Training

Before sunrise Monday, Kevin and Shelley Taylor set out from their Millersville home to a new employment center for the Maryland Live! Casino, a slots parlor next to the Arundel Mills mall seeking workers for 1,500 jobs. Having tracked the progress of what will be the state's largest casino, the Taylors believe the facility could provide opportunity for their five-member family. Though Kevin Taylor has a job, he wants a better-paying one. And Shelley Taylor has been out of work for several months.

Today is a big day for Baltimore (and East Coast) geekdom. It's Geeks on a Train : a rolling tweetup that started in Washington DC this morning, with a denizen of DC techies and entrepreneurs boarding an Amtrak train. The itinerary: stop at Baltimore and other major stops along the East Coast Amtrak corridor and connect with geeks and techies in other cities, all the way up to Boston. But there was an early snafu. The #GeekTrain broke down somewhere around Odenton, Md.  "Train now stuck and without power," tweeted @BenSlavin from the train.  In Baltimore, this city's geek contingent waited at Penn Station -- maybe it should be called Geeks in a Station and not Geeks on a Train, tweeted Scott Paley . Baltimore entrepreneur Greg Cangialosi tweeted a picture of the board at Penn Station, with the Northeast Regional #172, from Washington to Boston, saying "DELAYED" . But alas, Amtrak sent a diesel engine to replace the electric one, some tweeters said.

The last man to take a horse to Belmont with a chance to snag the elusive final gem in the Triple Crown has some advice for Doug O'Neill. Stay true to the horse. "I think trainers going around asking other people what they should do, looking for how to handle it, that's stupid," Rick Dutrow, trainer of Big Brown in 2008, said in a phone interview Sunday. "It's got to be about your horse. Whatever anybody else did doesn't matter. You know your horse. " O'Neill, trainer of Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner I'll Have Another, has already disregarded common wisdom over the past three weeks.

All aboard! What are you doing this Thursday? It's nice to see an idea that percolated in the Baltimore Tech Facebook group months ago get birthed into reality this week. The "Geeks on a Train" event is about connecting Baltimore's tech community with other communities along the so-called Amtrak Corridor in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. [See my original blog post on it from back in November.] If you've got a day to ride the rails from DC to Boston, and meet entrepreneurs and techies in stops along the way, GOAT is for you. The Greater Baltimore Tech Council took the lead in organizing an itinerary for the trip, which you'll see here.

Navy Lt. Mark Tedrow has no problem reconciling an air show with a commemoration of the War of 1812, an era that precedes flight by almost a century. The Blue Angels pilot said he looks forward to flying over the Inner Harbor, Middle River and Fort McHenry - birthplace of the national anthem - during a bicentennial celebration in June. "It will be outstanding to perform multiple maneuvers over Fort McHenry," he said. "It will show just how far we have come. " Tedrow and his co-pilot flew into Martin State Airport in Middle River on Thursday to give a small preview of what the Navy's renowned flight team will do for the bicentennial maritime and air festival that kicks off June 13. "Stake out your places on the waterfront so you don't miss a thing," said Lt. Cmdr.

Deputed Testamony is 32-years-old. His dark brown coat is shaggy, and his biggest excitement is going into his paddock at Bonita Farm for three or four hours of grazing each day. He is a pensioner, an icon. The oldest living winner of a Triple Crown race. But when Billy Boniface looks at the horse in his paddock, he sees the striking colt that was born and trained at the family farm and raced to victory in the 1983 Preakness - the last horse bred or trained in Maryland to do so. "Oh my gosh, I still get goose bumps when I look at him and remember that day," said Boniface, who was 18 then and had just taken over the breeding operation at the farm.

Hundreds of people lined up on sun-drenched asphalt Saturday to see if they could get regular payouts, in the form of paychecks, from the new Maryland Live! Casino, a slots casino scheduled to open at Arundel Mills mall in about three months. "I hope I get lucky enough to get a position," said Mark Ellison, who's from West Baltimore. "They want people who are willing to go the extra mile so customers come in and enjoy spending their money. " The operators of what will be the state's largest casino hosted a job fair Saturday with the Anne Arundel Workforce Development Corp.

The NFL tweaked some of its rules Tuesday, making thigh and knee pads mandatory equipment for players (starting in 2013) and pushing forward a pair of other changes involving the trade deadline and injured reserve. The rule involving thigh and knee padding for players is already being met with criticism by some players who argue that the bulky, additional padding slows them down without adding much protection . Vanity might also be a factor here for some opponents of the rule change, specifically those flashy wide receivers and defensive backs.

