Towson

Always, there were those lovely old country estates and gracious manor taverns with roaring fireplaces, but in the old days fine dining was associated with the city. Not so anymore. Now, there are more compelling reasons than ever for diners to cross county lines for a good meal. The 50 best county restaurants in Howard County, Anne Arundel County and Baltimore County is a mix of the old and the new, destinations for special occasions and joints for Monday night suppers, the chef-driven and crowd-pleasing.

Amy Schumer can tell a story. Knowing how to craft a short narrative and make it pay off with a laugh has, after all, helped make her one of the hottest comedians on TV and the concert circuit these days. So, let the star of Comedy Central's “Inside Amy Schumer” explain how it came to be that she finished her work for a bachelor's degree in theater at Towson University in 2003 but didn't receive her diploma until 2007 - in the lobby of Baltimore's Lyric Opera House. “I say I graduated in 2003 from Towson, but that's not actually true,” the 31-year-old New-York-born performer says in a recent interview.

Mano Swartz, a family business that has wrapped Baltimor women in mink and sable for 103 years, will close this month, saying it refuses to lower its quality standards to make the price cuts necessary to survive in today's market."

College baseball Butler's single in 9th sends Towson to win Sophomore Brendan Butler singled in the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning as host Towson (25-27, 14-12 Colonial Athletic Association) edged Northeastern, 7-6, in the second game of their three-game weekend series Friday afternoon. The Huskies (27-24, 11-15), who were trying to clinch a berth in the CAA tournament, had overcome a 6-4 deficit in the ninth inning to tie the game. More Division I: Mount St. Mary's (10-35, 5-24 Northeast Conference)

[UPDATE: A quote was attributed to the wrong person in an earlier version. The Sun regrets the error.] Reigning national champion Loyola will meet Towson Wednesday night and No. 3 Maryland Saturday without Josh Hawkins for at least one game. The senior short-stick defensive midfielder, who was named a preseason All American, did not play in the No. 1 Greyhounds' 9-8 win against Delaware last Saturday. Coach Charley Toomey said he doesn't anticipate that Hawkins will play Wednesday and that his status for Saturday's contest is uncertain.

Wedding day: Sept. 29, 2012 Thomas' story: Thomas Roberts, 40, grew up in Towson and is a news anchor for MSNBC. His mother, Michelle Roberts, is retired and worked in the finance department for Sheppard Pratt Health System. His father, Albert "Rob" Roberts Jr., is a real estate appraiser. Patrick's story: Patrick Abner, 39, grew up in Richmond, Ky. He works for the pharmaceutical company Merck as a community liaison for the HIV division. His mother, Patricia Abner, is retired and was formerly a social worker for a hospital in Berea, Ky. His father, Dale Abner, is retired from the Army.

The Recher Theatre, a Towson concert venue that opened in 1996, will soon become the Torrent Nightclub, according to co-owner Brian Recher. The Rec Room, an adjoining bar and restaurant, will also become part of the nightclub. The move drew immediate criticism from Baltimore County Councilman David Marks. He defended the Recher Theatre last fall after a downtown-Towson melee and said Wednesday that he was unaware and "extraordinarily disappointed" that the concert venue was switching its format.

On August 21, 2005, RAYMOND LEE BOSLEY, beloved husband of Eileen A. Bosley (nee O'Byrne); beloved son of Frances G. Bosley (nee Baumgardner) and the late Thomas E. Bosley; devoted father of Kurt P. Bosley and Leila A. Gueydan and her husband Jay; loving brother of Thomas B. Bosley and his wife Mary Jo and William J. Bosley and his wife Beverly; dear uncle of Thomas G. Bosley, Jennifer R. Reinke, William J. Bosley, Jr., Marilee A. Walter, Amanda R....

Just when Towson thought it had stuck its flag in the ground as a renewed member of the country's elite college lacrosse programs, it ran into a hellbent Ohio State team on the same mission Sunday. Playing in a blustery Ohio Stadium where the 2,800 on hand offered only a hint of the home-field enthusiasm the football Buckeyes enjoy in front of 105,000 in the fall, Ohio State nevertheless prevailed 16-6 in the first-round game of the NCAA lacrosse tournament. The No. 3-seed Buckeyes dominated the second and third quarters, blowing open a game that had been tied 2-2 at one point in the first, on the way to quarterfinal match with Cornell - an upset winner over Maryland - on Saturday at Byrd Stadium in College Park.

The directions to the alleged brothel told the men that if they saw a house with green awnings, they'd gone too far. But some of them apparently misunderstood; would-be customers have shown up for years at the nearby house in Towson. Despite neighbors' complaints, police say, Di Zhang, 42, continued to operate the brothel from a white Colonial-style suburban home on Joppa Road, advertising on websites until this month, when county police and federal agents moved in. Neighbors said they weren't surprised to learn that Zhang, the operator of Jade Heart Health, had been charged with prostitution and human trafficking.

