Leave Of Absence

WASHINGTON -- Abercrombie & Fitch Co. said yesterday that the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating the clothing retailer's release of a sales forecast last month and that a company executive has been placed on a leave of absence.The SEC inquiry follows reports that an Abercrombie executive warned one analyst about a sales forecast before it was announced to the public."The SEC is conducting an informal inquiry, and the company is fully cooperating," said Roanne Kulakoff, an outside spokeswoman for the company, which has its headquarters in Reynoldsburg, Ohio.

Columbia Association President Deborah O. McCarty will take an eight-week leave of absence, beginning early next year.McCarty formally requested -- and was granted -- the leave at a closed-door Columbia Council session last week because of her son's medical problems. "We know that wherever possible, or wherever she is, she's only a phone call away," said Joseph Merke, the council chairman. "And we understand and we appreciate the problems and concerns of the family."McCarty, a former Atlanta city councilwoman and recreation and parks director who replaced Padraic M. Kennedy as head of the homeowners group in August 1998, said yesterday that she doesn't expect the leave to be disruptive.

In a ruling that could affect Baltimore County's more than 2,000 male teachers, a federal judge has ruled that the school system discriminated against a kindergarten teacher by denying him a paid leave of absence to care for his newborn daughter.U.S. District Judge Marvin J. Garbis said the county school system violated the U.S. Constitution and federal and state civil rights laws by denying the leave to 20-year teaching veteran Kenneth J. Shapiro while allowing female teachers to take paid child-rearing leave.

A Lanham man employed at Nordstrom department store in Annapolis was arrested Saturday and charged with stealing more than $1,400 in merchandise and cash, county police said.Kenneth Edwin Parker, 35, of the 7300 block of Oliver St., was charged with felony theft. He was released Saturday on $14,250 bond.Jeff Custer, a store security guard, told police he saw an employee hand over cash and men's clothing to another man shortly after 9 p.m. The alleged accomplice left the store before police arrived, but officers arrested the employee.

A former secretary in the state's attorney's office has sued its administrative officer, Theodore J. Sophocleus, and the county for employment discrimination, claiming that she was fired last year for taking medical leave when she had a bout of depression.Linda T. Joyce, who worked as a secretary in the state's attorney's office from November 1984 until May, is seeking $1 million in damages from Sophocleus and $600,000 from the county and state's attorney's office.She is suing for unlawful termination under the provisions of the Americans With Disabilities Act. The suit was filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore.

In a move praised by both sides of the abortion issue, the Naval Academy has decided to grant a one-year leave of absence to midshipmen who become pregnant or are responsible for a pregnancy.The policy replaces one that made pregnancy grounds for expulsion and is in sharp contrast to a proposal last spring that would have allowed a pregnant midshipman to remain at the academy only if she terminated the pregnancy within 30 days."We want to make sure [midshipmen] have the ability and time to make a thoughtful and well-informed decision," said Capt.

The FBI is poring over bank records and interviewing dozens of potential witnesses in what appears to be a far-reaching investigation of Lalit H. Gadhia, a Baltimore lawyer who has been a key campaign fund-raiser for Maryland Democrats, including Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke.Mr. Gadhia, 56, also is under investigation by the Federal Election Commission over allegations he steered thousands of dollars in illegal contributions into an obscure New Mexico political action committee in October.Officials for both agencies said their policies prohibit them from confirming or denying the existence of an investigation.

Usually, special episodes of regular series that air during "sweeps" ratings periods aren't worth much of anything except skepticism and contempt.And, then, along comes one like tonight's "Leave of Absence" from CBS' "Chicago Hope," which reminds you why television -- even at its most commercial -- has become the most important storyteller in American life. It also makes you wonder if maybe we aren't living in a kind of mini-Golden Age of television drama -- especially when you think about this episode in connection with others from such series as "Homicide," "NYPD Blue," "Law & Order," "ER," "X-Files" and "Picket Fences."

First-term City Comptroller Jacqueline F. McLean's indictment yesterday marks one of those rare times in incorporated Baltimore's 197-year history when a top elected municipal official has been charged with criminal wrongdoing.An indictment does not mean that she is guilty. It means only that a grand jury investigation found enough evidence to suspect her of felony theft and misconduct in office.Mrs. McLean now has several options in front of her. She may choose to defend herself at a trial.

After Jacqueline F. McLean's first victory in politics in 1983, reporters asked her about the propriety of using her own money -- lots of it -- to secure herself a seat on the Baltimore City Council.She smiled sweetly. "He who has the gold," she recited, "makes the rules."Mrs. McLean, 49, often dared to make the rules.She did not come from the political machines, so she bypassed them by spending her own money. She wanted her business to succeed, so she used unconventional strategies to win clients.

Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon's chief of staff, Demaune Millard, is taking paid leave of absence, a decision he made Wednesday after accusations surfaced that he assaulted an ex-girlfriend. "He wants to do what is right for himself and for the mayor," said Dixon's spokesman, Scott Peterson. Peterson said that Millard had planned to take time off after the city budget process concluded this week. Peterson said he does not know how long Millard will be on leave. Elizabeth C. Smith, 32, a city liquor board commissioner and housing agency director, filed charges in early June accusing Millard of hitting her while the two were at an event on a cruise ship and punching her in April 2008.

Frederick County sheriff's deputies responded to the Mount Airy home of Senate Minority Leader David R. Brinkley last week to investigate a reported domestic dispute involving his wife, according to the police report released yesterday. Brinkley, 48, accused his wife of slapping him in the neck and trying to grab his hands, and then using his hands to hit herself in the face, according to Deputy Orion G. Rustin, who responded to the home in the 12000 block of Barnett Drive about 8:20 p.m. May 30. Brinkley's wife, Sallie Brinkley, accused the two-term senator of hitting her in the face, grabbing her around the neck and biting her on the arm before she ran outside and locked herself in her vehicle, where she stayed until deputies arrived, according to the report.

MOVES Football SAINTS -- Placed LB Alfred Fincher on IR. Signed LB Matt McCoy. Hockey STARS -- Placed F Brad Winchester on IR. College ARIZONA -- Lute Olson, men's basketball coach, announced he is taking leave of absence for unspecified personal reasons.

Whoever raised concerns with Harbor Bank over the mayoral candidacy of its employee, Baltimore Councilman Keiffer J. Mitchell Jr., didn't do the city or Mayor Sheila Dixon any favors. The complaints led this week to his being placed on an unpaid leave of absence in an action that smacks of political intimidation. Harbor Bank President Joseph Haskins Jr. isn't saying who complained, just that he decided to rethink keeping Mr. Mitchell on the payroll as a business development officer after receiving "too many calls" that questioned Mr. Mitchell's mayoral ambitions and his work at the bank.

Yesterday's announcement that AOL plans to boost advertising revenue by offering its services free to nearly anyone with an Internet connection reverberated from the company's Virginia headquarters to Locust Point, the home of Advertising.com. The once tiny Baltimore start-up, founded by two local brothers and headquartered in the Tide Point office complex, is now best known as a major player in AOL's online marketing division. It likely will be at the center of the media giant's new business strategy, which takes on freebie competitors Yahoo and Google by giving away e-mail, software and Web security tools.

Advertising.com Inc., the Baltimore company that was bought two years ago by America Online Inc., named a new president yesterday and announced that the company's founders were taking a leave of absence. Lynda M. Clarizio, who was an executive vice president at AOL, was named president of Advertising.com effective immediately. She has worked at AOL for seven years, and was "the driving force behind AOL's acquisition of Advertising.com," the company said in a news release. Founded in 1998 by Owings Mills brothers John and Scott Ferber, Advertising.

Archbishop Spalding boys basketball coach Mike Glick resigned one day after the school announced that he was taking a leave of absence. Spalding president Michael Murphy released a statement yesterday saying that Glick had resigned "to pursue coaching opportunities at the collegiate level." Murphy said in his release that the school would conduct a search for a new coach. Assistant Ralph Burley will coach the team in this weekend's Baltimore Catholic League tournament.

Playing for a share of the Carroll County girls basketball title, Brianne Sims scored 11 points and Cassie Cooke added 10 as visiting Westminster built a double-digit lead in the first quarter and cruised to a 52-35 win over Francis Scott Key last night. The Owls (13-7, 5-1 county) tied Winters Mill for the championship, which is based solely upon record. Westminster topped Winters Mill, 67-61, in the teams' only meeting in December. Bethany Bachtel scored a game-high 13 to lead Key (8-14, 4-2)

Randy Arrington bends down to look his creation in the eye. He takes an extra minute to run his hand along the arch that forms the back. Then the 46-year-old northern Baltimore County man pulls the cord on an engine. Fountains of sawdust spray across the floor. Arrington seems oblivious to the gas fumes and the ear-numbing roar. Although his work is in one sense exacting, it's about as delicate as a Mack truck. Arrington is a chain-saw carver. The Harley of power tools, more often used to chew through tree limbs and firewood, is like a sculptor's chisel in Arrington's hands.

Baseball NATIONALS: Signed P John Patterson and P Joe Horgan to one-year contracts. RANGERS: Agreed with 1B Adrian Gonzalez, C Gerald Laird, OF Ramon Nivar, P Erasmo Ramirez, P Nick Masset, P Josh Rupe and P Ryan Wing on one year contracts. TIGERS: Agreed with P Kenny Baugh, P Franklyn German, P Preston Larrison, P Steve Colyer and OF DeWayne Wise on one-year contracts. Sent Wise outright to Triple-A Toledo. YANKEES: Agreed with IF Rey Sanchez on one-year contract. Basketball BULLS: Activated F-C Antonio Davis from injured list.