Nation

Gen. William "Kip" Ward, a 1971 Morgan State graduate and the nation's only current African-American four-star Army general, will be honored today in Atlanta with the Trumpet Award. Ward, 60, who will be one of 10 recipients of the award this year, said he is humbled by the recognition. He said the award also honors Americans serving in the military today. "As one who wears our nation's cloth, I can represent so many women and men who also wear the nation's cloth," Ward said.

The hauntingly beautiful greensward that straddles the city and Baltimore County lines along Frederick Avenue was dedicated 71 years ago this month. Called "Little Arlington," Baltimore National Cemetery is where Boy Scouts were to arrive this evening to begin the Memorial Day custom of placing small flags on all the graves of the military veterans and their spouses interred here. Their graves are marked with uniform white tablets arranged in rows reminiscent of military formations.

Newsflash: Airfares are up. Ok, so you’re not surprised but you are feeling a hot flash of excitement. Know why? Because according to a Bureau of Transportation Statistics report released today, airfares at Baltimore Washington Thurgood International Airport are among the lowest in the nation. In the ranking of the Top 100 Airports , BWI came in at no. 83 with an average domestic airfare of $284, compared with the national average of $337 in the last quarter of 2010.

The One Love Foundation, the nonprofit organization created in 2010 to honor the memory of Yeardley Reynolds Love (YRL), announced that Maryland attackman-midfielder Joe Cummings (Loyola High) and Virginia Tech senior attacker Ryan Rotanz were selected as the 2012 YRL Unsung Hero Award recipients. The award is given annually to one men's and one women's lacrosse player within the Atlantic Coast Conference for their dedication to leadership, for their community service, and for being a positive role model on and off the field.

100 Years Ago Spirit and kick "Misses Lillian Schultz and Mary Merceron attended one of the performances of "Ben Hur" at the New Academy of Music. Mr. and Mrs. Howard Rider and daughter of "Sherwood," have been visiting Mrs. H. Newton De Vries. Mrs. W.K. Marshall has been indisposed with a cold for several days. Mr. J. Brooke Mellow of Baltimore recently visited at his fathers' Mr. E.M. Mellor, Sr. Miss Clara Elizabeth Selby has been quite ill with appendictis in Baltimore.

More than 38 million U.S. adults binge drink four times a month, more than previously thought, according to a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The reports says that young adults up to age 34 binge drink the most, but of the seniors who binge drink, they do more often, an average of five to six times a month. (Binge drinking is 5 or more drinks for men and 4 or more for women in a short amount of time.) It's most common in people who household income is over $75,000 but those with incomes of less than $25,000 drink the most per occasion.

Where was the TSA when we needed them?  Nation Somehow Failed To Predict Attack By Michael Bay

Maryland junior Katie O'Donnell won the 2010 Honda Sports Award, designating her as the nation's top female athlete in college field hockey. The honor was based on the results of national balloting among 1,000 NCAA member schools as part of the Collegiate Women Sports Awards program, now in its 34th year. O'Donnell led the nation in points (87) and assists (31). She holds both the Atlantic Coast Conference and Maryland career assist records with 74. She is the fourth Terp to win the award.

On that surreal morning in September when lawmakers milled aimlessly about the Capitol grounds in a kind of stupor - images of airline attacks on New York replaying in their brains and the stench of the burning Pentagon in their nostrils - Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel made an observation that would become an instant clich?. The nation, he said, "is forever changed." Five years later, the metamorphosis is still under way but so far not much seems to have changed for the better. Most damaged is the national psyche.

Out of the anger, anguish and ashes of Los Angeles, America again needs to take a look at itself. A generation ago, after Newark and Detroit were torched in racial riots, President Lyndon B. Johnson established a National Advisory Commission Civil Disorders, the so-called Kerner commission, which came to its famous verdict that "Our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white -- separate and unequal."This judgment, from a biracial group of political leaders, was in keeping with a national mood that produced the great civil rights laws of the 1960s and launched LBJ's "Great Society."

