Jeffers

If Alba Therapeutics Corp. didn't have product protection from the 200 patents it has either applied for or been issued, the Baltimore biotech might have been $30 million poorer. That's the amount the fledgling company has brought in from venture capital investors over the past year. "If you don't have a strong intellectual property position, you usually don't even get to the table," said Christopher E. Jeffers, vice president of intellectual property at Alba. "These guys are looking for 10 [times]

ALBANY, N.Y. - It's too close a shave for most barbers these days, made cautious by fear of lawsuits and not willing to go against the grain of economic trends and changing fashion.And so, the practice of removing men's stubble with a straight-edge razor - a service performed by barbers since biblical times - has dwindled to an estimated handful of practitioners in the Albany area, as in much of the nation."I did it for many, many years but quit two years ago," said Jim Hafensteiner, 50, an area barber.

Poly football coach Augie Waibel considers senior linebacker Zack Jeffers among his best and brightest players.Jeffers not only is the Engineers' top tackler, but also an A student who scored 1,090 on the Scholastic Assessment Test.Listening to Jeffers, it doesn't take a genius to know the Engineers shoulder a huge burden as they head into tonight's 3A state championship game at the University of Maryland's Byrd Stadium.Poly, ranked No. 25 nationally by USA Today, is trying to become Baltimore City's first state champ as the Engineers face six-time state champ Seneca Valley (10-2)

Two-year-old Michael Kelly -- blond hair, blue eyes that sparkle like Christmas lights, face smeared with chocolate -- rests his head on a stuffed bear's leg in his family's living room, next to a large Christmas tree.His 6-year-old brother, Joey, bangs on a toy, begging for attention.It's young Michael's first Christmas here; in July he was adopted from an orphanage in southwestern Russia by his parents, Marie and Michael."He's so special," says Marie, 34, as she holds Michael's mechanically giggling Tickle-Me Cookie Monster in her lap. "Christmas is about family.

Even as the defending Maryland Christian Athletic League champion Greater Grace boys' basketball team won nine of its first 11 games, it did so with heavy hearts. In October, Josh Caron, a Greater Grace soccer and basketball player, died in a car accident. And while the Eagles, runners-up in last year's Maryland Christian state tournament, have gone about the business of moving forward, they have donned black arm bands with Caron's initials, "J.C.," and his jersey number, 20, in white letters.

Meredith Smith could not recall the last time he had coached a Southern boys basketball team to victory over Dunbar on the Poets' home court. But yesterday's convincing 77-55 victory over the No. 2 Poets -- which earned the seventh-ranked Bulldogs the Baltimore City League title -- will be difficult for the 19th-year coach to forget. Southern's 6-foot-3 juniors, Darshawn Luckey and Melvin Scott, scored 29 and 25 points, respectively, including eight and 13 during a critical second quarter in which the Bulldogs turned a 12-12 first-quarter tie into a 35-23 halftime lead.

TIM GREGORY, a visiting artist at Jeffers Hill Elementary School, teaches music with a twist - and a shimmy and a wiggle - to the beat of a "kalimba." Don't even try to sit still during class. Gregory's lessons are derived from his travels through Africa, where he visits villages to learn about cultures through music and dance rituals. He returns to Maryland to share his experiences and ever-growing instrument collection (which includes a kalimba - a hand-held "thumb piano") with Howard County schoolchildren through the Howard County Arts Council's Artist-in-Residence program.

On August 8, 2007, Rita M., survived by brother, Pastor Zachary C. (Claudia), nephews, Mark (Pamela), Z. Bryant (Chanda) and Verian (Tiffany), 1 great-nephew, 8 great-nieces, and a host of other family and friends. Friends may call the WYLIE FUNERAL HOME, P.A OF BALTIMORE COUNTY, 9200 Liberty Road on Sunday from 1-4PM. Service Monday at New Psalmist Baptist Church, 4501 M-BM-= Old Frederick Road, 10:30am Wake, 11:00am Funeral. Interment following. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to: The Susan G. Komen for the Cure, 5005 LBJ Fwy, suite 250, Dallas ,TX 75244.

Three Jeffers Hill Elementary School students have won third place in a regional science competition for their report on birds.Fifth-graders Meredith Brenner, Lyndsey Dempsey and Margaret Lockhart received the award Monday night in a ceremony at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington.More than 200 teams of fourth- through eighth-grade students from Maryland, Virginia and Washington entered the contest, which was sponsored by the National Association of Science Teachers and WJLA-TV in Washington.

JEFFERS HILL Elementary opened on Feb. 17, 1975. Since then, about 10,000 children have attended the Long Reach school. On Monday, pupils, teachers and administrators who have passed through its halls will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the institution that was named for the neighborhood it serves. An open house, with cake and punch, will be held at 6 p.m. Cub Scout Pack 914 and Girl Scout Troops 811, 1283, 2202 and 2304 will present the flag at 7 p.m. After local dignitaries present awards and plaques, a student chorus, led by teacher Sarah Bluth, and the fourth- and fifth-grade string ensemble, led by Margo Guillory, will play.