Nadia

Thelma and Louise was the most popular pair of names, but Nadia and Natasha proved the winning combination yesterday in the Baltimore Zoo's name-the-tigers contest.And for an odd twist, a couple of Tigers were among the winners -- Howard and Claudia Tiger of Owings Mills, who submitted one of the four entries suggesting Nadia and Natasha for the zoo's female Siberian tiger cubs born July 11."If only there was a male, we would have suggested Boris," Mr. Tiger said last night, after getting home and learning from an answering machine message that he and his wife were winners.

Where can a serial killer feel safe? While that isn't a question I would normally ask, seeing as serial killers such as Dexter have proven themselves capable of handling any surprises that come their way, the question arises tonight. Out comes Dexter's more sensitive side, or you could say, his human side. And who would have thought that Hannah, a fellow serial killer, would bring it out. She is kidnapped by Isaac, looking to extract a favor out of Dexter before either of them wins their deadly battle.

Let us begin with their first kiss. He remembers it. She doesn't.But, hey, give Nadia Comaneci a break. After all, she was only 14 when Bart Conner -- an older man of 18 -- kissed her. For the first time. On the cheek.It was at a gymnastic competition in New York, just before the 1976 Olympic Games. Which, in case you are from another planet, ended up with the Romanian Nadia becoming the first Olympic gymnast ever to be awarded a perfect 10. Seven perfect 10s, actually. You could look it up.Anyway, getting back to the kiss.

From a winding road in Howard County's small town of Fulton, it's not easy to spot the home of Dr. Francisco Ward and his wife, Nadia. That is just as they would have it. Three years ago, it was not so much about privacy, as it was - and still is - about space. Their rambling ranch house, complete with horse barn and a few outbuildings, sits on 6 acres of land at the end of a long driveway. It is, they contend, the ideal place for raising their five children. "It was getting pretty crowded in our Ellicott City house," said 42-year old Nadia Ward, who does administrative work for her husband's pain management practice in Baltimore.

Nadia Lefcourt is saving the world's rain forests an acre at a time.Spurred by an independent environmental school project, the 11-year-old Elkridge girl raised about $200 that she will use to buy 5 acres of rain forest through a non-profit environment group called The Nature Conservancy, which is based in Arlington, Va.In return, the fifth-grader will receive an honorary land deed and regular progress reports from local land managers about their conservation activities...

Where can a serial killer feel safe? While that isn't a question I would normally ask, seeing as serial killers such as Dexter have proven themselves capable of handling any surprises that come their way, the question arises tonight. Out comes Dexter's more sensitive side, or you could say, his human side. And who would have thought that Hannah, a fellow serial killer, would bring it out. She is kidnapped by Isaac, looking to extract a favor out of Dexter before either of them wins their deadly battle.

From a winding road in Howard County's small town of Fulton, it's not easy to spot the home of Dr. Francisco Ward and his wife, Nadia. That is just as they would have it. Three years ago, it was not so much about privacy, as it was - and still is - about space. Their rambling ranch house, complete with horse barn and a few outbuildings, sits on 6 acres of land at the end of a long driveway. It is, they contend, the ideal place for raising their five children. "It was getting pretty crowded in our Ellicott City house," said 42-year old Nadia Ward, who does administrative work for her husband's pain management practice in Baltimore.

Nicole Kidman is so good in Birthday Girl, she almost makes the audience overlook the surrounding film. As a Russian mail-order bride betrothed to a shy bank clerk who's into bondage, Kidman does a lot of things, all of them right. Her Russian accent (to these American ears at least) is plenty good. Her little-girl-lost persona is vulnerable without being cloying. She makes us believe her character is desperate enough to want to make this unnatural pairing work. She's about the only sure-footed thing on display in the film.

SYDNEY, Australia - She was so tiny her coach could swing her like a doll, place her on his shoulders and celebrate a victory that belonged not just to her, but also to a country still emerging from the shadows of communism. She was neither Nadia nor perfect, but it didn't matter as the crowd cheered for a sport and a star. Last night, Andreea Raducan, 16, led Romania to a sweep of the medals in the women's gymnastics all-around final at the Summer Olympics. The 4-foot-10, 82-pound sprite won with daring and charisma, bounding on the floor exercise with breathtaking tumbling passes that ended with her leaping from the mat and into the arms of her coach, Octavian Belu.

The Howard County Striders sent a team of seven women to the Nike Women's 8-kilometer race at Hains Point May 12.Sandy Ford led the team with a personal best time of 30 minutes, 32 seconds.Dolly Ginter, Ford's training partner, clocked a 31:12.Rounding out the Striders team were Nelda Clelland, 32:20; Priscilla Bottachi, 33:40; Debbie Kocay, 35:17; and Nadia Wasserman, 37:26.Vicki Avey dropped out of the race after two miles because of aknee injury.Several other county women competed in the race.

AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. -- Tatiana Golovin beat Nadia Petrova, 6-2, 6-1, yesterday for her first WTA Tour singles title at the Bausch & Lomb Championships at the Amelia Island Plantation. Golovin was appearing in her fourth championship match but had been runner-up in each of the three previous finals. This time, there was no denying the French teenager. Golovin answered nearly all of top-seeded Petrova's booming but erratic serves and most of her blistering ground strokes. But her best tactic was to wait until the defending champion made one of her 27 unforced errors.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Zacarias Moussaoui's two sisters told his jury yesterday how their baby brother tried to escape the family's poverty and abuse but instead fell under the spell of Muslim extremists who turned a hopeful young man into one filed with hate. The videotaped testimony of his sisters, each of whom suffers from serious mental psychoses, was recorded last year. They were questioned at their quarters in separate French mental institutions, and only after it was certified that they had been taking their medications to ward off their schizophrenia.

On November 26, 2005 NADIA H. MAZOR, beloved wife of the late Nicholas Mazor, devoted mother of Jenny Honavar, Nadia Berman and her husband Mike and Pamela Wright and her husband Bill, dear sister of Tony Horodowicz and his wife Toni, Konstanty Horodowicz and his wife Olga, Roman Horodowicz and his wife Janina, cherished grandmother of Michael, Valerie and Donna, loving great-grandmother of Lindsay, Travis and Nikki. She was a "Rosie the Rivetor" at Glen L. Martin during WWII and she was always proud to be an American.

IF SOMEONE drops the phrase "stuff a bus" in the context of football, passionate fans of the sport might think you're talking about stopping Pittsburgh Steelers' running back Jerome "The Bus" Bettis. But mention it around players and parents in the Columbia Ravens youth organization, and they'll define the phrase with a community service spin. For the second straight fall, stuffing a bus for them has meant bringing a bag of food along when they turned in uniforms and equipment. The club participated in a Baltimore radio station's food drive, and by simple coincidence, said board member Mimi Goodman, managed to donate 106 bags -- which got them an unexpectedly big plug on the station.

I signed just below Nelson Mandela. The International Olympic Truce Centre is asking visitors to the Summer Games to put their names on an M-tOlympic Truce,M-v a modern extension of the peace proclamation of 776 B.C. that allowed the Games to be played in Olympia. M-tWe donM-Ft expect to change the world,M-v said volunteer Areti Parnassa, at the display. M-tItM-Fs a window of opportunity. If we can just open the window a little, itM-Fs a start.M-v Organizers started gathering signatures in 2002 and hope to add thousands, maybe millions, to the panels that will be erected at the next three Olympics.

Nicole Kidman is so good in Birthday Girl, she almost makes the audience overlook the surrounding film. As a Russian mail-order bride betrothed to a shy bank clerk who's into bondage, Kidman does a lot of things, all of them right. Her Russian accent (to these American ears at least) is plenty good. Her little-girl-lost persona is vulnerable without being cloying. She makes us believe her character is desperate enough to want to make this unnatural pairing work. She's about the only sure-footed thing on display in the film.

AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. -- Tatiana Golovin beat Nadia Petrova, 6-2, 6-1, yesterday for her first WTA Tour singles title at the Bausch & Lomb Championships at the Amelia Island Plantation. Golovin was appearing in her fourth championship match but had been runner-up in each of the three previous finals. This time, there was no denying the French teenager. Golovin answered nearly all of top-seeded Petrova's booming but erratic serves and most of her blistering ground strokes. But her best tactic was to wait until the defending champion made one of her 27 unforced errors.

I signed just below Nelson Mandela. The International Olympic Truce Centre is asking visitors to the Summer Games to put their names on an M-tOlympic Truce,M-v a modern extension of the peace proclamation of 776 B.C. that allowed the Games to be played in Olympia. M-tWe donM-Ft expect to change the world,M-v said volunteer Areti Parnassa, at the display. M-tItM-Fs a window of opportunity. If we can just open the window a little, itM-Fs a start.M-v Organizers started gathering signatures in 2002 and hope to add thousands, maybe millions, to the panels that will be erected at the next three Olympics.

SYDNEY, Australia - She was so tiny her coach could swing her like a doll, place her on his shoulders and celebrate a victory that belonged not just to her, but also to a country still emerging from the shadows of communism. She was neither Nadia nor perfect, but it didn't matter as the crowd cheered for a sport and a star. Last night, Andreea Raducan, 16, led Romania to a sweep of the medals in the women's gymnastics all-around final at the Summer Olympics. The 4-foot-10, 82-pound sprite won with daring and charisma, bounding on the floor exercise with breathtaking tumbling passes that ended with her leaping from the mat and into the arms of her coach, Octavian Belu.

SYDNEY, Australia - When you're 14, it's hard to be a symbol of perfection in an imperfect world. But that's what happened in 1976, in Montreal, to Nadia Comaneci. One moment, she was just another stony-faced tumbler from Romania. And in the next, in the blink of a perfect 10 on a scoreboard, she became a star, who owned the Olympics and commanded a chunk of the world's sporting interest. "I didn't feel any pressure because nobody was expecting me to win," she said the other day, nearly a quarter-century after she first commanded the public stage.