Hollywood Casino offers multiple entertainment options, like slots, table games, live racing and simulcasting, as well a gift shop and museum. This destination is owned and operated by Penn National Gaming, Inc., which one of the largest gaming companies in the nation. Casino hours: 24 hours a day. Games to play: Live table games include blackjack, craps, roulette, card games and baccarat, along with a 16-table poker room. The casino has 2,450 slots, including reel, video slot and video poker machines.

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?

For the first time in some 5,000 years of Egyptian civilization, voters went to the polls this week to select a leader in a contest where the outcome was uncertain. Given Egypt's crucial role in maintaining order and stability in the Middle East and the wide range of candidates, from secular to military to Islamist, that fact is unnerving to some in the United States, Israel and elsewhere. But it has been a cause of unbridled jubilation throughout Egypt, where millions of ordinary people lined up to cast ballots and determine their national destiny.

Baltimore's historic park system ranks 15th among the nation's 40 largest cities in a new rating released Wednesday, which credits the city's foresight in carving out public spaces over the past two centuries but faults its more recent leadership for not maintaining that investment. The nonprofit Trust for Public Land gave Baltimore's 4,900 acres of parks three out of a possible five "park benches," or stars, in its ParkScore rating system. The city got high marks for the accessibility of its parks, with 85 percent of residents able to reach one within a 10-minute walk.

The Catholic Church, embroiled in a dispute with the Obama administration over new health insurance rules, has chosen Baltimore to kick off a national campaign it says is aimed at promoting religious liberty. Archbishop William E. Lori is scheduled to celebrate mass at the Baltimore Basilica on June 21 to open the "Fortnight for Freedom," a two-week national campaign of special liturgies, prayer services and other events leading up to the Fourth of July. The Archdiocese of Baltimore is the oldest Catholic diocese in the United States.

When Sam Farrell visited the University of Florida on her women's lacrosse recruiting trip three years ago, there wasn't much to see. No lacrosse facility. No locker rooms. No team. No tradition. Coach Amanda O'Leary didn't even have an assistant coach. Nevertheless, the Severna Park graduate did see a bright future for lacrosse in Gainesville. "They had a plan and a dream, and they just asked us to trust them," Farrell said of O'Leary and Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley, "so seeing their plan and having faith in them and trusting that that was going to happen was all we had to do. We all just came in and trusted them, and we exceeded our expectations, for sure.

Lord knows there's got to be a better way. - Edwin Starr, from the song "War" WASHINGTON - For the first time in its history, the United States has claimed for itself - and puts into action - a doctrine of pre-emption, the right to hit first any nation we suspect of hostile intent. In an era when nuclear, chemical and biological weapons might easily fall into the hands of stateless religious fanatics eager for martyrdom, the president says anything less would be suicide. It's a compelling argument, yes. But it has frightening implications, for it frees any nation to strike any other on the grounds that it perceives a threat.

WASHINGTON -- In the annals of self- inflicted national injuries, a prominent place is secure for Washington's misguided values in spending scarce research money.The latest figures show that the federal government currently devotes $37 billion, or about 53 percent, of its research funds to seeking better tools of war, and $12 billion, or 17 percent, on research aimed at preventing and treating disease. Even less is allocated to basic science, energy, agriculture and environmental tasks, according to the National Science Foundation, which tracks research spending.

Four players or coaches with ties to the Maryland Terrapins are among the eight person class to be inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in October, US Lacrosse announced Wednesday. Navy coach Cindy Timchal, who has more wins than any other college lacrosse coach, guided the Terps to eight of their NCAA titles. Jen Adams and Kelly Amonte Hiller were national players of the year and three-time first-team All-Americans on some of Timchal's national title teams. Brian Dougherty was a two-time All-American for the Terps and twice named the nation's best goalie.

People aren't the only ones at risk from eating mercury-contaminated fish, since coal-burning power plants have liberally sprinkled the toxic metal across the earth's waters.  But it appears that captive dolphins have a little less to worry about in that regard than their wild counterparts. A new study by researchers from Johns Hopkins University and the National Aquarium in Baltimore found that the aquarium's captive bottlenose dolphins have lower levels of mercury in their bodies than wild dolphins tested off the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of Florida.