Progress

WASHINGTON -- Thirty years ago, after the historic Kerner Commission predicted a deepening racial divide in the United States, an offshoot group is lamenting how true that prediction turned out to be.That's a mistake, in my humble view. I think they should be celebrating how wrong the prediction turned out to be.The Kerner Riot Commission was created by President Lyndon B. Johnson and headed by former Illinois Gov. Otto Kerner during a period when the nation was having about 100 civil disturbances a year.

The annual winter meetings usually contain more style than substance, hyped in the days leading up to the event and ultimately ending with most teams making few moves. While the Orioles spent this week in the Gaylord Opryland Hotel at the root of many trade and free-agent rumors that led to few actual transactions, executive vice president Dan Duquette was pleased with the moves the club made. The Orioles arrived at the winter meetings looking to trade for a power hitter, a goal that didn't happen this week, but will be something to monitor as the offseason progresses.

The strike by 3,200 workers at the General Motors Corp.'s Southeast Baltimore minivan assembly plant moved into its second week yesterday with the union reporting only slight progress in talks.Rodney A. Trump, president of Local 239 of the United Auto Workers union, said there was "minuscule progress" at yesterday's short meeting of the union's and company's main negotiating teams."I'd call it a baby step [toward settlement]," he added.It was the second consecutive day in which the union reported progress toward settlement.

The Ravens don't need to search for an offensive identity because they found a new one yesterday. Let's call them No. 29. That's where their offense was ranked among the 32 NFL teams. A week ago, they were No. 28. And if you look at the team's recent history and some of the offensive personnel in 2006, there probably won't be significant progress during the season. They could be No. 30 next Monday. They could be No. 27 in two weeks, and No. 25 a week later. That won't change the perception of this team.

Each week a nutritionist from the University of Maryland Medical Center provides a guest post to The Baltimore Sun's health blog Picture of Health (baltimoresun.com/pictureofhealth), which is reprinted here. This week, Robin Rudner weighs in on goal-setting. Jan. 1 has come and gone. If you made a resolution to improve your health and fitness (and you're serious this time), have you evaluated your progress? Do you have a plan? Consider SMART goal setting, an approach often used in corporate training.

A MERE 15 months before graduation, 10,000 high-school juniors in Maryland have made no progress toward getting their high-school diplomas in at least one key area: the state education department's requirement that students fulfill 75 hours community service.After receiving reports last month on how students in each of the state's 24 school systems were faring, state Superintendent Nancy Grasmick's office quickly responded to help school systems that are falling behind. How Maryland, the only state with a community service component in its curriculum, handles these laggards will shape how seriously the requirement is taken.

CLARIFICATION A graphic in Friday's Anne Arundel section may have left a misleading impression about when Brooklyn Park Middle School failed to meet the state's annual benchmarks for student progress. Special education students didn't meet reading benchmarks in the 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 school years. Though those students reached those goals in 2004-2005, black students fell short that year. The school made adequate progress in all areas last year, before falling behind again in two categories this year.

Baltimore has made progress on some of the worst problems facing companies in the central financial district, according to an annual assessment by a local business group, the Downtown Partnership. The local business group's annual report doesn't dwell on the loss of jobs and revenue due to the economic slump. But, officials acknowledge, the core business district still faces parking shortages, a lack of retail stores, unused and unfit buildings, uncollected trash and a perception of high crime.

Verizon Communications Inc.'s union employees were on the job yesterday and will continue, their representatives said, as long as negotiators for the workers and the phone company progress toward a new contract. A midnight deadline Saturday for a new agreement passed with representatives of the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers saying they had seen enough progress during the talks in Washington to continue working without a contract.

For the second straight day, rookie cornerback Jimmy Smith participated in practice - the first time he's practiced in back-to-back sessions since the week leading up to the season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers. That was also the day he suffered a high left ankle sprain, which has sidelined him for almost the entire season. The first-round pick's activity could be interpreted as a positive step towards suiting up for the Ravens' contest against the Jacksonville Jaguars Monday night.