Jericho

JERICHO, West Bank -- When Yasser Arafat and Al Gore come to this town today, Othman Hulailah would rather be anyplace else.All the pomp and celebration will just remind Mr. Hulailah how much money he lost betting on the great expectations of Mr. Arafat and the Palestinian dream."

During a phone interview with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin today promoting WWE '13 and Redneck Island on CMT, I asked “The Rattlesnake” for his thoughts on the controversial moment on Monday night's Raw involving Paul Heyman faking a heart attack (in case you missed it, detailed info can be found in my Raw recap here ). Austin, the most popular superstar from WWE's Attitude Era -- an Era that prided itself on  pushing the envelope and creating controversial situations that would have fans talking -- had an interesting response: "I believe in pushing the envelope in an aggressive fashion.

Here are some excerpts from my interview with former WWE star Chris Jericho, who will make a guest appearance at the Maryland Championship Wrestling show tonight in Dundalk. On Chris Benoit: "It's hard to separate the man that did these terrible, horrible crimes from the guy that I knew who was like a big brother to me, who was a great friend, a great mentor and a great influence on me." On when he will return to wrestling full time and which company he will sign with: "I haven't really even come that close to getting into specifics of when or where.

This past Thursday night, Chris Jericho found a Brazilian flag ringside at a live event in Brazil during his match against CM Punk. Jericho picked up the flag, showed it to the audience, threw it down on the ground and kicked it out of the ring . The local police, present at the event, stopped the match and demanded that Jericho give an apology or face incarceration. He did so , and the match resumed. Afterwards, it was announced on WWE.com that WWE suspended Jericho indefinitely for the incident, which later became 30 days.

The dateline of a story from Jericho incorrectly identified the town as part of the Gaza Strip in yesterday's editions of The Sun. Jericho is in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.The Sun regrets the errors.JERICHO, Occupied Gaza Strip -- Israeli stun grenades answered Palestinian stones just a few blocks from his home yesterday, but Saeb Erekat was contemplating the end of an era.The portly Palestinian negotiator with an early gray beard knew Israeli soldiers were carting away their equipment amid the jeers and occasional stones of Palestinians.

The failure of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization to meet the Dec. 13 target date for the beginning of Israeli troop withdrawal from occupied areas is disappointing. But no one said their historic agreement was going to be easy.The more important target date is April 13, when the Israeli withdrawal is scheduled to be completed.Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Chairman Yasser Arafat may be warriors and adversaries. But they are in this thing together. Neither can succeed without the other succeeding, or fail without the other failing.

GAZA, Gaza Strip -- Yasser Arafat will base his Palestinian government in tiny Jericho, but the tumult of the crowded Gaza Strip will be home.Mr. Arafat was set to swear in the Palestinian National Authority formally in Jericho today and then fly to Paris. But he will return fTC to Gaza next weekend to take up residence, according to aide Nabil Shaath."Gaza is the reality. Jericho is the symbol," Mr. Shaath told Israel radio yesterday. "People don't live in symbols, they live with the people.

"Jericho: Dreams, Ruins, Phantoms," by Robert Ruby. 340 pages. New York: Henry Holt and Company. $25 Anyone interested in the history of Palestine/Israel will find this book gripping. It has the tone of a mystery story, making frequent reference to a mound of earth in Jericho, which hides the origins of that ancient city. However, if you await a dramatic denouement to the story, you will be disappointed.The author was The Baltimore Sun's bureau chief in Jerusalem, l987-1992. His residence in Jericho made him choose that town as his subject.

The Rev. John R. Peebles Sr., minister of music at one of the largest churches in the Washington area and the son of its celebrated senior pastor, died Friday of undetermined causes. He was 44. Mr. Peebles died at Georgetown University Hospital, said Bobby Henry, legal counsel for the Jericho City of Praise church in Landover. Mr. Peebles had been minister of music for more than 20 years at Jericho. His mother, the Rev. Betty P. Peebles, is senior pastor at the church. With 19,000 members, Jericho is one of the largest churches in the area.

