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An 84-year-old World War II veteran and his wife have won a $254 million lottery in Missouri. Asked what he'll do with his winnings, Jim Wilson replied: "What winnings?" Meanwhile, I'm driving a '97 Cavalier, in case you haven't heard. Seriously, what would you do if you won that much money? Me? I'd sign Carlos Zambrano when he hits the free-agent market next winter. That should just about cover it. Roger Clemens threw batting practice yesterday at Minute Maid Park in Houston, then told reporters that he was undecided about whether he'll pitch this season.

Last week, both Maryland Transportation Secretary Beverly Swaim-Staley and Maryland Transit Administration chief Ralign T. Wells owned up to the fact that communication with riders is the agency's No. 1 weakness. It's good that these officials, who seem genuinely concerned about providing good service, recognize the problem. But it might be even worse than they think. Consider the case of Melissa Schober of Baltimore, who wrote a well-reasoned and well-informed email to Wells after a particularly bad commute June 22 — a night of troubles that was overshadowed by the even worse problems the night before.

Locking eyes, the mayor and the little girl conferred for a moment yesterday. The subject was civics: specifically, the symbolic significance of Police Commissioner Thomas C. Frazier's new hat -- the big white hat with the gold brim, glittering stars and miniature state flag on the front.Alexandra Frazier, 5, strolled over to the hat moments after her father was sworn in at City Hall yesterday as Baltimore's new police chief. It was on a table next to Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke.The mayor leaned down to kid level, asking, "Do you know whose hat that is?"

Baltimore-area school superintendents called into question Wednesday a suggestion by Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller that they cut administrators and public relations staffs to help ease the state's budget woes. Miller's comments were made in a Tuesday forum previewing the General Assembly session, as he referred to the more than $1.5 billion budget deficit anticipated next year - a shortfall that Maryland will not resolve by cutting teachers, unlike other states, he said.

FIRST there was the news from Cambridge, Mass., that 83 percent of all the undergraduates at MIT cheated at least once in their college careers. More than two-thirds confessed to plagiarism, and half admitted stealing other people's ideas.Then came word from the Navy that 133 midshipmen at the Naval Academy cheated on a 1992 examination.So I drove over to Annapolis to talk to those few who'd refrained from cheating on the exam.They were huddled off in a corner, and none of the cheaters would have anything to do with them.

The lawyer for Howard Spira, the Bronx man accused of trying to extort money from George Steinbrenner, relentlessly questioned Steinbrenner about his 1974 federal conviction yesterday, trying to draw a parallel between his actions in that case and in the Spira episode.Earlier in the trial's 10th day and Steinbrenner's first on the witness stand in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, the ousted managing partner of the New York Yankees was on the verge of crying, his voice quivering and tears appearing to well in his eyes, as he read names of members of his family from two telephone lists FBI agents seized from Spira's apartment in March 1990.

THE EXPERTS are correct to praise Dizzy Gillespie's music. We would also like one of his other major talents not to be forgotten. He was the master of the witty put-down of journalists posing silly questions.Once he was asked by an unimaginative interviewer how he would explain be-bop to an alien from outer space who had just landed in a flying saucer. He replied (rather sensibly when you think of it) that if he saw an alien space creature emerge from a flying saucer he would be too shocked or scared to say anything.

Even when he was very young, Amelio loved to paint. Though his paint box was small, his imagination was immense, and he would often work for hours painting remarkable pictures while dreaming of his life as a great artist.But luck was not with Amelio. Times turned tough, and each member of the family had to help out."And what will you do?" asked Amelio's mother."I will paint faces in the little park by the Gorgonzola Bridge," said Amelio.And that is exactly what he did. In fact, he became well known for the glorious rainbows he would paint on the cheeks of his young customers.

A three-hour appearance yesterday by former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and his wife, Kendel, as talk-show hosts on a Baltimore radio station became a nostalgic walk through the Ehrlich administration's accomplishments and a chance for the Ehrlichs' supporters to thank them for their service to Maryland. "It's the Ehrlich edition of the Tom Marr Show!" the former governor said after every commercial break, naming the host who normally takes the 9 a.m.-to-noon slot on WCBM-AM. "You're doing a good job," Kendel Ehrlich told her husband, who was elected Maryland's governor in 2002, the first Republican governor in 36 years.

It was a drizzly Saturday afternoon, and I had retreated to my basement office to work on this column and catch up on some other work. The knock on the front door came just before 5 p.m. I remembered my wife and the kids were out doing some Christmas shopping, so I raced upstairs.I opened the front door and was greeted cheerfully by a smiling, very wet and somewhat shabbily dressed young man. He extended his hand and introduced himself.I'm not sure of his name because it was immediately buried beneath a barrage of babble about a scholarship and something about $1,000.

