Rue

Royal Rue gave an emphatic end to a day of winning favorites, leading the entire way in the $22,000 feature at Pimlico Race Course yesterday.Royal Rue, a New Jersey shipper ridden by Jose Ferrer, took command at the start of the 1 1/16-mile turf race and won by nearly four lengths over Passtheale, who was up in the final stride to nip Aliocha for second.Royal Rue was the seventh successful favorite on the 10-race program.The winning time of 1 minute, 41 2/5 seconds was 1 1/5 seconds off the course record set Monday by Air Attack.

Email sports copy to howardcountysports@patuxent.com by 9 a.m. on Monday. Co-Rec Softball The Cindy La Rue Inter-Village Co-Rec Softball League is looking for players (ages 19 and older), especially couples and women, from all villages in Columbia. This is slow-pitch, non-competitive softball played on Sunday afternoons at Wilde Lake Middle School fields from early May to August. Athletic skill is not required, with the focus on having fun in a relaxing social setting. Everyone plays.

Katie Rue had no idea where she would land when she started jumping off couches as a toddler. So her mother and father, Rosie and Bill, decided to give her some guidance at a young age. "They put me in a gymnastics school when I was 2 and I had no idea what I was doing until I was 7 years old," said the standout University of Florida freshman gymnast from Garrison Forest School in Owings Mills. Rue and her Gators teammates landed in the 12-team NCAA championships last weekend at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion and advanced to the Super Six, where they finished fifth in the nation with a 196.80 score.

Submitting sports notices The deadline for submitting sports copy is 9 a.m. Monday. We prefer email (howardcountysports@patuxent.com). Questions? Call 410-332-6578. Softball The Cindy LaRue League, an informal co-rec softball league, is looking for players age 19 and older — especially couples and women — from all parts of Howard County. This is slow-pitch, non-competitive softball played on Sunday afternoons at Wilde Lake Middle School from late April to August.

It is fitting that as Leslie B. Dunner's tenure at the helm of the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra winds down, soprano Kishna Davis is coming to town for one more concert under the maestro's baton. ASO aficionados will recall that it was Davis who appeared as an 11th-hour replacement soloist at Dunner's ASO debut in February 1998. She brought last-minute repertoire with her as well. But if the conductor or the soprano, a Howard County native, felt undue pressure at having been brought together so late in the game for Dunner's audition concert, neither betrayed it in performance.

Andre Previn, "Honey and Rue," Samuel Barber, "Knoxville: Summer of 1915," and George Gershwin, "I Loves You, Porgy" and "Summertime," performed by Kathleen Battle and the Orchestra of St. Luke's, Previn conducting (Deutsche Grammophon 437 787-2)The major interest here is Previn's "Honey and Rue," a song cycle specifically written for Battle and on which the composer collaborated with the poet and novelist Toni Morrison.This is a wonderful cycle with a splendid text. Morrison's poems have an aura made up equally of earthiness and ethereal beauty.

The growth that Griff Bell's boat rental company could have had this season is gone with the rain - he's seen a day of wet weather for every day of sunshine and sailing. Tent rentals, on the other hand, are booming. No one wants a washed-out outdoor party. "They call the day before: `It's going to rain, I need something!'" said Terry Chiveral, a manager for ABC Party and Tent Rental Center in Baltimore, which is getting an unusual number of last-minute reservations. The near-biblical downpours this spring and summer have brought headaches for fair-weather ventures, while hot-tub builders, tanning salons and lawn mower operators bask in water-propelled profits.

Blanche is a sex-craving, man-hungry, glamorous vamp from Atlanta. And I'm not from Atlanta. -- Former Golden Girls star Rue McClanahan

On April 16, 2006, LESLIE M.; beloved husband of the late Ruth R. Nalls; devoted father of Ruthe R. Snyder, Deborah K. Doxzon and Cynthia G. Eichelberger; dear brother of La Rue Elliot, Shirley Stickles and the late Owen Nalls. Also survived by seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Services at the family owned Evans Chapel of Memories, Parkville on Thursday at 10 A.M. Interment Garrison Forest Veterans Cemetery. Visiting Wednesday, 3-5 and 7-9 P.M.

Q: Are Cirrus ATMs readily available in London? Perhaps you could print a list of those countries where Cirrus can be found.A: The MasterCard Cirrus network has more than 200,800 ATMs in 68 countries and territories. Besides the United States and Canada, Cirrus is to be found throughout Europe, the Middle East, parts of Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean and the Asia-Pacific region.The European listings (22 countries in all) include Croatia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Malta.

