Suspension

Two weeks ago, mayoral candidate Carl Stokes announced his campaign to walk across Baltimore. He might not have had a choice.State motor vehicle records show that Stokes' license has been suspended for the past two weeks because he failed to pay a January speeding ticket. Despite the suspension being confirmed as active yesterday by a state Motor Vehicle Administration spokesman, Stokes was observed driving.When he attended a luncheon at New Song Academy in West Baltimore to address a group of Habitat for Humanity workers, he arrived at the wheel of a green Toyota Camry.

National riding champion Edgar Prado -- scheduled back on the track yesterday after a two-week suspension -- took off all his mounts on the Laurel Park card.Prado was experiencing flight problems on a return trip from his native Peru, but he is expected to return to action today. He is named on six mounts.Pub Date: 1/16/99

Buck's Boy, an impressive fourth in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Turf last November, arrived at Pimlico Race Course yesterday for a confidence builder.But the 5-year-old's handlers got more than they bargained for, receiving a scare in the $75,000-guaranteed Riggs Handicap.Lightly raced Cetewayo, from Tapeta Farms in North East, Md., made several bold moves against the $625,000 winner from Illinois. But in the end, the 2-5 favorite was able to maintain his poise and prevail, capturing the 1 1/2 -mile race on the turf in an impressive 2: 28 1/5.Cetewayo, 9-2, was second and Lord Zata was third.

Larry Webster doesn't know Ravens teammate Bam Morris that well. Webster left the team last summer after a season-long suspension for his third violation of the NFL's drug and alcohol policy, shortly before Morris had returned from a second four-game suspension.Webster was at the Ravens' Owings Mills complex yesterday when Morris rejoined the team. Asked what advice he might give Morris, Webster said: "Follow directions and listen. It sounds easy saying it, but it's hard to do."Webster, a former star at the University of Maryland, is still trying to heed his own words.

Two Maryland church groups were to speak out today in defense of Northern High School Principal Alice Morgan Brown and her efforts to bring discipline to her troubled Baltimore school.The Rev. John L. Wright, president of the United Baptist Missionary Convention, said his churches would protest any move by the city school board to discipline her for her suspension Wednesday of 1,200 Northern students."The school is responsible for providing a learning environment. It should not take 90 percent of its time for discipline.

The head of the Baltimore County firefighters union has bitterly attacked Fire Chief Paul H. Reincke, accusing him of caving to political pressure by suspending a firefighter without pay before a hearing on charges that he left a noose in a black co-worker's locker last year.Fire union President Kevin B. O'Connor also said the suspension has sharply increased tensions among firefighters.But county officials said the suspension is required under county law governing trial boards, and Reincke denied that political pressure was applied to him."

Ravens star running back Bam Morris has violated the National Football League's substance and alcohol abuse policy and has been suspended for the first four games of the 1997 season, according to league sources.Ravens owner Art Modell and vice president of player personnel Ozzie Newsome both said they were not at liberty to discuss the situation.Morris, 24, had only a brief comment after yesterday's afternoon's practice. "I ain't got nothing to say about it. It's a long story," he said.But according to the sources, the 6-foot, 240-pound Morris tested positive during a league urine test in January but appealed the process in March.

When ESPN's "SportsCenter" signs on tonight at 11, tag-team member Keith Olbermann will be back in his usual place -- anchor desk left, next to Dan Patrick, and our long national nightmare will be over.Olbermann has been away from the "Big Show" the past two weeks, sitting at home on what ESPN is calling a cooling-off period and what you might call a suspension. Reasonable people can debate the semantics, but Olbermann says this time away has been "productive.""Everybody sees things a lot more clearly now, from both sides.

Ravens teammates and coaches said they will support Bam Morris, but few were surprised by his latest actions and the four-game suspension handed down by the NFL to the star running back yesterday for violating the league's policy on substance and alcohol abuse.The league announced yesterday that Morris' suspension begins in the first week leading into the regular season, and he would be permitted to return on Sept. 22 and play against the San Diego Chargers for game No. 5 six days later.This is the second suspension for Morris.

Baltimore school administrators have decided to rescind the suspension of a 10-year-old girl who alleged she was raped by another student in an elementary school stairwell last week, a school system spokesman said yesterday.The girl will be offered "an administrative transfer" to another school instead of the suspension, spokesman Nat Harrington said. That reverses a Friday decision that infuriated the mayor and police, and perplexed area rape-crisis counselors.The girl and two boys were suspended from school Friday, four days after the alleged rape occurred at about 1 p.m. at North Bend Elementary School in West Baltimore.

