Lightning

The Lightning's top goal scorers, center Steven Stamkos and left wing Ryan Malone , are day to day after being injured in a 3-2 loss to the Oilers. Malone had an MRI on Thursday for an undisclosed lower body injury he suffered in Wednesday night's game. He might play when the Lightning begin a six-game road trip Friday in Colorado. He has 16 goals. Stamkos, who has a team-best 17 goals, may miss the Avalanche game. He had X-rays on an upper body injury. The Lightning have lost six of seven.

A Rising Sun zoo set up an online fundraising campaign for its 19-year-old intern who was injured in a lightning strike. Plumpton Park Zoo wants to raise $5,000 for the woman through the website FundRazr. The woman was struck Thursday at the zoo. Bystanders told emergency personnel that the woman was standing near a large tree when she was struck as severe weather moved through the area. According to the zoo's posting on FundRazr, the woman was hospitalized and in a coma for several days, but is recovering.

Mike Smith made 33 saves and the Lightning finished off the Devils 4-2 on Sunday in the completion of a game that was suspended two nights earlier because a lighting problem at Newark's Prudential Center created a safety issue for the players. Tampa Bay led 3-0 when play was suspended Friday night with 9:12 left in the second period, and it only had to kill off the final 29:12 on Sunday to snap a 10-game losing streak against New Jersey. Only about 3,000 fans of the announced crowd of 15,129 returned to see the completion of the game.

A 19-year-old woman was injured in a lightning strike at the Plumpton Park Zoo in Rising Sun as severe weather moved through the area Thursday morning, according to Cecil County Emergency Services Director Richard Brooks. Emergency personnel were called to the zoo in the 1400 block of Telegraph Road about 9:08 a.m. and found a group of bystanders caring for the woman, Brooks said. The bystanders told the medics that the woman had been standing near a large tree when the lightning struck.

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CHASKA, Minn. -- Davis Love III had, perhaps, the best perspective on yesterday's opening round of the U.S. Open at the Hazeltine National Golf Club."I wasn't quite as worried about my golf game after we came back from a delay," he said.He was referring to a thunderstorm, laced with lightning, that resulted in the death of one spectator and seriously injured another. Four other spectators were listed in stable condition.The tragedy occurred early in the afternoon as play was suspended for 2 hours and 41 minutes because of the hazardous weather conditions.

Baltimore County police briefly lost full use of their radi communications yesterday because of a delayed reaction from strong, predawn lightning storms, officials said.The problem began when lightning hit power lines, sending surges through two of the county's eight signal towers -- one at Red Run near Owings Mills and the other on Allender Road. The lightning also damaged a battery backup for the system in Allender Road, said Fred Homan, the county's budget director and the man in charge of its sophisticated 800 megahertz radio system.

The Class 4A-3A boys lacrosse championship between defending champion South River and Westminster was suspended Wednesday due to lightning at UMBC. The game will resume at 6 p.m. Thursday with the Seahawks leading, 8-7, and 1 minute, 11 seconds left in the first half. The first sight of lightning came at 8:55 p.m. to prompt an automatic 30-minute delay. Just as the players returned to the field and play was expected to continue at 9:25 p.m., lightning was seen in the area, forcing the suspension.

Long Reach High principal Dave Bruzga announced yesterday that "Lightning" will be the new Howard County school's nickname."I think it represents the uniqueness of the school and will lend itself to a great deal of creativity," Bruzga said.After taking nominations from students, Bruzga narrowed the list of choices to : Lightning, Tigers and Falcons. A ballot was sent to every student enrolled."Lightning won by a 2-1 margin," said Bruzga, who added that Tigers was second.At River Hill, the other new high school opening in August, principal Scott Pfeifer said the school's nickname will be announced during a bonfire pep rally Monday, June 3 at the school.

The game of baseball lost a great coach and community worker Wednesday when James Marc Rickels of Sykesville was fatally struck by lightning after a Little League game, friends and league officials said yesterday."

