Kit

Up to half of sexually active young people will get a sexually transmitted disease by the time they are 25, yet many don't seek testing because it may be difficult, costly or embarrassing. Public health officials nationally and in particularly affected cities like Baltimore, however, say they've found a method that seems to address the major hurdles — a website that supplies free in-home testing kits for three of the most commonly reported STDs. "The highest prevalence is in young adults, and we knew we had to reach these kids," said Charlotte A. Gaydos, a professor of infectious diseases at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

It wasn't the average traffic stop on the Baltimore Beltway Tuesday morning. Maryland state troopers noticed a man playing a drum kit on the shoulder of the Interstate 695 inner loop, between Windsor Mill Road and Security Boulevard, around 10:30 a.m., a spokeswoman said. He told state police he had run out of gas and decided to set up and practice until assistance arrived. A State Highway Administration truck stopped and helped him refill his tank The drummer was not cited and continued on his way, she said.

It wasn't the average traffic stop on the Baltimore Beltway Tuesday morning. Maryland state troopers noticed a man playing a drum kit on the shoulder of the Interstate 695 inner loop, between Windsor Mill Road and Security Boulevard, around 10:30 a.m., a spokeswoman said. He told state police he had run out of gas and decided to set up and practice until assistance arrived. A State Highway Administration truck stopped and helped him refill his tank The drummer was not cited and continued on his way, she said.

Little Leapers was unveiled to an excited crowd of children and caregivers along with program sponsors and library staff on March 27 at the Bel Air library. More than 80 people were in attendance, including 30 children, to see the new kits and have the opportunity to participate in several experiments put on by local scientists. Little Leapers is Harford County Public Library's newest early literacy initiative which consists of pre- and early-literacy kits that focus on fostering and developing pre- and early literacy skills through STEM (science, technology, engineering and math)

Item: Chicken of the Sea Tuna Salad Kit What you get: 4 servings Cost: About $3 Nutritional content: Mayonnaise & Onion flavor - 30 calories, 24 grams fat, 4 grams saturated fat, 490 milligrams sodium, 7 grams carbohydrate, 2 grams sugars Preparation time: Mix and chill Review: If your tuna salad is always tempting, you probably don't need Chicken of the Sea's new tuna-salad kit. But these kits are a lifesaver if you're tuna- or time- impaired....

The American Lung Association of Maryland is offering two "do-it-yourself" home radon-testing kits to Maryland homeowners. A short-term kit sells for $12 plus tax and a long-term kit sells for $22. With the short-term kit, homeowners test their indoor air with a sampler for four to seven days, then mail the materials for laboratory analysis. The long-term kit provides the opportunity to test indoor air for three months to a year, allowing for a more accurate reading. Kits may be purchased by check, Visa or MasterCard.

Frederick Kit Adams Sr., a Baltimore physician for nearly half-century, died Tuesday at the Meridian Multi-Medical Nursing Home in Towson after a lengthy illness. He was 88.Services for Dr. Adams were being held today at St. James Episcopal Church, 829 N. Arlington Ave.Born in Hearne, Texas, Dr. Adams graduated from Howard University in Washington and then attended Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tenn.Following medical school, he came to Baltimore's old Provident Hospital for his internship.

TORONTO - Inside a converted warehouse in a desolate area just east of downtown, Abigail Breslin sits patiently with her mother, waiting for the film cameras to set their positions for the next take. The young actress, like the rest of the cast, sticks out here because of her Depression-era costumes. In fact, with her chin-length hair and a 1930s-style blue dress, white socks and shoes, she is so carefully put together that she almost resembles an antique figurine. Breslin is playing the title character in Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, the family-friendly movie opening today that is based on the hugely popular line of dolls and books from American Girl.

ROCKVILLE -- A small company hoping to market a do-it-yourself Pap test kit to detect cervical cancer saw its hopes dashed yesterday by a panel of the Food and Drug Administration, although panelists applauded the applicant's goal of reaching disadvantaged women.The Obstetrics-Gynecology Devices Panel voted 4-2 to recommend FDA disapproval of a plastic tubular device called My-Pap, which drew controversial testimony from the lay public and the medical profession.Panelists said that Medtech Inc. of Bohemia, N.Y., did not prove that its test would be used by the target group of women and also questioned whether the results would give users a false sense of security.

