Option

Greg Cantori plans to downsize when he retires. Really, really downsize. His retirement home is 238 square feet — one-tenth the size of the average new American house — and sits in his Anne Arundel County yard. He and wife Renee can hitch it to a truck and take it with them wherever they go. "It's so cheap — that's what's so cool about this," said Cantori, 52, who envisions a surf-and-turf future, alternating between the house and a sailboat. "We bought the house for $19,000.

Now that Johns Hopkins has opened the door for conferences to woo the illustrious program, the most pressing question centers on if there is one league that best suits the Blue Jays - and vice versa. If coach Dave Pietramala and athletic director Tom Calder are steadfast in retaining traditional rivalries, the Atlantic Coast Conference would appear to be the best fit. Joining that league would allow Johns Hopkins to maintain traditional series with North Carolina, Syracuse and Virginia, and the team would simply have to carve out space for Duke and Notre Dame.

For many folks headed to Preakness, the focus of the afternoon isn't the race. It's the fashion — and we don't just mean hats. If you're in the grandstands, the Jockey Club area or Corporate Village, you'll want to dress the part. Betsy Dugan, owner of Bettina Collections in Cross Keys and former co-owner of Octavia in Pikesville, has been dressing women for Preakness for years. "This is the time ... to dress up," she said. If there's one rule of thumb, it's that ladies and gentlemen at Preakness should look like ...well, ladies and gentlemen.

W.R. Grace CEO Fred E. Festa sold shares of newly exercised stock options for a nearly $1.3 million profit, the Columbia chemical maker said Tuesday. Festa exercised an option to buy 21,490 shares at $19.71 apiece Monday and sold them the same day for about $78.04 each, according to a company filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. W.R. Grace said the sale was "pursuant" to a prearranged trading plan. Festa owned 100,000 shares of company stock after the transaction.

Always, there were those lovely old country estates and gracious manor taverns with roaring fireplaces, but in the old days fine dining was associated with the city. Not so anymore. Now, there are more compelling reasons than ever for diners to cross county lines for a good meal. The 50 best county restaurants in Howard County, Anne Arundel County and Baltimore County is a mix of the old and the new, destinations for special occasions and joints for Monday night suppers, the chef-driven and crowd-pleasing.

You know how you wake up on Sunday morning and enjoy the challenge of trying to complete the crossword puzzle or the Sudoku in the newspaper? That's how NFL defensive coordinators and coaches when they wake up in the morning feel about the read-option offense, which puzzled many teams during the 2012 season. Three NFC playoff teams from a season ago -- Washington, Seattle and San Francisco -- made the read-option running game a staple of their offenses, using their poised, mobile young quarterbacks to terrorize defenses.

Left-hander Wilfrido Perez has been optioned to Double-A Bowie, the Orioles announced today. Perez, who will report to the Orioles' minor-league camp, did not allow a hit or a run in 3 1/3 innings this spring. He also struck out four batters in four appearances. Perez went 2-0 with a 1.37 ERA in 24 games for Bowie last season. He had surgery last July to remove bone chips from his left elbow.

Left-handed reliever Ron Villone has been released by the Washington Nationals. The Nationals signed Villone to a minor league contract last month and invited him to spring training. But Villone had a 16.20 ERA in three relief appearances covering 1 2/3 innings. The Nationals also sent five pitchers to their minor league camp, including righty Collin Balester .

Volt has brought back an a la carte menu. For a few years now, Bryan Voltaggio's flagship restaurant has been going with multi-course tasting menus as well as the exclusive Table 21 experience. But beginning last Friday, the Frederick restaurant began offering an a la carte menu, too. Even so, the a la carte menu is developed and designed to be approached like a tasting menu, the Volt folks say. Instead of breaking items down into conventional appetizer, entree and dessert courses, the a la carte menu has headings like Fruits and Vegetables, Pasta and Grains, Fish and Shellfish and Cheese and Dessert.

Israel is currently sounding off over what it views as the limited effectiveness of economic sanctions as a way of stopping Iran's nuclear weapons program. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has criticized President Obama's failure to specify what would provoke a U.S. military strike against existing Iran's nuclear facilities. Mr. Obama's current wait-and-see policy is clearly the wrong approach. Iran has no moral right to weapons of mass destruction, while Israel does have a moral right to prevent Iran from obtaining them.

