Order

Shoppers who have been skeptical about catalog merchants' shipping and handling charges might be interested in a new survey.According to a study in the next issue of Catalog Age, a trade publication for the mail-order industry, 48 percent of catalog businesses this year said they made a profit from shipping and handling charges, up from 44 percent the year before. About 41 percent said they broke even, and 11 percent said they lost money.These findings come as no surprise to many shoppers who say they're drawn to the time-saving advantages of catalog shopping, especially during the hectic holiday season.

A Carroll County judge yesterday extended a temporary protective order against Carmen Amedori, charter board chairwoman and wife of the county state's attorney, who is accused by her ex-husband of abusing their daughter.Circuit Judge Francis M. Arnold extended the protective order seven days. A week ago, he ordered that Amedori have no adverse contact with her daughter after Robert DePaola, the father, sought the court order. The girl is now living with her father.In extending the order, Arnold told Suzan E. Miller, a Westminster attorney representing DePaola, that he should be notified if a settlement cannot be reached.

DOES THE RIGHT to strike include the right to succeed in a strike? Put another way: If companies can legally replace striking workers, does the right to strike carry any muscle at all?However one answers those questions, it is clear there is no guarantee of a painless passage from one economic era to another. The country is entering, often uneasily, a global economy in which the power of unions is greatly diminished, while employers insist they need maximum flexibility in order to compete.

NEW YORK -- IN SLOW Christmas selling seasons like thi one, it pays to be a last-minute shopper. Discounts will get bigger and better as the holiday nears.You might even want to skip Christmas catalogs this year.Catalogs are wonderfully convenient (I use them myself). But you often pay more for the same types of items you'll find in the mall. It's especially hard for catalogs to compete when stores cut prices to the bone.Still, you can't beat a catalog if you're so busy that time is more important than money.

Ralph Paul Ash, 37, was ordered by the court yesterday to stay away from his wife and two sons until at least January.For the moment, that will not be a problem. The Woodbine man is being held in the county jail without bail on charges that he raped and kidnapped a neighbor last Wednesday, holding her hostage and police at bay for some 13 hours.Mr. Ash appeared in Carroll Circuit Court yesterday and denied that he ever abused his twin 5-year-old sons or his wife, as she claimed at an emergency hearing a day before the hostage incident.

A Carroll district judge yesterday ordered a New Windsor man who was shot by a state trooper Sunday to stay away from his wife until at least February.In a 200-day extension of a protective order granted Thursday, Judge JoAnn Ellinghaus-Jones ordered John Meredith Carter, 45, to stay away from Mary Jane Carter and her 13-year-old daughter.Mrs. Carter, 45, was found by state police Sunday chained to a pipe in the couple's New Windsor apartment. Tfc. Shawn Miller said he shot Mr. Carter after he pointed a rifle at him and another trooper.

Carroll County's three Circuit Court judges have devised a "jury protection order" to prevent prosecutors and defense lawyers from harassing jurors after trials.The order allows attorneys to question jurors in the courtroom after a trial if the jurors consent to such interviews. But after the jurors leave the courtroom, the attorneys cannot contact them until their 30-day terms of service have expired.The order seeks to "regulate juror contact in the interests of justice and to protect jurors from harassment," it states.

Seven years ago, a federal judge ordered the District of Columbia to close its Cedar Knoll Youth Detention Center in Laurel. On Monday, that order finally will be carried out.Just two months ago, more than 150 juvenile offenders were still housed in the facility, which has been criticized as a dumping ground for wayward teen-agers and for repeated escapes that frightened surrounding neighborhoods.Judges were still sentencing youths to the medium-security facility near Route 32 and the Baltimore-Washington Parkway as recently as March, leading district officials to wonder if they could meet a deadline mandated by Congress.

Once he knew he wanted to become a Catholic priest, it wa easy enough for Henry J. Davis to decide upon the order he would join. The Josephites, of course.Reared in a Josephite parish, he has fond memories of the priests who served the family church in Louisiana, where the Society of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart has established its biggest following in America.He knew it was the Josephite missionaries who had set themselves the task of ministering to some 4 million freed black slaves only a few years after the Civil War ended.

Northwest Airlines, trying to retrench and survive, said yesterday that it had canceled a $3.5 billion order of jets from Airbus Industrie as part of an $8 billion package of cost savings and new financing.The cancellation of the order from the European aircraft consortium was one of the most severe measures yet taken in the slumping airline industry's two years of efforts to control spending. The canceled order was for 24 A340 aircraft and 50 A320 models.The Northwest move was unusual because the order was canceled rather than postponed, as has been done by Northwest's major competitors, like American, United and Delta.