If necessity is the mother of invention, then pumice stone is one of its humbler children. A porous form of lava, it is used in solid and powdered form as an abrasive. Any East Baltimore housewife could have told you that once upon a time, if she looked up from her Saturday morning scrubbing of the elegant marble steps leading to her modest, two-story rowhouse. But as those housewives expired, or moved to the county, such domestic expertise also vanished. Few folks remembered that it took pumice and rubbing powder and warm water to clean white marble.

Fewer moms scheduled early deliveries when hospitals used a tool kit to promote full-term pregnancies, according to a research funded by the March of Dimes and others. Researchers looked at deliveries at 25 hospitals who used the tool kit and found that C-sections performed with no medical reason and inductions of labor fell 83 percent. The March of Dimes called the results promising. They said babies born before full-term are at increased risk for serious health problems.

These days, libraries offer much more than books. Most people know they can check out videos, music, video games, books on tape and toys. But in the Harford County Public Library system, patrons can also check out educational kits, filled with games, toys, suggested activities and sometimes even costumes. The library has been offering kits in one form or another for decades, said Melissa Harrah, the system's Learning and Sharing Collection librarian. The first ones, still in circulation, were created to help children go through scary experiences or life transitions, such as getting a new sister or brother, or having surgery.

My neighbor told me she has an emergency first-aid kit for her dog, with things like bandages, aspirin, and Benadryl inside. I'd like to make my own for my pet. What things should I have on hand for illnesses or injuries to tide us over until we could get to a veterinarian? I commend you and your neighbor for taking steps to prepare for the unexpected. As you mentioned these supplies do not take the place of a veterinary evaluation or treatment but are meant as an aid until you can get to a veterinarian.

After a season of blood-curdling thrills set in the 1960s, we've come full circle to modern times. Now we can all sleep easy for a few months. Unlike the Season 1 finale where viewers were left on a cliffhanger, the show's writers tied this season up with a nice little bow (and no, killer Santa Lee Emerson won't be delivering this present). There is one person in the giving spirit however, and it's not Lana Winters (unless you count death as a gift). By the time the self-obsessed journalist arrives at Briarcliff to film her expose, Sister Jude has already been released from the asylum under the care of Kit. It takes time for Jude to detox and not chase Kit's children around the house with a broom while making threats, but eventually Jude regains her sanity and teaches the kids various dances and how to sew. I never took Jude for the Mary Poppins type, but she finds happiness caring for the children in the Walker household.

"Claudie Hukill," on stage at Venus Theatre on C Street through Dec. 23, is a play about a poor family, struggling to survive hard economic times and personal tragedies in a West Virginia mining town. Set in 1972, the play is filled with generational, environmental, social, moral and class conflicts, centered around the main character and the play's namesake, Claudie Hukill. Although Claudie, a coal miner and town hero, is never seen, his presence is felt throughout the play as the drama surrounding his disappearance unfolds and escalates to a powerful ending.

Statistics compiled by the National Safety Council show that each year nearly 13 million children suffer preventable injuries serious enough to require medical attention. Yet too often, the medicine cabinet holds four brands of toothpaste but nothing for a sting or scald. Only after an accident or onset of illness does a panicky hunt begin for items to clean, cure and comfort.Medical experts say that while a wisely stocked, convenient and orderly first-aid kit may not fully treat a health crisis, its value is in helping to limit pain and complications until a doctor's examination.

The play is Howard Korder's '90s satire "Search and Destroy," which was recently on Broadway. Two anxious yuppies trade intelligence.Robert: Tell you what my broker says.Martin: What?Robert: Fear.Martin: What about it?Robert: He thinks it's going to be very big. He thinks we're going to be hearing a lot from fear in the '90s. It's going to be the Fear Decade. And he says now's the time to ground floor it.Martin: Fear?Robert: Fear-related industries. Blood analyzers. Viral filters. UV screens.