Open Window

POLICE LOG* Elkridge: 5700 block of Paradise Ave.: Compact discs were stolen after someone entered a home through an open window Friday, police said.

People passing through the intersection at Charles and Centre streets recently may have noticed an intriguing banner hanging from the wall above the entrance to the Walters Art Museum . The oversize image depicts a black woman dressed in the manner of a 16 t h century Italian lady-in-waiting, who returns our gaze with an expression of ironic, amused self-awareness. Who is she? Alas, we don't know. The picture is based on a painting attributed to the Italian master Annibale Carracci, probably from the 1580s and possibly completed in Venice, where the artist is known to have traveled during those years and where objects such as the richly ornamented gilt tower clock the woman holds in one hand were common in the homes of that city's wealthy elite.

POLICE LOG* Ellicott City: 3800 block of College Ave.: A resident's purse was stolen from the kitchen shortly after residents heard a kitchen window breaking.* Elkridge: 6300 block of Loudon Ave.: A stereo and CDs were taken after someone pried a screen from an open window Wednesday, police said.

The polio vaccine was not my idea. Nor was the Second Vatican Council of the Catholic Church. The first idea protected my physical health. The second idea continues to protect and preserve my Catholic faith. At the time the council was convened by Pope John XXIII in 1962, I was an elementary school pupil in the vast, all-encompassing American Catholic ecosystem known as the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. In summoning the world's bishops to Rome, the rotund, genial pontiff stated that it was time to open up the windows of the church and let in some fresh air. Even a fifth-grade Catholic schoolboy could understand why it was a good idea to open the stained glass windows, at least now and then.

POLICE* Harper's Choice: 5400 block of Eliots Oak Road: Someone threw a rock at a rear bedroom window, shattering it, about 3:30 p.m. Sunday.5400 block of Beaver Kill Road: Someone cut a padlock on a locker inside the Columbia Athletic Center between 12:15 p.m. and 2:15 p.m. Sunday, and stole $40 in cash from a wallet.* Wilde Lake: 6300 block of Open Window: A garage door opener was taken from a vehicle on Feb. 13. On Feb. 19, the victim noticed two mountain bicycles were missing from the garage.

POLICE LOGEllicott City: 8300 block of Church Lane Road: A gas can was taken from an unlocked storage shed Friday.5000 block of Waterloo Road: Office equipment was stolen from a home Friday after someone entered through an unlocked kitchen or garage door.5800 block of Main St.: Jewelry was taken from a residence Friday after someone entered through an open window, police said.10000 block of Whitworth Way: A red 1990 Acura Legend with Maryland tags ZNL989 was stolen Friday or Saturday.

POLICE LOG* Hickory Ridge: 6100 block of Covington Road: A resident was awakened by noises early yesterday morning and saw a burglar run from the dining room and climb out a front living room window, police said. A rifle and other property were taken. The burglar had removed a screen from an open window to enter.* Harper's Choice: 10400 block of Twin Rivers Road: A VCR and cash were stolen from the Family Life Center on Friday or Saturday. A rock was used to break a window for entry. Police said blood found at the scene indicated the thief had been cut by glass.

POLICE LOG* North Laurel: 9400 Fens Hollow: Someone broke a rear basement window and took a compact-disc player and television from a home between 7:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Wednesday.9700 Covered Wagon Drive: Someone removed a screen from an open window in a house and took a stereo between 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.* Savage: 10800 block of Guilford Road: Someone pried open the lock of a front door at Fiber Plex, but police said there was no sign of entry.

A 16-year-old Columbia boy has admitted involvement in a rock-throwing incident that injured a Sun deliverywoman last summer. The teen-ager, who was charged with three counts of reckless endangerment, admitted involvement as part of an agreement with prosecutors Jan. 27, said Juvenile and Domestic Master Nancy L. Haslinger. The boy told police he threw a "baseball-sized" rock and heard a "thud" Aug. 26. Lynn McKissic was struck in the head through an open window. McKissic suffered head and eye injuries, and has problems with her vision.

A 16-month-old boy slipped from his mother's lap yesterday and fell about 80 feet from an open window in the press box at Laurel race course, a spokesman for the Anne Arundel County Police Department said.Officer Thomas O'Connor said the toddler, whose name was not available, was in serious condition last night at the pediatric intensive care unit at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.According to O'Connor, the child was sitting in his mother's lap in the press box at Laurel Park about 3 p.m. when he fell through the open window and landed on the concrete pavement in front of the grandstand.

