Suit

There's an old cliche that says that fashion goes out of fashion, but style never does.If you're a man ready to embark on an autumn search for a new business suit or sport jacket, that nugget of wisdom can guide you toward fall clothes that are both timeless and sophisticated.The quest for sartorial perfection, however, goes beyond choosing style over this season's fashion. Yet many men shopping for a new suit get flustered by a blur of color, shape and fabric -- and a crucial element often gets neglected.

A group of development-wary residents have filed a lawsuit against Howard County that claims the government's process of making land-use decisions illegally denies citizens the right to challenge them by referendum. The 124-page suit, filed in federal court by residents contesting three prominent development projects, is the latest salvo in the decades-long clash over growth in the well-heeled county of about 270,000. The suit alleges that the county has violated the county charter for years by making land-use decisions via County Council resolutions and administrative decisions instead of by bill or ordinance.

A former Baltimore County paramedic is accusing the county Fire Department of forcing him out of his job in retaliation for his complaints of racial discrimination in the agency. In a lawsuit filed yesterday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, former paramedic Dontay R. Paige also says that the department denied him disability payments because of his complaints. The suit names as defendants Baltimore County government, the Fire Department and Fire Chief John J. Hohman. A county government spokesman said the county does not comment on matters under litigation.

The attorney who helped the estate of late Pittsburgh Steelers center Mike Webster win a 2005 pension victory filed suit in Baltimore yesterday on behalf of former Houston Texans offensive lineman Ben Lynch. The suit was not filed against the NFL itself, but rather the league's retirement and disability plan. Cy Smith, a partner at the Baltimore law firm Zuckerman Spaeder alleges in the federal court suit that Lynch was improperly denied full disability benefits because plan administrators claimed his disabilities were not the result of an "active" football injury.

With the name "Suit-A-Palooza," who knew what to expect when you arrived at the Lyric Opera House for a party? Everything good, it turned out. There was a buffet line along one wall of the lobby, a bar at another, a jazz band playing in one corner, and a silent auction set up in the theater vestibule. This annual shindig was celebrating the 10th anniversary of Suited to Succeed. The organization was founded by a group of local business folks who realized that women participating in job-training programs learned the skills they needed to get a good job, but often lacked the business clothes.

A Mount Airy car dealer and a Kansas-based insurance company want their money back for two pickup trucks stolen three years ago. They claim that two Maryland state troopers at a nearby 7-Eleven store did nothing when a neighbor reported the crime in progress.Jones Motors Inc. and its insurance company are suing the state on a single claim of negligence in a civil lawsuit filed this week in Carroll County Circuit Court.The troopers breached the duty owed to the citizens and business owners of Mount Airy "by failing to respond, even cursorily, to the report of possible criminal activity in Mount Airy" the night of Feb. 2, 1996, the suit alleges.

The fate of a planned 300-acre regional park in Columbia might not be decided for at least 11 months under a ruling yesterday by a Howard County judge.Circuit Judge Raymond J. Kane Jr. postponed trial of a lawsuit that has held up development of the land, which the county and state jointly purchased in August 1998 with the goal of creating baseball and soccer fields. Unless Kane throws out the suit, the next trial date would be November 2000 at the earliest.His decision yesterday surprised both sides in the suit, brought by a friend of the late Elizabeth C. "Nancy" Smith, who owned the land straddling Route 175 in the heart of Columbia.

THE JUSTICE Department has charged American Airlines, the nation's second-largest carrier, with cutting fares and adding flights temporarily to drive low-cost competitors out of its giant hub at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. The department said it is investigating whether other airlines used the same tactics at other hub airports across the nation.If the Justice Department is successful in its civil suit, will it encourage new low-cost airlines to take on the big boys? And, if it is not successful, what will it mean for the flying public?

John G. Craten, senior partner of the beleaguered Baltimore financial company Coleman Craten LLC, has resigned from the firm and directed co-founder Monica L. Coleman to remove his name from the company, his lawyer said yesterday.Craten's resignation, which became effective Monday, comes after reports last week of lawsuits alleging that the company and Coleman committed nearly $1.2 million in fraud, largely through bad checks.Craten is himself a victim of bounced checks and is "owed more than $90,000 after checks in payment of long overdue amounts were dishonored," said Herbert Better, his attorney.

A Columbia woman is suing Howard County, claiming that negligent supervision contributed to the near drowning of her daughter at an Ellicott City swimming pool during a county-sponsored camp program in 1996.Andrea Thorne of the 5900 block of Grand Banks Road claims that county employees with the "Camp Community" program took her daughter, Jarnel, then 9, and 16 others in the program to the Roger Carter Neighborhood Center pool June 24, 1996.The suit contends that employees did not notice Jarnel entering the pool and sinking to the bottom after the adult swim was over about 2 p.m. One of the children told a lifeguard, who pulled the unconscious girl from the pool, the suit says.

