, opened fire yesterday on pro-government demonstrators.

NATIONAL Spector on judicial nominees Insisting he has no litmus test, Sen. Arlen Specter, the Republican in line to head the Senate Judiciary Committee, pledged not to stall judicial nominees, even if the prospective judges oppose abortion rights. Specter, who backs abortion rights, set off a furor among conservatives last week when he said anti-abortion judges were unlikely to be confirmed by the new Senate. [Page 3a] Female prison population The government reported that the number of women in state and federal prisons is at an all-time high, with the incarceration rate for females growing at nearly twice that of men. However, men are still far more likely than women to be in jail or prison.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - Violence in Ivory Coast's major cities subsided yesterday after the government agreed to a cease-fire and pulled back its forces, ending attacks aimed at seizing the north of the country from rebels. But the situation remained tense after mobs wielding machetes looted property, attacked French peacekeepers and searched house to house for French civilians for a second day. France destroyed almost all of the African country's tiny air force Saturday after government warplanes killed nine French peacekeepers.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - Government warplanes attacked French troops in rebel-held northern Ivory Coast yesterday, killing nine of them and an American relief worker, and sparking a dangerous escalation of violence in the West African country. The French, former colonial rulers who are helping enforce a 2003 truce that ended a civil war in Ivory Coast, struck back by attacking government aircraft on the ground. Enraged mobs roamed the streets of Abidjan, the country's main city, searching for French civilians.

Loyola junior goalkeeper Akira Fitzgerald considered the trade-off more than an even one. He was about 5 years old at the time and willing to do anything to get on a soccer field. "My mom said if I wanted to play soccer, I had to learn to play the piano, too - no matter what. So as long as I've been playing soccer, I've been playing piano," he said. Fitzgerald, now 17, is into playing classical music and a little jazz, as well as keeping the No. 9 Dons (13-5-1) in every game with a complete goalkeeper package that is largely consistent, but also spectacular when called on. Loyola, coming off an impressive 2-0 win over No. 2 Archbishop Curley on Tuesday, opens the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference tournament as the fourth seed, hosting fifth-seeded Gilman this afternoon in the opening round.