Purse

I got a new purse for Mother's Day, but I am reserving judgment. I like the purse, don't get me wrong. I actually lobbied for it. But I've been burned before, so you won't hear me gushing about this purse until … well, until I know it is The One. You'd have better luck buying me a new husband for Mother's Day. Or a new house. There's a greater chance I'd like either one of those than there is that I will like this purse. That's how tough the purse thing is. You might think it is bras.

In another time, Maryland was a hotbed for horse racing, its history rich and its purses comparable to other states. It was a place where jockeys could make a career and not have to contemplate leaving for New York or California. Since the late 1980s, and maybe longer, being an up-and-coming rider at Pimlico Race Course and Laurel Park has been akin to being a burgeoning major league star at Camden Yards. Bigger markets — with longer racing seasons and more lucrative purses — beckon.

There are tricks and then there are tricks. Sugar, here, has one great trick: Holding his mom's purse. Sugar won the "best trick" award recently at the Laurel Dog Show.  

Over the past year, slots money has injected energy into Maryland horse racing. Revenue from the state's two casinos has bolstered purses, helping attract better horses and create more competitive races. The Preakness also is benefiting. Some of the weekend's undercard stakes races offer larger prizes, while the long-respected Pimlico Special returns with a $300,000 purse after disappearing for three years due to a lack of prize money. It's shaping up to be a good running for the Preakness this year.

Before he even had presented the Founders Cup to the golf public, LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan noted he already had received "at least 50" e-mails from players with suggestions on how to improve the novel event. Here's one more. Let the players keep half their winnings. The other 50 percent of the purse still would be earmarked for LPGA/USGA Girls Golf developmental program. Players would be free to donate whatever additional slice of their paycheck to the cause. Win-win.

On a March day in 1980, a high school teacher in New Jerse caught two girls smoking in a lavatory. She marched them off to the principal's office; and thereby hangs a tale that is worth reviewing as the school year begins.What are the constitutional rights of high school students? We know from Supreme Court opinions that their right to freedom of the press is limited; school authorities may control the content of a student newspaper. Their right to freedom of expression is broader; students may wear black armbands to protest a war.Students have a First Amendment right to pray voluntarily in school.

Two citizens foiled a purse snatching in a parking lot near Annapolis Mall on Sunday afternoon, county police said.Maria Lemos, 26, told police she was leaving work at the Wynham Gardens Hotel in the 100 block of Jennifer Road and was walking toward West Street when a man approached her, pushed her, grabbed her purse and ran behind the hotel.Two people caught the man, took the purse and a cellular phone from him and let him go. They gave Ms. Lemos her purse and gave police the telephone, police said.

A man pushed a woman to the ground while snatching her purse at a Columbia shopping center Sunday afternoon, county police said.The woman's arm was slightly injured, but she did not require treatment at the scene, police said.The victim told officers that she had just gotten out of her car at 3 p.m. at the Hickory Ridge Village Center in the 6400 block of Freetown Road when the man surprised her and grabbed her purse.The man ran to a nearby gas station, got into a red vehicle and drove away, police said.

A lucrative purse bonus currently being paid to horsemen at Laurel Park might be discontinued.Because of recent business declines, purses have been overpaid about $500,000, creating a deficit that is worrying horsemen. They have asked track operator Joe De Francis to drop the bonus plan, which amounts to about $15,000 extra a day being paid in purses.Laurel general manager John Mooney said yesterday that the bonus plan will stay in effect at least through Oct. 24."We're taking a hard look at the figures," he said.

A Jessup man was arrested on a theft charge Saturday after a purse-snatching incident outside a High's convenience store on U.S. 1, county police said.Police said a 34-year-old Laurel woman was walking to her car outside the High's store in the 7900 block of U.S. 1 when a man grabbed her purse and ran off shortly before 9:15 p.m. The purse contained a small amount of cash.The woman gave police a description of the suspect, who was last seen running southbound on the highway, police said.After a briefsearch, officers arrested Tony Randolph Smith, 24, of U.S. 1, about a half-mile from the High's store.

