Loaded

Every few weeks, I break the coffee carafe. Not intentionally, though I have to admit it might be a lot more entertaining that way. I could stage every-third-Wednesday carafe-bashings in my kitchen. You could come and watch. And maybe help clean up. A few of the early breaks were understandable, or at least there appeared to be a logical explanation for the glass cracking. First, there was the time I was nearing the end of a lengthy, dismal housecleaning day. Exasperated with the whole kitchen mess, I loaded the carafe into the dishwasher, right next to the cast iron cook-top burner grates, which are not particularly dishwasher safe, either.

BAGHDAD -- An explosives-laden truck blew up yesterday at a crowded market in Tal Afar, killing at least 50 people and injuring 103 others, officials said. The truck had been loaded with flour, and shoppers were invited to help themselves. "They were all innocent civilians," Mayor Najin Abdullah Jubouri said. "Their only fault is that they are Shiite." Across the country yesterday, at least 84 Iraqis were found dead in bombings, mortar attacks, sniper fire and execution-style shootings.

Northeast was coming off a difficult extra-inning loss to Severna Park and had top-ranked Arundel up next. It was sophomore pitcher Rachel Herrick's task to get things turned around.No problem.After some early run support, Herrick pitched out of a fifth-inning, bases-loaded jam as the No. 2 Eagles came away with a 3-2 win over Arundel in Gambrills.After driving in what turned out to be the game-winning run with a single to center in the third, Herrick saved her best for the mound in the pivotal fifth inning.

A long-time Baltimore drug trafficker was sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison without the possibility of parole yesterday under a federal program designed to take armed career criminals off the streets.Bernard Anthony Bey, 28, received a 19-year, five-month prison term for being a felon in possession of a firearm.Bey was prosecuted under a program called DISARM, which carries tough penalties for gun-carrying criminals.After the sentencing in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, Bey's mother started to sob. She later screamed at prosecutor Martin Clarke in a fifth-floor hallway.

The cable from Israel reached Ilene Ellis at her home in Owings Mills and consisted entirely of three sentences to sum up her husband's life and the overlooked pieces of the history of a nation constantly on the edge of some cliff.``Greatly saddened by the news of Al's death. He was a great patriot and the best of friends. He will be sorely missed.''It was signed: Moshe Arens, Israeli minister of defense.In another time, Arens had been Al Ellis' commanding officer. He knew about Ellis' efforts smuggling guns into Israel in the war for independence half a century ago, his service in the Israeli military, his development of a remote pilotless aircraft that helped overcome Soviet MiGs in 1982, and he knew why Ellis had been awarded the Israeli Defense Prize.

Two lanes of the Baltimore Beltway in Arbutus will be closed late tonight so that crews can repair and straighten one of the bridges smacked by a truck and its oversized load in the freak accident that crushed three cars on the road this week.The repair work on the I-695 bridge at Westland Boulevard is to last from 8 p.m. today until 10 a.m. Sunday.The bridge was inspected shortly after the collision and deemed safe, but structural engineers found that one of 10 beams on the span was bent and out of alignment.

MY EIGHTH-grade daughter became the object of ridicule among her private school friends because she thought a "consonant" was one of the seven major land masses of the globe.The poor child may have her mouth washed out with soap soon if she continues to begin sentences with "Whitney and me" despite frequent correcting from her previously adoring but currently very frustrated father.My son came home from high school and -- just as he did when he was in grade school -- asked for the meaning of a word he just heard for the first time: "predicate."

A MAJOR ASSET of a grilled sausage sandwich is the "load" that comes with it, as in the mix of grilled onions and peppers tossed or "loaded" on the sausage.A loaded sausage is ideal summer fare. All that smoke and all those peppers benefit from being in a well-ventilated setting, like a ballpark. This year, for example, whenever I go to an Oriole game at Camden Yards, I usually get a grilled, "loaded" sausage.The other night when I wanted to make "loaded sausages" in my back yard, I had to steal a recipe from a Boson Red Sox fan, Chris Schlesinger.

A national survey of more than 5,000 households found that one in three has a gun, and offers more evidence that many gun owners are not storing their weapons safely.At least one gun is kept loaded and unlocked in about 20 percent of households with firearms, according to the survey published this month in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.The researchers discovered that in 11 percent of homes with both a firearm and a child younger than 18, a gun is stored loaded and unlocked.

NEW YORK -- No one wants to see this. No one wants to see Cal Ripken embarrassed. No one wants to see a great player stumble at the end of his career.It was only yesterday that Ripken was an offensive force, driving balls to the gaps, hitting three-run homers, delivering clutch RBIs.It was only yesterday that he was one of the game's top defensive players, catching every grounder, chasing down pop-ups, making powerful throws.That Cal Ripken has disappeared, at least for now.It's sad to watch.

