Maryland

THE ROLAND PARK Second Presbyterian Church looked absolutely stunning last Saturday for the wedding of Natalia Pia Melanie Sommer and Richard Matthew Dohler. Thousands of wildflowers, miles of lace ribbons and tulle, and window sills decorated with Singapore orchids set the stage for the nuptials of the daughter of pop music star Donna Summer and her first husband, Helmut Sommer,and the son of Dick and Bonna Dohler, he's an Ellicott City builder.The church was filled with the music of German trumpeteer Langston Fitzgerald and selections of Bach, Beethoven and Vivaldi, played by the church's music director Margaret Budd on the organ.

As part of a federal project aimed at better treating pain, the University of Maryland, Baltimore will begin revamping the way it teaches future doctors, dentists, nurses and pharmacists. Pain affects approximately 100 million Americans and their treatment and lost productivity are estimated to cost up to $635 billion, according to the National Institutes of Health, which recruited academic centers to help with the problem. A pain consortium of two dozen NIH agencies received 56 proposals and picked 11 universities to be Centers of Excellence in Pain Education.

Before sunrise Monday, Kevin and Shelley Taylor set out from their Millersville home to a new employment center for the Maryland Live! Casino, a slots parlor next to the Arundel Mills mall seeking workers for 1,500 jobs. Having tracked the progress of what will be the state's largest casino, the Taylors believe the facility could provide opportunity for their five-member family. Though Kevin Taylor has a job, he wants a better-paying one. And Shelley Taylor has been out of work for several months.

For the second time in the last two years, these Atlantic Coast Conference rivals will meet for a third time in the season. Maryland is 59-20 against Duke. The two sides split their earlier contests with the Terps winning, 10-7, on March 3, and the Blue Devils returning the favor with a 6-5 decision in the ACC tournament semifinal on April 20. No. 3 seed Duke (15-4) defeated Syracuse, 12-9, in the first round and Colgate, 17-6, in the quarterfinals. Maryland (11-5) upended No. 7 seed Lehigh, 10-9, in the first round and No. 2 seed Johns Hopkins, 11-5, in the quarterfinals.

The story of a 24-year-old Georgia graduate student fighting a flesh-eating disease has prompted a microbiologist with the Veterans Affairs Maryland Health Care System to speak out about the infection. Aimee Copeland lost most of her left leg after the flesh-eating bacteria necrotizing faciitis is believed to have entered a cut on her leg, according to the Associated Press, which reports she may also have to have her fingers amputated. The waterborne bacteria Aeromonas hydrophila is believed to have caused the infection.

North County High School freshman Jack Andraka stood on the auditorium stage, speaking about the invention that earned him the $75,000 grand prize at the recent Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. Behind him stood Dr. Anirban Maitra, a professor in the Johns Hopkins University's department of pathology who gave Jack use of his lab to craft his invention, a cheap and effective "dipstick-sensor" method of testing blood or urine to identify early-stage pancreatic cancer and other diseases.

Roberto Pagan-Franco didn't have a bank account for decades. His employer paid him in cash or with a check that the Baltimore resident took to a check-cashing store. A few years ago he lost his job after a severe illness and for a time was homeless. Not exactly the type of customer you'd expect a big bank to court. But Pagan-Franco enrolled in a PNC Bank program that targets consumers who otherwise might be shut out of the banking system. And today, the 54-year-old has checking and savings accounts at PNC and is in the process of getting a credit card.

Maryland Live! Casino at Arundel Mills will have its grand opening at 10 p.m. June 6, casino officials announced Thursday morning. The grand opening still requires approval by the Maryland Lottery, which will oversee a trial run to take place before June 6. The announcement comes as the state slots commission on Thursday considers a bid to open a casino in Rocky Gap, in Western Maryland, by Evitts Resort LLC. The commission also has yet...

The woman who says she represents North American Power is not telling the truth about the benefits of buying electricity from her company. "You can save up to 10, 15, 20 percent of your bill, depending on your usage," she says in a telemarketing call to my house. But the rate she eventually quotes is only about 7 percent less than the standard price offered by Baltimore Gas & Electric — something the average customer would have no way of knowing. And of course the percentage savings won't vary even if my "usage" goes up to that of a steel mill.

Deputed Testamony is 32-years-old. His dark brown coat is shaggy, and his biggest excitement is going into his paddock at Bonita Farm for three or four hours of grazing each day. He is a pensioner, an icon. The oldest living winner of a Triple Crown race. But when Billy Boniface looks at the horse in his paddock, he sees the striking colt that was born and trained at the family farm and raced to victory in the 1983 Preakness - the last horse bred or trained in Maryland to do so. "Oh my gosh, I still get goose bumps when I look at him and remember that day," said Boniface, who was 18 then and had just taken over the breeding operation at the farm.

