Midas

The Touch, by Colleen McCullough. Simon & Schuster. 464 pages. $25.95. Twenty-six years after she published her wildly popular Australian family saga, The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCullough has returned to the outback for a multigenerational tale of Scottish immigrants fresh off the boat. In The Touch, after he has taken many character-building detours, gold lures the penniless, illegitimate Alexander Kinross down under in 1872. And gold keeps him there despite his restless disposition, for Alexander has the Midas touch.

Richard W. Tennant, a retired business owner who served in World War II, died of a stroke Wednesday at his Summerfield, Fla., winter home. The West Friendship resident was 85. Born in Baltimore and raised on Gilman Terrace, he was drafted into the Army immediately after his graduation from Polytechnic Institute in 1943. As a young man, he played baseball with the Catonsville Bluejays. He fought in the Italian campaign and landed on the coast at Anzio in January 1944. "He often told the story of having his backpack blown off on his back during the first day of combat," said his daughter, Nancy Tennant of Ellicott City.

Richard W. Tennant, a retired business owner who served in World War II, died of a stroke Wednesday at his Summerfield, Fla., winter home. The West Friendship resident was 85. Born in Baltimore and raised on Gilman Terrace, he was drafted into the Army immediately after his graduation from Polytechnic Institute in 1943. As a young man, he played baseball with the Catonsville Bluejays. He fought in the Italian campaign and landed on the coast at Anzio in January 1944. "He often told the story of having his backpack blown off on his back during the first day of combat," said his daughter, Nancy Tennant of Ellicott City.

A local medispa has unveiled a new facial treatment for Baltimore's skin care junkies that is as good as gold. To be more accurate, it is gold. Diana Gavrila, owner of Diana's European Skin Care in Timonium, has recently begun offering clients a 24-karat gold facial. The facial, new to the United States, was introduced in the past year by UMO, a Japanese skin-care company. Gavrila's is the only spa in Maryland that provides the treatment, although it is offered at upscale salons in other states.

With attention focused on horses from the Breeders' Cup Sprint and the top three finishers in last year's Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash, Wildcat Heir sneaked into Pimlico Race Course for this year's Dash with no fanfare. He left a Grade I winner after scoring a startling upset at 16-1 odds yesterday in the prestigious stakes that attracted some of the fastest horses in the country. Wildcat Heir withstood a tenacious challenge from Midas Eyes, the 6-5 favorite and the beaten favorite in the Breeders' Cup Sprint, to register a neck win and collect $180,000 of the $300,000 purse.

REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. - The beer has always run toward the exotic in the Dogfish Head brew pub, where an old rowboat and canoe hang overhead, connoisseurs come to sample the latest experiment with roasted chicory or organic juniper berry, and families wander in off the beach for crab cakes or salmon. But things got really interesting when the archaeologists came along. Suddenly the pub and microbrewery were swept into a 2,700-year-old puzzle involving King Midas, a royal funeral feast in eighth-century-B.

The first three finishers in last year's Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash will return Saturday for this year's renewal at Pimlico Race Course. Oddly, all are 8-1 or higher in the morning line. "That reflects the quality of this field," said Frank Carulli, Pimlico oddsmaker. "This is a terrific field from top to bottom. You've got horses with strong local appeal and you've got top-caliber graded-stakes winners coming in. You couldn't ask for much better." The $300,000 De Francis Dash is one of three Grade I stakes in Maryland.

Police Blotter is a sampling of crimes in Howard County.Elkridge: 6200 block of Sandpiper Court: A 1992 Hyundai Scoop was reported stolen Wednesday. North Laurel-SavageDorsey: 6900 block of San Tomas Road: Someone broke into Midas Muffler on Tuesday and took a cash box from the store which was ransacked.Pub Date: 4/17/97

In Baltimore, police officers found the body rolled in a carpet and two men trying to throw it into a trash bin.In Montgomery County, detectives traced a trail of wineberry-colored carpet fibers from a second-floor apartment to parking lot. At a Midas Muffler shop in Silver Spring, they said they found a gun and one spent shell casing tucked in a duffel bag.For homicide detectives working at different departments 36 miles apart, the clues quickly added up...

Baltimore attorney Arnold V. Hawkins filed for a fourth bankruptcy yesterday, stopping a foreclosure sale on a Charles County shopping center about an hour before it was to begin. Hawkins' company, Green Acres Investments Inc., borrowed $900,000 from Maryland Permanent Bank & Trust Co. to buy the site, the Acton Square Shopping Center in June 1998. But he defaulted on the loan and Maryland Permanent sued. In February, a judge ordered Hawkins to pay $929,446. But after the judgement, the bank learned Green Acres no longer owned the property.

