Ring

A man who headed an East Baltimore drug ring that included his mother, father, grandfather and two brothers was sentenced to life without parole yesterday for helping smuggle more than $1 million worth of cocaine from New York City, the FBI said.Stanley Hall Jr., 26, became the fifth defendant in the drug-conspiracy case to be sentenced to life without parole. Eight people were convicted in U.S. District Court in Baltimore after a trial that ended Nov. 9.`Bat bags'Federal agents said the ring operated around the 200 block of N. Duncan St. and sold crack in plastic bags with Batman emblems, which came to be known as "bat bags," said FBI spokesman Peter A. Gulotta Jr."

LEONARDTOWN -- "The rings are hung; the track is clear. Charge, fair maiden. " Upon the announcer's command, Mikayla Miller of St. Leonard, aboard the horse Tyke, raced down an 80-foot jousting course, lance in hand. Covering the distance in less than 9 seconds and keeping her arm and upper body as still as possible, she rode through three arches and speared the half-inch ring hanging from each of them. Competing at the St. Mary's County Fair Joust tournament last weekend, the semiprofessional rider performed well enough to qualify at that level for the state championship next Saturday in Crownsville.

In mid-January, my boyfriend, Rob, and I went to a jeweler in Towson to find a watch for him. Being a particular fellow, he spent over an hour trying on watches while I struggled to maintain interest. We then took a walk around the mall so he could mull over his choices, and by the time we returned I was ready for some Me time. I pointed to a canary-ish ring in the case and asked to try it on. Rob and I had discussed engagement rings before. I knew I wanted a solitaire, preferably canary, with a thin band.

The tiny brass ring bearing the initials "CC" presents a mystery: Did it belong to Charles Calvert, the third Baron Baltimore? And can the St. Mary's College of Maryland archaeologists who unearthed it ever prove its origins? The archaeologists discovered the ring this summer at a dig at a Charles County site that was a refuge for Piscataway Indians who were pushed from their homelands by other tribes and the arrival of European settlers in the 1600s. The small ring, perhaps designed to be worn on a pinkie finger, might have been a signet ring used to seal documents, said Julia King, the St. Mary's professor who oversaw the dig. King believes the ring might have been used by a representative of Charles Calvert to conduct diplomatic relations with the Piscataway tribe.

Baltimore police uncovered a large dog-fighting ring in the Howard Park neighborhood late Tuesday while investigating drug activity in the 2900 block of Silver Hill Ave. Police said Johnnie Taylor, 30, of the 2900 block of Silver Hill Ave., was charged with eight counts of animal cruelty and dog fighting as well as drug possession. Animal control officers rescued eight dogs and police seized training equipment used in dog fighting, along with medications, dog-fighting manuals and narcotics.

Add a Super Bowl ring to the list of things floating in the Chesapeake Bay. The ring belongs to a receptionist for the Ravens named Toni Lekas -- everyone involved with a winning team gets a ring, not just the players.  The person who lost the ring is her boyfriend, Chuck Lykes. Florists, take note of his name, because Lykes will likely be sending Lekas a lot of bouquets to make up for this one. Lykes was wearing the ring at a party on a boat in Middle River in August after Lekas had gone home, according to The Caw blog on baltimoreravens.com.

Who doesn't need more bling these days? And what better way to impress your friends than flashing a genuine, diamond-studded Ravens Super Bowl XXXV ring? Right now, it can be yours for a little more than $8,000. OK, maybe that's not exactly a steal. But that's the current bidding price at Lelands.com, where the ring is being auctioned. Here's the back-story, though: the ring doesn't belong to a former player. The name “Dickson” is inscribed on it. But it doesn't belong to current tight end Ed Dickson, who was still a kid when the Ravens won the Super Bowl in 2001.

Milford Mill girls basketball coach DeToiya McAliley might be more excited about getting her second state championship ring than her players are about getting their first ones. In addition to coaching the No. 4 Millers to the Class 3A championship Saturday night, 40-37 over Damascus, McAliley guided the Millers to the 2005 title. Today, that 2005 ring is in pretty bad shape. It got run over at a gas station and, at one point, McAliley thought she had lost it forever. "I was pumping gas and I guess I had lost weight at that point and my ring fell off my finger.

The Better Business Bureau is warning consumers about a "one ring" telephone scam affecting cellphone users in Baltimore and elsewhere. Victims of the scam receive a call from unknown number, usually from countries in the Caribbean. The call ends after one ring and no message is left. If the number is called back, the caller is then liable for numerous fees and charges. The bureau advises consumers to avoid returning calls from unknown numbers, especially from certain area codes.

Before the Ravens play the Oakland Raiders today, Jonathan Ogden will be introduced to the sellout crowd, walking out of the M&T Bank Stadium tunnel for one of the last times. "If he comes out in full gear, you'll know he's playing left tackle," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said jokingly. Ogden will be inducted into the Ravens' Ring of Honor at halftime, just 10 months after playing his final game. Considered one of the greatest offensive tackles in NFL history, Ogden has no regrets retiring after 12 seasons and 11 Pro Bowl invitations.

