Taneyhill

A Baltimore think tank railed yesterday against the city's pension systems for police, fire and municipal employees, contending that their governing boards are staffed by people who lack financial expertise and whose stewardship contributed to a combined $168 million shortfall. The Calvert Institute for Policy Research said in a report that the pension boards hired a large number of investment advisers to compensate for a lack of investment know-how. One consultant, Callan Associates Inc. of San Francisco, however, has come under fire for potential conflicts of interest and investment losses, and has been questioned by the Securities and Exchange Commission as part of a broad inquiry into pension consultants.

About 900 Baltimore City employees left the payroll yesterday as part of an early retirement incentive program that aims to pare government and keep more money in city coffers.The first and most lucrative phase of the retirement plan ended yesterday with the exact number still to be tallied. Officially the plan ends in December, but city officials expected most of the retiring employees to leave before August because of incentives."We are very pleased with the results of" the retirement plan, said City Council President Lawrence A. Bell III.Bell, Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke and 3rd District Councilman Martin O'Malley drafted the retirement plan.

Ann M. Sullivan, daughter of Columbia resident Nancy H. Sullivan, was this year's recipient of the Salisbury State University's Anne H. Matthews Award, which is given to a junior year student who shows promise of becoming a successful teacher.Sullivan, a Oakland Mills High School graduate, is a biology major and a member of the university's varsity swim team. Following graduation she plans to teach while obtaining her master's in biology.STUDENTS GET GRANTSFour Howard County high school graduates received Western Maryland College Scholar grants for the fall semester.

In a move to cut fees charged to Baltimore's retirement system, the city's Board of Estimates approved the transfer of nearly $3 billion in accounts this week from Mercantile Safe-Deposit and Trust Co. to Pittsburgh-based Mellon Bank.Under the new contract, Mellon Bank will manage the assets from the Employees' Retirement System, the Fire and Police Retirement System and the Elected Officials' Retirement System.The retirement systems serve about 27,000 active and retired workers.City Comptroller Joan M. Pratt said Mercantile, which had held the management contract for 21 years, was too costly because the Baltimore-based bank had to hire subcontractors for some of its services.

Anne Arundel County's financially troubled pension plan for elected and appointed officials, which has come under fire recently for its generous benefits, is one of only three such funds among Maryland's larger subdivisions.The other two, in Montgomery County and Baltimore, have separate plans for elected officials, but neither includes political appointees as Arundel does.Moreover, Montgomery County's elected officials plan is so unattractive that it has only one member. And while the plan in Baltimore is more generous than the one in Anne Arundel County, it is in great financial shape, according to Tom Taneyhill, deputy administrator for the Baltimore Retirement Systems.

Arundel man charged in attack on father 1 A Brooklyn Park man was charged with attempted murder after he was accused of choking his 80-year-old father with an electrical cord and beating him with a hammer, police said yesterday. Authorities gave this account: The father and son were having breakfast Tuesday morning when the son began behaving abnormally, and on the drive home, he became disoriented. When they arrived at their home in the 200 block of Exeter Court about 10 a.m., he began arguing with his father, Matthew Leland Bradley Sr., wrapped a cord around his neck, dragged him to the basement and beat him with the hammer.

Centennial volleyball coach Bill Shook had seen enough of his Eagles last weekend to sense what was coming last night against visiting Glenelg.Shook said before the match that the Eagles' pre-game warm-up might take more time than Centennial would require to defeat the Gladiators. He didn't miss by much, as the Eagles needed barely an hour to whip Glenelg, 15-2, 15-2, 15-12.While winning their 34th straight match, the defending state-champion Eagles (15-0) looked as sharp as they did on Saturday, when they won the 6th Annual Bulldog volleyball tournament at North Caroline High School.

When last season ended, Centennial's girls basketball team appeared to be on the verge of a breakthrough.It had finished 10-13, and 6-foot center Shannon Saltzman (9.8 points per game, 8.1 rebounds, 4.0 blocks, all team-highs) had become the inside force coach Beth Brown had envisioned.Then, Saltzman decided to pass up basketball to concentrate on volleyball her senior year, a decision that leaves the Eagles scrambling to fill a sizable void."It's a big loss, but Shannon made a mature decision and I respect her for it," said Brown, Centennial's second-year coach.

Centennial shook off first-game jitters, then made visiting C. Milton Wright look jittery with a hustling defense and an effective transition game that paved the way for a 45-41 victory in the girls basketball season opener yesterday at Centennial.The Eagles stumbled out of the starting gate by committing 10 turnovers in the first quarter and trailed 9-0 midway through the period.But Centennial turned up the defensive pressure in the second quarter to close to two at halftime, then hung with the Mustangs (1-1)

LA PLATA -- Centennial volleyball coach Bill Shook spent most of the second half of last night's Class 3A semifinals frantically reworking his notes for Saturday's championship.That is because Shook's second-seeded Eagles (18-0) advanced as expected with a 15-5, 15-12, 15-9 defeat of No. 3 McDonough (Charles), but will not be facing their long-anticipated opponent.Top-seeded Catonsville was dominated in stunning fashion by No. 4 Seneca Valley, 15-11, 15-6, 15-9. It was the Comets' first loss in 15 games this season.