Sampling

Thousands are expected to sample local wines and food while grooving to the rhythms of acoustic folk rock this weekend at the fourth annual Celebrate Annapolis Wine, Food & Music Festival.An elaborate stage and larger sound system are part of an overall expansion this year. "We want this to represent all of Annapolis hospitality, not just wines," said Darlene Pisani, festival coordinator.Nationally known musicians Lowen & Navarro and David Wilcox headline the list of mostly local artists, who, Ms. Pisani promised, "won't get on your nerves even if you're 85."

NEW ORLEANS -- When the Super Bowl shows up here, stuff happens. It might have something to do with the vibe. How many cities do you know where at noontime on a weekday, someone is paid to stand outside a bar in the middle of the street and hold up a large advertising sign that says: "HUGE ... BEERS"? How many cities do you know where another person is holding up another sign outside another establishment: "WASH THE GIRL OF YOUR CHOICE"? I can only think of one. It's the city where I saw both of those things Monday.

WASHINGTON -- Negotiators from the White House and Speaker Newt Gingrich's office have reached a tentative agreement that would allow the Census Bureau to test its hotly debated new method for estimating the country's population, administration and congressional officials said yesterday.The deal, the details of which must be fleshed out and sold to Republican and Democratic members of the House, would allow the Census Bureau to test the use of statistical sampling next year, a procedure the bureau would like to use for the next census, in 2000.

It will be an evening full of drama, music and comedy when the Carroll County Arts Council, in Westminster, presents its first-ever Carroll County Theater Showcase on Friday, Oct. 19. Featuring community theater groups from across the county, the showcase will highlight the groups doing what they do best, whether singing and dancing, a comedy routine or presenting Shakespeare's works with a flourish. "It's a really exciting opportunity to try and create a sense of community for all of them.

HOUSTON -- President Clinton plunged into the debate over race, politics and the U.S. Census yesterday, urging Congress to permit the use of a new method for counting the population that Democrats say is more accurate but Republicans contend is unconstitutional.The president, joining forces with other members of his party and Census officials, contended that the 1990 Census missed whole segments of the population, largely members of minority groups, thereby throwing off decisions by government and business on issues from health care to advertising.

WASHINGTON -- While Republicans and Democrats in Congress continue high-stakes maneuvering over the 2000 Census, the state of Arizona has sent Washington a defiant message on what kinds of numbers will -- and won't -- be acceptable inside its borders.A new Arizona law, whipped through the Republican-controlled Legislature on a largely party-line vote and signed Thursday by GOP Gov. Jane Dee Hull, would require the state to use only population figures from a straight head count as it remaps legislative and congressional districts.

FOR CITIES like Baltimore, the Bush administration's decision not to statistically correct the 2000 Census head count could be a costly one. Census figures dictate, among other things, who will get $185 billion in federal aid every year. Medicaid, housing aid and funds for urban and rural development all flow in accordance with population: Governments in counties, cities and towns get help from Washington based on the number of people - especially poor people - living within their boundaries.

Like it or not, music in the late 20th century is all about sampling. Pop music, hip-hop, rock, techno, and even jazz, are increasingly being built around sampled sounds and bits and pieces of existing music that are cut, pasted and played repeatedly in what are called loops. The software company Sonic Foundry has built a stellar reputation among musicians, amateur and pro, with its excellent desktop sound editing tools. The latest release, Acid Pro 2.0 ($399), is an amazing piece of software that is as easy to use as it is powerful and sophisticated.

WASHINGTON -- House Speaker Newt Gingrich has filed his much anticipated lawsuit seeking to prevent the Clinton administration from using a new and controversial method for estimating the country's population in the 2000 census.The suit, filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Washington, states that the method, known as statistical sampling, violates the Constitution and the federal Census Act. The suit asks that the decision of the court be immediately appealed to the Supreme Court."The House seeks a prompt and expeditious resolution on the merits of your administration's sampling plan because it is clearly in the national interest to resolve the issue now, before the 2000 census begins," Gingrich said in a letter to President Clinton.

WASHINGTON -- To cut costs and improve accuracy, the Census Bureau said yesterday that it would actually count only 90 percent of the United States population in 2000 and rely on statistical sampling methods to determine the number remaining.The plans, announced at the Commerce Department, mean that for the first time, the official tally of the U.S. population, done every 10 years and used to apportion seats in the House of Representatives, will be based in part on a scientifically determined estimate rather than the actual head count conducted through a massive direct mail campaign.