ROME - -This all started with an equipment malfunction in the morning relay and ended with the favored French sprinters wilting again, giving Michael Phelps and friends another riveting victory in the 400-meter freestyle relay. In between, there were world records tumbling on Day 1. Six fell Sunday night, including Ian Thorpe's 400-meter freestyle, as well as the oldest women's mark on the books, the 100 butterfly. "All the athletes in the back are saying it's crazy. Unfortunately, you have to wear these suits to keep up with everyone, but it'll be great when they go back and you'll really see who the swimmers are," said Dara Torres, who was on the U.S. women's 400 freestyle relay, which took fourth.

In the eyes of at least two families, the closure of Towson Catholic High School is a broken promise. The mothers of 16-year-old students Elisa Marie Windsor and Hannah Messina have filed a lawsuit and a request for a temporary restraining order that, if granted, would prevent the school's closing for the coming academic year and the dismissal of any of its faculty and staff. In the suit, filed Tuesday in Baltimore County Circuit Court, the girls' mothers - Lois Windsor, president of the school's parents association, and Judy Messina, the group's vice president - claim that closing the school would deprive the students of the education they had been promised.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Michael Phelps could sense the question coming long before it was asked. After all, new, high-tech swimsuits and their legality in competition have been the talk of the swimming world since the Beijing Olympics. They're the main topic of conversation for the 800 swimmers at the U.S. nationals, which begin today at the Indiana University Natatorium. World records are falling, and FINA, the sport's governing body, has said that virtually every suit on the market will be legal, at least until 2010, when officials plan to reassess suit standards.

There will be plenty of swimmers in Indianapolis at the U.S. national championships next week wrestling with the decision about what kind of swimsuit to wear. Michael Phelps won't be one of them. FINA, the sport's governing body, ruled recently that swimmers can wear two new but controversial suits between now and Jan. 1 - they'll re-evaluate the decision after that. But Phelps said Wednesday that he's sticking with the LZR Racer he wore at the Beijing Olympics, where he won eight gold medals.

Four Towson families filed suit Thursday in Baltimore County Circuit Court against the Board of Education, contending that it failed to comply with laws and policies in deciding to build a new elementary school - and calling for a stop to the project. The residents, whose properties border the proposed site for West Towson Elementary, contend that adding another building next to Ridge Ruxton School on North Charles Street - along with several hundred more students - raises safety and environmental concerns, according to the suit.

Lawyers for Howard County used strong language in seeking dismissal of what they characterized as a "frivolous" federal suit filed by residents who say the county's land-use decision process is unconstitutional. The exchange is the latest chapter in the continuing development wars in the prosperous, fast-growing county. "This lawsuit is merely the chosen vehicle for a handful of residents to vent their frustration over three land-use projects in Howard County," County Solicitor Margaret Ann Nolan argued in the county's March 31 reply to the suit.

The president of Jos. A. Bank clothing chain believes that there are some guys out there pining for a new suit but holding back on buying one because of the unstable economy. So he is giving consumers a little incentive to make that purchase anyway. The men's clothing company based in Hampstead will give refunds to customers who buy a suit and then lose their jobs. And those customers will get to keep the suit. "We sense that there is some consumer reluctance to go shopping," said Jos. A. Bank Chief Executive Officer R. Neal Black.

A group of development-wary residents have filed a lawsuit against Howard County that claims the government's process of making land-use decisions illegally denies citizens the right to challenge them by referendum. The 124-page suit, filed in federal court by residents contesting three prominent development projects, is the latest salvo in the decades-long clash over growth in the well-heeled county of about 270,000. The suit alleges that the county has violated the county charter for years by making land-use decisions via County Council resolutions and administrative decisions instead of by bill or ordinance.

TAMPA, Fla. - It's not exactly the uniform he had hoped to be wearing this week, but Joe Flacco walked through the three-ring Super Bowl circus wearing his good suit yesterday. I say good suit, but in fact, it's his only suit. A year from now, he wants to return, he said, but as an actual participant. Here's why Ravens fans should start counting down the days until the 2009 season begins: Flacco, a guy who generally deals only with what's directly in front of him, has wasted no time shifting his focus to the future.

As he's been doing for nearly the past 50 years, Eddie Jacobs opens his own door in downtown Baltimore for another business day. He answers his own phone (the number has not changed in nearly 70 years) and mails his own paperwork. The man who sells suits as they looked in the 1950s is proud of his merchandise's permanence. He believes in classic clothes with good linings, reliable wool fabric and pants with a proper rise. He owns no blue jeans and will not discuss the grunge look. His sales technique is as soft as the shoulders in one of his Southwick suits.