Tuberville steps down as Auburn coach col. football Tommy Tuberville stepped down yesterday after 10 years as coach of Auburn. Tuberville went 85-40 with Auburn, including a 13-0 season in 2004 when the Tigers finished No. 2 in the nation and won the Southeastern Conference title for the first time in 15 years. But Auburn went 5-7 this year, and the Tigers' worst season in 10 years ended Saturday with a 36-0 loss to No. 1 Alabama. "The last 10 years have been a great time in my life, both professionally and personally," Tuberville said in a statement.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Daniel Cabrera's six-game suspension for hitting New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez was upheld yesterday, giving his sore right arm a couple of more days to heal and potentially leading to Garrett Olson's return to the rotation. Cabrera was scheduled to start today, but Chris Waters will instead move up a day and start. Brian Burres will start tomorrow and Radhames Liz in Monday's series opener against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. The Orioles will need a starter Tuesday, and Olson, who was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk on Aug. 20 with a 6.38 ERA, appears to be the most likely candidate.

Presiding over a courtroom for the first time in six weeks, Baltimore County District Judge Bruce S. Lamdin talked yesterday about second chances. He emphasized the importance of learning from mistakes. And he warned some defendants that they'd face much worse consequences if they didn't maintain the life changes they vowed they had made. "I think the person you listen to most as a result of this case is the man standing next to you," Lamdin told one young man in front of the judge with his attorney for sentencing on a marijuana charge.

WASHINGTON - A Columbia drug company and its top executives have agreed to stop making prescription cough and cold products after repeated failures to pass federal inspections and get government approval of the medicines. Scientific Laboratories Inc. Chief Executive Officer Amit Roy and President Rajeshwari Patel signed a consent decree in U.S. District Court in Baltimore earlier this month. The company had been making various drugs for other pharmaceutical companies, which then sold the products under their own labels.

Tens of thousands of students are being suspended in Maryland for relatively minor infractions each year, the result of zero-tolerance discipline policies that critics say are harming some of the most vulnerable children. One in 11 students in the state was suspended last year - enough to fill every seat in Anne Arundel County's public schools. The rates were much higher for African-Americans, special-education students and boys - who were twice as likely as girls to be sent home. "What we see is that suspension and expulsion are overused and actually push kids who need education the most out of school," said Jane Sundius at the Open Society Institute, a nonprofit that has studied suspensions and expulsions in Baltimore schools . The rate of suspensions in Maryland has risen over the past 15 years, as school systems responded with stricter discipline codes to rising violence in their communities and the fear fanned by the shooting deaths at Columbine High School in 1999.

Testing policies and penalties for performance-enhancing drugs: MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL At least two annual urine tests administered during and between seasons for anabolic steroids and amphetamines. Positive steroid tests result in a 50-game suspension for a first offense, a 100-game suspension for a second offense and a lifetime ban for a third offense. NFL Urine tests administered randomly during the season or offseason for anabolic steroids and amphetamines. Players must be tested at least once a year.

Major League Baseball yesterday suspended Orioles outfielder Jay Gibbons and Kansas City Royals outfielder Jose Guillen 15 days each for violating the league's toughened substance-abuse prevention program, though neither failed a league-initiated drug test. Gibbons, who admitted yesterday that he had used human growth hormone, had previously avoided allegations that he received shipments of steroids and hGH from a federally raided Florida pharmacy between 2003 and 2005. "I am deeply sorry for the mistakes that I have made," Gibbons said in a statement first released to The Sun yesterday afternoon.

A semester-long class concentrated on conflict resolution. An in-school room to send disruptive kids, staffed by a police officer. Requiring students to address administrators as "ma'am" or "sir." About 50 parents and community leaders offered those and other suggestions last night to Baltimore school officials, who are completing a systemwide safety plan. The safety plan was written in response to a requirement handed down last summer by the Maryland State Department of Education. It focuses on parent and community involvement to help formulate policies in discipline and suspension intervention.

Shawne Merriman abandoned the appeal of his four-game suspension for violating the NFL policy on steroids and will miss the San Diego Chargers' next four games, the league announced yesterday. On Oct. 23, the second-year linebacker and his agent said in a news conference that he had tested positive for the anabolic steroid nandrolone, but would appeal on the basis of a tainted, over-the-counter supplement he had been taking. On Sunday, before cheering Chargers fans, he made another statement with a career-high three sacks in a win over the St. Louis Rams.

Ravens return specialist B.J. Sams was arrested and charged with driving under the influence early yesterday morning. This marks the second time in 14 months that he has been charged with drunken driving, which could result in a fine or suspension from the NFL. Sams was stopped shortly before 2 a.m. on the outer loop of Interstate 695 near Greenspring Avenue in Baltimore County, after his Chevrolet Tahoe had reportedly been swerving and nearly struck...