Maze

LOS ANGELES -- As a rule, legislators tend to begin their attack on bills once they have actually been written. But not much proposed legislation involves the backsides of children. A Democratic assemblywoman from Mountain View says she will submit a bill this week - once it is drafted - proposing that California become the first state in the nation to make spanking of children age 3 and younger a misdemeanor. Penalties could include child-rearing classes for offenders to one year in jail.

Colonial Downs showcases its distinctive turf course this weekend with four competitive stakes races, including its signature event, the $200,000 Virginia Derby.More than 8,000 patrons jammed the colonial-style track in southern Virginia last year on Derby day, and officials expect about that many tomorrow when the second edition of the race takes place. Colonial Downs is situated off Interstate 64, halfway between Richmond and Williamsburg.The Maryland Jockey Club took over management of the fledgling track and its four OTBs this summer after financial losses the first two years nearly forced their closure.

Civil War eventCelebrate the 135th anniversary of the Battle of Monocacy this weekend in Frederick. Tomorrow, listen to a panel discuss the significance of the battle at 7:30 p.m. in Winchester Hall on East Church Street. Saturday, listen to an interpretive program on the American brass band movement with the Wildcat Regiment Band at 2 p.m. Both Saturday and Sunday, tour the Monocacy National Battlefield with Dr. Benjamin Franklin Cooling -- at 9 a.m., 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday and at 10 a.m., noon and 2 p.m. Sunday.

WASHINGTON -- In what appears to be the most extensive cyber-attack ever aimed at the U.S. government, covert hackers apparently working from Russia have systematically broken into Defense Department computers for more than a year and plundered vast amounts of sensitive information, U.S. officials said yesterday.Besides penetrating the Pentagon's defenses, the cyber-thieves have raided unclassified computer networks at Energy Department nuclear weapons and research labs, at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and at numerous university research facilities and defense contractors, officials said.

AN A-MAIZE-INGLY big event is growing in western Howard County.The Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks has cut a maze into a cornfield at the Western Regional Park on Route 97 in Glenwood.The organizers invite you to accept the challenge of this "corn-fusing" 6.7-acre maze from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, and Sept. 20, 21, 27 and 28.The maze -- designed by Riemer Muegge & Associates Inc. -- is a "living labyrinth of winding passages and blind alleys that will appeal to the game player in all of us," according to Recreation and Parks officials.

It might not be as impressive as the labyrinth at Cnossus, but the 6.7-acre maze cut out of a 10-acre cornfield in Glenwood in vTC Howard County is considerably more cheerful than the underground paths that led so many to their doom at the hands of the mythical Minotaur in ancient Crete.Here, children run between the cornrows, and the atmosphere is downright festive."This way or that way?""Are you sure?"A birthday party troops past."We're just doing this for fun," a mother says. "Careful of the people, please!"

NEW YORK -- To producer Margo Lion, Center Stage's "Triumph of Love" was a watercolor; Broadway's "Triumph of Love" is an oil painting.A number of technical changes have turned this $650,000 regional theater musical, currently in previews at the Royale Theatre, into a $3.5 million Broadway production that's bigger, bolder and brighter.To start with the set: At Center Stage last winter, and at the show's subsequent engagement at the Yale Repertory Theatre, theatergoers were greeted by an 18th-century formal garden maze, whimsically covered in bright-green terry cloth.

There's a leafy labyrinth on the Smith family's sprawling dairy farm in Harford County, an elaborate maze carefully crafted by hand in the 5 1/2 -acre cornfield.Yesterday, some 60 young people from Habonim Dror Camp Moshava, an overnight camp in northern Harford County, tried their luck amid the 6-foot stalks -- getting a close-up look at county agriculture as they struggled to find their way to the exit."This is kind of hard," moaned 9-year-old camper Hannah Lieberman as she and her group ran into one of the many dead ends in the "Great American Maze" on My Lady's Manor Farm.

For two years, Nancy Castaldo prepared for this moment. Raising money, appointing committees, lining up volunteers.Yesterday, on a half acre of bare ground near John Carroll High School in Bel Air, Castaldo's persistence paid off: The ultimate playground began rising from three tractor-trailers' worth of pressure-treated lumber.Castaldo, a mechanical engineer at Aberdeen Proving Grounds and a mother of two young children, rallied over 1,000 volunteers for a meticulously choreographed five-day "build."

NEW YORK -- One of J. Boyer Bell's four daughters once asked him: "Daddy, can't you paint a cow, or a bird?"So he bought a small stuffed bird, glued it to the upper right hand corner of a large canvas, and painted it the color of a lark."

