Leaf

Maybe you thought this "respect" thing was all about macho teenagers responding to some personal offense with some violent act. You'd have been right - but only partially. In recent weeks, the idea of respect - or disrespect - has been part of an effort to understand why there is so much more killing in Baltimore this year. There's something to the intensely personal side of the respect question, says Philip Leaf of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He has made a long study of gun violence in Baltimore and elsewhere.

Fear not, leaf peepers of Maryland. Although there was less rain than usual across the state this summer, the drought conditions will take only the slightest edge off the glories of your favorite time of year. "So many factors impact fall foliage - temperature, humidity, soil conditions - that they tend to cancel each other out," says Kenneth Jolly, a forestry expert with the state's Department of Natural Resources. "To the average person, things won't seem much different. Expect the same lovely array of colors [across the state]

A few slow-moving bugs have shown up in my house. Sometimes they fly a little. They're about 1/2 -inch long and gray-brown. Do I need to spray? Are the hind legs flattened and do they look like a leaf? The body shield-shaped? If so, you've found a type of leaf-footed plant bug. They look very similar to a stink bug. The leaf-footed pine seed bugs in Maryland are prevalent near pine trees. They feed on foliage and live outdoors. When weather turns cold, they may wander into houses looking for areas to overwinter (not breed, eat or cause any harm to people or houses)

Erik Kramer is the latest player to take a spin on the NFL Quarterback Merry-Go-Round.When he was suddenly cut by the Chicago Bears and signed with the San Diego Chargers last week, he became the 13th quarterback who started on Opening Day last year to change teams this year.The other 12 are Gus Frerotte, Tony Banks, Rodney Peete, Jeff George, Danny Kanell, Glenn Foley, Brad Johnson, Scott Mitchell, Neil O'Donnell, Kerry Collins, Warren Moon and Jim Harbaugh.Of that group, only Johnson, Mitchell and Harbaugh are listed as starters on their new teams.

September's rains helped salvage the leaf-peeping season after the dry summer.Throughout the foliage season, numerous hot lines provide daily or weekly updates on color progression.For nationwide foliage updates from the U.S. Forest Service, call (800) 354-4595.For individual states:Connecticut: (800) CT-BOUND; www.ctbound.orgDelaware: (800) 441-8846; www.state.de.us/tourismMaine: (888) MAINE-45; www.visitmaine.comMaryland: (800) 532-8371; www.mdisfun.orgMassachusetts: (800) 227-MASS; www.massvacation.

Ryan Leaf isn't exactly making a good first impression with his new boss.While new San Diego Chargers coach Mike Riley was conducting a "voluntary" summer camp over the weekend, Leaf was in Clinton, N.J., playing in the Cadillac NFL Golf Classic. He shot rounds of 88 and 89 and was eliminated.He obviously needs as much work on his golf game as he does on his football game.Leaf had a nightmarish rookie season on and off the field and was supposedly going to get a fresh start this year.But he has been the same old Leaf recently.

State tobacco farmers were celebrating a legislative victory yesterday that they say will go a long way toward stabilizing the Southern Maryland agriculture economy."

Q. I just moved into a new townhouse and there are bugs and spiders everywhere. Do I need an exterminator so early in the game?A. Your indoor-wildlife problem does not require the services of a pest-control company. Nor do you need to buy a can of bug spray. The pests are entirely harmless. Simply vacuum or sweep them up.They probably came in during the construction and moving-in. Make sure that cracks around doors and windows are sealed and dry out any damp areas you notice.Q. After the growing season, I usually throw out the potting soil from my outdoor container plants because a friend said to do otherwise would invite plant diseases.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Nineteen months ago, the Indianapolis Colts faced this choice: Peyton Manning or Ryan Leaf?Now, it's a no-brainer. But in the spring of 1998, there was serious debate over which college quarterback should go first in the NFL draft. Tennessee's Manning offered poise, polish and pedigree. Washington State's Leaf beckoned with a strong arm and the hint of a bigger payoff down the road.The Colts prudently selected Manning with the first pick. The Chargers got Leaf -- their preferred choice -- with the second.

UPPER MARLBORO -- Yesterday was payday for Southern Maryland tobacco farmers.Hundreds of growers -- bundled up in layers of work clothing to ward off a morning chill -- showed up at the opening session of the annual leaf auction at the Marlboro Tobacco Market Inc. warehouse to get a feel for how much they will be banking from a drought-damaged crop harvested in the fall.Nobody was celebrating.Prices were lower than a year ago, and there was concern that they could fall even more before the four-week sale ends.

