Track Record

City schools CEO Andrés Alonso's performance was marked by, "a series of cheating scandals - found by the state to have taken place during the year the district's progress was most celebrated" and further under his tenure, "The system had paid $14 million in overtime over several years, with the top earner being Alonso's driver. " ("City schools chief Alonso resigns," May 6.) This track record will help recruit the next "great urban education reformer"? Lauding this man's "leadership," or I should say, "oversight," of Baltimore City schools, is bizarre.

City schools CEO Andrés Alonso's performance was marked by, "a series of cheating scandals - found by the state to have taken place during the year the district's progress was most celebrated" and further under his tenure, "The system had paid $14 million in overtime over several years, with the top earner being Alonso's driver. " ("City schools chief Alonso resigns," May 6.) This track record will help recruit the next "great urban education reformer"? Lauding this man's "leadership," or I should say, "oversight," of Baltimore City schools, is bizarre.

Trainer Ronnie Cartwright spent no more than 10 seconds in the paddock at Laurel yesterday telling Mike Luzzi how to ride Forry Cow How in the Congressional Handicap."

Baltimore schools CEO Andrés Alonso's resignation at the end of this academic year is a major blow to a city whose trajectory he helped change. There can be little doubt that the energetic and rapid reforms he implemented in the city's long-struggling school system have set the stage for broader renewal and growth in Baltimore. But city leaders also need to look on his departure as a tremendous opportunity, a chance to bring in a new superintendent who will build on Mr. Alonso's successes.

TRYING TO ERASE 32 years of misrule, its newest savior has renamed Zaire as the Democratic Republic of Congo and reimposed the flag it took at independence. As a fiery leftist of the 1960s, President Laurent Kabila is trying symbolically to turn the calendar back three decades and redo things right. But in real policy, the only way is forward.Mr. Kabila has no track record in government. Contradictory messages from him told each hearer what he or she wished to hear. A radio broadcast in his name was full of 1960s revolutionary rhetoric.

After a week without racing, Laurel Park reopened yesterday with some concern that the lack of training might be a detriment for some entries.But an absence from the track didn't bother Foxie G.The gelding stalked pace-setting Higher Strata until they straightened out in the stretch, then wore him down to win the $53,900 Northern Wolf Stakes by three-quarters of a length.The winning six-furlong time of 1 minute, 9 seconds was the fastest of the meeting and one second off the track record set by Fighting Notion in the summer of 1992.

LONG POND, Pa. -- Ken Schrader won his third pole position of the NASCAR season yesterday with a track record of 162.816 mph at Pocono International Speedway, overtaking Dale Earnhardt and Rusty Wallace for the lead in poles this year.Now Schrader is searching for his first victory of the year."I'd trade this pole for a win," Schrader said after qualifying runs for tomorrow's Champion Spark Plug 500. "I'd rather win 'em both though."Last year Schrader gained the pole for the same race, setting what was then a record of 162.499 mph. But that was followed by a disappointing fourth-place finish two days later.

LAUREL -- Sunny Sunrise was running easily on the lead without any company in the $175,000 added Baltimore Budweiser Breeders' Cup yesterday at Laurel.But Edgar Prado, winning jockey in 13 previous stakes races in Maryland this year, was not about to let him get away.Prado moved New York invader Excellent Tipper into contending position from the outside, took aim on the leader and passed Sunny Sunrise in the final strides to win by a head.Excellent Tipper finished the Grade III stakes race in 1 minute, 47 3/5 seconds, a track record for 1 1/8 miles.

Good morning -- Terps football team -- Don't worry about that media poll. Consider their track record.

Double Booked set a track record Saturday in the 59th running of the $75,000 Grade III Riggs Handicap at the Pimlico Race Course.The 6-year-old gelding completed the mile on turf in 1:33 3-5. The old mark, 1:35, was set by Hawaiian Eye on Oct. 1, 1986.Jose Ferrer rode the winner to a 3 1/4 -length victory.

Long Reach residents should make use of the election being extended one week to Saturday, April 27 and vote for Russ Swatek as the CA Council rep. Russ served previously in this position from 2009-2011. He was honest, informative and concerned about how and on what our assessments were spent. He solicited our opinions on project expenditures, concerned about environmental issues with these projects, and the value they would bring or detract from the community. Everything sounds great when CA describes these projects as "vibrant.