Baltimore County police have identified the man who committed suicide Friday by setting himself on fire in his Middle River home. Kenneth Leon Grubb, 58, of the first block of Clearwater Court in the Bowleys Quarters area, was pronounced dead at the scene at 10:45 a.m. He had informed police in a phone call of his plan to commit suicide. Officers arrived at 10:20 a.m. and tried to control Grubb with a shock from a Taser gun, while he stood at an open window. Grubb quickly retreated deeper into the home.

The orange glow of my grandfather's cigarette was the only object visible in the room. As your eyes adjusted to the darkness, the dim outlines of his imposing figure would come into view as he sat regally in his armchair with the radio close by his side. The game was in the late innings by then, and each pitch became a matter of critical analysis. My favored position was sprawled across the foot of his bed, in the spot where the humid scents of the summer night air flowed in from the open window.

WASHINGTON - One display case holds the remains of a 15-year-old Anne Arundel County boy, a servant who apparently was murdered and stuffed into a hole scooped out of a dirt cellar. Farther along are the bones of a strapping lad of 12 or 13, with evidence of a raging infection in his lower jaw. He was found in a hastily dug grave in Jamestown, Va., an Indian arrow in his thigh. Even more telling is a baby, born into the wealth and power of Maryland's first family and interred in a costly lead coffin in St. Mary's City.

President-elect Barack Obama has stated that "literacy is the highway to success" and that libraries represent "a window to a larger world." Adviser David Axelrod recently said libraries will be part of the proposed economic stimulus package. As the nation and the world look to a new chapter in history, these statements leave me optimistic. During these tough economic times, library services across the nation are in great demand. Families are examining their budgets and turning to libraries more than ever.

Andrew Wyeth, who died last week at 91, might be the one contemporary American artist that every American knows. They may not think they know his work, but they do. How about that cute little picture of a yellow lab curled in the middle of a four-poster bed that hangs in your vet's office? Andrew Wyeth. How about that framed poster of an open window - shade half-drawn, lace curtain billowing - that the country-kitchen diner on the corner displays next to a real window, lace curtain billowing in a life-imitates-art tribute?

Each week, one of Charlie Conner's stories about life with his wife and four kids in Catonsville appears on the Internet. Flush with their tax refund but unable to find a baby sitter, he and his wife forgo a fancy dinner for two and take the kids out for cheeseburgers. With a tinge of regret, his wife gives up "liquid refreshment" for Lent. Spring comes with erratic weather, but flowers manage to blossom in the yard. "Actually, in a walk around the house Sunday between showers, I could count more than a dozen in various colors and some just coming up," he writes in an entry, adding, "Otherwise, the yard is a soggy mess."

A 3-year-old Scaggsville girl was hospitalized Tuesday after jumping on a bed and falling 24 feet from a third-story apartment window onto a concrete patio below, Howard County rescue officials said.Allison Abel, of the 8200 block of Spring Branch Court, received head injuries and was taken to Children's Hospital in Washington. She was in good condition yesterday and could be released as early as today, a family member said.About 5: 40 p.m. Tuesday, the girl was hopping on a mattress in a bedroom in her home.

A 2-year-old boy fell out a second-floor window of his East Baltimore home last night and was listed in critical condition today at Johns Hopkins Hospital.Police said Jerome Porter, of the 1200 block of N. Caroline St., was being watched by his 10-year-old sister shortly before 11 p.m. and was reportedly alone in a room when he climbed onto a couch next to a window.The baby, police said, was crawling on the couch when he fell out the open window and landed on the pavement.Police said the baby was rushed by ambulance to the hospital's pediatric intensive care unit, where he was listed today in critical condition.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.-- -- If you, like the Orioles, are looking for a fresh start, it might be psychologically beneficial to view the next three years as the baseball equivalent of one of those windows of opportunity that open up for NFL teams with a lot of room under the salary cap. The Orioles are close to a deal to extend Brian Roberts' contract through the 2009 season. Melvin Mora's contract extension, signed last May, also runs through 2009. Aubrey Huff signed a three-year deal in January.