Lighter

Greg Cantori plans to downsize when he retires. Really, really downsize. His retirement home is 238 square feet — one-tenth the size of the average new American house — and sits in his Anne Arundel County yard. He and wife Renee can hitch it to a truck and take it with them wherever they go. "It's so cheap — that's what's so cool about this," said Cantori, 52, who envisions a surf-and-turf future, alternating between the house and a sailboat. "We bought the house for $19,000.

Each week a nutritionist from the University of Maryland Medical Center will provide a guest post. This week, Christine Dobmeier weighs in on healthy holidays. Holiday season is in full force. In the grocery stores, there are large displays of chocolates in every shape and form, and at work a parade of cookies, popcorn tins and other confections arrives every day. This onslaught of goodies is happening while we are still trying to work off our Thanksgiving indulgences. Between Thanksgiving and New Year's, it's easy to lose track of your health goals and see weight trend up. It may be challenging to lose weight at this time of year, but a good goal is to prevent weight gain and to go into the New Year already on a healthy path.

Two men, one with a gun, attacked and robbed a 15-year-old Millersville boy of a pack of cigarettes and a lighter Monday as he walked behind the Metro Food Market in the 600 block of Old Mill Road.The boy told police when two men 18 to 20 years old approached him shortly after 9 p.m. behind the store. One grabbed him in a choke hold, and the other placed a gun to his head and demanded money, police said. The boy said he had no money, so the men emptied his pockets, stealing a pack of cigarettes and a lighter, police said.

Mayan legend that explains how these beautiful birds were created from spare parts left over when the other birds were created by the Mayan sun god. The plumage of a ruby-throated hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) shimmered in the early-morning sunlight as it darted back and forth while sipping nectar from the blossoms of a red-flowered rosebush. Plus, it was so preoccupied with feeding, my presence didn't appear to disturb it, even though I was a mere 3 feet away.

A 4-year-old Maryland City boy playing with a cigarette lighter suffered burns yesterday morning when he accidentally ignited his shirt, county fire officials said. Kevin Ramos of the 100 block of Charlotte Drive was taken by ambulance to the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center burn center in Baltimore, where he was treated for a third-degree burn to his abdomen and a second-degree burn to his left wrist. He was released by the afternoon. Paramedics were called shortly before 8 a.m. by the boy's father, who was alerted to his son's injuries when he heard a yell from another room in the family's apartment.

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration, asserting that federal judges are handing out lighter prison sentences since a Supreme Court decision gave them more sentencing discretion, backed a new system of "guideline minimum" sentences this week for criminal cases. The proposal by Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales would seek to give judges continued flexibility in setting jail terms while requiring them to justify any sentence lighter than the guidelines. Gonzales offered few details but said "serious consideration" should be given for such an approach.

A 4-year-old boy was critically burned last night when he apparently started a fire at his Barclay Street home while playing with a cigarette lighter, city fire officials said.The victim, Ricky Washington, was in critical condition today at the regional burn unit of Francis Scott Key Medical Center.A firefighter assigned to Truck Company 5 was slightly injured fighting the fire, which was brought under control in about 20 minutes.Fire officials said the boy was alone in a room at 2328 Barclay St. shortly after 9 p.m. when he set something afire with the lighter.

A fire, apparently started when a disposable cigarette lighter was dropped into a pocket of a coat hanging on a wooden rack, caused extensive damage to the living room of a Taneytown house yesterday.Todd Davis, 28, of the 200 block of E. Baltimore St., said, "I just got home from work and was dropped off about 4 p.m. I went inside the house to get my coffee mug and walked to Sheetz [a gas station-convenience store] for coffee."When I walked back I couldn't get in the front door because of the fire, and I ran back to call the fire department.

Had enough?Had enough silk velvet, mahogany, chintzes, tassels, swags, fringes, gilt, leopard prints, overstuffed cushions, period reproductions, black lacquer, elaborate window treatments, collections of collections, glossy finishes, mother-of-pearl, ostentatious opulence, frills, trills and decoration for the sake of decoration?Had enough of the '80s look?Then welcome to the beautifully simple '90s interior.It hasn't happened all at once, but there is a new American style: more serene, more sophisticated, less cluttered, lighter and looser.

If there was one moment this spring when former Oriole Pete dTC Incaviglia went from being a long shot to a lock in the Detroit Tigers' camp, it was when the nonroster invitee ripped a ball into the gap during an exhibition game and didn't stop running until he reached third base.Doubles and home runs had been Incaviglia's calling cards. A stand-up triple?The ball didn't get stuck in the fence, either. It was all Inky, 40 pounds lighter and unwilling to fade into oblivion."Actually, I had three of them.

