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On Baltimore's South Broadway last week, stickup guys hit four stores and a tavern in a two-block stretch. In one afternoon. A few streets away, a bar on Gough Street got knocked over by somebody with a gun. On two straight days. At Aliceanna Street two days ago, the line for food came out of the front door of the St. Vincent de Paul soup kitchen called Beans and Bread, and it twisted around the corner to South Bethel, where it kept on going."It's the season of desperation," said the owner of a shop on Broadway above Eastern.

In the glut of awards shows, the second annual BET Hip Hop Awards already stands out - even before it airs tonight. Multiplatinum-selling, Grammy-winning rapper T.I., up for a leading nine awards, was arrested hours before he was to appear on the show, recorded Saturday in Atlanta. The rapper-actor born Clifford Harris was busted in the parking lot of an Atlanta shopping center, where he allegedly tried to pick up three machine guns, two silencers and a pistol from an undercover officer.

The French have a better word for it.They call the flu "la grippe," which comes from a word meaning "to seize."That's just what the flu seemingly has done to more Carroll residents than usual this year.Because an accurate tally of flu cases is not required, no one has exact numbers. But doctors and officials at Carroll County General Hospital and the Health Department say record numbers appear to be coming down with severe flu symptoms and complications."It seems like everybody's sick," said Larry L. Leitch,the Health Department's deputy director.

The pressure is there, from children who are hoping for the latest trendy toy and a dinner as hearty as their schoolmates have, from relatives who expect to receive presents on par with those they give, from department stores teeming with shoppers seemingly fueling their own temptations to consume.Perhaps most of all, pressure comes from within not to disappoint during the time of year when we tend to judge our merits by our abilities to please others.That often equates to spending money, even when the checkbook is tilting into the red and credit cards are pushing their ceilings.

Yes, it's the day before Halloween. But to the Rutledge Costume Co. on Park Avenue, the few weeks before this ghastly, ghoulish celebration have all the selling power of the Christmas season.Serious-looking business people in gray suits, students, housewives and others with a desire for make-believe have been coming into the shop in full force recently to rent killer bumble bee costumes, Lone Ranger gear and medieval-warfare outfits -- most of which have been handmade by the store's 35-year-old co-owner, Anita Rutledge.

Ho, ho, ho.That familiar laugh you hear is not coming from St. Nick, but from Rev. George Foreman, who is celebrating Christmas 18 days early, stuffing his big red sack with $5 million for rapping a holiday package named Jimmy Ellis Saturday night in Reno, Nev.Foreman remains a folk hero despite not venturing near a ring -- or, some say, a gym -- since losing his bid to unseat heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield in April. After that one, for which he scaled 257, a robust Foreman vowed he would never again enter the ring out of shape and would hope to weigh 235 if he were to get a rematch with Holyfield.

Enough already.For nearly two months now, Marylanders have been stuck in a loop of chilly, dank weather that has robbed them of the sweet, balmy springtime they've come to expect."

Money in the bank makes some folks feel secure. For others, a new convertible in the driveway gives them a feeling they have arrived. But for me, a sure sign that times are flush is having a row of tomatoes on the kitchen windowsill.It means tomato days are here. These are days when the refrigerator overflows with dead-ripe tomatoes. These tomatoes are so ripe they leak, so filled with fluid that picking them up too quickly can make their skins burst, squirting their sweet juices all over your fingers.

Now that Turkey Day is history and you're gearing up for the year-end holidays, that fateful date -- April 15 -- is probably far from your mind.But if you put off tax planning into the new year, you'll lose the chance to take advantage of some money-saving strategies, experts say. Some basic planning now can help even those making modest wages.The best and most time-honored strategy is to defer income into the next year. Many people who work for someone else can't do that. But if you have fringe income -- you earn money as a free-lance musician in your spare time, for example -- you could ask to be paid after Jan. 1.If you're in business for yourself, "you could stop riding herd on accounts payable," said Frank Dasse, executive vice president of Nelson Investment Planning Services in Maitland, Fla. "You could just back off and wait until 1992 to start trying to collect" what is owed to you.If you work for someone else and expect a year-end bonus, you could ask to receive it after Jan. 1.Another suggestion: Clean out your closets and your garage.

The United Methodist Women have been busy preparing for their Craft Bazaar from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Nichols-Bethel United Methodist Church Hall.There will be snacks, drinks and lunch available, plus a wide variety of Christmas gifts and decorations. Odenton sweat shirts and T-shirts and the new UMW cookbook will also be on sale.If you have handmade crafts or baked goods you wish to donate, you may bring them to the church office or to the bazaar by 9 a.m. Saturday.Tables are available for rent at $10 each.