Vermont

The transformation of the Towson men's basketball program continued today with the addition of the America East Rookie of the Year. Four McGlynn, who averaged 12 points for Vermont as a freshman, has committed to the Tigers. The York, Pa., native will sit out the 2012-13 season and have three years of eligibility remaining. “We're ecstatic about getting Four,” Towson coach Pat Skerry said in a news release. “We think he is potentially one of the premier shooters in the country.

Sunday morning, I was having breakfast at a funky cafe that prides itself on organic food and the languid preparation thereof. With time to observe the locals passing by, I came to an epiphany about why this green wedge of America feels so unique: Vermont is what the whole country would be like if the hippie ideals of the 1960s and '70s had matured and taken root everywhere. By this I do not mean the state is just a big groovy commune. The cultural differences are subtle. Still, unlike people in many other places, folks here do seem to tolerate -- even encourage -- creative eccentricity.

Don Zimmerman figured it would take Scott Hopmann some time before he began to re-discover his footing in UMBC's offense. The coach's patience has been rewarded as the junior midfielder has recorded 11 points in his last three contests after posting five points in his first five games since returning from a hamstring injury. The Annapolis native and St. Mary's graduate amassed three goals and one assist in the Retrivers' 11-8 victory over America East foe Vermont Saturday.

No one would have faulted UMBC fans for fearing the worst as Vermont scored three consecutive goals - including two in the final 47 seconds of the second quarter - to knot the score at 6 with 6:50 left in the third period. But the Retrievers answered with a four-goal run into the fourth quarter en route to an eventual 11-8 victory in an important America East contest Saturday. UMBC's response was especially encouraging after the team failed to hang onto a lead of 8-6 in the third quarter and 11-8 in the final period that allowed Towson to record a come-from-behind 12-11 decision Wednesday night.

Barry H. Landau, the once-esteemed collector of presidential memorabilia, admitted in federal court Tuesday that he stole thousands of documents regarded as cultural treasures from historical societies and libraries in Baltimore and up the East Coast. The 63-year-old's guilty plea, to two criminal counts involving theft of artwork, revealed a scheme in which prosecutors said he compiled lists of items to steal by matching names of historical figures, from poets to president, to their "potential monetary value.

Sophomore forward Luke Apfeld came off the bench to score a career-high 24 points in only 22 minutes as Vermont (6-7) took an early lead and didn't look back in a 65-49 nonconference win over Towson on Friday night at Towson Center. The loss dropped Towson to 0-12 and was the Tigers' 31st in a row. The record for consecutive losses by a Division I team is 34, by Sacramento State. The overall record is 51 straight by New Jersey Institute of Technology as it transitioned from Division II to Division I. Apfeld made all 11 of his shots from the field, including his only 3-point field goal attempt.

A Halloween without pumpkins? Good grief! But before you race to the grocery store for canned pumpkin to mold into fall's favorite orange orb, consider this: While the soggy residents of Pennsylvania, New York and Vermont are facing a shortage of jack-o-lanterns, Maryland's trick-or-treaters will be spared the trauma. "We definitely lost some, but pumpkins will be around," said Dwight Baugher, who has started harvesting more than 70 acres of oversized squash at Baugher's Orchard and Farm inWestminster.

Prior to Aberdeen's Wednesday-night home matchup with the Vermont LakeMonsters, the IronBirds had failed to win back-to-back games this season. But that streak ended as the hosts prevailed with a 6-4 win Wednesday. Aberdeen, which beat Tri-City Monday, was 6-20 on the year through Wednesday, putting the IronBirds at the bottom of the New York-Penn League's McNamara Division, seven games in back of the Brooklyn Cyclones. "We played some good baseball the last couple games, won on the road, then came back today and did a good job," Aberdeen manager Leo Gomez said after the game.

College basketball UMBC women set school marks in throttling Vermont Junior forward Erin Brown scored 19 points and visiting UMBC (15-10, 9-3) held America East rival Vermont (3-21, 3-8) to record lows in a 43-32 victory Wednesday night. The Catamounts shot 17.0 percent (8-for-47) from the field, the lowest field-goal percentage ever by a Retrievers opponent; the previous low was 17.3 percent by Bowie State in 1985. In addition, Vermont's eight field goals in the game matched the fewest ever by the Catamounts, while their 32 points scored were the fewest UMBC has allowed since Dec. 11, 1981, against Western Michigan, which also scored 32, and set a school Division I record.

In her letter to the editor, "Guns do kill people" (Jan. 16), Mary Chestnut repeats the tired and discredited mantra that gun laws control criminals and prevent crime. The tragedy in Tucson was caused by an individual and not by the firearm he used or the gun laws in Arizona. Ms. Chestnut blames the gun and the gun laws rather than the perpetrator. She even goes so far as to insinuate that Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is somehow responsible because she supports the Arizona gun laws and (according to Ms. Chestnut)