Paper Bags

"My Teacher Glows in the Dark," screams the big print near a human emitting a golden aura. "The Great Brain" thunders in bold letters nearby.Are these trashy tabloid headlines? The latest lineup for Geraldo or Oprah? Not quite. Not when they're grouped with classics of fiction like "The Call of the Wild" and "The Trumpet of the Swan."What brings this zany diversity together is a "Best Books" list created by kids at Spring Garden Elementary School. One by one, these titles have been thoughtfully illustrated upon brown paper grocery bags for the local Weis Market in Robert's Field Shopping Center.

Catholic schools are hooked on phonics.Over the decades -- as fads in reading instruction have come and gone -- Baltimore-area Catholic schools, like many other parochial schools across the nation, have held to teaching children to read by first focusing on the sounds that make up words and sound-letter relationships.In stark contrast to most public schools, which in the 1980s tended to forsake teaching sounds for an early focus on reading stories, virtually all of the 70 elementary schools in the Archdiocese of Baltimore teach phonics as a separate subject in the early grades.

Cars pulled off Ruxton Road, one after another Monday morning, almost as soon as the first crates of fruits and vegetables were unloaded from the large white truck parked on the shoulder. At the roadside market operated by Hampstead-based Misty Valley Farm, under the shade of a tent, customers filled brown paper bags with tomatoes, peaches, squash and melons. They selected ears of white corn from a pile in the open back of the truck. "I've never gotten a bad piece of fruit," said Megan Kelly of Towson, who stops at the Ruxton stand several times a week, even after work when more than a dozen cars can be lined up on the roadside.

The county's weekly curbside recycling service will accept leaves and yard waste through December.Leaves and yard waste must be placed in containers with tops open for speedy collection and in open-topped plastic or paper bags weighing less than 40 pounds. Acceptable containers include 30-gallon, brown-paper leaf bags; plastic bags; and rigid-walled, open-topped metal or plastic trash containers. Information: Bureau of Environmental Services, 313-SORT.POLICE LOG* Long Reach: 5700 block of Twelve Months Court: Someone stole a CD player, radar detector and other items from a red Honda AccordThursday or Friday.

Sykesville begins recycling paper on WednesdaySykesville will begin a curbside newspaper recycling program Wednesday."It's part of our Recycling Master Plan," said Town Manager Jim Schumacher. "Collecting newspapers is a fairly easy service we can now start for residents."Several months ago, the town instituted curbside recycling of glass and plastic. Residents had to get newspapers to the Recycling Center on their own.Mr. Schumacher said residents should tie the papers in bundles or place them in brown paper bags and put them out for collection by 7 a.m. every Wednesday.

Around the house* Thread toilet tissue through the slot of an empty boutique tissue box. Place on bathroom vanity and use the tissues to remove makeup, etc. Toilet tissue is less costly.* Keep canvas shoes clean. Spray with a fabric protector. Soiled sneakers can be sprayed with a rug and upholstery cleaner, then rubbed clean with a damp cloth.* When storing summer clothing, use plastic garbage pails. The containers will keep mildew and moths out.* Clean miniblinds quickly. Hang them on a pair of self-stick utility hooks placed in the shower.

A Hickory Ridge liquor store owner whose clerk gave beer to an underage employee in August after closing was fined $500 by the Howard County Liquor Board. Eric Stein, of Decanter Fine Wines in Hickory Ridge Village Center, was ordered to pay the fine after county police Detective Martin Johnson testified at a hearing Dec. 15. Johnson was outside the store after it closed Aug. 2, he said, when clerk David Catania, 25, and Sean Fable, 18, emerged, each clutching brown paper bags found to have beer in them.

Take your raked up leaves and recycle them during a once-a-week curbside recycling service sponsored by Howard County.This program can help save taxpayers money and space in the local landfills. Leaves may be put out with newspapers.Almost all of Howard County's curbside recycling routes accept leaves and yard waste through December. Here are the communities that will take the leaves in unlimited quantities: Elkridge, Ellicott City east of Bethany Lane, Scaggsville east of Route 29, all Howard County routes in North Laurel and Columbia.

The county's weekly curbside recycling service will accept leaves and yard waste through December.Leaves and yard waste must be placed in containers with tops open for speedy collection and in open-topped plastic or paper bags weighing less than 40 pounds.Acceptable containers include 30-gallon, brown-paper leaf bags; plastic bags; and rigid-walled, open-topped metal or plastic trash containers.Information: Bureau of Environmental Services, 313-SORT.POLICE LOG* Wilde Lake: 10900 block of Route 108: A media center window at the High School of Technology was pried open, and computer equipment was taken between Nov. 24 and Monday, police said.

Late last summer, the leaves of my liriope plants began turning brown, and I was concerned that they were dying. Was this due to the drought, or could there be another cause? The drought may have damaged your liriope, or you may have a disease called liriope anthracnose. If drought was the problem, I would suggest that you cut out all the damaged foliage and allow the plants to recover this spring. They should put out a nice flush of growth and look like new. If disease were the problem, I would do the same thing, but be prepared for the disease to return this summer.