Paternity

BOSTON -- Now comes the paternity test. And we are not talking DNA here. Cherie Booth Blair, the pregnant barrister and primary breadwinner at 10 Downing St. has thrown a mischievous and public challenge to her husband and prime minister. Great Britain's most high-profile working mother let it be known that she hopes her husband will take paternity leave when their fourth child is born in late May. Citing the prime minister of Finland who just took a postpartum week off, Cherie said, "I for one am promoting the widespread adoption of his fine example."

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. -- Anna Nicole Smith had always made it clear: She wanted to be just like Marilyn Monroe. She struggled mightily to make herself into a platinum-tressed sex symbol. And though she never gained the acting credibility of Monroe, her death at 39 yesterday in a Florida hotel poignantly echoes that of her idol. Ms. Smith's rollercoaster life of fame, fortune, weight battles, legal entanglements and tragedy proved irresistible fodder for the chroniclers of pop culture - the tabloids, the entertainment TV shows, the blogs - that focused on her obsessively.

Lanky and bespectacled, prone to slipping jargon like "polymorphism" and "heterozygosity" into conversation, Francis A. Chiafari comes off as a grown-up version of the kid who always took first prize in the school science fair.Asked whether he wore a pocket protector during his days as a science whiz at Perry Hall High School, Baltimore's new DNA gumshoe smiles self-consciously before answering: "No, but I did have a calculator strapped to my belt."These days, though, the 33-year-old molecular geneticist finds himself on the other end of the microscope.

The first flower basket the Leibowitzes received after their second daughter was born two weeks ago didn't come from friends or family -- it came from the father's law firm. Along with congratulations, Gary Leibowitz's employer, Saul Ewing LLP in Baltimore, also allowed him three months of paid parental leave. "There is a life outside this firm and the firm acknowledges it and supports you spending time with your family," said Leibowitz, 33, who lives in Pikesville. Leibowitz, whose wife, Dena, gave birth to Dillan on March 24, has not decided how long his leave will last -- it will depend on his caseload.

Penguins name Bowman interim coachWaiting until just three days before their season opener to appoint a temporary replacement for the seriously ill Bob Johnson, the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins named Scotty Bowman as interim coach yesterday.The Penguins waited as long as possible out of respect to Johnson, who learned in late August he has two brain tumors. Johnson is undergoing treatment at his Colorado home, but has vowed to coach again.Bowman, who was entering his second season as director of player development and recruitment for the Penguins, has 736 career NHL victories and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame last week.

Gov. William Donald Schaefer's legislative package has run into the House Judiciary Committee.Under the new leadership of Del. Joseph F. Vallario Jr., the committee has killed three of the governor's bills involving underage drinking, child support and the court system. And it weakened a fourth bill targeted at carjacking.Mr. Schaefer said yesterday he was "very, very surprised" by the committee's decision to kill the three bills Friday "without even suggesting that maybe they could amend the bills and without talking to the governor."

Juvenile charges allowed in rape case against teen-ager The state may pursue juvenile charges against a Taneytown-area teen-ager accused of raping several former friends, according to the Carroll County juvenile master, who nonetheless criticized prosecutors for their delay in filing new charges after the case was sent down from Circuit Court. Nathaniel Jared Yinger, 18, of the 2800 block of Basehores Mill Road was charged as an adult in October 2001 with multiple counts of rape, sodomy, sexual assault and assault in attacks on four girls, three of them at unsupervised teen-age drinking parties.

Baltimore City Central District Deputy assaulted: A sheriff's deputy was injured outside the Clarence M. Mitchell Courthouse yesterday when he was struck by a vehicle driven by a man being sought on a paternity warrant. Capt. Toby Goodwin, a sheriff's spokesman, said Sgt. Fred Jackson and other deputies were nearing an Isuzu Rodeo - occupied by a man and a 3-year-old boy - parked on East Lexington Street near North Calvert Street about 4:30 p.m. when the driver sped off, running over Jackson's foot and knocking him down.

Howard County's circuit administrative judge is piloting a new evaluation program that asks lawyers and others to rate the county's three judicial masters on everything from their legal know-how to their temperament and fairness during hearings. The forms, which are sent to a sampling of those who appear before the masters, use a five-point scale and question, among other things, the judicial officials' punctuality, attentiveness and even-handedness. Judge Diane O. Leasure, Howard's circuit administrative judge since January last year, said she began distributing the questionnaires in June after realizing that she had no formal way of studying the masters' job performance, even though she was responsible for rating them for a county bonus program.

LONDON - The silence about Charlie Chaplin has been broken. Much of the chat of his native England yesterday was about how he was denied knighthood for nearly 20 years because prudish Americans felt he was a Communist little tramp. After decades of mystery, British government documents - which were secret until their release over the weekend - show that the snub of the colorful black-and-white movie actor was primarily the result of his marriages to two 16-year-olds and American reaction to them.