Threshold

THIS thing is not over, and the foolishness of today's mantra -- "Bush can't win" -- is matched only by the foolishness of last winter's mantra -- "Clinton can't win" -- incanted, dontcha know, by the very same incanters.No, the polls are not wrong. President Bush is far behind, and only in the last few days have the president and his advisers indicated that they have even an inkling of what they should do to begin their comeback.None of which ought to obscure this essential political truth: Bill Clinton now serves the purpose served earlier this year by, in chronological order, Pat Buchanan, Paul Tsongas, Jerry Brown and (especially)

Hundreds of Marylanders may need spinal taps as public health leaders seek to rein in a fungal meningitis outbreak that continues to expand as more is learned about the unusual cases. Health officials said Wednesday that they still are working to contact and evaluate those at risk of meningitis, an infection of the membranes that protect the brain and spinal cord. About 1,500 people in the state are among the 13,000 nationwide thought to have been exposed to the disease from spinal injections of a contaminated steroid.

Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler on Wednesday asked the interstate agency that manages the fishing of Atlantic menhaden to increase protection for the fish, which scientists say is an integral part of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is considering updates to its management plan for the menhaden and Gansler submitted comments to the commission requesting that the threshold for overfishing be nearly doubled from the current rate. "The Commission's interstate fishery management plan … for the menhaden has so far failed to adequately protect the menhaden fishery, particularly from overfishing," Gansler said in his comments.

As the heat index crept toward the 90-degree mark Tuesday morning, Baltimore city social studies teacher Ejaz Baluch watched his students at ConneXions School for the Arts begin to fade. By 11 a.m., when the heat index had risen to 93 degrees, the school called the system's headquarters to see if it would be exercising its longstanding policy to dismiss school if the index reached 90 degrees by 11 a.m.  Teachers across the city began to complain from their sweltering classrooms after they hadn't heard from the school system by midafternoon.

Maryland voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment yesterday that will save taxpayers money by allowing six-member juries to hear civil trials in Circuit Courts.Twelve-member juries had been required before.Voters also approved an amendment that will prohibit anyone from having a jury trial in a civil suit involving matters of less than $5,000. The current minimum is $500.Another amendment voters approved gives local governments more time to put together a plan for a charter government.

Engraved in my memory since early childhood is a simple moment that has perhaps compelled me most toward this project. At the time, I was attending Catholic school, and I walked up the steps to the gray stone convent in West Grove, Pa., to speak with my elementary school teacher. The purpose of my visit and many of the physical details have blurred over time. But the thoughts and feelings I experienced are as clear to me now as they were then.One of the sisters opened the door and I stood on the threshold and spoke to her. She loomed tall before me in her navy blue habit, her headpiece making her even taller.

FEW THINGS spooked the collapsing Soviet Union more than the Reagan administration's fascination with a futuristic, Star Wars-type missile defense system. Communism may be gone, but Russia's acting President Vladimir Putin is equally worried about a similar, hugely expensive weapons concept being studied by the Clinton administration. The long and short of it is that the United States -- even after Tuesday's failed attempt to destroy a fake nuclear warhead above the Pacific Ocean -- has enough money to experiment with the high-tech concept.

There was a time, before national banks and paper currency, that gold - not cash - was king. As it spiked over $500 per ounce yesterday, the first time it crossed that threshold since 1987, the regal metal that had been relegated to a relic for decades once again laid claim to its throne. Its message to investors: Watch out for inflation next year. Be particularly careful in the bond market, which signals the direction of interest rates. And, oh yeah, the stock market might not look too pretty, either.

Lower-income people with housing subsidies can soon be turned away from apartment complexes that reach a 20 percent threshold of subsidized tenants, under a bill passed by the Howard County Council last night.On a 5-0 vote, the council scaled back a 6-year-old law that barred landlords from discriminating against prospective tenants with housing subsidies. Housing and human rights officials recommended the change, saying some landlords threatened to sue unless a limit on the number of subsidized tenants was allowed.

After surveying area school districts and talking with the State Ethics Commission, Carroll County school officials have changed their minds about increasing the threshold at which they would have to report certain financial holdings. Changes that were proposed at a school board meeting last month included increasing the value of stock holdings or business interests held by district employees in any company doing business with the system from $2,500 to $10,000 before disclosure would be required.

