Plates

Ever since Tina Cappetta Orcutt and her family moved to Maryland last summer, she says, her 9-year-old son Adam has been paying close attention to Maryland license plates, especially the commemorative tags that tout the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812. "He'll go, there's another Fort McHenry fan!" whenever he spots one of the red-white-and-blue plates featuring the Star-spangled Banner and the fort, Cappetta Orcutt says. "I don't correct him. " Cappetta Orcutt recently became superintendent of Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine, one of Baltimore's best-known attractions and the scene of the battle in 1814 that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the poem that became the national anthem.

Want to express yourself on a license plate? Go ahead. The state will gladly take your $50 per year. You can't say any old thing, though. The Motor Vehicle Administration has cataloged more than 4,000 words, phrases and letter-number combinations it won't put on a tag. The agency's Objectionable Plate List, as it's called, is a compendium of vulgarities, obscenities and other no-no's aimed at keeping tags out of the gutter. The Baltimore Sun requested the information last week, hoping to share what the MVA doesn't want you to see on the road.

The "XTRRVNU" vanity license plate mocked up on Sunday's front page ("Raising revenue," March 27) is impossible to actually get because the War of 1812 design has replaced the classic black on white Maryland tag. One of the reasons I asked Del. Keiffer Mitchell to introduce legislation to restore the use of the classic tag for personalized plates (HB 697) is that vanity messages of five to seven characters obscure the Star Spangled Banner. (By the way, the heron on the Chesapeake Bay tag goes missing in action when the plates are personalized.)

Packed into a sardine can of an interview room with about two dozen reporters - most of them sending details of his outing to his home nation of Taiwan - Orioles rookie left-hander Wei-Yin Chen tried to explain the toughest day of his brief major league career. Through his first seven starts as a big leaguer, the 26-year-old has been close to perfect on paper. He came into Sunday's start against the Washington Nationals with a 4-0 record that included wins over the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers in his past two starts.

It's got the bumper sticker. It's got the little flag.  But your car, hopped up on Opening Day excitement, wants a little something more. Lucky for the ride, you can now order it one of the new Orioles cartoon bird license plates. A collaboration between the Orioles and Maryland's Motor Vehicle Administration, the plates are rather adorable, all orange and black with the little birdie logo in one corner. The cartoon bird is a throwback to the cartoon bird of the '60s and '70s, brought back by the team this year for the 20th anniversary of Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

There are several tip-offs that a driver might be drunk: swerving, traveling the wrong way on a street, pulling out of a bar late at night. And a Prince George's County lawmaker wants to add one more. He says the state should replace license plates of repeat drunken drivers with bright yellow tags that read "DUI." "Displaying the special license plates will give people some understanding of who they are sharing the roadways with," Marvin E. Holmes Jr., a Democrat, said at a hearing on his bill Thursday.

Despite all of the serious problems in the world, our country and our state, please allow me complain about something of very little importance but which is still incredibly irritating. Who in the hell approved the new Maryland license plates? For over a decade our state has had one of the best looking and arguably the most tasteful standard license plates in the county. No silly sayings like Idaho's "Famous Potatoes" or trite pictures like the off-center lobster declaring Maine as "Vacationland."

Vino Rosina is the latest addition to the Harbor East wining, dining and entertainment scene. Open just about a month now, this smartly renovated industrial spot has a lot going for it, including a perfectly executed bar space up front and plenty of good food to enjoy with a glass of wine, a glass of beer or an infused cocktail. Vino Rosina is from the people best known for the successful Rosina Gourmet lunch and catering operations in Canton and downtown. The deservedly praised sandwiches that have made Rosina Gourmet so popular are available during lunch at the new location, but at night, the mood and the menu changes, and Vino Rosina morphs into a wine bar with an eclectic menu of small and large plates.

Maryland drivers may soon advertise the state as the "Home of Our National Anthem." The state Senate unanimously approved a bill Friday that would have most plates carry the slogan starting Oct. 1. The measure would exclude special registration plates. Maryland last displayed a slogan on its standard-issue license plate in the mid-1980s, celebrating the 350th anniversary of the state's founding as a colony. Maryland native Francis Scott Key penned "The Star-Spangled Banner" almost 200 years ago after the British attacked Baltimore's Fort McHenry.

Maryland license plates would lay claim to the state as "Home of Our National Anthem," if one state lawmaker has his way. State Sen. Larry Haines, a Republican who represents Carroll and Baltimore counties, introduced a bill that would put the slogan on all plates starting Oct. 1. Maryland last displayed a slogan on its standard-issue license plate in the mid-1980s, celebrating the 350th anniversary of the state's founding as a colony. Maryland native Francis Scott Key penned "The Star-Spangled Banner" almost 200 years ago after the British attacked Baltimore's Fort McHenry.

