Structure

Four trucks laden with 100 slot machines arrived early Wednesday morning at the nearly completed casino at Arundel Mills mall. For the next two hours, workers wheeled banks of the gleaming new machines, one by one, inside on hand trucks. Installation of the first set of slots moved Maryland Live! Casino, the state's largest, another step closer to its scheduled opening in three months. That's progress for Maryland's lackluster gambling program, which has yet to be fully implemented more than three years after voters approved five slots locations statewide.

Baltimore's Washington Monument in Mount Vernon Square is one of the city's most recognizable landmarks, a classical Doric column towering 178 feet above its elegant surroundings. But nearly 200 years after its completion in 1829, the building and its grounds are showing their age, and the city can't afford their upkeep. That's why an agreement signed last month between the Board of Estimates and the Mount Vernon Place Conservancy, a private group formed to raise money and plan for architectural repairs and improvements on the site, may be the only way to preserve this iconic structure for future generations.

Gov. Martin O'Malley's call for public hearings to explore the relationship between Constellation Energy Group and its subsidiary, Baltimore Gas and Electric, may strike some as a purely political exercise. After all, it's not as if the genie of deregulation is headed back into the bottle. It's doubtful any new information can be gleaned that will result in the company's breakup or rebates for customers. But BGE's sticker-shocked 1.1 million customers deserve to know more about the utility's relationship with its parent and whether there are steps the Maryland Public Service Commission or General Assembly could take, if not to bring down electricity rates, at least to lessen future rate increases.

A fire caused extensive damage to a blacksmith's workshop in Dublin Friday afternoon. The fire in the 1500 block of Deerfield Road was called in shortly before 1 p.m. The State Fire Marshal's Office said the fire originated on the rear wall of a 10-by-16-foot outdoor storage facility; however, emergency radio transmissions said the building involved was a "workshop. " Thirty firefighters responded from the Darlington, Level and Whiteford volunteer fire companies in Harford County and Water Witch Fire Company in Cecil County and brought the fire under control in 10 minutes, according to a notice of investigation from the fire marshal's office.

April is a propulsive force in the north. Snow melts and the flotsam of spring appears: a child's mitten in the mud, a soap bubble ring; the lilac bushes bud, a light haze of green shows in the tops of trees. The cry of the lawn mower is heard. Mating begins, females ruffling their tail feathers, young males biting the alpha male in the rump to drive him off. And soon, suddenly, all of nature will open up, leaf out, burgeon, thrive and prosper. And then in the midst of it comes the anniversary of the massacre at Virginia Tech, with "survivors" talking on NPR about their pain and the healing process and how vulnerable they feel and how their lives have been affected.

The first question most people have when they're considering building an addition to an existing structure is: How will it work; how will it attach to the existing building?The answer, like the old joke, is "very carefully."The care becomes even more important when the new addition is being built on top of a previous addition. In that case, the problem becomes how to securely attach the new structure to the old one at the sides and at the floor/ceiling in a way that distributes the load, or weight, securely.

The Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association has appointed a 10-member committee to examine the structure of its football playoffs.But executive secretary Ned Sparks said it is too early to speculate on whether recommendations might include expanding the playoffs from its present eight-team format to 16 in each of the state's four enrollment-based classifications.The committee was charged "to review the MPSSAA football tournament format by examining its structure for equitable, safe and educationally sound competition and make recommendations to the MPSSAA's Board of Control," Sparks said.

Q: I have a big bust and cannot wear the simple slip dresses. I also find it embarrassing to show too much bust. What do you suggest?A: Forget about the simple slip dress and look for one with a built-in bra. Many designers realize how impractical the basic slip is for most women.In Paris, Emanuel Ungaro explains: "I have always believed in dressing real women, and real women need structure in clothes. Even when I use the most fluid fabrics I add structure. It's concealed, but it's there."

LOS ANGELES -- In the lexicon of lying, there are white lies and bare-faced lies. Facts can be fudged, forged or shaded. There are fibbers, fabricators and feckless fabulists. By whatever clinical term, the truth simply is not in some people. Now scientists have an anatomical inkling why. A new study from the University of Southern California, published in this month's issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry, suggests that the talent for compulsive deception is embedded in the structure of the brain itself.

Baltimore building inspectors condemned the House of Welsh tavern yesterday, which might indefinitely delay opening a $1 million nightclub in the 170-year-old structure. Inspectors determined the building, at Guilford Avenue and Saratoga Street, was not safe, so investors must submit plans for repairing it before work can proceed, said Zack Germroth, spokesman for the department of Housing and Community Development. They must also submit design plans for the nightclub and obtain work permits, Germroth said.

