Vain

An ambitious and rarely seen film project by the late, great Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski comes to the Charles Theatre this week. "Dekalog," a 10-part film series that Kieslowski made for television, will be shown at the newly expanded Baltimore art house over the next five weeks, starting Tuesday.Kieslowski made 10 one-hour films, each inspired by one of the Ten Commandments, and although the series is available on videotape (one of the movies, "A Short Film About Killing," has toured the festival circuit)

Before I get to a session of those "questions without answers," let me offer some really good news.Jack Kramp, the incomparable chief of the Anne Arundel Umpires Association, had a successful balloon angioplasty operation on his heart Wednesday at Washington Adventist Hospital and expects to be home today."

Harford officials were looking grimmer than ever last week as they tried -- for the most part in vain -- to assess how the $450 million in state cuts proposed by Gov. William Donald Schaefer will affect county residents and services."

AMERICAN POLICY in Bosnia is built upon a shaky framework of political fiction, unrealistic deadlines and military muscle. Only the latter category is succeeding. The NATO-led force of heavily-armed troops has separated the Serb, Croat and Muslim armies along 1,000 kilometers of ethnic hostility. But the danger remains that this huge effort may be in vain -- that once international peacekeepers depart, Bosnia's warring tribes will resume their struggle.The chief political fiction is a Croat-Muslim federation that Gen. George Joulwan, the supreme NATO commander, charitably describes as "very fragile."

From the lighter side of the news. A matter of faith The Lord's name was taken in vain -- in several different ways -- during a recent City Council lunch meeting. While dining on grilled chicken breasts and Dots candy, the council erupted into a heated debate about whether it should stop asking ministers to conduct religious benedictions to begin its meetings. Councilwoman Rochelle "Rikki" Spector suggested that some might be offended by the mention of specific religious figures, such as Jesus.

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra opened its 84th season last night without music director Yuri Temirkanov, who isn't due in town until the end of October, and with a musical evocation of spring, which isn't due until a little later. But the ensemble was in the capable hands of Mario Venzago and sounded ripe and ready for the months of music-making ahead. Venzago, who memorably directed the BSO's recent Summer MusicFest, brought his characteristic spirit and sensitivity to the program, devoted to two staples of the German repertoire and one second-drawer Russian work that was lucky to be getting the attention.

Dr. Pamela Peeke calls herself an "edutainer." An expert on fitness, stress management and nutrition, she has a credential-heavy traditional resume: assistant clinical professor at the University of Maryland Medical School, first senior research fellow at the National Institutes of Health Office of Alternative Medicine, member of the Maryland Governor's Council on Fitness and more. Peeke, 50, also regularly flexes her media muscles on Today, Larry King Live, NBC Dateline and Oprah. She's a team physician for the Washington Wizards, runs a private practice (the Peeke Performance Center in Bethesda)

Washington was a hot place to be over the weekend - important premieres by the National Symphony, a recital by nonpareil violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and Kiri Te Kanawa's Washington Opera debut in Samuel Barber's Gothic opera Vanessa. With a psychologically astute, if occasionally overripe, libretto by Gian Carlo Menotti and an unabashedly romantic and brilliantly orchestrated, if occasionally overheated, score, Vanessa makes for a compelling night of music and theater. On Saturday night at the Kennedy Center Opera House, Te Kanawa offered a compelling, incisive portrait of a grande dame wedded to the past who is unexpectedly awakened to feelings long dormant.

Gut-wrenching stories of crimes at the hands of a father, a drunken driver and a pair of violent teens were among those retold and relived at a town hall meeting Tuesday night in Columbia. Most of the speakers' voices were calm as they advocated for change in the criminal justice system and for victims' rights. Residents of Baltimore City and Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Cecil, Harford and Howard counties were invited to talk about their experiences as victims or relatives of victims before a panel at Long Reach High School, the second of four regional meetings planned statewide.

As Van Evers squeezed beside the freshly unearthed casket for the six-hour ride, one thought consumed him: He was going to see his father.He never believed he'd have this chance. Three years old when his father, Medgar Evers, was killed, Van had only faint memories of a man leaving bubble gum cigars on his bunk bed. After the murder, he would pick up the phone and ask, "Have you seen my daddy?"Now, nearly 30 years later, the body was being brought to Albany, N.Y., from Arlington National Cemetery for an autopsy to bolster a case against the accused killer.