Taco Bell

Raymond Schaefer Correctional officer Baltimore County Detention Center, Towson Salary --$40,000 Age --43 Years on the job --One How he got started --After almost 20 years in the restaurant business, most recently as a general manager of a Taco Bell, Schaefer decided he wanted a career with more stability. He said he had gone through corporate ownership changes over the years and his benefits and pay were reduced at Taco Bell. "The main reason was stability here. It's guaranteed." Training --Schaefer went through a six-week training program that focused on academics, self-defense, communication skills and legal issues.

The Blind Side Michael Lewis W.W. Norton / 288 pages / $24.95 The Blind Side is about big-time college football, the black inner city, the nouveau-riche white South and evangelical Christianity. Even if you have no interest in the topics individually, read the book. In Michael Lewis' hands, The Blind Side's whole exceeds its parts and dissolves its genres. It's not a jock book. It's not a sociology book. It's a storybook about modern society, ancient virtues and the power of love, money and talent to do a little good.

Shoppers can buy gas, check in for a flight or scan their own groceries without the help of a clerk, but the self-serve kiosks revolutionizing so much of the world are having a tough time gaining traction in the nation's fast-food industry. Proponents say many customers prefer to take control of their order, rather than idling in line. They can order fries by just touching a picture of them on the screens of the machines developed by Miami-based Boink Systems Inc., Radiant Systems Inc. of Atlanta and RoboServer Systems Corp.

Though not exactly known for its mastery of Mexican food, a venture capital firm in Timonium has become part-owner of one of the country's largest such restaurant chains. Grotech Capital Group announced yesterday plans to finance the acquisition of Del Taco Inc., a chain of 461 "quick service" Mexican restaurants concentrated west of the Mississippi. Terms of the deal, which is expected to close next month, were not released, but Grotech's founder said it will be the largest outlay the company has ever made.

Police Blotter is a sampling of crimes from police reports in Anne Arundel County. Northern District Arrest: Police arrested a 23-year-old Baltimore man and charged him with distribution of crack cocaine and five other drug-related offenses Thursday. The arrest occurred after members of a narcotics unit surveilled a Motel 6 on Raynor Avenue in Linthicum Heights, where the man was staying. Police said they found $2,500 worth of crack cocaine in the man's hotel room. Eastern District Indecent exposure: Police were looking for Gregory S. Jacobs of the 100 block of Bakers Lane in Pasadena, who is charged with indecent exposure.

Taco Bell Corp., the nation's largest Mexican fast-food chain, started its sales comeback in the fourth quarter of 2001. Last year, sales at Taco Bell restaurants open for at least 12 months rose 7 percent, and so far this year same-store sales are up 1.5 percent. Along the way, Taco Bell, best known for selling tacos and burritos for less than $1, has gone upscale by introducing a $2.99 Chicken Caesar Grilled Stuft Burrito and the Southwest Steak Border Bowl for $3.49. "We're repositioning the brand," said Greg Creed, Taco Bell's chief marketing officer.

Mark Twain wrote that golf is a good walk spoiled. And nothing can spoil it even more than getting hit in a head with an errant shot. And, worse, not being able to sue and collect. Robert Elker was lighting a cigar 20 yards behind the pin at Brigantine Golf Links near Atlantic City, N.J., on Aug. 31, 1997, when a member of his foursome, self-described novice Michael Corrigan, let fly with a shot from 100 to 150 feet away. Plunk. The shot hit Elker in the head. He required immediate emergency room treatment and still bears a dent from the impact, said Joseph S. Lukomski, his lawyer.

Julia A. Stewart, a restaurant industry veteran who likes to tinker with menus and use zippy ad campaigns to boost business, is the heir apparent to head IHOP Corp., which runs the International House of Pancakes chain. Analysts say that may be just what the company needs. While IHOP is on solid financial footing, analysts say, its menu could use some beefing up as it attempts to lure more customers for lunch and dinner, its best hope for boosting revenue. Although its stock has been hovering around its all-time high and the company's earnings and sales have grown steadily for years, there are concerns that IHOP's growth could flatten unless it can move beyond its image as a spot for the orange-juice-and-pancakes crowd, said Dennis Joe, an analyst with Sidoti & Co. in New York.

IT WAS THE end of a long week of commuting to Washington aboard the unbelievably slow MARC train. All I wanted was a good meal in nice surroundings. As we approached Midori, the assigned restaurant on Belair Road, my tired, slightly cranky heart sank. How could decent Chinese and Japanese food come out of a converted Taco Bell? Easy, if your ancestors were Chinese and Japanese, as is the case of the Wang family, who opened Midori in May. They took over the old Taco Bell just inside the Beltway because it looked like a good location.

Our educational system is failing. Our schools are producing students who are - to quote from the conclusion of an 858-page report recently issued by a distinguished blue-ribbon Presidential Task Force On Educational Quality - "stupid." The drop in our national IQ has caused many problems, including Limp Bizkit, feng shui, the U.S. Department of Education and the cancerous growth of "reality-based" TV shows ("Tonight on `Passion Farm': Nine complete strangers churn butter!"). But the most serious problem is that, as our population gets dumber, it becomes harder and harder to find qualified workers.