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Strong winds that blew in with Wednesday's storm were expected to continue through Thursday, with highs in the mid-40s, according to the National Weather Service. Breezes of 15-20 mph were forecast, with gusts up to 30 mph. While temperatures were expected to rise from morning lows in the upper 30s to highs around 45 degrees, the wind chill could make it feel between the mid-20s and the lower 30s throughout the day. Mostly cloudy skies were expected, with a slim chance of snow showers Thursday night.

The Boston Red Sox's sparkling new JetBlue Park was designed to be a replica of Boston's Fenway Park, down to the mock Green Monster in left and the duplicate Pesky Pole down its right-field line. And in a spring full of firsts for Orioles top prospect Dylan Bundy, this is where the 19-year-old right-hander made his first Grapefruit League appearance Tuesday afternoon against the Red Sox. Orioles fans already hope Bundy's debut at the real Fenway is sooner rather than later - even though he hadn't thrown a professional pitch coming into the spring.

The first of 70 new energy-efficient locomotives destined for Amtrak's East Coast service rolled off Monday morning from a Sacramento, Calif., assembly line. The locomotives, called Amtrak Cities Sprinters and built by Siemens Rail Systems, will replace Amtrak equipment that has been in service for more than two decades and has logged an average of 3.5 million miles. The new engines, costing $466 million, will be used on the Northeast Corridor between Washington and Boston and on the Philadelphia-to-Harrisburg Keystone Corridor.

If you are traveling the roads of western Howard County some pleasant fall morning, there's a chance you'll spot a bicyclist who seems to be going rather fast for the amount of exertion he's putting into his pedaling. Meet Daniel Rowell, an intrepid commuter who regularly makes the roughly 22-mile journey from his North Laurel home to his Sykesville workplace aboard his $8,000 Optibike — a hybrid electric bicycle that supplements pedal power with a battery-driven engine. Rowell is one of a small band of long-distance commuters who regularly leave cars at home and hop aboard electric bikes.

A decade ago tomorrow, the worst tornado in Maryland history struck La Plata, killing three people and flattening buildings with 261 mph winds. The F5 twister, the top of the scale for tornado intensity, left a plate of fried chicken on the counter of a fast-food restaurant but tore off two of the building's walls and its roof, according to one Baltimore Sun report. It left one resident's mailbox standing, waiting for more mail in front of a house that was torn from its foundation, resting on some bushes.

Sometime after 8 p.m. Thursday, a train will come roaring out of the north from Delaware toward Perryville at 165 miles per hour, matching the fastest speed ever attained on a U.S. rail line. After putting on the brakes, the Acela Express will make the 13-minute run back to Wilmington before sprinting down the track for seven more round trips by 2 a.m. Similar tests also are to be carried out this week and next on three other sections of track - in New Jersey, Rhode Island and Massachusetts - the first step in upgrading passenger service in those areas to 160 mph. Federal regulations require tests of 5 mph above maximum operating speeds.

HAMPTONVILLE, N.C. -- Junior Johnson sits on his cherry red couch, his wife, Lisa, beside him and their two small children climbing all over him. Johnson, 66, wears a beatific smile.The stock cars and racetracks are behind him. These days, his job description is as follows: loving husband, doting father and master of a country chateau."This is when you should have children," Johnson says. "Most people work all their lives and can't spend as much time as they want with their kids. Then, when they're at the age to retire, the kids are grown and gone.

Amtrak passengers in Maryland and other Eastern states emerged as some of the biggest beneficiaries of Florida's decision to turn down more than $2 billion in federal high-speed rail funds, as the Obama administration redirected nearly $800 million of that money into Northeast Corridor infrastructure. The windfall includes $22 million sought by Maryland for planning and engineering of a replacement for the century-old bridge that carries Amtrak and MARC trains over the Susquehanna River between Havre de Grace and Perryville.

CLARIFICATION An article in yesterday's editions of The Sun about a vehicular manslaughter case may have left the impression that defense attorney Jack B. Rubin paid for a pre-sentence investigation of his client, Martha Jean Ladenson. In fact, Rubin requested the investigation, but it was paid for by the state, as is typical in court cases.

Beleaguered commuters from southern Pennsylvania to Maryland will have a new alternative to driving down Interstate 83 starting today: hopping on a bus from York that connects with Baltimore's light rail system. York County's public transportation system, rabbittransit, will run six round trips each weekday day between York and Shrewsbury, Pa., and the Timonium/Hunt Valley area. The rabbitEXPRESS service, a three-year demonstration project funded by the federal government's Congestion Mitigation Air Quality fund, comes at a time when Maryland has been shedding commuter routes in response to budget problems.