Option

IRVING, Texas -- For the first time since the formation of their successful partnership, coach Barry Switzer has fewer than five years remaining on his contract with the Dallas Cowboys. Team owner Jerry Jones disclosed yesterday that he has decided not to exercise the rollover option he included in the contract.At the same time, Jones said he is completely satisfied with the performance of his coach and anticipates Switzer remaining the coach on a long-term basis.In his two-plus seasons, Switzer has compiled a 29-10 record with one Super Bowl championship and an NFC championship game appearance.

WIMBLEDON, England - In perhaps their toughest posture since they began the drive for more money from the Grand Slam tournaments, members of the Association of Tennis Professionals tour began laying plans yesterday to put on an alternate charity tournament instead of playing Wimbledon in 2004. Approximately 120 players, including what was described as a high number of top name players, met in the Wimbledon press center to back the plan, which calls for getting 84 of the top 100 ranked players to commit to the alternative tournament.

Giving themselves a choice between two possible sites for a radio tower to alleviate problems with emergency communications in the northeast area of the county, the Carroll commissioners signed an option yesterday to buy a parcel on Alesia-Lineboro Road. The 6.874-acre wooded property, owned by Donald J. and Catherine L. Fasca Sr. at 4509 Alesia-Lineboro Road, would cost the county $100,000. The lot is larger than one on which the commissioners signed a purchase option in February, meaning that if the 330-foot tower fell it would not land on neighboring property, said Howard S. Redman, the county's public safety director.

NEW YORK -- A federal judge in Wisconsin ordered Chevy Chase Bank to rescind loans made to some borrowers who took out so-called option adjustable-rate mortgages, The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. The ruling was in a case against the Maryland-based bank brought by Susan and Bryan Andrews, who took out an option ARM in the belief that a 1.95 percent introductory rate was fixed for five years. Two months later, they received a statement showing the rate had risen to 4.375 percent, the newspaper said.

Cathy Ferrera stood before the Columbia Association board, an 8-by-10-inch photo of her son in her hand, shaking and crying. "Your beautiful lake took my son and swallowed him and took his breath away," she said. "I am angry. ... Start doing something about your playground." She implored the board at its meeting Thursday night to put a fence around the Lake Elkhorn tot lot where 23-month-old Alex Ferrera drowned Sept. 2. Newly elected board member Cynthia Coyle stood by Ferrera as she spoke, rubbing her back and wiped away tears afterward.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Orioles manager Frank Robinson wanted to add a hard-throwing lefthander to his bullpen even before the club decided not to exercise the option year on Joe Price's contract.Now Price, 33, is a free agent, and the Orioles are dangerously thin in an area most clubs consider a trouble spot. The amazing thing is, it appears they reached this point after acting hastily under a tight deadline.The Orioles were contractually bound to decide Price's status by 12 a.m. yesterday. They did not reach their decision until late Saturday night, and only then after asking Price's agent for a one-week extension.

As discouraging as it was to watch certain members of the Senate Finance Committee treat the concept of affordable health insurance coverage as America's own Bolshevik Revolution last week, hope for a modicum of common sense in the U.S. Congress springs eternal. The battle over the public option isn't over yet, as there is at least one more card to play. As House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has already promised, no matter what comes out of the full Senate, the health care reform bill approved by the House of Representatives will contain the public option.

The Orioles' pitching plans for next year started taking shape yesterday when Pat Hentgen signed a contract that will keep him in Baltimore next season, with an option for 2004. The club held a $6 million option for next season, but they chose to use the $600,000 buyout and then renegotiate at a lesser price. Terms were not disclosed. Hentgen, who turns 34 in two weeks, returned to the mound in September after missing 16 months with an elbow injury. He went 0-4 with a 7.77 ERA, but the club saw enough to invite him back.

Three Carroll County commissioners, four mayors and several dozen residents asked a legislative committee yesterday to discard the traditional courtesy given local bills and reject the county delegation's proposed map for five new commissioner districts. The Carroll contingent traveled to Annapolis for the first hearing on the map to urge members of the House Environmental Matters Committee to consider an alternative. Until the General Assembly approves a map that lays out the new districts, no candidate can file for the commissioner race this fall.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has settled fraud claims against five former SafeNet employees, including a chief executive officer who resigned in 2006 amid a stock option scandal. Former CEO Anthony A. Caputo and Chief Financial Officer Kenneth Mueller were charged in a civil complaint with backdating stock options to inflate their value between 2000 and 2006.