Luna

Funny where an idea will take you. Ten years ago, Luna the dog -- part pit bull and part Labrador retriever -- was gnawing on a piece of bamboo growing behind Craig Calfee's bicycle shop outside Santa Cruz, Calif. Last Sunday, Calfee was due to arrive in the West African nation of Ghana, intent on making bamboo bikes for the desperately poor. Chew toy to bicycle. Whimsy to good deed. Santa Cruz to Ghana. Not that this story is anywhere near finished. It's still anybody's guess whether something will come of this project.

A knife-wielding man who was shot and killed by a Howard County police officer Jan. 19 in Ellicott City was carrying a suicide note, police said yesterday, raising new questions about the man's behavior.Employees at G.L. Shacks Grill on Old Annapolis Road called police about 1: 30 p.m., saying John Sierra, 39, was being disorderly and had a knife. When Sgt. A. J. Bellido de Luna approached him in a nearby parking lot, Sierra brandished a knife and, witnesses said, taunted the officer. Bellido de Luna shot Sierra once in the chest from about 10 feet away.

Six people have died in Howard County motor vehicle accidents this year, five more than at the same point last year.The two latest fatal accidents occurred over the weekend: at 10: 42 p.m. Saturday at U.S. 40 and Normandy Woods Drive in Ellicott City, and at 3: 42 p.m. Sunday at Route 175 and Interstate 95 in Jessup.A man driving a 1996 Freightliner tractor east on Route 175 and nearing I-95 reportedly ran a red light and struck a 1990 Mercury on the driver's side as it was entering Route 175 from an I-95 exit ramp, police said.

A Howard County police officer who fatally shot a man wielding a knife outside an Ellicott City bar in January "acted legally at all times," State's Attorney Marna L. McLendon said yesterday.In a letter to Police Chief Wayne Livesay, McLendon said Sgt. A. J. Bellido de Luna was justified in shooting John Sierra, 39, of Ellicott City once in the chest after a scuffle outside G. L. Shacks Grill.Police and witnesses said Sierra, who was carrying a suicide note, initially complied when ordered to drop his weapon.

Neighbors and acquaintances of John R. Sierra all seem to remember him the same way, although few really talked to him: He was a quiet family man who seemed preoccupied.Sierra, 39, of the 9800 block of Old Annapolis Road in Ellicott City was fatally shot about 1: 30 p.m. Tuesday in front of a liquor store after wielding a knife at Howard County Police Sgt. A. J. Bellido de Luna and refusing to comply with the officer's repeated orders to drop it.Bellido de Luna shot Sierra once in the chest from about 10 feet away, police said.

Editorial cast doubt on abilities of police officerAfter reading the Jan. 25 editorial, "Using deadly force," I was haunted by the sentence, "Sgt. Bellido de Luna is a traffic officer who responded to the call because he was nearby."This suggests that Sgt. A. J. Bellido de Luna's training is restricted to traffic issues and that he irresponsibly responded to a call he was unprepared to handle. This couldn't be further from the truth.Sgt. Bellido de Luna is a Howard County police officer who also heads the traffic division.

Howard County police have received a $79,000 state grant to tackle underage drinking.Of that amount, $34,000 will fund overtime pay for officers to look for violators; the remaining $45,000 will allow the county to hire a coordinator, said Sgt. A. J. Bellido de Luna of the department's traffic enforcement section.The money will help police "target the point of purchase and enforcement," Bellido de Luna said. "What this will do is allow officers to be dedicated to this."Now, the department has one officer designated to target underage drinking, he said.

IT'S EASY to second guess a police officer who fires his or her gun. Even officers who have been in such a situation can't say they would react the same way every time. Any number of variables -- even how much sleep the officer got the night before -- could have an impact on the choice he makes. The decision that Howard County police Sgt. A. J. Bellido de Luna made last Tuesday left a man dead. John R. Sierra, 39, of Ellicott City died after being shot once in the chest by the officer. Sgt. Bellido de Luna had responded to a report of an intoxicated man with a knife.

The driver of a bus carrying Jimmy Buffett tour personnel from a concert at Merriweather Post Pavilion on Saturday will be charged by Howard County police with hitting an officer who was directing traffic, police said.Pfc. Richard Rutledge suffered scrapes and bruises, said Sgt. A. J. Bellido de Luna, who is investigating the accident.A representative of the Buffett band, who refused to be identified, said that the officer "without provocation became physically and verbally abusive, repeatedly pounding on the vans and the bus as they passed by. To the best of our knowledge, he was not injured by any of these vehicles."

SCOTIA, Calif. -- From her aerie in the swaying top of a 1,000-year-old redwood, Julia "Butterfly" Hill tuned in on her portable radio last week to the latest development in the timber wars.In the 11th hour of its closing session, the California Legislature agreed to pay $250 million to acquire the last privately held DTC stand of virgin redwood, dubbed Headwaters Forest.Although Hill, 24, has become a symbol in the continuing battle by environmentalists to save old redwoods in Humboldt County, she said the deal thrashed out in Sacramento would have no effect on her day. She'd have an orange for dinner, washed down with a glass of organic Zinfandel.