Federal workers are in the trenches daily, so they're likely to be the first to spot waste - and to come up with ways to save taxpayer dollars. That's the theory behind the Obama administration's Securing Americans Value and Efficiency (SAVE) Award, a contest in which federal workers submit ideas to reduce costs. The prize: a meeting with the president in the Oval Office to present the money-saving idea. Matt Ritsko, a financial manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, won last year with a suggestion to create a "library" for unused tools and materials that could be checked out like books.

The U.S. Supreme Court has allowed Maryland to resume the collection of DNA samples after arrests for violent crimes, an indication that the justices might decide the issue that has divided lower courts and pitted tough-on-crime state officials against civil liberties activists. Wednesday's one-sentence order from Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. is temporary, intended to give opponents of the law a chance to respond before the court makes a more definitive ruling. The uncertainty about what will happen next had led to confusion in law enforcement circles about whether police should immediately reinstate the practice.

Water samples from two treatment plants in Baltimore beat out samples from plants in Washington, D.C., and Delaware last week in an annual taste test, according to the city's Department of Public Works. The "Water Taste Challenge" is held each year at the joint spring meeting of the Chesapeake Water Environmental Association and the Chesapeake Section of the American Water Works Association. This year's meeting was held May 11 at Six Flags America in Bowie. Public works departments from Baltimore, Washington and Delaware competed in the taste competition.

Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler took a first step Tuesday toward an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court in a high-stakes case that blocks police across the state from collecting DNA samples when a person is arrested in connection with a violent crime or burglary. Gansler asked Maryland's highest court to reconsider its recent ruling or allow police to continue to take the samples while the state asks the Supreme Court to step in. At issue is whether taking the samples before a conviction violates an individual's constitutional rights.

When a high court ruling came down this week limiting the use of DNA evidence, police in the state were investigating 20 cases based on DNA  collected after they arrested suspects charged with committing a violent crime or burglary. Now, it's unclear whether any of  those cases will lead to prosecutions. The Court of Appeals decision puts in question the constitutionality of collecting the samples before a conviction, and the state is considering whether to appeal the matter to theU.S.

Maryland authorities have stopped collecting DNA samples from suspects arrested on violent crime and burglary charges after the state's highest court ruled the crime-fighting tool that has helped solve dozens of cold cases unconstitutional. On Friday, officials from law enforcement agencies across the state said they were acting on advice from Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler to stop the practice, pending a possible appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Gansler has not said whether he intends to appeal the Court of Appeals decision.

IT IS NOT a pretty fight, but the outcome will be significant. It is a tale that is a blot on Republicans and the Republic.Census takers in 1990 failed to count 8.4 million Americans while double-counting another 4.4 million.They missed 4.4 percent of all African Americans, 3 percent of Latinos, 12.2 percent of Native Americans and 0.7 percent of whites -- mostly poor, homeless, young, recent immigrants or urban dwellers. A study, commissioned by Congress, pointed out that the 2000 census will be worse if the same methodology is used.

Ellen Reich likes her apples crunchy and tart, and her tomatoes "bursting with tomato flavor." So when she heads to one of the area's many farmers' markets every week for fresh produce, it's a ritual and a necessity that she do a little taste-test before buying. "It's part of the joy of the farmers' market," says Reich, who lives in Butchers Hill and owns Three Stone Steps, a fair trade import business. So imagine Reich's dismay when she learned, while shopping at the Baltimore Farmers' Market under the Jones Falls Expressway viaduct one Sunday recently, that sampling the produce was now prohibited.

Since Maryland began collecting DNA samples from suspects arrested in violent crimes and burglaries, it has used that evidence to win 58 convictions, including eight in rape cases. As the state's DNA database becomes more extensive and more genetic samples are collected in crime scenes, the usefulness of this tool to solve crimes and put dangerous people behind bars will only grow. DNA evidence is much more accurate than eyewitness identification and more ubiquitous than fingerprints.

Police around Maryland said Wednesday that they would continue to collect DNA samples when suspects are arrested for violent crimes and burglaries, despite a recent ruling by the state's top court limiting the practice. Several law enforcement agencies, including the state Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, were awaiting a decision on whether the state will appeal before they make changes. Gov. Martin O'Malley, Baltimore's mayor and a chorus of state and local officials called for an appeal of what they see as a crucial tool that has linked suspects to other, unsolved crimes.