Baltimore County police have charged two juveniles with second-degree arson in connection with a multi-alarm fire that caused $400,000 in damages to a Dundalk church last week. The boys, aged 12 and 13 years and Dundalk residents, also face second-degree burglary, destruction of property and reckless endangerment charges, police said. The investigation remains open and could result in charges against additional suspects, police said. Investigators said they found no evidence of a hate crime.

Baltimore's 200-year-old Basilica of the Assumption, the first cathedral in America, will be closed to many visitors over eight months as crews repair domes damaged in August's earthquake, church officials said Thursday. Repairs could cost up to $5 million and extend into next year, officials said. But the extent of the damage will remain unknown until crews can reach the cracks and test them. It is nearly 100 feet to the top of the main dome. A preliminary review suggests that the damage is limited to restored plaster that was part of the nearly $40 million renovation completed six years ago, and is not structural, said archdiocese spokesman Sean Caine.

The National Aquarium in Baltimore 's Inner Harbor is redesigning its dolphin show — and its admission prices. Beginning May 4, the "timed, limited-access and separately priced [dolphin] shows" will be eliminated and replaced by all-day access to the dolphins and their trainers, according to a statement released Thursday by the aquarium. Along with the new dolphin show format, the aquarium is increasing its base admission price to $29.95 for adults and $20.95 for children.

A fire late Tuesday evening extensively damaged a home near Aberdeen. Firefighters responded to the 1100 block of Montreal Drive for a fire in a split level structure, according to Harford County Volunteer Fire and EMS Association spokesman Rich Gardiner. The fire, off Stepney Road west of Aberdeen, was reported about 5:10, as a house fire with rescue, according to Harford County emergency radio dispatches. It took the 30 firefighters who responded 15 minutes to control the blaze, which was discovered by the owner, Jean J. Thompson, according to a notice of investigation from the Office of the State Fire Marshal.

A fire Thursday evening in a Glen Burnie apartment complex was set intentionally, according to the Anne Arundel County Fire Department. The fire occurred just after 7 p.m. in a second-floor storage area in the Windbrooke Apartments, in the 7900 block of Silent Shadow Court, a department statement Friday said. The small fire was contained by sprinklers and was quickly extinguished, but fire investigators have determined that the flames were started on purpose. The fire department asks anyone with information about the fire to call investigators at 410-222-TIPS (8477)

A divided Board of Public Works gave wrecking crews the green light Wednesday to demolish the 55-year-old home of the president of the University of Maryland, College Park to make way for a $7.2 million building that will serve as a residence and a location for large events. The board voted 2-1 to allow the College Park Foundation to move forward with its plans to replace the home, with Comptroller Peter Franchot opposed. Foundation officials contend that the existing 1956 structure is obsolete, hasn't been renovated since 1991 and could not meet contemporary building or safety codes.

Construction workers digging a foundation in an empty lot apparently caused the wall of a neighboring old building to collapse yesterday afternoon, sending brick and splinters of wood onto the intersection of West and Light streets in Federal Hill but injuring no one, city police said. A building inspector condemned the vacant structure and it was immediately demolished -- sending up a cloud of dust that drew a crowd of neighborhood children, and leaving a pile of rubble at a corner where new construction is under way. "It's a shame to see an old building like that go," said Officer Adam Long.

Akron, Ohio Evidence of what is being described as the oldest structure ever found in North America has been discovered in Sharon Township in Medina County, according to David Brose, the chief curator of archaeology at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.Results from a carbon-dating study received about two weeks ago placed the remains of the structure at about 10,200 B.C. -- 7,000 years before the pharaohs of Egypt.The inhabitants would have been hunters and gatherers in what Mr. Brose described as a "lush" environment.

The General Assembly's Joint Committee on Spending Affordability is expected to set a goal Thursday night of trimming the state's long-term budget shortfall -- known in as the structural deficit -- in half during the legislative session that begins in January. If the lawmakers were to keep to their previous plans, the cut would amount to roughly a $500 million reduction in projected spending. The legislature set out to erase the structural deficit in three annual stages last year, starting with what was then a one-third cut. To stay on that course it would have to cut the remaining gap by half this year and eliminate the remainder next year.

The General Assembly's Joint Committee on Spending Affordability set a goal Thursday night of trimming Maryland's long-term budget shortfall — known as the structural deficit — in half during the legislative session that begins in January. According to the Department of Legislative Services, meeting that goal would require about $550 million in cuts in projected spending unless revenues are increased. Meanwhile, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller told reporters that he supports a smaller increase in transportation revenues than has been recommended by a blue-ribbon commission on transportation funding.