Nothing motivates me to rake leaves quite like having a neighbor who has already done it. The juxtaposition of his bright-green lawn with my leaf-carpeted one highlights the fact that my turf needs to breathe; this sodden leaf layer must be suffocating poor Blade O'Grass and the rest of his family. So I assembled the tools - garden gloves, rake and trash bags - and attacked the yard with gusto last week. Initially, it was almost a meditative activity; the gentle scrape-scrape of the rake matched my breathing.

NBA Bryant staying with Lakers; health on Jackson's mind Kobe Bryant said he plans to stay with the NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers even he if opts out of his contract this summer. Phil Jackson said his health will dictate whether he returns as coach. Bryant, 30, met with Jackson and general manager Mitch Kupchak for an individual exit interview Friday. The Finals MVP can terminate the last two years of his contract and become an unrestricted free agent July 1. He's spent his entire 13-year career with the Lakers, winning four NBA championships.

HOWARD W. LEAF, 85 Air Force general Howard W. Leaf, 85, a retired Air Force lieutenant general and highly decorated combat veteran who retired as assistant vice chief of staff at the Pentagon in 1984, died April 25 of congestive heart failure at his home in the Prince George's County, Md., community of Aquasco. He served in the Army Air Forces during World War II and joined the newly formed Air Force in 1950. He was a fighter pilot in the Korean and Vietnam wars. His decorations included the Distinguished Service Medal and two awards of the Silver Star, one of which was for leading a raid on an oil refinery in North Vietnam.

Mayor Sheila Dixon had a long wait at her polling place yesterday, but not as long as it could have been. At 10:45 a.m., Dixon arrived at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School, The Baltimore Sun's Annie Linskey reports. The line snaked outside the building and halfway around the block, but a member of Dixon's staff, Antonio Hayes, had been there for an hour already holding a place for her in line. He said that he's held a place for her in the past, but she's declined to take the spot. This time, she took it. Even so, there were hundreds in front of the mayor.

In the O. Henry short story The Last Leaf, a silly and morbid bohemian artist, who falls ill with the season's epidemic of pneumonia, tells her roommate that she will die when the last leaf is wrested from the vine outside her window by the harsh November wind. Behrman, an old German painter who lives below the women, goes out on a bitter, rainy night to paint his masterpiece - a leaf on a brick wall - to convince the young woman that the last leaf survived the night and to keep her from giving in to death.

Throughout history, man has always pondered the possibilities of: What If? What if Friar Lawrence had gotten word to Romeo that Juliet was only sleeping, and not dead? What if President Kennedy's motorcade had taken a different parade route that day in Dallas? What if George McFly had not been hit by his future father-in-law's car, a premise that was explored by Michael J. Fox in the Back to the Future trilogy? Rarely is this exercise more popular than in the weeks and months leading up to the NFL draft.

A few slow-moving bugs have shown up in my house. Sometimes they fly a little. They're about 1/2 -inch long and gray-brown. Do I need to spray? Are the hind legs flattened and do they look like a leaf? The body shield-shaped? If so, you've found a type of leaf-footed plant bug. They look very similar to a stink bug. The leaf-footed pine seed bugs in Maryland are prevalent near pine trees. They feed on foliage and live outdoors. When weather turns cold, they may wander into houses looking for areas to overwinter (not breed, eat or cause any harm to people or houses)

Fear not, leaf peepers of Maryland. Although there was less rain than usual across the state this summer, the drought conditions will take only the slightest edge off the glories of your favorite time of year. "So many factors impact fall foliage - temperature, humidity, soil conditions - that they tend to cancel each other out," says Kenneth Jolly, a forestry expert with the state's Department of Natural Resources. "To the average person, things won't seem much different. Expect the same lovely array of colors [across the state]

Maybe you thought this "respect" thing was all about macho teenagers responding to some personal offense with some violent act. You'd have been right - but only partially. In recent weeks, the idea of respect - or disrespect - has been part of an effort to understand why there is so much more killing in Baltimore this year. There's something to the intensely personal side of the respect question, says Philip Leaf of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He has made a long study of gun violence in Baltimore and elsewhere.

In the 1998 NFL draft, Ryan Leaf was the second player selected overall and Matt Hasselbeck was the 187th. Nine years later, Hasselbeck is the starting quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks, enjoying a career that has taken him to the Super Bowl and the Pro Bowl. Leaf is the golf coach at West Texas A&M University after bouncing around four NFL teams. So, why did Hasselbeck flourish and Leaf flounder? In Hasselbeck's mind, it's because he was a sixth-round quarterback and Leaf was a first-round pick.