Taurus

POLICE LOG* Brooklyn Park : Someone stole $840 worth of stereo equipment from a locked 1988 Ford Taurus parked in the 5400 block of Park Road between 1:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Friday.

PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil -- With taxes and permit requirements hurting sales at home, Brazilian handgun manufacturers are increasing exports, making their country the leading foreign supplier of handguns to the United States."

A Ford Taurus was set on fire about midnight yesterday in Westminster. A neighbor who spotted the flames helped to extinguish the blaze with a garden hose, the state fire marshal's office said. The fire caused about $1,000 damage to the exterior of the 1997 Taurus, owned by Absolute Relocation Service Inc. It was parked in the first block of Glen Oak Court, according to investigators. Anyone with information is asked to call the state fire marshal's office at 410-875-5450 or the Arson Hotline at 800-492-7529.

A 34-year-old Baltimore man was sentenced yesterday to more than 5 1/2 years in prison for possession of ammunition as a convicted felon. Andre Mills pleaded guilty to the charge in U.S. District Court in Baltimore. According to court papers in the case, police officers recovered boxes of assault-rifle ammunition inside Mills' car. They also found an AR-15 assault rifle at his clothing store in the 2400 block of Greenmount Ave., along with a Taurus 9 mm handgun, a Taurus .357 handgun, a loaded, 12-gauge "Maverick" shotgun and a loaded 9 mm Smith & Wesson handgun, the court papers said.

Next thing you know, wimpy liberals won't let decent citizens own tanks, howitzers or F-15s despite their God-given rights under the Second Amendment.Police say Taurus is bull. Ford says it is stars.Paula Corbin Jones alleges that Governor Clinton took no for an answer, constituting harassment.

Six people were injured yesterday afternoon when two cars collided head-on after a Virginia driver made a U-turn on the eastbound lane of Route 175 in Columbia.Police were continuing to investigate the accident last night and would not release the victims' names until their relatives could be notified.The accident occurred about 3:05 p.m. near the exit ramp connecting Route 175 with the northbound lanes of U.S. 29. Both lanes of Route 175 were closed for about an hour, as traffic was diverted onto the southbound Route 29 ramp.

Wedding date: March 23, 2013 Her story: Ashley Cook, 30, grew up in Woodbridge, Va. She is a literary academic content liaison for Baltimore City Public Schools. Her mother, Sherry, is a facilities manager for a government contracting agency in Virginia. Her father, Patrick, passed away last year. His story: Phillip Plymouth, 29, grew up in Randallstown. He is an accountant for the American Postal Workers Union Health Plan. His mother, Bernice Brooks-Plymouth, is a psychiatric nurse at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

A lot of you are going to say, "I heard that on the news," because a Baltimore television station had this story last week. But it was offered in such abbreviated form -- mere finger food from the news buffet -- that it could hardly be considered satisfying. This morning, you get the full-course meal.Let's pick up with the UPS man in the brown jacket delivering a tin of cookies to Ryan Kirby's house in Rodgers Forge. They're chocolate chip cookies, with M&Ms substituted for the chips -- a modest thanks-for-your-business gift from the guys at Apple Ford who sold Ryan Kirby his 1997 Taurus two weeks earlier.

Ford Motor Co. has rolled the dice -- again.The company that 10 years ago bet its future on the Taurus' revolutionary design is gambling $2.8 billion on the car's first major overhaul.A lot is on the line. Taurus has been the best-selling car in the country the past three years. And it is credited with bringing Ford back from the brink of bankruptcy.While Detroit insiders say they think Ford has another big hit, the company isn't taking any chances. When the car officially goes on sale next week, it will be accompanied by the most expensive new-model advertising campaign in Ford's history.

A Howard County man was killed Saturday when he was struck by a car after he stopped to examine flat tires on his vehicle on the shoulder of Interstate 97 near Millersville, state police said.Police said Eric Van Sutton, 25, of the 6200 block of Turnabout Lane, Columbia, had stopped on the shoulder of southbound I-97 near Benfield Boulevard about 3 a.m. to examine three flat tires on his car. They said he stepped into the road to flag down an oncoming 1998 Ford Taurus and was hit.Sutton suffered multiple injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.