Kilogram

Under three vacuum-sealed bell jars, inside a locked safe, deep within a vault two stories below a secure building outside Paris, rests a tiny plug of metal that weighs heavily on the minds of scientists around the world. The French call the object "Le Grand K," and for good reason. Since 1883, this platinum cylinder about the size of a film canister has been the official kilogram, the standard by which the world measures mass and weight under the metric system.Even in the United States, where public exposure to the metric system ends at the schoolhouse door, Le Grand K is king.

A 25-year-old Baltimore man received a 17 1/2 -year prison sentence in federal court yesterday for his role in a large-scale heroin distribution operation. Chief U.S. District Judge Benson E. Legg sentenced Samuel "Mook" Price to 210 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for conspiracy to distribute more than 1 kilogram of heroin, announced Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. According to the guilty plea, from at least 1997 until 2005, Price helped lead a drug organization that sold at least 30 kilograms of heroin at the street level in West and South Baltimore and maintained open-air drug markets, or "drug shops," at various locations in the city, investigators wrote in court papers.

GAITHERSBURG -- When Paul T. Olsen finishes tinkering with his ultrasensitive scale, the fate of the kilogram could hang in the balance.The soft-spoken, 55-year-old scientist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has spent 12 years building an elaborate two-story contraption, one of the most sensitive scales in existence.If he can improve the accuracy of the device tenfold in the next couple of years, he and his NIST colleagues plan to use it to help decide whether a 1-kilogram platinum-iridium cylinder, kept in a vault in Paris, is gaining or losing weight.

Bakers, rejoice. Vanilla prices are plummeting after five years of increases that saw the cost of an 8-ounce bottle of extract rise higher than a pound of prime beef tenderloin. Some retailers have cut prices nearly in half; others are likely to do so in coming weeks. Wholesale prices dropped in February, when an abundant vanilla crop started coming to market. King Arthur Flour's spring catalog exhorts bakers to "stock up while you can" on cheaper vanilla. Other retailers have been slower to cut prices.

GAITHERSBURG - Locked in an underground, climate-controlled government laboratory is one of the most pampered and protected scientific treasures in the country. K20, as it's known, doesn't look like much - a shiny cylinder of platinum and iridium about the size of a large pill bottle. But since 1890, this object has served as the official U.S. kilogram, the standard by which mass and weight are measured under the metric system. So powerful is K20 that every scale across the land must ultimately measure up to it. Even the value of the U.S. pound is derived from it. But if a small number of scientists have their way, K20's reign may soon come to an ignominious end. Because the object, they know, also harbors a dirty secret: The kilogram has a weight problem.

Authorities arrested seven people in Maryland and New Jersey on drug charges, breaking what they called an interstate cocaine ring and seizing palatial estates, drugs worth $2 million, weapons and cash, federal officials said yesterday.The Drug Enforcement Administration reported recovering more than 2 kilograms of cocaine and marijuana, about $20,000 in cash, 15 handguns, two cars and two Maryland homes valued at $1.5 million during Thursday's arrest.DEA officials charged that a network headed by Joseph Leo Baumgarten Jr., 46, of Chester had been selling cocaine by the kilogram in Baltimore and Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties for several years.

A 25-year-old Baltimore man received a 17 1/2 -year prison sentence in federal court yesterday for his role in a large-scale heroin distribution operation. Chief U.S. District Judge Benson E. Legg sentenced Samuel "Mook" Price to 210 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for conspiracy to distribute more than 1 kilogram of heroin, announced Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. According to the guilty plea, from at least 1997 until 2005, Price helped lead a drug organization that sold at least 30 kilograms of heroin at the street level in West and South Baltimore and maintained open-air drug markets, or "drug shops," at various locations in the city, investigators wrote in court papers.

Three men awaiting trial on state drug charges were arrested on a federal warrant by the FBI Friday after an evidence suppression hearing in Harford Circuit Court, authorities said yesterday.FBI spokesman Andy Manning confirmed the arrests and said they were not tied to the Maryland charges. He declined to discuss details, saying that the arrest warrant, issued in North Carolina, was sealed.The three suspects, Mark Anthony Clay, 22, of New Jersey; Thomas Eugene Clay, 25, of Baltimore; and Bobbie C. Simonde, 25, of Charlotte, N.C., were arrested on the state charges March 17 on Interstate 95 near Aberdeen after troopers stopped them for alleged speeding.

A federal grand jury has indicted seven Baltimore men who prosecutors say are part of a city heroin ring, the U.S. attorney's office announced yesterday. All have been charged with conspiracy to distribute heroin. Three were also charged with possession with intent to distribute heroin, and Chaka Brewer, 28, was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. U.S. Attorney Thomas M. DiBiagio has said prosecuting felons in possession of firearms and dismantling drug organizations are top goals for his office.

An anonymous phone tip to a police drug hot line yesterday led city narcotics detectives to a Northeast Baltimore hotel, where they seized 2 kilograms of cocaine with a street value of $1 million and arrested three New York residents.The police received a call to the 685-DRUG number at 8:30 a.m. yesterday reporting that three people were selling drugs out of a hotel room, said Capt. Michael J. Andrew, commander of the Criminal Investigation Division narcotics unit.An hour later, narcotics detectives knocked at the hotel room door and were admitted, even though they did not have a search warrant.