Officially, the Orioles played nine innings against the Tampa Bay Rays and their rookie right-hander Wade Davis in a 3-0 defeat Thursday night. The first inning, though, was the only one that mattered. Davis, a heralded prospect making just the third start of his major league career, loaded the bases with no outs in the first, but the Orioles couldn't get the ball out of the infield and failed to score. They never had much of a chance after that as Davis retired 25 of the final 28 batters he faced on his way to a shutout that doubled as his first big league win. He allowed three base runners to start the night and three more for the rest of the game.

Man with gun arrested at Arundel Mills mall after spray-painting car Anne Arundel County police arrested a 21-year-old Virginia man Saturday at Arundel Mills mall after discovering he was carrying a loaded pistol and marijuana in his backpack and had a loaded shotgun in his car. Timothy John Barnes, of Wake, Va., was charged with possession of a handgun, possession of a concealed deadly weapon, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia, police...

Rough night for B-Rob Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts, who was 11-for-22 with four walks in the homestand, went hitless in five at-bats, ending his six-game hitting streak. The key at-bat came in the fifth, when he struck out with the bases loaded and two out. He did pick up an RBI with a bases-loaded groundout in the ninth. In the field, he botched a potential double-play ball that ignited the Mets' four-run rally in the fourth. punchout with a fist In the second inning, Melvin Mora attempted to swing at a pitch from Mike Pelfrey, but the ball hit him in the right hand.

Mayor Sheila Dixon pointed to the killing of a former city councilman as Exhibit A why someone caught with an illegal, loaded handgun should be imprisoned longer, a proposal she pushed Wednesday in the state capital. Just a month before Kenneth N. Harris Sr. was shot to death last fall outside a popular jazz club in Northeast Baltimore, a 20-year-old charged in the killing was sentenced to the 85 days he had spent in jail for carrying a loaded weapon in Baltimore County. "When you're out in a matter of days or weeks, what kind of message is that sending to them?"

DOWN AND OUT The Orioles had eight hits but were shut out for the second time this spring and have dropped four straight Grapefruit League games. They had their chances yesterday, particularly in the final two innings. The Orioles loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth, but New York reliever Brian Stokes got pinch hitter Jolbert Cabrera to ground out. The Orioles loaded the bases in the ninth, bringing the tying run to the plate with Adam Jones. But Jones swung at Elmer Dessens' first pitch and bounced into a game-ending double play.

Hours after learning he would be leading the Orioles again in 2009, Dave Trembley witnessed something he had never seen before on a baseball diamond. This is a guy who rode minor league buses for 20 years and managed thousands of bush league games. A guy who on Aug. 22, 2007 - the last time his job security was publicly supported by his front office - watched his Orioles allow 30 runs in one game. And yet the eighth inning of last night's rain-soaked, 11-2 loss to the Oakland Athletics - a defeat that was the Orioles' seventh consecutive and 14th in their past 16 games - made history for Trembley.

FLIPPING OUT: : The defensive play of the game was turned in by Athletics third baseman Jack Hannahan in the bottom of the fifth. He chased a foul pop toward the visiting dugout, extended his arm to reach it and flipped into the dugout, the bottom half of him caught by teammates while the top half hit the concrete. He held on for the grab. TOUGH DEBUT:: Brian Bass, who was acquired by the Orioles yesterday from the Minnesota Twins for a player to be named, entered in the sixth with one out and the bases loaded.

A recap of the Orioles' 7-2 loss to the Red Sox last night: More woes for Cabrera Daniel Cabrera continued his lackluster play against Boston, allowing six earned runs in 4 1/3 innings to take the loss. He is 2-11 with a 7.13 ERA in 16 starts against the Red Sox in his career. In those games, the Orioles are 4-12. After allowing 12 base runners last night, Cabrera has yielded 155 hits or walks to the Red Sox in 77 innings. A major difference Cabrera and Daisuke Matsuzaka each got off to a rocky start last night, but only one was able to steady himself to turn in a scoreless first inning.

For brief intervals of every season, even losing teams play perfect baseball. The Orioles are in the midst of such a time. For two straight nights, they have jumped to big early leads with contributions from all over the lineup. They have fielded every tough grounder. Their starting pitchers have worked deep into games without stringing together mistakes. Last night, those elements added up to a 9-0 pounding of the Texas Rangers before an announced 30,914 at Camden Yards. "Those [games]

Two 18-year-old women were arrested in Anne Arundel County this week in connection with an attempted robbery and shooting that occurred July 25 in Pasadena, police said yesterday. The pair, who police said in charging documents are romantically involved, were arrested after the mother of one of them found a loaded handgun in her room. A Pasadena man told police that he was walking along Mountain Road when he was shot in the arm and shoulder by a man who said, "Give me your money, I have six more bullets."