Making Progress

Cornerback Jimmy Smith and outside linebacker Courtney Upshaw are the Ravens' top picks in the past two drafts, but they have more in common than just that. As most of their younger teammates are practicing every day and trying either to make the team or solidify their roles, Smith and Upshaw have spent a good part of training camp on the sidelines. Both have returned to practice - Upshaw missed seven practices with a right shoulder injury and Smith missed four with back spasms - but they have mostly been confined to individual drills.

A Louisiana newspaper is reporting that the Orioles' top pick, LSU right-hander Kevin Gausman, is "seriously considering" going back to school, but the club says it is still in negotiations with the fourth overall selection of the 2012 draft. The Times-Picayune newspaper initially reported online Monday night that Gausman "will be" going back to LSU, while citing an unnamed source with "knowledge of the situation. " The site later changed the wording to say the pitcher is "seriously considering" a return to campus while removing the unnamed source from the story.

The multistate effort to restore the Chesapeake Bay is on track to meet its latest timetable for cleaning up the ailing estuary, even though states failed to achieve all the short-term pollution reduction goals they set for themselves three years ago, officials said Monday. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson said Maryland and the other five states that drain into the bay, as well as the District of Columbia and the federal government, have all made "extraordinary progress" the past two years in accelerating their cleanup efforts.

Once students hurled computers out the windows at Calverton Middle School, but today they are learning on state-of-the-art technology that has flooded into the West Baltimore school. Once teachers couldn't wait to transfer out of a place where students ruled the classrooms, but now faculty turnover has slowed. Calverton is among seven Baltimore schools benefiting from a $3 billion federal program that is focused on the worst of the nation's schools. And though it is far too early to declare the effort a success — at Calverton or the other city schools — some improvements are clear.

Johns Hopkins' 11-10 overtime win against Virginia vaulted the Blue Jays to the top of many polls and rankings. But being No. 1 is not something that is weighs on the players or coaches, according to coach Dave Pietramala. “It doesn't matter,” he said Wednesday. “You could pick a lot of teams for No. 1. UMass is 8-0, Loyola is 8-0. Part of that is just where you were ranked originally. I would tell you that being No. 1 doesn't mean anything right now.” Johns Hopkins (8-0)

In recent years, the natural gas industry plunged into a reckless gold rush across communities nationwide with dirty, dangerous drilling and "fracking" practices that are exempt from many clean air and water laws. Now the gas profiteers have realized that there's even more money to be made by liquefying the gas and shipping it overseas - and so what if that sends gas prices here at home through the roof? The proposed Dominion LNG export facility in Calvert County's Cove Point provides a good case study of why this practice is bad for the environment, for people and for our nation's fragile economy.

A bearded lady, a flock of prostitutes, a machine that supposedly turns stones into bread — just a few of the off-kilter elements in "The Rake's Progress," the brilliant opera with music by Igor Stravinsky. Widely viewed as a masterwork since its premiere in Venice in 1951, but not staged with great frequency, the piece provides a vehicle for Peabody Opera Theatre's first production in the Modell Center at the Lyric. "It's exciting to help contribute to the season that is bringing grand opera back to Baltimore," said Peabody Institute director Jeffrey Sharkey.

Wide receiver Lee Evans, who was inactive against the St. Louis Rams because of a left ankle injury, said that he is making definite progress, but not enough for him to say for sure that he'll be out there Sunday night against the New York Jets.  "Obviously, it feels better now but you can't say it's all the way back," said Evans who didn't participate in this morning's walk through. "We're still going to take it one day at a time and be smart heading through this week and heading into the bye week.

The roar builds. In a moment, we will begin to inch forward, accelerating quickly toward speed, toward hurtling down the runway. Every seat is filled. I am by the window. The young woman next to me might be a student; next to her is the affable, middle-aged man who helped me with my carry-on. There is a family with small children, an older couple in wheelchairs, some teenagers and many who are traveling alone, all with their own purposes. We are strangers sharing our immediate location and our immediate destination.

The NFL moved closer to an agreement with its players Friday and could reach one by Tuesday, a resolution that would end a four-month work stoppage and ensure the $9 billion league opens as scheduled in September. At the end of a week when the often bitter tones of the dispute were replaced by gentle sounds of reconciliation, the league and the players released a joint statement to say they have made progress and will hold talks over the weekend. "The discussions this week have been constructive, and progress has been made on a wide range of issues," the two sides said.