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NATIONAL Prosecutors charge astronaut Florida prosecutors charged an astronaut yesterday with trying to kidnap a romantic rival, but they declined to file the attempted murder charge recommended by police. pg 3A Army secretary resigns Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey stepped down yesterday in the fallout from a scandal over substandard conditions for war-wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. pg 1A MARYLAND Bowling Brook to close Under pressure from the state, officials at Bowling Brook Preparatory School have agreed to close the 50-year-old reformatory where a student died five weeks ago while being restrained by staff.

Interior dialoguesIf you've always wanted to know more about interior decorating - perhaps enough to tackle a project of your own - here's a chance to learn about everything from space planning to budget planning, from window treatments to upholstered furniture, from wall coverings to furniture styles. Those and other topics will be covered by the designers of Hale-Williams Interior Design in Ruxton in a series of five sessions at Roland Park Country School, 5204 Roland Ave. The sessions with Tom Williams and Robert Hale begin this Thursday and continue on consecutive Thursdays through Nov. 19, from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The cost is $65. For more information or registration, call Denise Harper at 410-323-5500, Ext. 3045.

Maryland MillionOnly thoroughbreds who have been sired by stallions from the state's more than 500 thoroughbred farms are allowed in the starting gates Saturday at the Maryland Million at Laurel Park. First post time for the 11 races - worth a total of $1 million - is 12:30 p.m. A steeplechase is also scheduled. Between races, entertainment includes Jack Russell terrier races and a U.S. Equestrian Team jumping demonstration. Admission is $3-$5. Call 410-252-2100 or 410-792-7775.Opera opens seasonYou'll be treated to a doubleheader when the Baltimore Opera Company opens its season today through Oct. 25 with "Pagliacci" and "Cavalleria Rusticana."

Spring will make an early debut next weekend, when the Maryland Home & Flower Show begins at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium.Professional landscapers are creating 20 gardens to fill the exhibition halls with signs of spring. At the entrance, Jon Cook of Low Maintenance Landscaping in Ellicott City will feature waterfalls cascading down a hill into a pond. "Water is really soothing," Cook said. "And it is one of the lowest-maintenance things you can think of."The garden will include a gazebo, patio, arched entryways, stone walls and meandering walkways.

Jamie Smith never went to school until she earned a perfect 4.0 grade average last year in her freshman year in college.Well, not school as most of us know it. Smith was educated at her Columbia home from the day of her birth 19 years ago until she took three courses at Howard Community College before enrolling full-time at the University of Maryland Baltimore County.She never took a formal examination until she tackled the Scholastic Assessment Test and scored 1,320 of a possible 1,600.She never got a grade in any subject until she entered college and never was placed in a school "grade" -- never a fourth-grader or a high school sophomore.

Maryland State Police are warning Carroll residents about a group of unlicensed home improvement contractors who often promise to do a "real good job" that is "very low in cost."Police said the groups of fake contractors often target the elderly and residents of rural areas.The groups often go door to door trying to convince homeowners that they need new driveways, repaired roofs, or a paint job on the house. They also peddle lightning rods, tools and travel trailers, police said.Often, the groups promise to do the work soon and take a victim's money, then either perform shoddy work or flee, police said.

Last chanceIf you've been planning to skate at the Inner Harbor Ice Rink this winter, but just have not found the time, find the time today, because this is your last chance. The ice rink is open today from noon to 6 p.m. and from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. After that, the rink closes for the season. What are you waiting for? Nothing could be more invigorating than a winter skate in the great outdoors, especially with the great view of the Inner Harbor the Rash Field rink offers. What do you mean it's too cold to be outdoors?

The devoutly religious teach their children at home; so do aging hippies. Intellectuals unhappy with public schools and poor families who can't afford private schools do it. Maybe one of your neighbors is doing it, too.Bringing education home may be the educational craze of the '90s. Ten years ago, 15,000 children were registered as home-schoolers. Today, the U.S. Department of Education estimates that up to 350,000 children are being taught at home. Advocates say the figure is closer to 1 million.

Eleven small Maryland home health agencies are banding together to bid for managed-care contracts in an effort to improve their ability to compete.The home health care companies, eight based at hospitals, collectively do about $20 million in business annually and serve about 9,000 patients. The group, incorporated this week as the Maryland Home Health Network Inc., is the single largest home health care provider in the state.But members say the attraction for managed-care companies is the network's geographic reach, not its size.

Congress was about to put home schools out of business, but those who think home schooling is none of the government's business rallied and put a stop to it. But was it about to, and did they? What happened throws instructive illumination on American politics:Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., introduced an amendment to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act requiring that public school teachers be certified by their states. The wording of the amendment was construed by the religious right to apply to home schools, and this touched off a furor.

