Togo

A Baltimore area native recently was named ambassador to the Republic of Togo, a tiny West African country. If confirmed, Brenda Brown Schoonover will become one of 163 U.S. ambassadors worldwide.Schoonover, 58, graduated from Catonsville High School in the 1950s and Morgan State College in 1961. That year, Schoonover was among the first group of Peace Corps volunteers sent to the Philippines under President John F. Kennedy's new international volunteer program.In 1967, during an interview with The Sun, the then-Brenda Brown said she applied to the Peace Corps hoping to go to Africa.

This Sunday and Super Bowl at Amiccis, they'll give you an entree to-go when you order an entree from the menu. Then you won't have to worry about making dinner on Monday. The entree choices are chicken parmigiana with fettucine, penne Amicci, linguine with meat sauce, veggie gnocchi or rigatoni Bolognese, those kinds of things. Bring this with you , and no funny business. The offer is good in the dining room at Amiccis only. No sharing, no substitutions, that kind of thing.

Complaints raised over elections in ex-Soviet republics FAIZOBOD, Tajikistan - Parliamentary elections yesterday in two of the former Soviet Union's most remote and impoverished republics, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, were met early by complaints of violations and irregularities of the kind that led to contested votes in Ukraine and Georgia. Preliminary results here and in Kyrgyzstan are not expected until today, but initial reports from international observers seemed to suggest that both governments were continuing on authoritarian paths.

Monday dawned wet, gray and windy, but Ann Varghese wanted to get back to work. Needed to, she felt, after all that had happened. At 7:15, she pulled onto Charles Street and drove out to Carroll County for the first time since enduring 55 hours in a collapsed hotel in Haiti. "Hi, everybody," Varghese, 31, said cheerfully as she walked into the New Windsor offices of IMA World Health. One by one, she hugged several co-workers amid smiles and bits of laughter. Someone clapped. Hovering over the happy reunion was a yellow balloon with a big smiley face.

A controversial South Carroll intersection that brought more than 200 people to a January meeting is almost completely redesigned, countyofficials announced yesterday.The intersection at Conan Doyle Way and Mineral Hill Road, which was constructed less than a year ago, will be changed to favor traffic on Mineral Hill Road at a cost nearing $25,000, said Jack T. Sterling, the county's public works director.While final engineering on the intersection is still several weeks away, Sterling said that construction could begin shortly afterward-- if the commissioners approve the funding.

NAACP President Kweisi Mfume called yesterday for an independent investigation of the sexual misconduct scandal at Aberdeen Proving Ground and said he has requested a meeting with Army Secretary Togo West.Mfume said the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People supported the work of its Harford County branch, but stopped short of saying black drill instructors are being unfairly targeted because of their race in the prosecution. The Harford branch previously called for an independent investigation.

Dr. Yasushi Togo, 79, physician, company official Dr. Yasushi Togo, a physician and pharmaceutical company executive, died of pancreatic cancer Monday at University of Maryland Medical Center. He was 79. Born in Sapporo, Japan, Dr. Togo was a medical student at Imperial Tokyo University when he was drafted as a naval medic during World War II. In 1945, he tended the dying and wounded in Nagasaki in the atomic bomb aftermath. After the war, he continued his studies at the Okinaka medical department at Tokyo University Hospital.

In the Mandingo culture of West Africa, KanKouran is the spirit who guides adolescent boys through the ceremony of initiation into manhood.KanKouran West African Dance Company of Washington, which performs this weekend at the Baltimore Museum of Art, is the performing arm of an organization that helps young African-Americans realize their African heritage.It was founded in 1983 by Assane Konte and Abdou Kounta, both of Dakar, Senegal, who met as members of the Ballet Africaine de Diebel Guee.

Your assignment: corner the widget market in Togo.But where to begin?How badly do people in Togo want widgets? Who will distribute them for you? And what to do about those pesky customs officers asking for bribes?Several dozen Baltimore and Washington area business people came to the Columbia Inn for two days this week seeking answers to just those kinds of theoretical questions.Baltimore's World Trade Center Institute put on the two-day seminar with the help of the Howard County Community College and the county Department of Economic Development.

BOSTON -- If all goes well this will just be a tale for Fauziya Kasinga to tell her future children. A harrowing tale of desperation and courage to match that of anyone who ever sought freedom in America. The bare outlines are the stuff of melodrama. Fauziya grew up under the protective wing of a progressive father who flaunted the conventions of his tribe in Togo. He didn't believe in polygamy or forced marriage. He was appalled by female circumcision. He educated his five daughters.Tribal nightmareBut when Fauziya was just 17, her father died and everything changed.

