Majestic

OXFORD -- A boat shaped like a duck. A boat that resembled a tank. A boat full of people wearing fruit-topped straw hats. Those were among the colorful entrants yesterday in the Ninth Annual International Cardboard Boat Race.Some of the boats had clever names, too: Cleopaddlers, Duck's Breath, Red, White and Bullip, the Plain Brown Rapper, S.S. Sinks-alot. And some of the boat crews were plain silly as they overturned or missed marker buoys on the Tred Avon River in the three-race fund-raiser for charity.

1873 Survivor1874 Culpepper1875 Tom Ochiltree1876 Shirley1877 Cloverbrook1878 Duke of Magenta1879 Harold1880 Grenada1881 Saunterer1882 Vanguard1883 Jacobus1884 Knight of Ellerslie1885 Tecumseh1886 The Bard1887 Dubine1888 Refund1889 Buddhist1890 Montague1891-93 No races1894 Assignee1895 Belmar1896 Margrave1897 Paul Kauver1898 Sly Fox1899 Half Time1900 Hindus1901 The Parader1902 Old England1903 Flocarline1904 Bryn Mawr1905 Cairngorm1906 Whimsical1907 Don...

For the love of trees, Mary L. Bowman could go to jail.In an area of Baltimore County better known for its fierce preservation efforts, the Greenspring Valley homeowner has been ordered to cut down 200 trees in her back yard or be held in contempt of court Monday morning."

C GRAFTON, Ill. -- It seems the most unlikely place to witness any marvel of nature -- the dull olive-brown-gray flatlands of the Missouri-Illinois border. And the months before spring are the worst: The trees are nothing but scrubby sticks, the limestone bluffs ragged and uninspiring, the yellow strip down the middle of Old River Road the only vibrant color.But over the last decade, in the worst part of winter, growing numbers of tourists are trekking to these muddy shores of the frigid Mississippi River.

Trailing by a goal, Columbia's Maryland Majestic players did some soul-searching at halftime. It was obvious they needed to improve on a lackluster first-half performance or the Maryland Cup would be belong to the Bethesda Force.A more intense Majestic side emerged after intermission. Abby Crumpton and Jane Williams then tallied in a two-minute span midway through the second half and defending titlist Majestic dTC had a 2-1 victory over the Force for the girls under-16 crown yesterday in the Snickers Maryland Cup championships at Carroll County Community College.

PHOENIX -- It's illegal here to shoot a cactus -- or ram one with your pickup or even dig one up without a permit.In Arizona, they take their cactuses seriously. And the saguaro, the tall, spiny, multiarmed symbol of the West, is taken most seriously of all. Mess with one and you may encounter one of the state's squad of plant protectors -- known as the cactus cops.Jim McGinnis doesn't understand why anyone would want to hurt a saguaro, but he has the photos to prove people do. From a file in his state Department of Agriculture office, he pulls pictures of mutilated victims -- saguaros that have been used for target practice, hacked at with machetes or knocked down by cars.

You are an investigative archaeologist for the Interstellar Transportation Commission, and your mission is to find a mysterious artifact aboard a deserted luxury cruiser found adrift in space.Or is it really deserted?Welcome to the S. S. Majestic, the creation of a trio of Loyola College students who have developed a CD-ROM computer game that could be the sleeper hit of this holiday season.Released just last month, "Majestic, Part 1: Alien Encounter" is already in its second run, according to its publisher.

Richard Strauss, "Salome," performed by Christoph Von Dohnanyi conducting the Vienna Philharmonic; Catherine Malfitano (Salome), Bryn Terfel (Jochanaan), Herod (Kenneth Riegel), Herodias (Hanna Schwarz), Narraboth (Kim Begley), London 444 178-2. Strauss, "Salome," performed by Seiji Ozawa conducting the Dresden State Orchestra; Jessye Norman (Salome), James Morris (Jochanaan), Herod (Walter Raffeiner), Herodias (Kerstin Witt), Narraboth (Richard Leech), Philips 432 153-2.These competing versions of "Salome" each have something to sell: Philips has Jessye Norman in the title role; London has Christoph Von Dohnanyi conducting.

Baltimore newspapers of 100 years ago carried the news that the great Frederick Douglass had died at his home in the Anacostia section of Washington.The life of the former slave, who was born on the Eastern Shore and who learned to read and write in Fells Point, is the story of a passionate American advocate.Scholar Waldo Martin calls him " . . . without question the most important African American leader and personality of the nineteenth century."And so, 100 years after his death, the National Portrait Gallery in Washington has mounted a fitting testimonial, "Majestic in His Wrath, A Pictorial Life of Frederick Douglass."

Segall-Majestic Inc., the Baltimore company that has taken nearly every Marylander's high school picture for the last two generations, has been sold to the nation's biggest school photographer, Lifetouch National School Studios of Minneapolis.Terms of the purchase were not disclosed.Ted Koenecke, vice president of Lifetouch, said yesterday that Segall-Majestic will be run as a division under the name Segall-Majestic by Lifetouch.John and Jeffrey Segall, grandsons of the founders of Segall-Majestic, will run the division, Mr. Koenecke said.