Attorneys for The Baltimore Sun, WBAL-TV and WJZ-TV filed their opposition yesterday to a gag order that would limit public comment on the cases against two men accused of killing former City Councilman Kenneth N. Harris Sr. A hearing on the gag order could occur as early as 11 a.m. today in Baltimore District Court, but is likely to be postponed. Attorneys for Gary Collins and Charles Y. McGaney, who are accused of fatally shooting Harris outside a Northeast Baltimore jazz club during a robbery, requested the order, saying it was necessary to ensure a fair and impartial jury.

Your country 'tis of three. Three hundred million, that is. America's population will hit that milestone figure tomorrow morning, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's "Population Clock" - quite an achievement considering it's only been a country for 230 years. Think about it: more than 300 million served - maybe not to their total satisfaction, maybe not without a wait - but, hey, that's life in a fast-food nation. Next, please ... Welcome to America. We're glad you're here. May I take your order, please?

SAN DIEGO -- The Supreme Court gave city officials a reprieve yesterday from an order by a federal judge to remove the cross atop Mount Soledad by Aug. 2 or face $5,000 a day in fines. Associate Justice Anthony M. Kennedy ordered a delay until he or the entire court issues a further order. He did not indicate how long that might take or what kind of order might be issued. San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders said he hopes that Kennedy's order means that the court ultimately will decide to hear the case, although it has twice rejected the city's bid for a hearing.

A Baltimore District Court judge ordered yesterday that two dozen inmates be moved from the Women's Detention Center because of excessive heat in the facility, but jail officials did not comply with the order, saying there is nowhere to put the women. "I'm not defying the order. I can't comply with it," said LaMont W. Flanagan, commissioner of the state's Division of Pretrial Detention and Services. "I don't have the resources. There is no secure facility to move them to." The order, issued by Judge Charlotte M. Cooksey, came on a day when temperatures inside the poorly ventilated women's jail hovered at about 110 degrees.

Eat well. Save money. Yes, you can do both. Here are 13 tips and suggestions to help you spend your dining-out dollar wisely, whether you're eating at the fanciest restaurant in a town, a popular chain at the mall or the mom-and-pop place on the corner. Sign up for frequent diners' clubs. Even if you visit the restaurant infrequently, you'll usually get freebies, money-off coupons or other offers not otherwise available. And you may be surprised how your spending, like those frequent-flier miles, adds up to nice rewards.

ATLANTA -- Does George W. Bush have something to hide? An awkward question, unpleasant to ask at any time and especially in these warlike circumstances, but inevitable after Mr. Bush signed an executive order Nov. 1 putting the lid on presidential papers that had been scheduled to become public. The wonder is that the question isn't being asked more broadly and urgently than it has been so far. The order sabotages the intent of the 1978 Presidential Records Act, which made the papers of subsequent presidents public 12 years after a president leaves office.

MIAMI -- Thousands of protesters ready to block the removal of Elian Gonzalez yesterday afternoon as ordered by Attorney General Janet Reno instead found themselves celebrating yet another delay in the federal government's attempt to reunite the boy with his father. An appellate court in Atlanta, which has been considering an appeal by the boy's Miami relatives, ordered that Elian remain in the United States while it reviews the case. Protesters had jammed every street leading to the Miami home of Elian's great-uncle, Lazaro Gonzalez, where Elian has lived since he was found clinging to an inner tube off the coast of Florida on Thanksgiving Day. The 6-year-old was one of three who survived the capsize of a boat carrying Cubans fleeing their country.

Shoppers who have been skeptical about catalog merchants' shipping and handling charges might be interested in a new survey.According to a study in the next issue of Catalog Age, a trade publication for the mail-order industry, 48 percent of catalog businesses this year said they made a profit from shipping and handling charges, up from 44 percent the year before. About 41 percent said they broke even, and 11 percent said they lost money.These findings come as no surprise to many shoppers who say they're drawn to the time-saving advantages of catalog shopping, especially during the hectic holiday season.

A Carroll County judge yesterday extended a temporary protective order against Carmen Amedori, charter board chairwoman and wife of the county state's attorney, who is accused by her ex-husband of abusing their daughter.Circuit Judge Francis M. Arnold extended the protective order seven days. A week ago, he ordered that Amedori have no adverse contact with her daughter after Robert DePaola, the father, sought the court order. The girl is now living with her father.In extending the order, Arnold told Suzan E. Miller, a Westminster attorney representing DePaola, that he should be notified if a settlement cannot be reached.

DOES THE RIGHT to strike include the right to succeed in a strike? Put another way: If companies can legally replace striking workers, does the right to strike carry any muscle at all?However one answers those questions, it is clear there is no guarantee of a painless passage from one economic era to another. The country is entering, often uneasily, a global economy in which the power of unions is greatly diminished, while employers insist they need maximum flexibility in order to compete.