The woman who allegedly stabbed her infant daughter at a city social services office Tuesday concealed the knife in a purse that was hand-searched by security guards but not put through a metal detector, a top state official says. Theodore Dallas, secretary of the Department of Human Resources, said Friday that private security guards who missed the long, silver-bladed kitchen knife followed procedures in place at the time. The 29-year-old suspect, who has been charged with attempted murder, did go through a metal detector at the building's entrance, he said.

A federal grand jury indicted five men on charges they allegedly sold counterfeit goods of high-end designers such as Michael Kors, Coach and Jimmy Choo around Baltimore, including at the Patapsco Flea Market, where authorities conducted a weekend raid in a similar but separate investigation. Charged were Tidiane Ba, 44; Mamadou Lamine Ba, 51; Abass Baro, 44; Sakho Oumar, 33; and Baba Toure, 39, all of Baltimore, according to the indictment unsealed Wednesday. Toure was being sought by law enforcement officials; the others were arrested on Sunday and released Monday under the supervision of U.S. Pretrial Services.

Robbery Incident (4800 Blk Roland Park) Baltimore, MD / February 1, 2012 - The Baltimore Police Department is investigating a robbery that occurred last night within the Roland Park Community of Northern Baltimore. Just before 8:00 p.m. within the rear of the 4800 Blk of Roland Avenue, as two women entered their vehicle they were approached by the suspect who demanded the victim's purses. Threatening to shoot if they did not comply, the suspect reached in the vehicle and removed a purse.

Anne Arundel County police said a Glen Burnie woman was robbed early Friday by a man who hid in her car, arose from the backseat, and demanded her purse. The incident happened in the parking lot of the Glen Ridge Apartments, in the unit block of Glen Ridge Road, at about 4:30 a.m. The unknown suspect grabbed the purse, which contained an undisclosed amount of cash and property, and fled the car on foot. County police searched the area, but did not find him.

The following is compiled from police reports from the Towson and Cockeysville precincts. Our policy is to include descriptions when there is enough information to make identification possible. Cockeysville Girdwood Road, 2400 block, between 8:25 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Dec. 1. DVD player and welder stolen. Rear sliding door pried open. Timonium West Aylesbury Road, unit block, at 4:12 a.m. Nov. 30. Clothing stolen from REI store. Entry by cutting gasket around front door glass, then smashing glass.

Abell Avenue 3100 block, between 4:30 and 5:55 a.m. Nov. 10.. Silver Mac Book, white Mac Book, two wallets, credit cards, paperwork stolen from unlocked residence. Beech Avenue 3500 block, between 8:30 p.m. Nov. 7 and 6:30 a.m. Nov. 8. Tools stolen from unlocked vehicle. West Belvedere Avenue 2400 block at 12:47 p.m. Nov. 10. Laptop, TomTom GPS, tan Gucci purse stolen from unlocked lab. Security camera video shows suspects entering the lab. 2400 block, between 2:30 p.m. Nov. 10 and 6 a.m. Nov. 11. 150 feet of copper pipe and 100 pounds of copper fittings stolen from Madison Chemical.

A 77-year-old Townsend Avenue resident had her purse snatched Thursday morning as she was walking in front of a check cashing store in the 5000 block of Ritchie Highway, county police said.The woman told police that a woman in her early 20s came up behind her, snatched her purse from her hand and ran behind the shopping center.

The following is compiled from police reports from the Towson and Cockeysville precincts. Our policy is to include descriptions when there is enough information to make identification possible. Cockeysville York Road at Gibbons Boulevard, 5:32 p.m. Oct. 22. A man between ages 40 and 50, with short black hair, driving a late model gold Jeep SUV with tinted rear windows, followed a car on York Road in Cockeysville and pulled up next to it at Gibbons Boulevard. The Jeep driver fired a shot at the car's driver.

Lee Corrigan still remembers the first Baltimore Marathon 11 years ago, when just 6,000 runners took part in the festivities and the city barely stopped to notice. The event's founder faced plenty of doubters, many who didn't believe Corrigan and his agency could make the event significant to the community or to the country's top-notch runners. Thinking back to those days, Corrigan laughs. Now, he's trying to find a place for 25,000 runners in preparation for the biggest Baltimore Marathon in event history Saturday.