A federal grand jury has indicted seven Baltimore men who prosecutors say are part of a city heroin ring, the U.S. attorney's office announced yesterday. All have been charged with conspiracy to distribute heroin. Three were also charged with possession with intent to distribute heroin, and Chaka Brewer, 28, was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. U.S. Attorney Thomas M. DiBiagio has said prosecuting felons in possession of firearms and dismantling drug organizations are top goals for his office.

GAITHERSBURG - Locked in an underground, climate-controlled government laboratory is one of the most pampered and protected scientific treasures in the country. K20, as it's known, doesn't look like much - a shiny cylinder of platinum and iridium about the size of a large pill bottle. But since 1890, this object has served as the official U.S. kilogram, the standard by which mass and weight are measured under the metric system. So powerful is K20 that every scale across the land must ultimately measure up to it. Even the value of the U.S. pound is derived from it. But if a small number of scientists have their way, K20's reign may soon come to an ignominious end. Because the object, they know, also harbors a dirty secret: The kilogram has a weight problem.

FREDERICK -- Shane Hamman reached down to snatch up the barbell with its 182.5 kilograms and dropped it. He shrugged and walked off. "He'll make it this time," intoned the announcer, as the top competitor in the super heavyweight class returned for a second attempt at the 407-pound lift. But Hamman couldn't handle the weight again. And now things were getting tense. As in baseball, it's three strikes and you're out in weightlifting. Embarrassed and angry, Hamman came back for his third and final try. He took a deep breath.

Under three vacuum-sealed bell jars, inside a locked safe, deep within a vault two stories below a secure building outside Paris, rests a tiny plug of metal that weighs heavily on the minds of scientists around the world. The French call the object "Le Grand K," and for good reason. Since 1883, this platinum cylinder about the size of a film canister has been the official kilogram, the standard by which the world measures mass and weight under the metric system.Even in the United States, where public exposure to the metric system ends at the schoolhouse door, Le Grand K is king.

A manhunt on Maryland's lower Eastern Shore ended yesterday afternoon when police arrested the second of two men suspected of shooting a state trooper to death, closing out a tense day of gunfire, roadblocks and helicopter searches.The two men were not immediately charged in the shooting of TFC Edward A. Plank Jr., 28, who was killed early yesterday while writing a speeding ticket two miles south of Princess Anne. Detectives were questioning the suspects and said charges could be filed early today.

Man held in shooting of Abingdon manA 20-year-old drifter was held on $500,000 bond at the Harford County Detention Center on an attempted murder charge, Aberdeen police said Friday.Jimmy L. McLaughlin was arrested after witnesses told officers that he had fired one blast from a sawed-off shotgun in the first block of E. Bel Air Ave. about 11 p.m. Thursday, wounding Fredrick W. Pipkins, 23, of Abingdon, in the right side and hand.The victim was treated at the Union Memorial Hospital handcenter in Baltimore and released, police said.

FREDERICK -- Shane Hamman reached down to snatch up the barbell with its 182.5 kilograms and dropped it. He shrugged and walked off. "He'll make it this time," intoned the announcer, as the top competitor in the super heavyweight class returned for a second attempt at the 407-pound lift. But Hamman couldn't handle the weight again. And now things were getting tense. As in baseball, it's three strikes and you're out in weightlifting. Embarrassed and angry, Hamman came back for his third and final try. He took a deep breath.

Bakers, rejoice. Vanilla prices are plummeting after five years of increases that saw the cost of an 8-ounce bottle of extract rise higher than a pound of prime beef tenderloin. Some retailers have cut prices nearly in half; others are likely to do so in coming weeks. Wholesale prices dropped in February, when an abundant vanilla crop started coming to market. King Arthur Flour's spring catalog exhorts bakers to "stock up while you can" on cheaper vanilla. Other retailers have been slower to cut prices.

Three men awaiting trial on state drug charges were arrested on a federal warrant by the FBI Friday after an evidence suppression hearing in Harford Circuit Court, authorities said yesterday.FBI spokesman Andy Manning confirmed the arrests and said they were not tied to the Maryland charges. He declined to discuss details, saying that the arrest warrant, issued in North Carolina, was sealed.The three suspects, Mark Anthony Clay, 22, of New Jersey; Thomas Eugene Clay, 25, of Baltimore; and Bobbie C. Simonde, 25, of Charlotte, N.C., were arrested on the state charges March 17 on Interstate 95 near Aberdeen after troopers stopped them for alleged speeding.

Washington -- Bugs are beautiful. Orkin Pest Control says so.You may know Orkin most as the folks who will come into your home and zap out whatever creepy crawlers are running around, but the Atlanta-based company has another, more benevolent face. It's the official corporate sponsor of the O. Orkin Insect Zoo, which will open today after a year of extensive renovation at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History.Yesterday morning, while a taped soundtrack played the soothing tones of whirring cicadas and chirping crickets, Smithsonian officials and Orkin representatives beamed with pride at a press briefing.