Jericho, Kan., is the post-apocalyptic town that won't die. Or rather, Jericho, the show based on the post-blast life of that rural town, won't be killed - not if fans have anything to say about it. CBS is wrapping up the show after only one season. A lengthy hiatus in the middle of the season drove away viewers, and Jericho never quite regained the audience that it had during the fall. But viewers reacted with swift fury, and said "Nuts!" to CBS (echoing a line from the show's rousing season finale)

Personal demons have long been exploited for the sake of advancing a professional wrestling storyline. As a matter of fact, current WWE Champion CM Punk is no stranger to it, as he himself brought Jeff Hardy's history with drugs and addiction into their feud a few years ago. But when it comes to Punk's current battle with Chris Jericho, one has to wonder what exactly is the point? The promo exchange between the two the past few weeks hasn't focused on Punk's demons but those of his family.

Fans had many expectations heading into Sunday night's Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, fueled largely by Internet speculation. Rumors had been running rampant of returning superstars, changes to the world title matches and the addition of undercard bouts to round out a four-match card. In the end, some of the expectations proved true while others ultimately failed to materialize. Two injured superstars returned from injury -- albeit in an in-ring segment rather than matches -- while Santino Marella proved doubters wrong and Jack Swagger defended his United States Championship for the first time on pay-per-view.

Jerusalem Mill, a small enclave in northern Baltimore County, promises visitors a Williamsburg-in-miniature experience, with one attraction the Virginia destination cannot offer. This 18th-century mill town boasts a l9th-century covered bridge, one that still handles nearly 500 vehicles a day. "Most people are blithely unaware of our little step back in time," said Chris Scovill, village museum curator. "The covered bridge is the press agent for the village. " The 90-foot-long Jericho Road bridge spans Little Gunpowder Falls between Baltimore and Harford counties.

When I spoke to Chris Jericho last week, I thought he might be hinting that he was going to regain the world title from Batista soon, maybe even in the steel cage match Monday night on Raw. But then I wondered whether perhaps he was talking about some elaborate story line that didn't involve him winning back the title. It turned out to be the former - a word that no longer applies to Jericho's world champion status after his victory over Batista during an entertaining three-hour show celebrating Raw's 800th episode.

First, Chris Jericho wanted to "save us," and then his mantra became "save me." Now, he is playing a role in helping 11 female singers who are seeking redemption. Jericho is the host of Fuse TV's Redemption Song, a reality competition show in which down-on-their-luck singers with troubled pasts vie for their last chance at musical stardom. The show debuted Wednesday night. (For more, go to baltimoresun.com/ringposts)

Shawn Michaels, who suffered a torn triceps during an angle with Chris Jericho on Sunday night at the Raw taping, joins John Cena (herniated disc) and Randy Orton (broken collarbone) on the list of Raw stars on the injured list. It would be a devastating blow for WWE if Michaels were to miss Sunday's show and be out for an extended period of time. Not only because it is another significant hit to the Raw roster, but also because the Michaels-Jericho program has had such an excellent buildup.

TABA, Egypt -- Israeli authorities yesterday ordered the evacuation of about 20 Jewish students from a building in Jericho as negotiators prepared to resume talks here today on Israeli withdrawal from Jericho and the Gaza Strip.The yeshiva students were ordered out of a house built over an ancient synagogue that is likely to be included in the area turned over to Palestinians. Authorities said that the building was not connected to water or electricity and that the students could not stay.

JERICHO, West Bank -- Yasser Arafat, chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization and head of the Palestinians' interim government, canceled yesterday most of the military orders issued by Israel over its 27-year occupation of the Gaza Strip and this West Bank town.In a move that asserted Palestinian authority in the two regions and promised to affect everything from retail sales to taxation and from traffic regulations to street crime, Mr. Arafat restored all the laws in force prior to the 1967 Middle East war and Israel's capture of Gaza and the West Bank.

For every ex-offender Bonnie Ariano and her staff at Jericho have helped resettle in Baltimore, there are hundreds they haven't helped - not because they don't want to, but because they don't have the resources to meet the demand. It's the same for every other organization in the city that helps former prisoners. The state's primary responsibility ends when those offenders leave prison, even though statistics show 52 percent of them will return in three years. Public safety loses out in that equation, and it shouldn't.