Label

She may well go down as a footnote in Baltimore politics. But this week, the note that will include the name of Sheryl Lansey grew a lot longer. In the Democratic contest for Baltimore state's attorney, Patricia C. Jessamy, the 15-year incumbent, is hoping for a miracle or glitch that would uncover the roughly 1,400 votes she needs to surpass the apparent primary winner, challenger Gregg Bernstein. Far behind is Lansey, a little-known lawyer and former teacher who quietly entered the contest at the last minute and wound up with 2,361 votes.

Depending on whom you ask, the Canadian band Hot Hot Heat might be described as dance rock, new wave, emo, post-punk or power pop. But guitarist Luke Paquin would like to think that all those different subgenre tags add up to a band that can't be pigeonholed. "We don't really play genre music," he said on the phone as the band drove to a gig in Nashville, Tenn. "I think we kind of defy any sort of genre classification, which makes it hard for people working with us to know what to do. That being said, I don't think we would have it any other way, so you take the good with the bad. " Hot Hot Heat, which formed in Victoria, British Columbia, in 1999, got its start with independent labels like Sub Pop before graduating to Warner Bros.

Lately, things have been heating up for the local rock band Hotspur. Since singer/songwriter Joe Mach and keyboardist Dave Trichter formed the band after graduating from the University of Maryland in 2004, Hotspur has become an independent success story. The five-piece group's second full-length album, "You Should Know Better By Now," was picked up by area Best Buy stores, and the band has drawn several hundred people to shows at Rams Head Live and the 9:30 Club . In July, Hotspur won the NMS Artist on the Verge contest, netting the band about $50,000 worth of merchandise and equipment.

For people with food allergies, ingredient labels are like a book that's missing a few chapters — you're not getting the whole story. Included on many packages are vague words like "spices," "seasonings," and the ever-popular (and sometimes creepy) "added color. " If you happen not to be one of the 12 million Americans with a food allergy, don't think this issue doesn't matter. With one in 25 people affected, chances are someone you care about deals with this problem on a daily basis.

Back in the early days of compact discs, some classical music shoppers were known to be wary of the unfamiliar record labels that started popping up in the bins, especially the ones with rock-bottom prices. One budget label, in particular, stood out for its straightforward look, abundance of titles and largely unknown performers: Naxos. What became clear very quickly after that company's launch in 1987 was that the music-making could be taken very seriously. And the product just kept growing and improving.

New faces, same place for the Cornell men's lacrosse team. Despite graduating a senior class of 15 from the squad that fell to Syracuse in the national championship game, the Big Red returned to a familiar setting, reaching the Final Four for the third time in the last four seasons. No. 7 seed Cornell, which thumped Army, 14-5, in a NCAA Tournament quarterfinal on Sunday, will meet unseeded Notre Dame (9-6) on Saturday at 4 p.m. at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. That the Big Red reached this stage is shocking to ESPN analyst Quint Kessenich.

The Maryland priest at the center of a seismic tumult in the worldwide international Anglican Communion is slim and stands just over 5 feet, wears her gray hair cut short and greets visitors with a strong two-handed grasp. She's known to former parishioners and colleagues for emotional and insightful sermons, administrative skill, high energy — and for occasionally wearing a giant foam wedge of cheese on her head to honor her favorite NFL team. The Rev. Canon Mary Douglas Glasspool, due to be consecrated today as bishop in the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, is known to the rest of the world by a phrase that would fit on a bumper sticker: "first openly lesbian bishop."

In the early 1990s, a teenage punk fan named Damian Kulash wanted to release a compilation CD of songs from his favorite Washington bands. But Kulash, a Washington native and disciple of the city's DIY movement, needed cash to fund the project. He went to Dischord Records founder Ian MacKaye, the figurehead of the Washington punk scene, and asked for a loan. MacKaye agreed to give Kulash $2,000 — but not before laying a guilt trip on the kid. "He said, 'If you don't pay back this money, I won't have it to lend to somebody else, and you will singlehandedly be the person who shut down the D.C. scene.

The Rev. William Smith Jr., a well-known Baltimore church organist who established the Christian record label Ice Music Group and founded two choirs and a church, died March 1 of cancer at Seasons Hospice at Northwest Hospital Center. The Windsor Mill resident was 53. Mr. Smith was born in Baltimore and raised in the city's Park Heights neighborhood. He was a 1974 City College graduate and attended Towson University and the Peabody Conservatory. He was a graduate of the Living Word Bible College.