The Ravens go through their first full-team workout of training camp Thursday and if you want to see something special taking place in the hot, thick air at the Castle, you keep your eyes on Ray Lewis. Watch him run around in those baggy sweats like someone half his age. Listen to him talk trash with his teammates and coaches. Watch him flash that Chiclets smile every five minutes, too, the smile of a man who seems perfectly in his element. And do yourself a favor. If you get a chance to talk to him, don't ask when he plans to retire.

Wednesday evening, a leaner -- though not necessarily meaner -- Ray Lewis stepped outside of the Under Armour Performance Center and strolled to a microphone stand surrounded by reporters and video cameras. The 37-year-old inside linebacker was noticeably lighter than he was at the end of last season, and his white polo shirt and dark slim-fitting jeans showed off the streamlined physique that Lewis spoke about last month. He said at the mandatory minicamp that the weight loss was calculated, a response to the Rob Gronkowskis and Aaron Hernandezes of the world and the high-scoring passing offenses that have taken over the league.

The Johns Hopkins University will use a $90 million award to form an institute that will help the Army develop lightweight materials to better protect soldiers and vehicles, university officials said Wednesday. The Hopkins Extreme Materials Institute will focus on what happens to protective materials at the moment of intense impact. "Both individuals and governments have become increasingly insecure over the last 10 years or so," said K.T. Ramesh, the professor who will direct the institute.

Two Easton High School lacrosse players should not have been suspended or arrested for having a penknife and lighter in their lacrosse bags, according to the Maryland state school board, which ordered that the boys' records be wiped clean. In a legal opinion released Tuesday, the state school board said Talbot County school officials had failed to use "appropriate discretion" in disciplining the two lacrosse players, who said they carried the items to repair their lacrosse sticks.

I don't think I have ever used the "f-word" to describe myself. I've called myself overweight, and heavy. My clothes have been for "big girls" from the "women's" department, but fat has never really been in my vocabulary. Other people have called me fat. I remember an incident, probably 15 years ago, when I went out with a friend and her boyfriend and we met some other people. One of those people asked my friend's boyfriend which girl was his girlfriend, and he said "the fat one," referring to me. I can't remember that guy's name, but I sure remember that night, and how it was ruined.

Varsity athlete Graham Dennis never thought of the pen knife he carried in his bag to repair his lacrosse stick's strings as a dangerous weapon. It was a tool of the sport, he believed, until Easton High School officials found the item in a search of bags on a school bus headed for a game. Dennis and teammate Casey Edsall, who had a lighter that he also used to repair equipment, were sent to the principal's office and the police were called. Dennis was hauled off in handcuffs to be fingerprinted and charged as a juvenile with possession of a deadly weapon.

From tents that set up in five minutes to hand-held satellite tracking devices that pinpoint locations, the world of camping equipment has advanced by leaps and bounds since the days of pup tents and match-lighted fires.Whether you're hiking the Appalachian Trail, backpacking along the Gunpowder River or planning an expedition to Mount Everest, there are products to make your experience lighter and easier, and others to make you and your gear less subject to the ravages of wet, cold or windy weather.

Asked to explain his disappointing rushing totals this season, Ravens running back Jamal Lewis repeatedly said yesterday, "It's out of my control." Lewis, who is resigned to the fact that he will split playing time with backup Chester Taylor, points to limited carries as the reason for the worst season of his six-year career. Ravens@Bengals Sunday, 1 p.m., Ch. 13, 1300 AM, 102.7 FM Line: Bengals by 9

U.S. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski and six of Maryland's incumbent members of the House of Representatives have won re-election, according to the Associated Press. The winners include Democrats Elijah E. Cummings, C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, John Sarbanes, Donna Edwards and Chris Van Hollen, and the state's lone Republican congressman, Roscoe Bartlett. Mikulski, a Democrat, won re-election to a fifth term, defeating Eric Wargotz, a Republican commissioner from Queen Anne's County.

It was no surprise when Health Magazine rated the Smith Island cake as one of the 50 fattiest foods in the United States. After all, the cake is mostly just a frosting delivery system. In traditional versions, the layers of yellow cake are about as thin as John Waters' mustache. Between these eight to 10 layers is a smear of fudgy frosting; a slice of cake made using the official recipe from the Smith Island Cultural Alliance weighs in at 708 calories and 30 grams of fat. (With some alterations, our made-over recipe yields a slice with 415 calories and 12 grams of fat.)