Poached sea bass with sun-dried tomato vinaigrette, seared ahi tuna with ponzu sauce served over napa cabbage, filet mignon with chimichurri sauce: They sound like items on a menu at a four-star resort, not something to chow down on while wedged into seat 34B. But as airlines have pared their meal services down to a bag of pretzels or chips on domestic flights -- if even that -- more resorts have stepped in with the latest must-have amenity: the to-go...

Complaints raised over elections in ex-Soviet republics FAIZOBOD, Tajikistan - Parliamentary elections yesterday in two of the former Soviet Union's most remote and impoverished republics, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, were met early by complaints of violations and irregularities of the kind that led to contested votes in Ukraine and Georgia. Preliminary results here and in Kyrgyzstan are not expected until today, but initial reports from international observers seemed to suggest that both governments were continuing on authoritarian paths.

In Baltimore County Secretary approves plan to shut down Fort Howard VA center EDGEMERE - Togo D. West Jr., the U.S. secretary of Veterans Affairs, has approved the plan to shut down the Fort Howard VA Medical Center and transfer about 65 patients and 350 employees to three other veterans facilities in Maryland. A privately operated assisted living and independent care facility will eventually be built in place of the 56-year-old hospital, which did not have central air conditioning and had plumbing and electrical problems.

Dr. Yasushi Togo, 79, physician, company official Dr. Yasushi Togo, a physician and pharmaceutical company executive, died of pancreatic cancer Monday at University of Maryland Medical Center. He was 79. Born in Sapporo, Japan, Dr. Togo was a medical student at Imperial Tokyo University when he was drafted as a naval medic during World War II. In 1945, he tended the dying and wounded in Nagasaki in the atomic bomb aftermath. After the war, he continued his studies at the Okinaka medical department at Tokyo University Hospital.

In the Mandingo culture of West Africa, KanKouran is the spirit who guides adolescent boys through the ceremony of initiation into manhood.KanKouran West African Dance Company of Washington, which performs this weekend at the Baltimore Museum of Art, is the performing arm of an organization that helps young African-Americans realize their African heritage.It was founded in 1983 by Assane Konte and Abdou Kounta, both of Dakar, Senegal, who met as members of the Ballet Africaine de Diebel Guee.

WASHINGTON -- The Army and the little-known hero of the My Lai massacre, embroiled in a dispute about a fitting location for a long-awaited medal ceremony, appear close to agreement.Army officials said yesterday that they plan to award the Soldier's Medal to former helicopter pilot Hugh C. Thompson Jr. in the spring and that they are amenable to pinning it on at his preferred location: the Vietnam Veterans Memorial."Both the Army and Mr. Thompson thought the most opportune time to make the presentation is in the spring," said Maj. Gen. John G. Meyer Jr., the Army's spokesman.

In Baltimore County Secretary approves plan to shut down Fort Howard VA center EDGEMERE - Togo D. West Jr., the U.S. secretary of Veterans Affairs, has approved the plan to shut down the Fort Howard VA Medical Center and transfer about 65 patients and 350 employees to three other veterans facilities in Maryland. A privately operated assisted living and independent care facility will eventually be built in place of the 56-year-old hospital, which did not have central air conditioning and had plumbing and electrical problems.

WASHINGTON -- The Army and the little-known hero of the My Lai massacre, embroiled in a dispute about a fitting location for a long-awaited medal ceremony, appear close to agreement.Army officials said yesterday that they plan to award the Soldier's Medal to former helicopter pilot Hugh C. Thompson Jr. in the spring and that they are amenable to pinning it on at his preferred location: the Vietnam Veterans Memorial."Both the Army and Mr. Thompson thought the most opportune time to make the presentation is in the spring," said Maj. Gen. John G. Meyer Jr., the Army's spokesman.

A Baltimore area native recently was named ambassador to the Republic of Togo, a tiny West African country. If confirmed, Brenda Brown Schoonover will become one of 163 U.S. ambassadors worldwide.Schoonover, 58, graduated from Catonsville High School in the 1950s and Morgan State College in 1961. That year, Schoonover was among the first group of Peace Corps volunteers sent to the Philippines under President John F. Kennedy's new international volunteer program.In 1967, during an interview with The Sun, the then-Brenda Brown said she applied to the Peace Corps hoping to go to Africa.

NAACP President Kweisi Mfume called yesterday for an independent investigation of the sexual misconduct scandal at Aberdeen Proving Ground and said he has requested a meeting with Army Secretary Togo West.Mfume said the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People supported the work of its Harford County branch, but stopped short of saying black drill instructors are being unfairly targeted because of their race in the prosecution. The Harford branch previously called for an independent investigation.