The fall Maryland Home, Garden & Living Show is traditionally about getting the home and garden ready for winter, the season of hibernation. How perfect, then, to feature "man caves" - comfy, cozy spaces designed with the hibernating male in mind. Three interior designers were asked to choose a Maryland man of distinction as inspiration for the design of a man cave. Paula Henry chose baseball icon Cal Ripken Jr.; Laura Kimball chose author Edgar Allan Poe; and Karen Walters chose filmmaker John Waters.

There was a recent newspaper cartoon in which a character stuck part of his arm out the window to test the winter air, and when he pulled his arm back in, it was gray. It was quite the opposite of a sunburn, and the perfect illustration of how we are all feeling now. The Maryland Home & Garden Show offers its own antidote to the gray of winter this weekend and next with "The Joy of Color." More than 400 exhibitors in home-decorating and landscape design will demonstrate what a difference just a splash of color can make.

Maryland home values dropped 4 percent in April through June compared with the same period a year earlier, according to figures that track sales and refinancing. The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight said yesterday that the drop was the seventh largest in the country. Even so, home values in the state are 66 percent higher than they were five years ago, OFHEO said. That's behind only Washington, D.C., and Hawaii. Year-over-year drop in home values for the three months ending June 30: 1. California, down 15.8 percent 2. Nevada, down 14.1 percent 3. Florida, down 12.4 percent 4. Arizona, down 9.2 percent 5. Rhode Island, down 4.9 percent 6. Michigan, down 4.7 percent 7. Maryland, down 4 percent 8. Washington, D.C., down 3.4 percent (tie)

Maryland's housing market spiraled further downward this past summer, registering the fourth-biggest drop among all the states as home sales fell nearly 30 percent from a year earlier. Despite the tumbling sales, the median sale price of existing homes in the Baltimore area managed to rise 1.7 percent in the July-September quarter compared with the same period last year, according to a National Association of Realtors report released yesterday. But Maryland's home-sales dive of 28.6 percent was more than double the 13.7 percent drop for the nation.

A coalition of several environmental groups and the home builders association are urging Gov. Martin O'Malley and the General Assembly to support a new tax that would raise an estimated $85 million a year to clean up the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. "Maryland has been slipping behind in the race to save the bay," said William C. Baker, president of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. "Little has been done since the `Flush Fee' was passed in 2004," he added, referring to the law that raises about $65 million a year to upgrade sewage treatment plants.

NATIONAL Prosecutors charge astronaut Florida prosecutors charged an astronaut yesterday with trying to kidnap a romantic rival, but they declined to file the attempted murder charge recommended by police. pg 3A Army secretary resigns Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey stepped down yesterday in the fallout from a scandal over substandard conditions for war-wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. pg 1A MARYLAND Bowling Brook to close Under pressure from the state, officials at Bowling Brook Preparatory School have agreed to close the 50-year-old reformatory where a student died five weeks ago while being restrained by staff.

At just the moment when we think we can't endure another day, let alone another month, of cold weather, it is home-and-garden-show season. For the price of a ticket, we are drawn into warm, moist, sweet-smelling and cavernous buildings where, surrounded by blooming gardens, we can pretend summer has arrived. Double your pleasure this weekend with the opening of both the Philadelphia Flower Show - the granddaddy of them all - at the Philadelphia Convention Center and the Maryland Home & Garden Show at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium.

A Maryland Home Improvement Commission investigator was recognized yesterday for her role in uncovering a $2.5 million home improvement scheme in Maryland and Virginia. Jennifer Grimes, an eight-year employee of the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, received one of 200 awards presented in Alexandria, Va. The U.S. attorney's office for the Eastern District of Virginia gave awards to people who made significant contributions to major cases. Grimes' 1 1/2 -year investigation aided an FBI probe of Craig Oliver, who was convicted in federal court in Virginia of defrauding 68 Maryland and Virginia homeowners from 2002 to 2005.

Personal information about tens of millions of veterans might have fallen into criminal hands when someone stole the electronic data stored at the Maryland home of a federal government employee, officials announced yesterday. The burglary earlier this month could mark one of the largest thefts of data that can be used to steal someone's identity, electronic privacy experts said. The missing information contained names, Social Security numbers and dates of birth for up to 26.5 million veterans and some spouses.

WASHINGTON -- It wasn't by accident that George Mason coach Jim Larranaga lured his entire starting lineup from the state of Maryland. When interviewed for the job nine years ago, Larranaga said he was asked about his recruiting philosophy. At the time, he said he wanted to try and build a "family," and would do that by targeting local players so their families could also be a part of the program and attend the games. "We made Northern Virginia, Washington, D.C., and the state of Maryland the bull's-eye," Larranaga said yesterday at Verizon Center, where his team practiced before a small home crowd for today's NCAA Washington Regional matchup against Wichita State.