- Monday's NCAA tournament final will be an all-Maryland affair. The Maryland men's lacrosse team punched its ticket to the national title game with a 16-10 thumping of No. 3 seed Duke on Saturday evening before an announced 31,774 at Gillette Stadium. The Terps, who advanced to the tournament final as an unseeded team for the second consecutive season, will meet No. 1 seed Loyola at 1 p.m. Monday. The Greyhounds (17-1) outlasted No. 4 seed Notre Dame, 7-5, earlier in the day. Monday's title game will feature two teams from Maryland for the first time since 1979 when Johns Hopkins defeated the Terps, 15-9.

The report from the State Department was brief: Thomas M. Jennings Jr., a federal worker from Burtonsville on a temporary assignment with NATO peacekeepers, had died in a car crash in Southern Bosnia. Fifteen years later, it turns out that was only part of the story. Unknown to neighbors and friends, Jennings was working for the CIA, the agency acknowledged last week. A veteran covert officer — he told acquaintances he worked for the State Department — he volunteered to go to Sarajevo after the Bosnian war as a U.S.-led force worked to maintain peace.

In addition to the 10 measures outlined in the article, "Injury-prevention laws save lives, study says," (May 23), I believe a ban on smoking in Maryland is also a no-brainer. You can't walk anywhere in Maryland without having to inhale toxic cigarette fumes. It seems more people than ever are smoking in front of buildings everywhere with no concern about the effect on others who need to go in and out of buildings or who simply want to take a walk. People are even smoking in front of children near the schools in our neighborhood.

John Haus hasn't heard from his younger brother this week. Of course, the Maryland men's lacrosse midfielder hasn't exactly tried to reach out to him either. No hard feelings. It's just the nature of sports. "It's game week," said Will Haus, a freshman starting on Duke's defensive midfield, "so there's not much talking going on. " John's Terps will face Will's Blue Devils in the semifinals of the NCAA tournament Saturday night at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.

Baltimore Sun reporters Jeff Barker and Don Markus and editor Matt Bracken weigh in on the three biggest topics of the past week in Maryland basketball and football. As Maryland's nonconference basketball schedule comes together , are there enough challenges to test the Terps before the league season begins in earnest?  Jeff Barker: There's Kentucky in Brooklyn on Nov. 9, followed by a game at Northwestern later in the month. The Terps will participate again in the BB&T Classic at Verizon Center, likely against George Mason.    Maryland fans have been known to wince when they examine the team's early-season schedules.

Richard Paul Sullivan , a former chairman and CEO of Easco Corp. who had been active in Republican state politics and civic affairs, died Sunday of cancer at his Owings Mills home. The longtime Guilford resident was 79. Mr. Sullivan, whose father was president of the American Girl Shoe Co. and whose mother was a homemaker, was born and raised in Newton, Mass. After graduating in 1950 from St. Sebastian's School in Milton, Mass., he earned a bachelor's degree in 1954 in marine engineering from the Massachusetts Maritime Academy.

Navy Lt. Mark Tedrow has no problem reconciling an air show with a commemoration of the War of 1812, an era that precedes flight by almost a century. The Blue Angels pilot said he looks forward to flying over the Inner Harbor, Middle River and Fort McHenry - birthplace of the national anthem - during a bicentennial celebration in June. "It will be outstanding to perform multiple maneuvers over Fort McHenry," he said. "It will show just how far we have come. " Tedrow and his co-pilot flew into Martin State Airport in Middle River on Thursday to give a small preview of what the Navy's renowned flight team will do for the bicentennial maritime and air festival that kicks off June 13. "Stake out your places on the waterfront so you don't miss a thing," said Lt. Cmdr.

Hundreds of people lined up on sun-drenched asphalt Saturday to see if they could get regular payouts, in the form of paychecks, from the new Maryland Live! Casino, a slots casino scheduled to open at Arundel Mills mall in about three months. "I hope I get lucky enough to get a position," said Mark Ellison, who's from West Baltimore. "They want people who are willing to go the extra mile so customers come in and enjoy spending their money. " The operators of what will be the state's largest casino hosted a job fair Saturday with the Anne Arundel Workforce Development Corp.

Albany transfer Logan Aronhalt's commitment to Maryland this week was big news in the shooting guard's hometown of Zanesville. WHIZ, the local TV station in the southeastern Ohio town, caught up with Aronhalt and his father, Scott, the Zanesville High basketball coach, to discuss the fifth-year senior's decision to become a Terp. "Maryland jumped in about a week ago," Aronhalt said, "and with my brothers being so close I couldn't say no. " Check out WHIZ's video piece on Aronhalt's Maryland decision here . * Annapolis Area Christian point guard Conner Lipinski , who previously accepted a preferred walk-on offer to play at Maryland, was awarded a two-year scholarship by the Terps this week, according to the Capital's Mike Peters.

Sporadic rains have helped moderate drought conditions that had spread across most of the state, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor . As of May 22, all of the Baltimore region was considered “abnormally dry” except for southern Anne Arundel County. It had previously been under moderate drought conditions. Most of the Eastern Shore remains under moderate drought conditions, however. Five days out of every seven in May, at least a trace of rain has fallen at BWI Marshall Airport.