Miracle Michaila. That's what they called her, and that's what they inscribed on Michaila Louise Disney's pink welcome home cake when she was released from the hospital for the first time. She was born tiny - 4 pounds and 5 ounces - and with a rare genetic disorder called MIDAS Syndrome that left her blind, deaf and with a malformed heart and brain. But in her 10 years, Michaila lived big - outpacing expectations and charting her own course. In the end, though, after 32 surgeries, Michaila was just too tired, her mother said.

With attention focused on horses from the Breeders' Cup Sprint and the top three finishers in last year's Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash, Wildcat Heir sneaked into Pimlico Race Course for this year's Dash with no fanfare. He left a Grade I winner after scoring a startling upset at 16-1 odds yesterday in the prestigious stakes that attracted some of the fastest horses in the country. Wildcat Heir withstood a tenacious challenge from Midas Eyes, the 6-5 favorite and the beaten favorite in the Breeders' Cup Sprint, to register a neck win and collect $180,000 of the $300,000 purse.

Contested three weeks after the Breeders' Cup Sprint, the Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash provides those who stubbed their toe in the big dance or missed it altogether a second chance. Four horses who ran in the $1 million Sprint at Lone Star Park, along with three who had hoped to, make up the majority of the field in the $300,000 De Francis Dash today at Pimlico Race Course. One of three Grade I stakes in Maryland, the De Francis Dash is one of the most prestigious six-furlong races in the country.

The first three finishers in last year's Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash will return Saturday for this year's renewal at Pimlico Race Course. Oddly, all are 8-1 or higher in the morning line. "That reflects the quality of this field," said Frank Carulli, Pimlico oddsmaker. "This is a terrific field from top to bottom. You've got horses with strong local appeal and you've got top-caliber graded-stakes winners coming in. You couldn't ask for much better." The $300,000 De Francis Dash is one of three Grade I stakes in Maryland.

Police Blotter is a sampling of crimes from police reports in Baltimore City and Baltimore County. Baltimore City Sothern District Theft: Someone entered a rear storage room at Royal Farms in the 3600 block of Potee St. Wednesday and stole 30 cartons of cigarettes valued at $1,250. Baltimore County Towson Precinct Burglary: Someone broke into Midas Mufflers in the 1700 block of E. Joppa Road between Tuesday night and Wednesday from an apartment in the 8300 block of Loch Raven Blvd.

IF YOU'RE one of these people who goes around grumbling about how pampered and spoiled today's professional athletes are, you don't want to read this column. No, this one might send you over the edge. Because this one's about the Ravens' new $31 million training facility in Owings Mills, a 200,000-square- foot headquarters that makes their old facility look like a bus station by comparison. This one's about Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti opening his wallet to build the Waldorf Astoria of NFL training complexes carved from 31 wooded acres on a street called -- you gotta love this -- Winning Drive.

In a transaction even attorneys involved in the case called unusual, a judge signed an order yesterday allowing a bankrupt attorney to sell a bankrupt downtown office building to another financially troubled company he co-owns - at a steep discount. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge James F. Schneider's signature on the order avoids a foreclosure sale on 213 St. Paul Place - a run-down, five-story office building that once housed Kurt L. Schmoke's 1995 mayoral campaign and is leased to two city-funded agencies.

Police Blotter is a sampling of crimes from police reports in Baltimore City and Baltimore County. Baltimore City Sothern District Theft: Someone entered a rear storage room at Royal Farms in the 3600 block of Potee St. Wednesday and stole 30 cartons of cigarettes valued at $1,250. Baltimore County Towson Precinct Burglary: Someone broke into Midas Mufflers in the 1700 block of E. Joppa Road between Tuesday night and Wednesday from an apartment in the 8300 block of Loch Raven Blvd.

Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder first tried the proven old pro with a track record for rehabilitating teams, and Marty Schottenheimer lasted one tumultuous 8-8 season. Snyder then tried the can't-miss college hotshot, and Steve Spurrier lasted two uninspired, but expensive, seasons. Yesterday, twice burned, Snyder reached out to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, and all the way back to the Redskins' family tree to get his next coach. In Joe Gibbs, the Redskins' family feels like Snyder finally got it right.

The Touch, by Colleen McCullough. Simon & Schuster. 464 pages. $25.95. Twenty-six years after she published her wildly popular Australian family saga, The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCullough has returned to the outback for a multigenerational tale of Scottish immigrants fresh off the boat. In The Touch, after he has taken many character-building detours, gold lures the penniless, illegitimate Alexander Kinross down under in 1872. And gold keeps him there despite his restless disposition, for Alexander has the Midas touch.