Buying a diamond ring is always a costly expense. Claiming to lose it — twice — came at an even steeper price for Colby White, chief financial officer for Prince George's County public schools. The Maryland Insurance Administration has ruled White and his wife, Keisha, who works as an internal auditor for the school system, committed insurance fraud by filing a claim for a lost diamond ring that another insurer had already paid $16,313 to replace months earlier. The agency said the couple "knowingly violated" Maryland insurance law in filing two claims for the same loss.

Almost exactly two years ago this week Anthony Batts arrived in Baltimore to take over the leadership of the city's police department. Since then Baltimore has seen homicides go up, then come down again as Mr. Batts has instituted reforms, shaken up the force and reached out to local residents in an effort to build trust between his officers and the citizens they serve. It wasn't always obvious that the department was making progress on his watch, but it's a measure of his success in all those endeavors that today he enjoys the confidence of public officials who just a year ago were openly questioning whether he was up to the job. That remarkable turnaround in attitudes was reflected in the ringing endorsements Mr. Batts received this week from City Council members who appear set to unanimously approve his nomination for a new six-year contract as the city's top cop. Over the past two years Mr. Batts clearly has proven himself as a leader who can get things done, and he has vindicated the high hopes Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake held out for him when she recruited him from the West Coast where he had spent most of his 30-year career in law enforcement.

Thanks for Jacob Simpson's well written commentary on the absurdity of what goes on in the sports world ( "Ray Rice is not a victim," July 31). We, the public, are duped over and over again by carefully crafted responses. The mighty dollar speaks every time. I do not feel Ray needed to get in front of the world to apologize to his wife; it's something he should have worked out with her privately, not in front of the cameras. But since he did go in front of the cameras, as other athletes have, just once I would like to hear them say: "I sinned.

Ravens cornerback Jimmy Smith admits that he's unsure how the joint practices with the San Francisco 49ers, which will take play from Saturday to Monday at the Under Armour Performance Center, will work out. But he's knows what he could do to make them a little more intense. “I might wear my Super Bowl ring out to practice,” Smith joked. “Hopefully, Coach [John] Harbaugh's brother isn't mad at me for that call or non-call, whatever you want to call it.” Smith, of course, is referring to the Ravens' 34-31 victory over the 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII.

Fans were left holding their breath at the end of RAW Monday night -- not due to the sight in the ring, Roman Reigns standing tall -- but the scene outside the ring, with medical personnel looking at Seth Rollins. Toward the end of the match, Rollins tried a springboard attack against Reigns, who sidestepped the move. As he landed in the ring Rollins immediately bent over, grabbing towards his right knee. Reigns then clotheslined him over the top rope, and when Rollins hit the ground he again grabbed at his knee.

From a home base in Houston, federal authorities say, a Remington native has been directing a cross-country drug operation that shipped large quantities of heroin to Baltimore, New York, New Orleans and elsewhere. Fred Douglas Brooks III, 46, had already served two federal prison terms for drug trafficking when he allegedly launched a new venture despite having betrayed a crew of Mexican suppliers by testifying against them in 2005. The latest business - a "high-level, interstate narcotics-trafficking and money-laundering operation," according to federal prosecutors in Louisiana - flourished until his arrest June 30 in Houston, authorities say. At least 16 people, including Brooks, have been charged in connection with the case; seven are charged in U.S. District Court in Maryland.

The man in the tan jacket and hood seen emerging from Doris Dodge's West Friendship home is accused of stealing a pile of jewelry worth $3,700, including a diamond ring, a gold wedding band and a sapphire stone. But it was Dodge's $50 high school class ring from 1971, her initials engraved in the side, that meant the most to her. Police say it was that very ring from Terra Alta High School in West Virginia that helped lead detectives to the suspects — a husband-and-wife team charged in connection with a string of burglaries that has heightened fears in the rural western reaches of Howard County.

On Friday January 13, 2006, BELLA RING (nee Rosenbusch) beloved wife of the late Albert Ring, devoted mother of Edith Karch of Baltimore, MD and Margaret Stern of Randallstown, MD, dear mother-in-law of Fred Stern and the late Leonard Karch, devoted sister of the late Bertha Solomon, Irma Hoffman and Ludwig Rosenbusch, loving grandmother of Harvey and the late Debbie Karch, Annette and the late David Snyder, Lonie and Stanley Prouser, Sandy and Charles Lurie,...

The rallying cry "freedom to serve" will soon be heard in Baltimore as the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and its Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty launches its annual "Fortnight for Freedom" campaign tomorrow. If you think this is an odd phrase to refer to the demand that religious employers be exempt from providing contraception access for female employees, you're not alone. The refrain also rings hollow for women and men everywhere who, because of the bishops' discriminatory practices, are not free to serve.

When Samuel L. Morison of Crofton was charged this week with stealing documents from the U.S. Navy's archive in Washington, it was a rare event for the facility. "There has not been a theft like this in recent memory," said Paul Taylor, a spokesman for the Naval History and Heritage Command, from whose collection Morison allegedly took three boxes of files used by his grandfather, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Samuel Eliot Morison. Theft is a very real danger within the quiet rooms of the nation's historical research facilities.