Taurus

Police logNorth Laurel: 9200 block of Livery Lane: Someone broke into a house Saturday or Sunday and ransacked the living room and bedroom. Cash was taken from the home.North Laurel: 10600 block of Old Bond Mill Road: Someone entered a house Friday through a rear window that had been covered by a piece of cloth. The shed door was open, but nothing had been taken.North Laurel: 6200 block of U.S. 1: A brown 1979 Oldsmobile Cutlass was stolen Friday or Saturday, Maryland license plate DRR-228.

A Mount Airy man was killed yesterday morning in a four-car collision south of Westminster, when another driver crossed the center line and their cars collided, state police said.A 1987 Ford Taurus driven by Richard Thomas McVicker, 22, of Littlestown, Pa., crossed the center line about 7 a.m., while heading south on Ridge Road (Route 27) in a rural, 50-mph zone north of Old Westminster Road, police said.The Taurus collided with a northbound 1991 Dodge Dynasty driven by Kenneth Allen Hands, 33, of the 5300 block of Pommel Drive in Mount Airy.

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.

If Dr. Jack Kevorkian wrote the horoscope:Aries (March 21-April 19) Beware a sudden downturn in job fortune, if you even HAVE a job.Look at the sky: drab and gray, the swollen clouds threatening to unleash a dreary rain to wash out this weekend's golf outing.Your car will develop a flat in the right rear tire.Has life ever seemed so pointless? What are you waiting for? The Sweet Beyond beckons like a shimmering oasis of peace.Taurus (April 20-May 20) A good time to take stock of personal relationships.

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

IN RECENT YEARS, Ford Motor Co. has spent billions -- $2.8 billion on the new Taurus alone -- to redesign its ever more expensive cars and light trucks. It appears to have spent too much.Ford is having difficulty recouping the investment. Its return on vehicle sales in the fourth quarter last year was zero as the company barely broke even. After dismissing complaints that its vehicles cost too much, Ford appears to be shifting gears and moving toward an aggressive cost-cutting program.The steps range from not painting the inside of ashtrays in its Explorer sport utility vehicle to the elimination of up to 6,000 product engineering jobs.

DEARBORN, Mich. -- Ford Motor Co.'s sales fell 3.4 percent in January, the automaker's fifth straight monthly decline, as weak car sales continued to outweigh robust truck sales.Ford tried to spur sales with a $600 rebate on most of its cars, but car sales still slid 9.4 percent, compared with January a year ago.Strong sales of F-150 trucks and the Explorer sports utility vehicle helped push truck sales up 2.6 percent.The automaker's January performance, which was in line with analysts' expectations, was the worst performance among U.S. automakers.

In the third time that the case has been tried, an Anne Arundel Circuit Court jury yesterday convicted a 32-year-old Beltsville man of attempted murder for shooting a used car salesman in a dispute over a car.Jurors deliberated about two hours before convicting Giavanni Pickett of the 7800 block of Muirkirk Road in the Oct. 3, 1994, shooting. Two trials last year ended in hung juries.Prosecutors said Pickett shot Wander Pereira, 31, through a window at his home in the 8800 block of Enfield Court in Laurel.

With hopes of pumping new life into sluggish sales, Ford Motor Co. yesterday said it is offering customer rebates of $600 or 4.8 percent financing on most of its cars and light trucks.But the part of the incentive plan that might have the most appeal to Maryland motorists -- particularly at this time -- is $2,000 off the snow-busting, four-wheel-drive Bronco sport utility vehicle.The incentive package is one of Ford's broadest in recent years and is not scheduled to expire until April 2.Customers will receive $600 rebates on 16 models of Ford and Mercury cars and light trucks, including the company's newly redesigned Taurus -- which has posted disappointing sales since its introduction in September.

Westminster provided a "convenient, cooperative and great Main Street setting" for filming health and beauty aid television commercials yesterday, at times turning lunch-hour traffic into a professionally directed bottleneck.Giant Food Stores Inc. of Carlisle, Pa., chose Carroll County as the location for four commercials promoting the food-store chain's "low-priced health and beauty line," said Richard A. Pasewark, director of advertising.Giant of Carlisle is not affiliated with Giant of Landover, the Maryland food-store chain.