I spent Saturday handing out fliers in my neighborhood endorsing Russ Swatek as the Columbia Council Representative from Long Reach. I would like to explain why I think he is the best choice for the position. During Mr. Swatek's prior term as Columbia Council Rep/Board Member (2009-2011), he did an exceptional job of keeping his constituency informed. He solicited resident input on specific issues through the "CA Council Rep Comments" column of the Long Reach village newsletter. I provided my opinions, and he kept me in the loop on those issues via email.

Baltimore is a city full of potential to Nancy Welsh, the founder of the rapidly expanding North Carolina nonprofit Builders of Hope Inc. The nonprofit recently announced plans to rehabilitate 500 vacant homes near Johns Hopkins Hospital. Baltimore was a draw in part because the city already has rehab programs aimed at reducing blight, said Welsh. And several of her employees — the nonprofit has grown from 10 to 50 workers — are from Charm City. They convinced her that Baltimore, with its 16,000 vacant homes and residents in need, should be one of the next beneficiaries of the nonprofit's work.

Women's college basketball Terps ' Thomas named 1st-team All-American Maryland sophomore Alyssa Thomas is one of five players named to the Associated Press All-America first team, announced Tuesday. Thomas, the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year, is joined by Baylor's Brittney Griner , Notre Dame's Skylar Diggins , Stanford's Nneka Ogwumike and Delaware's Elena Delle Donne . Thomas is the Terps ' fourth AP All-American.

Michael Waltrip will make a historic run in this year's Daytona 500. He will make his 75th start on the fabled superspeedway — the most of any driver — on Feb. 26. He will drive the No. 40 Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota for Aaron Racing. "When I was a kid thinking about Daytona, I never dreamed I would start more NASCAR races there than anyone," Waltrip, 48, said. "That's amazing. " Hopefully, Waltrip will bring plenty of 5-Hour Energy — one of his sponsors — down to Daytona.

The fact that Nathan Chapman and Richard Stewart were both subjects of articles in a recent issue of The Sun underscores the exquisite judgment of our recent Democratic governors ("Pension scandal figure Chapman set for release" and "O'Malley says he'll return donation from tax cheat," Dec. 30). Mr. Chapman, appointed by former Gov. Parris Glendening to chair the University System of Maryland's Board of Regents, also persuaded the governor to appoint his mistress to the board of trustees overseeing Maryland's pension system, then used his access to infuse Maryland pension money into his failing companies, which he was systematically looting at the same time.

BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Alan Kulwicki took the pole with a track record yesterday at Bristol International Raceway in qualifying for tomorrow's Food City 500.Kulwicki circled the .533-mile oval at 122.474 mph. The previous qualifying record, 120.278 mph, was set in 1989 by Mark Martin.Brett Bodine got the outside pole position with a speed of 121.659 mph. Rusty Wallace, who won last year's spring race, was third with a speed of 120.915."We were good here when we unloaded," said Kulwicki, who won last fall's race at Bristol.

Six weeks ago when Social Retiree ran in the 1 1/2 -mile Riggs Handicap at Pimlico, he led at the eighth pole, then tired down the lane and finished sixth.Yesterday, in the $75,000 Fort McHenry Handicap at Laurel, the 6-year-old gelding had plenty of energy left at the finish.With jockey Walter Guerra rating him just off a blistering pace, Social Retiree overtook Square Cut to win by 1 1/2 lengths in 1 minute, 58 4/5 seconds, track record time for 1 1/4 miles over the turf course.The clocking eclipsed by three-fifths of a second the record time run by Storm On The Loose in 1986.

The Ravens enter Sunday night's showdown with the San Diego Chargers as one of the hotter teams in the NFL, having won four consecutive games and six of their last seven. The Ravens have been especially potent in the months of December and January under coach John Harbaugh, compiling a 12-4 record since 2008. San Diego has been even more productive in December and January under coach Norv Turner. The Chargers are 19-2 since 2007. But to Turner, that record means little. “That thing's been overplayed,” Turner said during a conference call with Baltimore media Wednesday.

So now the Orioles usher in the Dan Duquette Era, which is not to be confused with the Andy MacPhail Era, the Jim Beattie-Mike Flanagan Era, the Syd Thrift Era, the Frank Wren Era and all the other eras we've seen during the tumultuous reign of Peter G. Angelos. But Duquette said all the right things — except when he referenced Boston instead of Baltimore once — at his introductory news conference Tuesday at The Warehouse. The new executive vice president of baseball operations talked about his admiration for the Orioles dating back to the mid-1960s, when he'd pretend to be Brooks Robinson in backyard Wiffle-ball games while his brother was Mark Belanger.