Legg Mason Inc.'s compensation committee awarded CEO Joseph A. Sullivan options to purchase a half million shares of the company stock at $31.46 per share, the Baltimore-based money manager announced in a regulatory filing. The company said the options recognize Sullivan's promotion to CEO in February and are designed to be an incentive to build Legg's business. The options vest in 25 percent parcels. The first quarter will vest in May 2015, meaning Sullivan can purchase them after that date.

Anne Arundel Community College's Kauffman Theater at the Pascal Center for Performing Arts is proving to be fertile ground for people searching for entertainment bargains. The center offers such options as dance troupes, jazz ensembles, world-class guitar concerts and performances by the AACC Concert Band. The major spring concert season kicked off last weekend with classical concerts by the college's Symphony Orchestra and the Concert Choir and Chamber Singers. If these opening classical concerts signal the caliber of what lies ahead, music fans are in for a treat.

SEATTLE -- The Orioles have made a series of roster moves before tonight's game against the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field. Right-hander Zach Clark (UMBC) has been called up from Triple-A Norfolk and catcher Chris Snyder -- acquired in a trade from the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday -- has also been activated. Lefty Zach Britton, who allowed six runs in six innings Monday night here, has been optioned back to Norfolk. Catcher Luis Exposito has been designated for assignment, clearing room on the 40-man roster for Snyder.

Having vowed that any use of chemical weapons by Syria would cross a U.S. "red line" and provoke a strong American response "with enormous consequences," President Barack Obama now finds himself under increasing pressure to act, following reports by U.S. and foreign intelligence agencies that the regime of President Bashar Assad used deadly sarin gas against opponents last year. The problem for Mr. Obama is that the military options for enforcing his promise range from bad to very bad - while the risks of doing nothing may be even worse.

The Ravens still have holes. They need to find a starting left tackle, and they could use a No. 2 receiver and add depth at the linebacker and offensive line positions as well. But as the NFL draft ended Saturday night and the Ravens walked out of the auditorium at the team's training complex in Owings Mills, the defending Super Bowl champions appeared to be potentially as good as last year. Because of retirement and free agency, which led to the exodus of several important veterans, the Ravens are lighter on experience but bigger, stronger and faster than a year ago on defense.

OAKLAND, Calif -- The Orioles haven't named a starter for Monday's game in Seattle, and one possibility is 36-year-old veteran Freddy Garcia, who is 3-0 with a 2.81 ERA in four starts at Triple-A Norfolk. When Garcia signed, he agreed to make five starts before a decision regarding his future had to be made. Tuesday, he lasted eight innings, gave up four hits and a run and struck out four. His fastball velocity was in the high 80s. “Freddy had a good outing last outing. As Ron Johnson our Triple-A manager put it so well, Freddy was Freddy,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said.

The Orioles made an additional roster move tonight, optioning RHP Tommy Hunter to Triple-A Norfolk. Hunter is 3-4 with a 6.11 ERA (81.01 IP, 55 ER) in 15 games for the Orioles. He had 13 starts. Hunter made a relief appearance on Saturday in an 11-5 loss against the Cleveland Indians. He allowed five runs in 1 2/3 innings. He threw 51 pitches. The Baltimore Sun's Dan Connolly reports, Miguel Gonzalez is expected to be promoted.

As a physician at the April 11 public hearing on proposed changes in the HCPSS Wellness Policy, I left with an appreciation for the articulate students who expressed concern about the nutrition value of some foods offered in school during and after classes. A Centennial High student thanked Booster Club efforts to fund uniforms and trips for athletic teams.    Clearly we have in Howard County extraordinarily committed students, adults and...

Eighteen years ago during their inaugural draft, the Ravens landed future Hall of Fame middle linebacker Ray Lewis late in the first round. It was a masterful selection, especially since there were questions surrounding Lewis at that time due to a lack of ideal size. Lewis wound up winning a pair of NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards, providing leadership for two Super Bowl championship teams. Now that Lewis has retired, the Ravens are tasked with replacing him to bolster an inside linebacker spot weakened by Dannell Ellerbe signing with the Miami Dolphins and Jameel McClain still not medically cleared from a spinal cord contusion.