Carmel Quinn, a homemaker and volunteer, died of a heart attack Sunday at University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center. The Timonium resident was 83. Born Mary Katherine Carmel Fay in Belturbet, in County Cavan, Ireland, she moved to Baltimore in 1952 after her marriage to Dr. Michael Kevin Quinn, a physician and general practitioner who was also born in her hometown. She worked as a receptionist briefly at Mercy Medical Center after moving to Baltimore. Mrs. Quinn lived in the Hampton section of Towson for many years and played tennis with friends and neighbors.

Dan Rodricks is absolutely clueless. His article criticizing CEOs for their opinions regarding taxation and regulatory policies ("Complaining CEOs need to take a hike," May 8) has to be the most stupid piece on the subject that I have ever read. The editor who allowed it to see the light of day ought to be canned. What does Mr. Rodricks think CEOs should be doing - joining hands and singing Kumbaya while the tax and spend politicians who want to have a say in every aspect of individuals' lives send Maryland down the rathole?

ESPN analyst Paul Carcaterra participated in a Q&A Monday. The former Syracuse All-American midfielder, who can be followed on Twitter via @paulcarcaterra, also offered parting commentary on the three programs from Maryland that were in the NCAA tournament - sixth-seeded Maryland, Loyola and Towson. After Maryland's 16-8 loss to Cornell Sunday, senior long-stick midfielder Jesse Bernhardt and senior midfielder John Haus said the setback would not define a senior class that had advanced to back-to-back NCAA title games without winning the championship.

Downtown Towson is on the cusp of a building boom that will transform this suburban county seat into one of the most dynamic, cosmopolitan communities in Maryland. All the elements are in place for this transformation. Towson has two institutions of higher education, Towson University and Goucher College, that not only provide world-class learning but also a work force that stabilizes the commercial core. Residential developments like Towson Green will make sure the downtown area does not become a ghost town after sunset and on the weekends.

Host Ohio State holds a slight 3-2 edge in this series, but Towson won the last meeting, 10-8, on March 20, 2007. The Tigers are the Colonial Athletic Association tournament champion, while the Buckeyes captured the Eastern College Athletic Conference tournament crown. Towson (10-7) has won seven of its last nine games and avenged the two losses during that stretch by knocking off Drexel and Penn State in the CAA tournament. Senior attackman Matt Hughes has scored three goals in his last two contests after scoring five in his first 14. Ohio State (12-3)

Just when Towson thought it had stuck its flag in the ground as a renewed member of the country's elite college lacrosse programs, it ran into a hellbent Ohio State team on the same mission Sunday. Playing in a blustery Ohio Stadium where the 2,800 on hand offered only a hint of the home-field enthusiasm the football Buckeyes enjoy in front of 105,000 in the fall, Ohio State nevertheless prevailed 16-6 in the first-round game of the NCAA lacrosse tournament. The No. 3-seed Buckeyes dominated the second and third quarters, blowing open a game that had been tied 2-2 at one point in the first, on the way to quarterfinal match with Cornell - an upset winner over Maryland - on Saturday at Byrd Stadium in College Park.

Towson (1-2) at Columbia (0-1) Time: 12:30 p.m. Site: Robert Kraft Field at Lawrence Wien Stadium, New York, N.Y. Radio: 1370 AM Series: Columbia leads 2-1. What's at stake: The home team has won each of the first three games of the series that dates to 1997. The Tigers are 3-0 against Ivy League teams at home and 0-5 on the road. Towson is coming off a 43-7 drubbing last week at the hands of No. 1 Villanova. The Lions fell to Fordham last Saturday, 16-9.

Christine Shultz , of Lutherville and Isabel Galupo , of Towson have been named to the dean's list at Ithaca College, Ithaca, N.Y., for the fall 2011 semester. Stephanie Hogge , of Baltimore has earned a degree in Industrial Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Ga. Alexandra Price , of Timonium, a student at Fairleigh Dickinson University's College at Florham, Madison, N.J., has been named to the dean's list for the fall 2011 Semester.

COLLEGE PARK - Even when Stony Brook's Demmianne Cook edged to the sideline to confer with her coach during a stoppage of Friday night's NCAA tournament first round game, Towson defender Alexa Demski made sure she was never more than a few yards away. One of the keys for the Tigers was to never lose site of Cook, who entered as the nation's leading goal scorer. While Cook finished with two goals, Stony Brook goalie Frankie Caridi was the biggest difference-maker by making seven saves with several from point-blank range.

When Towson offensive coordinator Anthony Gilardi brought up the idea of shifting Thomas DeNapoli from midfield to attack in their end-of-the-year meeting in 2012, the suggestion did not faze DeNapoli. That is because he had done it in the past. A midfielder in his junior year at Lynbrook High School in his native New York, DeNapoli moved to attack in his final season there after graduation sapped that unit of several keep players. Fast forward to last summer, and DeNapoli found himself in a familiar position.