Lake George

What better time than in the heat of summer to think about fall. At many destinations, prices drop after Labor Day and, as Travelzoo.com notes, many airlines have reduced fares. Here are some autumnal offers: Uncommon Journeys is offering free train travel to Chicago as part of its 10-day Fall Colors on the Mississippi River package. In Chicago, there is a two-night stay at the Drake Hotel and a welcome dinner. Next, guests travel to St. Louis aboard the Steamboat Express, a classic 1940s train, with complimentary meals and drinks aboard.

Virtually all of the fishing season lies ahead, but the Department of Natural Resources already is looking forward to next year, proposing changes in nontidal fishery regulations and seeking public input regarding the possible changes.Among the specific changes under consideration are:* Adding Greenbelt Lake (Prince George's County) and the main stem of the North Branch of the Potomac River from the upstream boundary of Potomac State Forest to bridge at Old Wilson Road (Garrett County) to the list of put-and-take trout waters.

Lower Manhattan, long considered among the world's most energetic areas, has been added to the World Monuments Watch List of the 100 Most Endangered Sites as No. 101 after the Sept. 11 attacks. "Beyond the extraordinary toll on human life, the assault left historic buildings in the vicinity of the World Trade Center vulnerable," representatives of the World Monuments Fund said in a statement. "Technical assistance is urgently needed to assess the architectural integrity of surviving structures."

Most of the time, power and charm seem to be emanating from completely different sources. After all, power is visceral and forceful, while charm is imbued with deftly applied dashes of elegance and artful wit. But when listening to the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, this distinction begins to break down. And with his celestial opera, "Cosi fan tutte," which will be performed this weekend at Maryland Hall by the Annapolis Opera, the power/charm dichotomy is obliterated with authority.

Not much has changed in the past four years for Wilde Lake's George Bradford.He came to the Columbia high school as a freshman soccer goalie, dreaming of making the big save, then booming the punt well downfield. This year, as a senior punter for the top-ranked Wilde Lake football team, though the uniform has changed, the dream remains the same.Yesterday, his strong leg and pinpoint accuracy in the kicking game was the key factor in his team's 10-0 win over previously unbeaten Howard.After kicking a 38-yard field goal late in the first quarter, he kept the Lions at their end of the field all day with long, angling punts that four times pinned Howard (4-1, 1-1)

Glenelg's boys basketball team either ran at full speed or stood still at Wilde Lake Friday night. And the Gladiators, who turned a 49-35halftime deficit into a stunning, 92-79 victory, were deadly at bothgames.The Gladiators, who love an up-tempo pace, took advantage of Wilde Lake's impatient, second-half play by scoring numerous baskets off their fast break. But this victory should be remembered as a game the Wildecats watched Glenelg seize at the free-throw line.Glenelg sank 34 of 51 foul shots, including 33 of 46 in the second half as part of a 57-point performance after intermission.

Rainbow Fleet No. 1 and the Annapolis Naval Sailing Association played host last weekend to the 29th annual Rainbow National Championshipregatta, with two races each of the first two days and a final series-ender on Sunday.Nine teams took part, including two from the Naval Station and one from each of the other national fleets, in Lake George, N.Y., and Wilmette, Ill.By the end of Saturday's contests, Annapolis-area archrivals Peter Gookin and the team on Ace of Spades and Bob Mewhinney and crew on Glass Harp were dead even at the top of the fleet, since each had scored a first and a second each day. That meant the championship would come down to the outcome of Sunday's fifth and final race of the series.

BLAINE, Minn. -- The under-19 Baltimore Spirit has proved to be explosive on offense. As with most successful soccer teams, however, a potent attack usually is initiated by an effective defense.The Spirit, four-time defending Maryland Cup champs, outscored opponents 35-4 in five victories that earned the Baltimoreans their first U.S. Youth Soccer Region I crown."We play good team defense. That helps the offense," said striker Bryan Bugarin, whose seven goals in regional play were one fewer than those by midfielder Mike Henning.

BOLTON, N.Y. - The sonar ping ricocheted off the dead man's body and rang in the ear of the New York State Police scuba diver. At 140 feet below the surface of Lake George, Trooper Chuck Ford Sr. was about to make the deepest recovery of a body on record for the 68-year-old State Police Scuba Unit. "I was on the guy in six minutes," Ford, a longtime trooper from central New York, said as he recounted the Sept. 1 recovery. Recovering the bodies of people killed in accidents or by foul play is only one responsibility of a unit called on in high-profile missions.

More than two years after five people died when an overloaded water taxi sank in Baltimore's harbor, the U.S. Coast Guard urged operators of small passenger vessels yesterday to adjust for the greater heftiness of the average American. The Coast Guard called on the owners of all pontoon boats and other passenger boats under 65 feet to assume that the average passenger weighs 185 pounds and to recalculate their vessels' capacities accordingly. For years, marine safety rules have been based on assumed average weights of 140 to 160 pounds depending on the circumstances.