Metro

The Washington-area transit system has teamed up with nonprofits in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia to provide comprehensive, individualized training to people with significant disabilities on how to get around using public transportation. The two-year pilot program was launched last week by Metro. It's meant for people who need more than the one-day orientations that Metro now provides. The transit agency has been providing free, one-day orientations on its bus and rail system to individuals and groups for more than five years.

Each week, The Baltimore Sun publishes a Q&A with an area college lacrosse player to help you become more acquainted with the player and his/her team. Today's guest is Maryland senior attacker Kristy Black , a Glenelg graduate. Black is one of the key cogs in a balanced Terrapins attack, ranking fourth on the team in scoring with 37 goals and 21 assists. She still holds several state tournament scoring records from her days as an All-Metro midfielder at Glenelg. She and the No. 3 seed Terps will play in their fourth straight NCAA semifinal when they meet Northwestern on Friday at 8 p.m. in Stony Brook, N.Y. Why did you choose to play at Maryland?

• Emmanuel Holder, Calvert Hall, DL, senior Allen Jackson, McDonogh, DL, senior Malik Johnson, Archbishop Spalding, DL, senior Steve Whiting, Atholton, DL, senior Charles Brown Jr., Dunbar, LB, senior Rafael Kess, Old Mill, LB, senior Miles Norris, Gilman, LB, junior Devon Porchia, Gilman, LB, senior Avery Williams, Archbishop Curley, DB, senior Malique Johnson, Annapolis Area Christian, DB, senior...

A Baltimore County councilman withdrew a bill Thursday that would have given a wide range of exemptions on development regulations to the Metro Centre at Owings Mills. Councilman Kenneth Oliver plans to reintroduce the measure June 4. It would give special exceptions to the huge project on matters including building sizes, parking, open space requirements and signage. Oliver, a Randallstown Democrat, said he did not have enough votes on the council to pass the bill. Some on the council and in the community had called the bill a "blank check" for the project's developer, Howard Brown of David S. Brown Enterprises.

• Mary Claire Abbott, Hereford, forward, junior • Anne Federico, Notre Dame Prep, forward, junior • Courtney Jantzen, Dulaney, forward, senior • Abbey Lawrence, South River, forward, junior • Julianna Shearer, Mount de Sales, forward, junior • Maggie Coccanga, Towson, midfielder, junior • Josie George, Bryn Mawr, midfielder, senior • Linnea Gonzales, Patterson Mill, midfielder, freshman ...

Ryan Friedman, St. Paul's, freshman, 106 Michael Still, Archbishop Spalding, junior, 113 Tejon Anthony, Western Tech, sophomore,120 Collin Alley, South River, junior, 126 Zach Cullison, Fallston, senior,132 Scott Strappelli, John Carroll, junior, 138 Alex Rice, Chesapeake-AA, senior, 145 Myles Martin, McDonogh, freshman,152 Brad Mutchnik, St. Paul's,...

Maryland officials say Montgomery County's longest-serving chief executive is expressing interest in becoming the general manager of the Washington-area rail system. The two officials spoke on condition of anonymity because former County Executive Douglas M. Duncan has not publicly discussed his interest in the Metro job. They say Duncan called them this week to say he wants to be considered. Both officials are monitoring the selection process. Duncan did not immediately return a call seeking comment Friday.

On January 6, 2004, DUILIA BERNADINE METRO (nee Mucci) beloved wife of the late Joseph Metro, loving mother of Jean Tharp and her husband Ray and the late Delerine Bua, dear grandmother of Lisa Frisino and Scott Tharp, great-grandmother of Isabel Tharp. Friends may call at the family owned Bruzdzinski Funeral Home P.A., 1407 Old Eastern Avenue, Essex at Route 702, (beltway exit 36) on Thursday from 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 P.M. Funeral services on Friday at 9 A.M. Interment Gardens of Faith Cemetery.

A fight among a group of teenagers and one man Wednesday afternoon at the Upton Metro Station sent two people to the hospital and closed the station for about three hours, according to Maryland Transit Administration Police. The fight caused chaos in the station, as the teens threw yellow cones, a mop and a trash can at the man as they moved through the station, according to Sharon Allen, an Upton resident who witnessed parts of the fight. "It was pandemonium, so you really didn't know what was going on," Allen said.

The Chesapeake Charge, which is in its third year and has moved up to the Women's Premier Soccer League's newly formed Elite Division, will open its season tonight against the visiting Boston Breakers.  Game time is set for 7:30 p.m. at Anne Arundel Community College. Many of the area's finest players will be in uniform for the Charge, including newcomers Christine Nairn (Archbishop Spalding/Penn State/U-23 National Team -- pictured below left), two-time All-Metro Player of the Year Ashley Spivey (McDonogh/Maryland/U-18 National Team -- pictured bottom)

Aquille Carr's days at Patterson are over for now, but maybe not forever. Recently named the All-Metro Boys Basketball Player of the Year for the second straight season, the 5-foot-7 junior guard left the East Baltimore school and is now enrolled at St. Patrick High School in Elizabeth, N.J. His first day was Monday. St. Patrick is a national boys basketball powerhouse and is one of the oldest parochial schools in New Jersey, but it is reportedly closing its doors at the end of the school year due to dwindling enrollment and financial struggles.

Franklin has signed to compete at Ohio State, and she'll help the Buckeyes with her versatility and athletic talent. The senior won state titles in the 300 meters and the 500 at the tough Class 4A championship meet, giving her seven individual state titles for her career (indoor and outdoor). Franklin used a furious kick to win the 500 in 1:14.46 despite trailing by at least 10 yards. She nipped Udeme Akpaete of Springbrook by one-tenth of a second. The only bad break came when Franklin had to run the 55 hurdles about 10 minutes after the 500, and that proved to be too much as she took sixth in the state.

Ryan Friedman, St. Paul's, freshman, 106 Michael Still, Archbishop Spalding, junior, 113 Tejon Anthony, Western Tech, sophomore,120 Collin Alley, South River, junior, 126 Zach Cullison, Fallston, senior,132 Scott Strappelli, John Carroll, junior, 138 Alex Rice, Chesapeake-AA, senior, 145 Myles Martin, McDonogh, freshman,152 Brad Mutchnik, St. Paul's,...

Carrington Akosa, Western Tech, sophomore Dan Blair, Century, senior Kashief Burton, Milford Mill, senior Justin Daigle, F.S. Key, junior Thomas Davis, Mount St. Joseph, senior Jamie Dubyoski, Loyola, senior Landrie Hatcher, Mount St. Joseph, sophomore Kevin Payne, Hereford, junior Jahlil Petgrade, Arundel, senior Blake Richardson, ...