Why is it so hard to make a persuasive movie about brothers? Defiance reduced the amazing real-life story of the Bielski brothers, who established "a Jerusalem in the woods" in the Belorussian forest, to a cliched shoot-'em-up with a guilty conscience. Wes Anderson has made a series of films, most recently The Darjeeling Limited, about brothers connected more by tics and grudges than by loyalty and feeling. Films that caught something piercingly intimate about fraternal bonds haunted the childhood hours I spent watching classic movies on TV; I'll never forget the Dumas-derived Corsican Brothers, about twins so close in spirit they literally feel each other's pain.

In the early-morning darkness of Dec. 4, 2003, a drilling company employee spotted something red glowing a short distance from his rural Pennsylvania office and swung his car around to investigate. There, in his headlights' path, was an unoccupied silver Honda Accord with Maryland plates. It was nose down in a small creek, the engine still running. Blood was smeared on the driver's side door, a child seat visible in the back. The man called 911. Face down in shallow water not far from the car was the body of 38-year-old Jonathan Luna, a husband, father and assistant Maryland U.S. attorney - a job that made enemies of dangerous people.

The full harvest moon rises tomorrow night in the east about 7:12 p.m. But if forecasters got it right, we may be socked in by remnants of Hurricane Ike. So try looking tonight instead. Luna rises over Baltimore at 6:48 p.m., indistinguishable from the real thing. The harvest moon's light allowed farmers to reap into the night. It's defined as the full moon closest to the fall equinox, which is Sept. 22 this year.

There's nothing wrong with Space Chimps. It's perfectly acceptable family entertainment with cute monkeys, the usual message of self-empowerment and the eye-popping animation we've come to take for granted. But is that enough? Andy Samberg of Saturday Night Live voices protagonist Ham III, who's not interested in carrying on the legacy of his grandfather, the first simian astronaut. Even when he's shanghaied by NASA into exploring a strange new world, he's more interested in making time with astrochimp babe Luna (Cheryl Hines of Curb Your Enthusiasm)

The Annapolis Symphony's current management team has been admirably adept at selecting visiting soloists to collaborate with the orchestra. That trend continued last weekend as the local orchestra brought soprano Audrey Luna to town to perform Joaquin Rodrigo's Four Madrigals of Love and the child's evocation of heaven that brings Gustav Mahler's Fourth Symphony to its celestial conclusion. The results couldn't have been lovelier. Luna, a lyric soprano with chamber concerts, recitals and symphonic engagements to her credit in America, Europe and Asia, is a charmer of the highest order.

Chamber plans Columbia gathering The Howard County Chamber of Commerce will present its 2008 Small Business Conference from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. April 15 at Howard Community College's Business Training Center, 6751 Columbia Gateway Drive, Columbia. The conference, sponsored by Provident Bank, will focus on sales and marketing for business growth. Gloria Mayfield Banks, a Harvard MBA and the subject of a Harvard Business School study, will share strategies that helped her produce results for products ranging from computers to Mary Kay Cosmetics.

2006 Luna Pinot Grigio From: Napa Valley, Calif. Price: $19 Serve with: Salmon It often seems that California wineries are in competition to see which can produce the most bland pinot grigio. Count Luna out of that race. This fine producer has given us a full-bodied, smooth and penetrating dry white wine with real character. The complex mix of flavors includes lemon, minerals, honey (in a dry sort of way), nuts, mint and white pepper.

Funny where an idea will take you. Ten years ago, Luna the dog -- part pit bull and part Labrador retriever -- was gnawing on a piece of bamboo growing behind Craig Calfee's bicycle shop outside Santa Cruz, Calif. Last Sunday, Calfee was due to arrive in the West African nation of Ghana, intent on making bamboo bikes for the desperately poor. Chew toy to bicycle. Whimsy to good deed. Santa Cruz to Ghana. Not that this story is anywhere near finished. It's still anybody's guess whether something will come of this project.

Route 40 drivers who pass the former Luna Bella might wonder what's happened. The restaurant looks the same, but about seven months ago, the name was abruptly changed to Stella Notte. As it turns out, the restaurant is the same, almost. Poor:]

What it is -- A new line of breakfast bars from Luna, maker of nutrition and energy bars for women What we like about it --With vitamins and minerals to get you moving, these bars are made for mornings when you have to eat breakfast on the run. Try the blueberry yogurt, with its authentic berry taste and mildly sweet yogurt coating. Other flavors include strawberries and creme and vanilla almond. What it costs --$1.29 per bar Where to buy --Available at natural-food stores, sports specialty stores and some convenience, drug and grocery stores Per serving (1 blueberry-yogurt bar)