The number of young children deemed at risk of lead poisoning in Maryland and nationwide expanded drastically Wednesday as a federal health agency declared it would effectively cut in half its threshold for diagnosing the environmental illness. Acknowledging mounting evidence that children can suffer lasting harm from ingesting even minute amounts of lead, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it would reduce the level at which it recommends that doctors, families and health authorities act to lower a child's exposure to the toxic metal.

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. said the parts of Gov.Martin O'Malley's budget proposal capping the income levels at which taxpayers can make full use of income tax exemptions and reduction will be the most difficult to get through the General Assembly. Miller said the provisions are particularly controversial because they would affect many middle-class families, including couples who together make as little as $100,000 a year in taxable income. Speaking to reporters after Thursday morning's Senate session, Miller said he was "not sure" whether the governor would have to raise those thresholds in order to win passsage of an income tax increase.

Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler on Wednesday asked the interstate agency that manages the fishing of Atlantic menhaden to increase protection for the fish, which scientists say is an integral part of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is considering updates to its management plan for the menhaden and Gansler submitted comments to the commission requesting that the threshold for overfishing be nearly doubled from the current rate. "The Commission's interstate fishery management plan … for the menhaden has so far failed to adequately protect the menhaden fishery, particularly from overfishing," Gansler said in his comments.

Baltimore voters will decide in November whether to allow city officials to make more purchases without a public announcement. Under the charter amendment, which was approved by a 9-6 vote of the City Council on Monday evening, expenses less than $25,000 would no longer require approval from the Board of Estimates. Currently, all expenditures greater than $5,000 require spending board approval. The measure, which was introduced at the request of Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, would also change the threshold at which city contracts would have to be advertised.

A Democratic blogger is stirring an online discussion over whether Maryland's main tea party group is operating out of bounds by pushing for state legislation without having registered as a lobbying organization. It's not unusual for small, new groups to run afoul of the state Ethics Commission by failing to file required paperwork, but the issue has captured attention in this case because members of the conservative group Americans for Prosperity rail against "registered lobbyists" in their pitches to supporters.

A Democratic blogger is stirring an online discussion over whether Maryland's main Tea Party group is operating out of bounds by pushing for state legislation without having registered as a lobbying organization. It's not unusual for small, new groups to run afoul of the state Ethics Commission by failing to file required paperwork, but the issue has captured attention in this case because members of the conservative group Americans for Prosperity rail against "registered lobbyists" in their pitches to supporters.

WASHINGTON -- A full-court press by the liquor and restaurant lobby last night blocked a tough federal drunken-driving measure from ever coming to a vote on the House floor.The House Rules Committee, a gatekeeper for legislation heading to the House floor, refused to let safety activists amend a popular highway bill with a measure that would set 0.08 percent blood-alcohol level as a national threshold at which drivers would be considered drunk. Thirty-five states, including Maryland, have a threshold of 0.10.

Highlights of the tentative agreement reached by baseball players and owners, as obtained by the Associated Press from player and management sources: Length: After ratification, starts with the 2002 season and runs through Dec. 19, 2006. Luxury tax thresholds:Teams will be taxed on the portions of payrolls above the following thresholds: 2002 - No tax; 2003 - $117 million; 2004 - $120.5 million; 2005 - $128 million; 2006 - $136.5 million Luxury tax rates: First time over threshold: 17.5 percent in 2003, 22.5 percent in 2004 and 2005, no tax in 2006.

Another purveyor of adult magazines, videos, lingerie and sexual aids has bested Howard County zoning authorities, rendering a law meant to push the stores away from prominent locations near residential neighborhoods virtually meaningless. A zoning violation case against the Lovecraft adult store in the median of U.S. 1 in North Laurel fell apart last week when two county inspectors found the place stuffed with enough nonsexual material to evade the legal definition of an "adult" store.

Roberto Alomar, the slick-fielding second baseman who spent three splendid but somewhat controversial seasons with the Orioles, fell eight votes short Wednesday in his bid to become a first-ballot inductee into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Alomar was named on 397 of 539 ballots (73.7 percent) submitted by eligible members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. To gain induction, he needed 75 percent, which this year was 405 votes. "I feel disappointed, but next year hopefully I make it in," Alomar said from his home in New York.