First baseman Chris Davis was not in the starting lineup on Tuesday with lefty CC Sabathia on the mound. That alone probably is enough to sit the slugging left-hander, who is 0-for-2 with two strikeouts against Sabathia. But Davis has also been in a deep slump. Counting his 0-for-8 performance in Boston on May 6 - the 17-inning game in which he picked up a win by throwing two scoreless innings - Davis has just three hits in his past 28 at-bats, dropping his average from .326 to .274.

If you needed another reminder that Matt Wieters is one tough fella behind the plate, just look to Friday's fourth inning. Sean Rodriguez came barreling around third trying to score and Wieters stood in front of home while looking out to right field for the relay throw from Robert Andino (via Nick Markakis). Wieters said he quickly glanced toward third and saw the 6-foot, 200-pound Rodriguez coming at him. “You take a peek when he's about halfway down the line. I knew it was going to be a bang-bang (play)

It's got the bumper sticker. It's got the little flag.  But your car, hopped up on Opening Day excitement, wants a little something more. Lucky for the ride, you can now order it one of the new Orioles cartoon bird license plates. A collaboration between the Orioles and Maryland's Motor Vehicle Administration, the plates are rather adorable, all orange and black with the little birdie logo in one corner. The cartoon bird is a throwback to the cartoon bird of the '60s and '70s, brought back by the team this year for the 20th anniversary of Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

If you're so excited for the start of baseball season that you feel like you're not just on the Orioles bandwagon, but you're at the wheel of it, well, now you can show it. The Orioles, in conjunction with the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration, are releasing Orioles cartoon bird State of Maryland license plates. The plates, which cost $50 apiece, are partially a charitable venture, as $25 of that goes to the Baltimore Orioles Charitable Foundation. Each plate has a randomly assigned four-digit number, so they're not customizable, which would've been a nice touch.

Patrick Dahlgren is busy. The Baltimore native is helping to launch a beer-themed restaurant near Harbor East and is about to revamp his own restaurant in Federal Hill. "I've always been around good food," Dahlgren said. "I grew up running around Sisson's. " Dahlgren's stepfather is Hugh Sisson, who established Baltimore's first microbrewery in Federal Hill back in 1989 and went on to found Clipper City Brewing Co., producers of Heavy Seas beers. Dahlgren is part of the team behind the eagerly awaited Heavy Seas Alehouse, scheduled for a Feb. 15 opening in the Old Holland Tack Factory.

Ever since Tina Cappetta Orcutt and her family moved to Maryland last summer, she says, her 9-year-old son Adam has been paying close attention to Maryland license plates, especially the commemorative tags that tout the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812. "He'll go, there's another Fort McHenry fan!" whenever he spots one of the red-white-and-blue plates featuring the Star-spangled Banner and the fort, Cappetta Orcutt says. "I don't correct him. " Cappetta Orcutt recently became superintendent of Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine, one of Baltimore's best-known attractions and the scene of the battle in 1814 that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the poem that became the national anthem.

Promising a bold and bright new look in full color, state officials plan to unveil the latest version of Maryland's popular "Treasure the Chesapeake" Bay license plate during a news conference today at the National Aquarium in Baltimore. The bay license plate program has generated more than $11 million for projects in every Maryland county and the city, including wetlands restoration, streamside forest buffers, oyster gardening and rain gardens. The new plates - with a design that has been reserved for unveiling by the governor today - will replace the original design bearing a great blue heron and dark-green lettering that was released in 1990.

Wine is the focus at Grand Cru, a bar in the charming food market at Belvedere Square. It's a good spot to sit and learn about new wines — chances are, Grand Cru's knowledgeable staff can help you find a new favorite grape. The selection of small plates, however, needs some of the particulars worked out. More of an after-work meet up than a first date destination, the setting for this lively bar is a sparse and industrial interior with exposed pipes. The kitchen/prep area is modern and warm, with accents of wood compared to the rest of the cold concrete and aluminum room.

With Baltimore in the midst of Restaurant Week, there are probably many happily dining on rockfish these days, and rightly so. Rockfish (more commonly known as striped bass) represent one of the Chesapeake Bay's most treasured bounties, both a worthy challenge to anglers and a delight on the dinner plate. But if there is a lingering bitterness surrounding the catch of the day, it is the still-fresh memory of last winter's poaching incidents. Natural Resources Police hauled in an estimated 26,000 pounds of rockfish caught illegally in unattended gill nets.