It's only a matter of time before some smart advance scout starts poking around and comes up with the formula to neutralize this new-age Orioles Magic, so there's no reason to keep it a secret any longer. The best way to beat the O's right now is to allow them to score first. Let them get an early lead and hope it comes with a false sense of security. This is totally counterintuitive, of course. The team that scores first in a major league game wins nearly 70 percent of the time. That's why there were times in the pre-steroid era when a manager - the late Phillies, Expos, Twins and Angels skipper Gene Mauch stands out - would call for a sacrifice after a leadoff single or walk in the first inning and play for one run right out of the chute.

State schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick and Juvenile Services Secretary Donald W. DeVore promised yesterday to "respond immediately" to complaints from teachers at the Baltimore City Juvenile Justice Center, where staff members have said they fear for their safety. Grasmick and DeVore met separately yesterday with the teachers, days after an article in The Sun reported violence against education staff inside the juvenile lockup and some teachers' belief that officials were not listening to their concerns.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is floating a handful of anti-cheating measures past the league's competition committee that have this simple message written all over them: "Get that stinkin' Arlen Specter off my back!" Because other than providing some window dressing that Goodell is cracking down on Spygate-type shenanigans and appeasing the U.S. senator who has been harping on the Patriots video taping scandal, I don't see much of a point to some of these notions. Here's what Goodell reportedly wants the competition committee to consider: Surprise inspections of locker rooms, press-level areas where coaches presumably work and in-game communications equipment.

Talk isn't cheap on eBay. So the online auction company is tampering with tradition to rein in sellers who post negative comments about buyers. The San Jose, Calif., company recently announced that it would end its feedback structure that enables buyers and sellers to engage in mutual admiration or a flaming war of words after a transaction. Some sellers, the company has said, have gotten out of hand with retaliatory postings that are driving away customers. Some sellers believe that a mutual comment policy is the only way to level the playing field in a battle with customers bent on trashing merchants and hurting their businesses.

2 PATRIOTS 7, GIANTS 3 On the first play of the quarter, Laurence Maroney went in from 1 yard. The rest of the quarter was defined by strong defensive play from both teams, forcing fumbles and turnovers. Scoring PATRIOTS: Maroney 1 run (Gostkowski kick), 14:57.

JERUSALEM -- Israel closed all border crossings with the Gaza Strip yesterday, cutting off at least one aid shipment, and bombed the empty Interior Ministry building of the Palestinian Authority, which was already a ruin from a previous Israeli bombing. Israel said it was acting to try to halt Palestinian rocket attacks into Israel from Gaza, while Hamas and other Palestinian militants said they had increased their rocket fire in retaliation against intensified Israeli raids. In the bombing of the empty ministry building, which is in the crowded Al-Rimal neighborhood of western Gaza City, one woman, Haniah Abd-el Jawad, 52, was killed and up to 46 people were injured by blast and shrapnel, some of them children, according to medical officials at Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital.

Carl Pickens is the best receiver nobody knows.He has never played in a playoff game, appeared on "Monday Night Football" only once and hasn't been asked to do the ESPN "Sunday Conversation."What he does is catch passes.He has caught 391 in six years, leaving him 27 shy of surpassing Isaac Curtis and Cris Collinsworth and setting the Cincinnati Bengals' record. He also caught 41 touchdown passes from Jeff Blake from 1994 to 1997, which is tops for any duo in the league in that span.Despite all that, Pickens has played in obscurity on a losing team in a small market.

What is your take on using "automatic replies" or "out of office" replies that would respond to the e-mail I get while away? Does it tell a spammer that they have a live e-mail address, or is it worthwhile to use? - James R. Patterson For businesses, it can be a good idea. While any reply tells a spammer that the e-mail address is legitimate, I don't think most businesses will notice a difference in the amount of spam they get. The plus is that the customer knows you are away and not ignoring them.

WASHINGTON -- Trying to revive evangelical support for his presidential candidacy, Mitt Romney linked questions about his Mormon faith yesterday to fears about President John F. Kennedy's Catholicism but refused to answer specific criticism of his religion. A speech by Romney, heavily promoted by his campaign, was only the latest indication of the influential role that religion is playing in the 2008 presidential contest. Both parties are wooing religious voters - a pivotal group in the 2004 election - and issues linked to religion have marked the campaign, from the intense debate over how to respond to Islamic fundamentalism to rumors about the Muslim background of Democratic contender Sen. Barack Obama.