Two homes in the Potomac Place neighborhood of Fort Meade were destroyed and two more damaged in a fire Sunday, base officials said. No one was injured in the fire, which was ignited by a lightning strike to the roof of one home at about 6:30 p.m., officials said. The homes were located at 5th Corps Avenue and Taylor Lane. Several families were evacuated while firefighters from Anne Arundel County and Fort Meade brought the blaze under control, officials said. The displaced families were sheltered in a neighborhood center until they could be relocated into temporarily housing, officials said.

The Class 4A-3A boys lacrosse championship between defending champion South River and Westminster was suspended Wednesday due to lightning at UMBC. The game will resume at 6 p.m. Thursday with the Seahawks leading, 8-7, and 1 minute, 11 seconds left in the first half. The first sight of lightning came at 8:55 p.m. to prompt an automatic 30-minute delay. Just as the players returned to the field and play was expected to continue at 9:25 p.m., lightning was seen in the area, forcing the suspension.

I can appreciate that when discussing the "When Thunder Roars, Go Indoors" policy, Donna Franklin, Lightning Safety Program Lead for the National Weather Service, would expound on the dangers associated with lightning (letter, Sept. 20). After all, that is her government job. However, she totally missed the point of the need for a cost/benefit and effectiveness analysis of the "cure" versus the cost. I do not begrudge the cost of putting up a few signs as long as they do not add to sign pollution nor overload.

This is in response to the Sept. 6 letter to the editor, "County's policy on lightning well-intentioned but misguided. " The National Weather Service applauds Howard County's lightning safety education effort to protect its residents. The safety message on the sign, "When Thunder Roars, Go Indoors" can be a matter of life or death. If you can hear thunder, lightning is close enough to strike and you should seek shelter immediately. If a substantial building is not close by, a vehicle provides very safe shelter.

Stormy weather with flashes of lightning lead organizers to cut short The Band Perry's headlining show at the Maryland State Fair Saturday night. As the rain began shortly before the scheduled performance at 7:30 p.m., many people rushed to take cover in the horseracing grandstand at the Timonium Fairgrounds. Fans endured an hour delay before the popular country band finally took the stage. After fans filed into the infield of the race track, the band played seven songs of their set before flashes of lightning forced them to leave the stage.

The Hereford-Glenelg boys lacrosse Class 3A-2A state title game has been postponed to 4 p.m. tomorrow at UMBC due to lightning. The game was originally scheduled for 8 p.m. Wednesday night, but officials are trying to wait out the weather to finish the South River-Westminster boys lacrosse game that started earlier afternoon. The teams have 2 minutes, 33 seconds left to play and is scheduled to resume at 7:33 p.m. The Severna Park-Westminster girls lacrosse Class 4A-3A state title game has been tentatively scheduled to begin.

TAMPA, Fla. -- Has anybody bothered to inform the Tampa Bay Lightning that they are an expansion team? Didn't think so.In its NHL debut last night, Tampa Bay scored five times -- that's right, five times -- in the first period en route to a 7-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks in front of a thunderous sellout crowd of 10,425 at Expo Hall.The Lightning, a far-fetched, climate-defying dream concocted by Phil Esposito more than two years ago, officially has arrived. It did so in grand style, too, welcoming the Ice Age to Florida by pounding and humiliating the venerable Blackhawks.

The lightning that struck an Ellicott City house last week sounded like cannon fire and was so powerful that it blew chimney bricks 100 feet away.The lightning Thursday night also caused a two-alarm fire at Bill and Rayna Moleton's five-bedroom house in the 12100 block of Willowind Court. It was their dream home, but they're hoping to rebuild."We lost everything on the second floor and in the attic," said Mrs. Moleton. "One minute I was on top of the world, looking forward to going out to dinner, and the next, my whole life changed."

The deadline for submitting sports copy is 9 a.m. on Mondays. We prefer email (howardcountysports@patuxent.com). We do not accept results by phone. When two Howard County teams play, players from both teams (first and last names) must be mentioned in the write-up. Questions? Call 410-332-6578. Volleyball Columbia Volleyball Club The Columbia Volleyball Club Lightning 16-U team placed second in the Chesapeake Regional Volleyball Open Division Championships at Meadowbrook Athletic Complex April 22. As regional runner-up, the Lightning earned a bid to the USAV National Junior Championships July 4-7 in Columbus, Ohio.