The Anne Arundel Conflict Resolution Center will hold a five-week session of anger management training from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays, April 5 through May 3. Classes are designed to help participants learn to channel anger in a positive direction. Classes include group discussions and exercises, and cover topics such as identifying anger triggers, conflict styles, coping strategies and taking responsibility. Classes, which will be held at the center's offices at 2666 Riva Road in Annapolis, cost $175 and include all materials.

I strongly disagree with Dan Rodricks ' column on pit bulls ("Pit bulls: Own at your risk," May 1). I am a dog lover and I know all dogs are not dangerous. Dog owners have to know how to train their dogs appropriately. The dog is a follower; it follows its owner and what he/she tells the dog what to do. Dogs are innocent, people are guilty! I'll be so glad and appreciate if Mr. Rodricks changes his mind. Kayla Waters, Lannon, Wis.

The last man to take a horse to Belmont with a chance to snag the elusive final gem in the Triple Crown has some advice for Doug O'Neill. Stay true to the horse. "I think trainers going around asking other people what they should do, looking for how to handle it, that's stupid," Rick Dutrow, trainer of Big Brown in 2008, said in a phone interview Sunday. "It's got to be about your horse. Whatever anybody else did doesn't matter. You know your horse. " O'Neill, trainer of Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner I'll Have Another, has already disregarded common wisdom over the past three weeks.

Deputed Testamony is 32-years-old. His dark brown coat is shaggy, and his biggest excitement is going into his paddock at Bonita Farm for three or four hours of grazing each day. He is a pensioner, an icon. The oldest living winner of a Triple Crown race. But when Billy Boniface looks at the horse in his paddock, he sees the striking colt that was born and trained at the family farm and raced to victory in the 1983 Preakness - the last horse bred or trained in Maryland to do so. "Oh my gosh, I still get goose bumps when I look at him and remember that day," said Boniface, who was 18 then and had just taken over the breeding operation at the farm.

Doug O'Neill took a seat under a small awning, in front of cameras and reporters Wednesday morning. After a week and a half of passing time chatting with the few stragglers who came by his barn, it was time for the Kentucky Derby winning trainer to face the horde in town for Saturday's Preakness. He took questions on his record - he's had a history of horses breaking down, and has been charged four times with “milkshaking” a horse - and was asked again about how his colt, I'll Have Another, will do this time around against Bodemeister, the runner-up at Derby.

They crawled through muddy trenches. They did sit-ups in the Severn River. They performed a mock evacuation of an injured pilot. And they kept on going. Midshipmen completing their first year at the Naval Academy endured the rigorous 14-hour Sea Trials on Tuesday. The annual training exercise put the approximately 1,000 plebes through 30 challenging events from predawn darkness through late afternoon. "One, two, three, 10," hollered plebes of the 10th Company as they counted squats in the water before flopping backward with a roar.

There's a tendency among some to shorthand the ongoing federal budget debate as between Republicans who want to reduce government spending and Democrats who don't. This isn't really the case, as recent actions in the House have demonstrated. On Wednesday, the House Armed Services Committee took a close look at President Barack Obama's proposed $525.4 billion defense spending plan and decided that simply wasn't enough. The GOP-controlled committee voted to authorize nearly $4 billion more than what the Pentagon had requested for 2013.

Baltimore County Police identified the man who died May 1 after being struck by a MARC train near Essex as Robert Ey of Middle River. Ey, 26, was walking south on the tracks when he was accidentally struck by a southbound train moving at about 100 mph, a police investigation found. The accident occurred about 7:15 a.m. near Northeast Creek Road and Schaefer Lane in Rosedale. Police arrived at 7:18 a.m. and searched the area, initially calling in a helicopter for assistance, police said after the accident.

Air Force Airman Kathy M. Duong graduated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base, in San Antonio, Texas. The airman completed an intensive, eight-week program that included training in military discipline and studies, Air Force core values, physical fitness, and basic warfare principles and skills. Airmen who complete basic training earn four credits toward an associate in applied science degree through the Community College of the Air Force. Duong is the daughter of Lieu Ho, of Columbia.

About 7 p.m. Saturday, 25-year-old Mario Gutierrez was escorted by a group of handlers and police officers into the paddock at Churchill Downs. The sign over his head, the one touting the 138 years of Kentucky Derby history by listing the first and last winners, had already been changed to read: I'll Have Another. Gutierrez became the 42nd jockey to win in his first try at the Derby, guiding the long-striding colt past 4-1 morning line favorite Bodemeister in the final furlong, winning by 11/2 lengths.

In the four years since he made history at the Beijing Olympics, Michael Phelps concedes losing his focus. But with the London Games looming, the Baltimore swimmer told "60 Minutes" in an interview that will air Sunday that he has gone all-out recently and says he is now approaching the shape he was in before Beijing, where he won an unprecedented eight gold medals. His coach, Bob Bowman, predicts Phelps will again win multiple gold medals for the United States this summer.