Mink

When Joshua Grannell, 36, was growing up in Annapolis, he didn't realize how supportive his parents were when he was being "a little creative dictator. " Most wouldn't have encouraged his creation of extravagant haunted houses, much less dress up in costume and sell tickets (as his mother did) or pursue a little-girl actor with a chainsaw (as his father did, after removing the chain). Now they have the satisfaction of seeing Grannell's drag alter-ego, Peaches Christ, become a cultural hero in San Francisco and beyond.

Police logHighland: 12700 block of Hall Shop Road: Between Nov. 15 and Dec. 1, tools were stolen from an unlocked storage shed. The shed was broken into again Dec. 31 when someone pried off the lock, but nothing was taken.Clarksville: 13200 block of Clarksville Pike: A woman who opened her back door for a delivery man later noticed a second man leaving the front of her house. She told police Jan. 1 that cash was missing from a bookcase in her home, but she could not recall the date of the incident.

THE NEW Labor government of Britain is shaking tradition. To that end, Lord Gilbert is the first defense minister to hold a Ph.D. from New York University, to have worked as an accountant in Canada or to have fought for the rights of animals.So he ordered the army to review the busby, the bearskin hat worn by some 3,000 guardsmen at Buckingham Palace and a million postcards, to see if fake fur isn't feasible.All this to save the Canadian brown bear harvested by Inuit people under Canadian government supervision and dyed to look like European black bear.

DEVOTED, long-time readers of this column often ask: "Ken, why have you consistently failed to articulate your position on the wearing of fur?"First of all, the name is Kevin. And as far as my position on fur is concerned, well, I . . . I don't really have a position, although if push came to shove I suppose I could come up with some sort of half-baked . . .OK. For the record, I have no problem with people wearing fur -- as long as the fur in question meets certain, uh, specific criteria, which will now be spelled out.(Understand, that I myself do not own a fur coat, owing to a finely honed moral code as well as an annual income which compares favorably to that of a fourth-grader operating a sidewalk lemonade stand.

HOMEMAKERS FORUM chose Pat Nixon "Nation's Ideal Housewife" in 1957. She cooked. She cleaned house. She even pressed Dick's pants.Ever after she was known to the nation as that kind of woman.But in fact the most momentous act of her life had nothing to do with rattling pots and pans. It had to do with politics, power and ambition, and she was more Lady Macbeth than June Cleaver.Richard Nixon was running for vice president in 1952. It was revealed that some businessmen had contributed secretly to a private fund to assist Nixon with living expenses.

CAROL CHANNING is back in another revival of "Hello, Dolly!" She created the role of Dolly Gallagher Levi in 1964 and has performed it more than 4,000 times. The show, which stopped in Baltimore in February, opens on Broadway in the fall.When she was here in February, Carol Channing told an Evening Sun reporter that she still loves Baltimore, despite a couple of unfortunate incidents that happened to her here in the 1970s.On Dec. 18, 1978, after a performance of the meddlesome matchmaker "Dolly" at the Mechanic, Ms. Channing returned to her room at the nearby Lord Baltimore (now the Radison)

This fall, some fake furs come disguised as Persian lamb, rabbit, fox, mink, mouton, beaver, leopard and tiger. Others are dyed in strange hues pale blue, red, purple, pumpkin, pomegranate, silvery grey, pinky beige as well as in black, brown and taupe.In these colors, the coats do not resemble any animals but only what they are -- acrylic pile. They come short and long and can be as frivolous as a stole or as useful as a 1920s-style ankle-length coat of navy blue wool and cashmere, edged in dark brown "mouton."

WHILE I'VE never observed much evidence that Baltimore is a high-flying fashion town, there was a time and place when I did note some pretty good dressing up. I refer to the Pimlico Club House, the spring racing meet and the Preakness. How long ago? Let's say that Northern Parkway then was still called Belvedere Avenue. Because my father, Joseph Kelly, wrote for newspapers and covered thoroughbred racing, I got to know Pimlico. Its telephone number - LIberty 2-9400 - was as familiar in our household as dialing O for operator.

Even before prosecutors started sniffing around for Sheila Dixon's fur coats, her people were worried. Should the mayor wear fur? Forget the animal-rights politics. Dixon, a black belt known to threaten bodily harm with high heels, said she'd take care of any PETA types who'd dare douse her with red paint. Dixonworld was worried about racial politics. Fur plays fine in black churches and neighborhoods, where it is seen as a symbol of success. But in white areas, be they working-class or upscale, not so much.

Gladiola Savage is the principal of Fort Smallwood Elementary school in Anne Arundel County. She enjoys reading, shopping and traveling, not neccessarily in that order.How would you describe your taste in clothing?Conservative and modest. Teachers should keep in mind that they serve as a role model for children and keep that in mind when they dress for school.What's the newest thing in your closet?Sweaters that I bought when I was in Bermuda in July. They're vest type and slipover cotton sweaters.