Taurus

DEARBORN, Mich. -- Ford Motor Co.'s U.S. vehicle sales fell 2.2 percent in November, slightly better than analysts expected.Car sales slid 12 percent, wiping out the company's 5.7 percent gain in sales of pickups, minivans and sport utility vehicles.November is traditionally a lackluster month for auto sales because of bad weather and holiday-focused shoppers, but this year was worse than last. U.S. car and truck sales slipped 1.6 percent, compared with November 1995.Ford is cutting prices with big rebates to try to maintain its sales momentum, offering incentives across a broad range of its cars and giving employees leases on the Taurus to help keep it the best-selling car in the U.S. market.

One of the main selling points when the Baltimore Police Department decided to buy the Ford Taurus was its anti-lock brake system. At a time when young officers were wrecking patrol cars at a record rate, then-Commissioner Edward V. Woods predicted that the improved brakes would cut down on accidents.They didn't.With the Taurus, the department has continued a troubling three-year trend of increasing collisions -- from 219 in 1990 to 250 in 1993 -- that has kept pace with the increasing number of rookie officers entering the force.

Howard County police said yesterday they are looking for witnesses and additional information as they investigate two traffic accidents that killed two people last weekend. In the first incident, a man in a 1995 Dodge Ram pickup truck struck a pedestrian as he was trying to cross Washington Boulevard, near Montgomery Road, in Elkridge shortly after 8 p.m. Friday, police said. The pedestrian - Bruce Hiskey, 48, of Arbutus - was standing in the center turn lane as the truck entered the lane to make a left turn.

* Harpers Choice: 11200 block of Crystal Run: Two males were seen driving off in a resident's 1992 Ford Taurus Tuesday night. Police found the stolen car and arrested a 16-year-old Columbia youth after a short chase. The youth was released into his parent's custody.* Town Center: 10300 block of Little Patuxent Parkway: Cash was stolen from a Popeye's restaurant in the Columbia Mall late Tuesday or early Wednesday after someone forced open a front sliding glass door, police said.

Police logOakland Mills: 5700 block of Stevens Forest Road: Someone broke into a home April 9, drank a half bottle of scotch while inside and stole crystal.Oakland Mills: 5600 block of Stevens Forest Road: A blue 1988 Ford Taurus with Maryland tags CKV-575 was stolen Monday.Kings Contrivance: 7600 block of Murray Hill Road: Someone threw a large rock through the front window of a High's store yesterday, entered and took several cartons of cigarettes.Pub Date: 4/17/96

For The Record The quiz DOING IT AGAIN -- The American League Most Valuable Player will be announced today. 2004 winner Vladimir Guerrero of the Angels could repeat. Name the last AL MVP to win in consecutive years. Answer below Moves Auto racing ROUSH RACING -- Suspended Kurt Busch, driver of NASCAR Nextel Cup series No. 97 Ford Taurus, for remainder of season. Basketball BUCKS -- Assigned F Ersan Ilyasova to D-League Tulsa. Quiz answer The White Sox's Frank Thomas in 1993 and 1994.

A Baltimore man was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison yesterday for possessing a stolen gun. City police said officers investigating a reported carjacking saw Gerard Merle Holt, 27, riding in a car at Edmondson Avenue and Pulaski Street in May 2004. They stopped the vehicle and discovered a loaded .357 caliber Taurus revolver in a holster on Holt's side. Holt did not have a permit to carry the handgun, which had been stolen Oct. 30, 2000, in Martinsburg, W.Va.

Sales of new cars and trucks dropped sharply last month as declining gasoline prices took much of the get-up-and-go out of the compact segment of the market, according to figures released yesterday by the Motor Vehicle Administration.Overall, new-vehicle sales in Maryland were off 17.6 percent from a strong February 1997, which was the best February for dealers since the state resumed its publication of registration figures in 1991."Small car sales were definitely off last month," said Jerome H. Fader, president of Heritage Automotive Group of Owings Mills.

Someone broke into Key Bridge Discount Liquors store in the 7200 block of Fort Smallwood Road Sunday night and stole two handguns and more than $32,600 in cash and savings bonds, county police said yesterday.Police said someone cut the phone lines between 7 p.m. Sunday and 9 a.m. Monday and pried open a side door, breaking the door frame and damaging the lock. The thief broke into an office safe and took the money, a Smith and Wesson revolver and a Taurus revolver.

Carroll County firefighters and state police hoisted an extra-large catch out of Liberty Reservoir yesterday morning - a 2002 Ford Taurus reported stolen the night before. Authorities said the vehicle had been reported stolen from a Largo restaurant in Prince George's County on Wednesday night. The gray four-door was found partially submerged in the water near the reservoir's boat dock shortly before 8 a.m. Sykesville firefighters sent their dive team into the water. After determining that there was no one to rescue from the car, a towing service was called to drag it out of the water.