Not all of the real estate from nursery rhymes and fairy tales is created equal. Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater's bright-orange abode, where he keeps his Marie Antoinette look-alike wife, is so light that one person easily rolled it into place on a recent workday at Clark's Elioak Farm in Ellicott City. Even the Gingerbread House that Hansel and Gretel long ago discovered on a trek through the forest slid easily off a flatbed truck, with just a few pairs of hands and a two-by-four guiding it to its cozy resting spot amid the white pines.

The State Highway Administration has opened three roundabouts and two new ramps and removed two traffic signals along Route 32. Traffic signals have been removed along Route 32 at Pfefferkorn and Ten Oaks roads. Motorists traveling along Route 32 can now use the ramps and roundabouts to access Burntwoods, Pfefferkorn and Ten Oaks roads. A new Burntwoods Road bridge over Route 32 is also open to traffic. Motorists are urged to reduce speed and stay alert; variable message boards, barrels and arrow boards will guide them through the new traffic pattern.

The first Marriotts Ridge Music Foundation Citrus Sale will benefit the music students of Marriotts Ridge High School and help fund their trip to attend the Fiesta-Val Music Festival in Gatlinsburg, Tenn. The sale will feature ruby red grapefruit, navel oranges, tangerines and a variety pack. The tree-ripened fruit will be delivered to the school in refrigerated trucks. Orders to be picked up Nov. 15 are due by Friday; orders to be picked up Dec. 13 should be submitted by Dec. 2. Information: Carita Carlyle, 410-465-2344 or Karen Littlejohn, 410-442-5440.

Though the Maryland men's basketball team is adding two recruits to help shore up some of its backcourt deficiencies, the Terps still appear to have a gaping hole in their frontcourt for at least the start of next season if further moves are not made. Sean Mosley, a shooting guard who finished his career at St. Frances in Baltimore as the second-leading scorer in the state's high school basketball history with 2,933 points, already has signed with Maryland, and Bobby Maze, a junior college point guard with local ties, is expected to do so soon.

CASTLE HAVEN-- -- Down a one-lane road past barren fields teeming with squawking Canada geese is something that hasn't been found on the Eastern Shore for more than two decades - a river filled with oysters. And Kevin McClarren knows how many are there, because he and his crew have planted every single one. Five million healthy oysters on 3,000 floats on the water's surface, with anywhere from 1,000 to 10,000 oysters each. Every day, McClarren and his four workers - all of whom have degrees in biology or marine science - wade into the water, each with multiple layers of sweat shirts, to tend to their burgeoning crop.

Fall festival -- Greenstreet Gardens, 391 W. Bay Front Road, Lothian, will hold its annual Fall Festival every Friday, Saturday and Sunday through Oct. 31. It will include hayrides, a pumpkin patch, a corn and straw maze, a cow train, a teepee, face and hair painting, and live entertainment. 410-867-9500 or www.greenstreetgardens.com.

LOS ANGELES -- As a rule, legislators tend to begin their attack on bills once they have actually been written. But not much proposed legislation involves the backsides of children. A Democratic assemblywoman from Mountain View says she will submit a bill this week - once it is drafted - proposing that California become the first state in the nation to make spanking of children age 3 and younger a misdemeanor. Penalties could include child-rearing classes for offenders to one year in jail.

Maze, featuring Frankie Beverly Maze, featuring Frankie Beverly, brings its laid-back soul sounds to Pier Six on Saturday. The combination of Beverly's smooth voice and Maze's bass-heavy music will undoubtedly make this a show to remember. R&B and jazz singer Will Downing opens the show. Pier Six is at 731 Eastern Ave. Gates open at 6:30 p.m., and the show starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $28-$70. Call 410-547-7328 or visit ticketmaster.com.

For six weeks, Erinn Sheridan worked almost around the clock. She machined the gear box, welded the metal supports and soldered electronic components into a whistling and whirring mechanical stacking device. "It was the most fun ever," said Sheridan, an 18-year-old from Mount Airy who helped fashion the robot with a team of fellow students at Glenelg High School. Sheridan's 5-foot-tall, 130-pound conglomeration of metal, motors and circuits was among 15 robots on display yesterday at RobotFest, an annual celebration.

On March 10, 2005, JOHN MICHAEL HARRISON; beloved son of Shirley Harrison and devoted father of Justin Wright, Travis Sirmons and Blair Harrison; brother of Sherrie Maze and her husband Stephen and uncle of Erin Maze. Friends are invited to call at the Burgee-Henss-Seitz Funeral Home, Inc., 3631 Falls Road, on Sunday from 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 P.M. Services will be held on Sunday at 8 P.M. at the funeral home.