Patch

A Westminster man was injured early yesterday when his car went out of control on an icy curve, struck a utility pole and overturned on Hook Road, state police said.Joseph M. Thomas, 19, of the 1000 block of Hook Road was airlifted to Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, where he was treated and released, a hospital spokeswoman said yesterday.Thomas told troopers he was traveling at the speed limit, 40 mph, when he "hit a patch of black ice" at 12: 23 a.m., police said.The investigation is continuing.

Major League Baseball is considering ... selling tiny advertising space on the sleeves of the players' uniforms.-- USA TodayGOOD EVENING, and what a beautiful night for baseball here at Yankee Stadium, where the Orioles take on the defending World Champions. Leading off for the O's: Brady Anderson ..."Brady wearing a patch for Ford Ranger 4-Door SuperCab: `Ranger: America's best-selling compact pickup for 11 straight years.'"On the mound for the Yanks: veteran right-hander Roger Clemens, who's shilling tonight for Hyatt Hotels and Resorts: `Feel the Hyatt Touch.

Editor's note: Mr. Bumble was renowned for his fumbling, tumbling bumblebee ways. The discovery of a new patch of clover causes him great anxiety, even though it holds his salvation.Every spring, the meadows became a buzzing and busy scene, with hundreds of bumblebees gathering pollen for their hive.Such work came easily to all the bees. To all, that is, but one.His name was Mr. Bumble, and he was the clumsiest bee who ever buzzed. Sadly, when it came to gathering pollen, he could never take off from a flower without bumbling, fumbling, and tumbling.

YOUR WHEELSTER checked in with the online version of the Old Farmer's Almanac last week to find mixed feelings about the coming winter.Predicted is a winter that will be colder than usual -- although the Mid-Atlantic region is facing "below normal" snowfall.One of the biggest woes of snow is the pothole. Last year, despite a mild winter, Baltimore Department of Public Works crews patched 35,000 potholes, a figure that was 68,000 in 1997 and -- in blizzard-marred 1996 -- 140,596.An investigation by Intrepid revealed that pothole patrols love to use a gooey substance called Perma Patch.

1993 Trentadue Old Patch Red, North Coast ($14.99). Trentadue is one of the great lesser-known wineries of California. It consistently delivers loads of flavor at reasonable prices. This proprietary blend shows tremendous depth and concentration, with generous blackberry fruit and hints of chocolate and blueberry. You might want to decant, because it's throwing considerable sediment. Serve with pizza or a hearty stew.Michael Dresser is on vacation. His wine column will resume on April 13.Pub Date: 3/30/97

An article in Sunday's Carroll County edition incorrectly stated the organization that received money from the auction of a quilt designed by Union Bridge resident Betty Buffington. The $2,200 raised at the auction last month went to Union Bridge Area Heritage Committee. The Sun regrets the error.The Sun regrets the errors.Union Bridge resident Betty Buffington has created quilting designs for 39 years, painstakingly drawing the designs by hand, then transferring them with thread and needle onto a blank patch.

For years, Frances Jones and her neighbors jockeyed with each other for a small patch of parking at the Brooklyn-Curtis Bay Post Office.The post office at 16th Avenue and Ritchie Highway fenced off a section of the parking lot about seven years ago for its mail trucks, leaving six spaces for customers."

About the traffic on Route 140 around Westminster that began last week to squeeze into a single snail-paced lane -- get used to it. Construction crews from Genstar Inc. have started work on a $3 million contract that iounty seat. Workers also will patch the concrete surface of Route 140 from the intersection of Route 31 to Sandymount Road, and patch and resurface with asphalt from Sandymount Road to Route 91. Crews have begun installing the sensors.As the patching work begins on Route 140, State Highway Administration (SHA)

From my back porch the world is good. Mulberriesfall to the cement making a sweet slick patchthat spreads past the gate. Swarms of pigeons,pairs of songbirds, and a crow or two all coo tweetscreech from the trees and wires overheadWould you agree --Vowels are a lot like Fruit?

Rationing bullets at the AlamoThe writer is president of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.Eye surgery wrongly depictedIn response to the Oct. 17 article, ''New eye surgery spurs debate,'' I would like to make a few comments so that readers who are considering this remarkable new procedure -- photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) will not be afraid.The Associated Press article said that although more than 90 percent of the patients in Food and Drug Administration studies ''ended up with vision of 20/40 or better'' after surgery, some people ''suffer from considerable post-operative pain.