Running back Ray Rice rushed for 104 yards and two touchdowns, quarterback Joe Flacco completed almost 63 percent of his passes en route to 270 yards, and rookie wide receiver Torrey Smith amassed 165 yards on six catches in the Ravens' 31-24 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Nov. 20. But the one aspect that stuck out to Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis was the team's inability to avoid penalties, especially of the pre-snap variety. Of the Bengals' six penalties that day, three were false starts that put the offense in tough spots.

Jennifer Debnam cringes every time she hears a television report or reads a newspaper article about the H1N1 flu pandemic and - inevitably - comes to the part where the disease is called "swine flu." Debnam raises 12,000 hogs a year on her family's Kent County farm and she, like others in the industry, is losing megabucks this year - which they attribute to the misperception that you can catch flu from eating pork chops or a plate of ribs. Exports (and prices) are down sharply as Russia and China have put major restrictions on American pork products after questioning the health of the nation's hog population, experts said.

PARIS / / A euro was worth $1.25 when I moved to Paris in 2004. Now it's more like $1.60. So, am I happy I don't live here anymore? Not at all, but I'm much more careful with my money when I pass through. When I returned for a visit at the end of last year, I remembered 10 ways to stretch a euro in the City of Light. 1. CONSIDER A FLAT / / For stays of a week or more, rent an apartment. Given the expensive hotel rates and lodging tax, an apartment rental can be cost effective. Lots of established agencies specialize in places suitable for vacationers, including rothray.

WASHINGTON -- President Bush's first surgeon general testified yesterday that his speeches were censored to match administration political positions and that he was prevented from giving the public accurate scientific information on issues such as stem cell research and teen pregnancy prevention. "Anything that doesn't fit into the political appointees' ideological, theological or political agenda is ignored, marginalized or simply buried," said Dr. Richard H. Carmona, surgeon general from 2002 to 2006, to a House committee.

COLLEGE PARK -- If you don't follow high school wrestling in Maryland, you might be surprised to learn that the most interesting story line at yesterday's state tournament didn't involve a defending champion or a three-team race for the overall title. Instead, it involved a wrestler dressed in pink socks, lime-green headgear and sporting a ponytail who finished second in the final of the Class 4A-3A 103-pound weight class. More wrestling Old Mill captures its eighth state tournament title; Asper becomes Hereford's first three-time state champ.

Co-rec softball -- Cindy La Rue Co-Rec Softball League is seeking players, ages 19 and older, from Howard County and nearby areas. The slow-pitch, noncompetitive softball league welcomes couples and women especially. Games are played Sunday afternoons, from late April to August, at Wilde Lake Middle School fields. Athletic skill is not required; everyone plays. Kids are welcome to cheer. A leaguewide picnic and awards program concludes the season. The cost is minimal. Bill Jones, 410-499-9918, or www.cindylarue.

"Truly Wilde: The Unsettling Story of Dolly Wilde, Oscar's Unusual Niece," by Joan Schenkar. Basic Books. 457pages. $30. It might be said of the new millennium that women's studies ain't what it used to be. Which is to say the curse of so-called "post-feminist post-modernism" means there is no dearth of female historical figures to be researched, but a surprising lack of researchers with an interest in new subjects. Which makes Joan Schenkar refreshing, eschewing as she does the exhaustively explored female literary lights of the last century and the nascently dry academic tone with which they are invariably deconstructed.

Co-rec softball -- Cindy La Rue Co-Rec Softball League is seeking players, ages 19 and older, from Howard County and nearby areas. The slow-pitch, noncompetitive softball league welcomes couples and women especially. Games are played Sunday afternoons, from late April to August, at Wilde Lake Middle School fields. Athletic skill is not required; everyone plays. Kids are welcome to cheer. A leaguewide picnic and awards program concludes the season. The cost is minimal. Bill Jones, 410-499-9918, or www.cindylarue.

WASHINGTON -- Members of Congress said yesterday that they may seek to repeal a measure that was meant to put a lid on executive pay but may have instead triggered ever-richer stock option deals. At issue is a 1993 tax provision that barred companies from deducting salaries above $1 million as a business expense unless they were tied to performance. In response, many companies curtailed executive salaries and made up the difference with the stock option grants that are at the heart of an unfolding controversy.

On April 16, 2006, LESLIE M.; beloved husband of the late Ruth R. Nalls; devoted father of Ruthe R. Snyder, Deborah K. Doxzon and Cynthia G. Eichelberger; dear brother of La Rue Elliot, Shirley Stickles and the late Owen Nalls. Also survived by seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Services at the family owned Evans Chapel of Memories, Parkville on Thursday at 10 A.M. Interment Garrison Forest Veterans Cemetery. Visiting Wednesday, 3-5 and 7-9 P.M.