Name: : BackTrack by Bushnell What it is: : A simplified GPS/compass device that lets you mark three locations, then points the way back and tells you how far to the destinations. Two AAA batteries provide the power. How it works: : Let's say you have parked your car in a huge airport parking lot. Before leaving your car behind, you push a button to mark your location. When you return from the islands, you simply turn on the device and it will point the way to your car. Another scenario: You're at a huge flea market and find an antique railroad lamp you want but haven't shopped the whole fair.

HARRY PATCH Britain's last World War I veteran Harry Patch, Britain's last survivor of the trenches of World War I, was a reluctant soldier who became a powerful eyewitness to the horror of war, and a symbol of a lost generation. Mr. Patch, who died Saturday at 111, was wounded in 1917 in the Battle of Passchendaele, which he remembered as "mud, mud and more mud mixed together with blood." "Anyone who tells you that in the trenches they weren't scared, he's a damned liar: You were scared all the time," Mr. Patch was quoted as saying in a book, The Last Fighting Tommy, written with historian Richard van Emden.

By now, you are probably savoring memories of a traditional Thanksgiving holiday spent dancing to disco hits, swimming in the frosty Atlantic and hang gliding off huge sand dunes. Huh? Well, my parents have spelled "vacations" a-d-v-e-n-t-u-r-e for as long as I can remember, so this range of strange is normal to me. A brief review of my vacation memories reveals my earliest one: my dad pulling off the road somewhere in upstate New York when he saw a hand-lettered sign that read "Piper Cub Ride's $40."

By now, most people are probably all uniformed out. Nobody asked for my opinion on the new jerseys, but I'll briefly share it anyway. Overall, I liked the changes. I thought the road jerseys looked really sharp and the addition of orange in several spots - down the pants and on the sleeves - was a good decision. I also like the Maryland patch on the sleeves. (Note: Zrebiec was guest blogging for Peter Schmuck.) ( For more, go to baltimoresun.com/schmuckblog)

When Bobbi Fox bought her town house in Cockeysville 11 years ago, the backyard was a soggy little plot with a few dying bushes and a patch of grass. She shows how she transformed it into a lush shade garden in our Gardener of the Week series, which debuts online today at baltimoresun .com/gardener.

For years, Johnson & Johnson obscured evidence that its popular Ortho Evra birth control patch delivered much more estrogen than standard birth control pills, potentially increasing the risk of blood clots and strokes, according to internal company documents. But because the Food and Drug Administration approved the patch, the company is arguing in court that it cannot be sued by women who claim that they were injured by the product - even though its old label inaccurately described the amount of estrogen it released.

What with certain goings-on in certain places -- I don't know, like maybe, um, New York? -- it's an unusually good week to be reminded about the virtues of steadfastness, tolerance and discretion, not to mention nobility, sincerity and purity. They all fuel Mozart's eternally endearing opera, The Magic Flute, currently playing to packed houses at the Peabody Conservatory. Thursday's cast, which performs tonight at a sold-out show, enjoyed a sprightly romp through the tuneful mix of fantasy and fable.

THE ISSUE: -- Where is the best location to see spring "bloom" in Howard County? The lakefront is the place The lakefront, for sure! The Columbia Association makes sure that the patch of flowers near the Rouse statue is always beautiful and well taken care of. And with the lake as a backdrop, it doesn't get any better than that! Candace Dodson Reed Ellicott City

NICKEL MINES, Pa. -- The old silos, the red farmhouses, the hills striped in autumnal brown: The scenery along Pennsylvania Route 896 in Lancaster County is every bit a Grant Wood painting come to life. But the American landscape painter would not have recognized the harsh shade of green - something akin to faded AstroTurf- that covered a lone patch of ground yesterday where the West Nickel Mines Amish School had stood. "It's hydroseed," said a weary Mike Hart, a spokesman for the Bart Township Fire Company, which early yesterday shared the difficult task of razing the schoolhouse where a gunman killed five Amish girls Oct. 2. "It looks strange now, but it will help the grass come up. Seven to 10 days and it won't be a bare patch anymore."

The Night Listener makes for an interesting character study of a man so desperate for someone to believe in that maybe, just maybe, he lets his imagination get the better of him. But as a narrative, it has serious problems -- holes so gaping that they're all but unavoidable. Robin Williams, in the same serious mode he employed for One-Hour Photo and The Final Cut, is Gabriel Noone, a monologuist and host of a talk-radio program. Recently dumped by his long-time partner, Jess (Bobby Cannavale)