Waiting

SEATTLE - As a veteran of eight minor league seasons, right-hander Zach Clark has endured plenty of excruciating bus rides during his career. He had never been on a cross-country flight, however, until he flew to Seattle on Tuesday. The five-hour airplane ride seemed even longer knowing what was on the other side: The Safeco Field clubhouse and his No. 64 Orioles uniform hanging in his first big league locker. "I've never been on a long flight, so five hours on a plane was crazy," said the 29-year-old Clark, who was added to the Orioles' 25-man roster Tuesday as bullpen insurance.

No. 10 Washington College took the uncertainty out of its postseason plans by walloping Swarthmore, 16-5, Wednesday night and clinching a spot in the Centennial Conference tournament. The same cannot be said for the team's opponent in the tournament. How No. 19 Gettysburg fares against McDaniel on Saturday will determine whether the Shoremen (12-3 overall and 5-3 in the league) get the No. 3 or No. 4 seed. If the Green Terror (5-10, 2-5) upset the Bullets (8-6, 4-3), Washington would earn the third seed and meet Franklin & Marshall (10-4, 6-1)

When officials in Washington evaluate the consequences of the sequester, Tiara Bland wants them to consider the sixth-grade girls at Mother Seton Academy. Bland, a 22-year-old AmeriCorps member at the Baltimore academy for low-income children, said the decision by government leaders to impose across-the-board spending cuts will shortchange the urban youths who turn to her for advice on math problems and life. Bland, who aspires to be a school psychologist, is one of 17 AmeriCorps members performing education and literacy work in Baltimore for the Notre Dame Mission Volunteers.

Jamel Artis ' affinity for Pittsburgh was never a secret. Ever since the Baltimore native's recruitment began, the Panthers were “on top” of his list of potential college destinations. As Artis moved through four schools in five years, the Pittsburgh coaching staff stayed persistent in its recruitment of the 6-foot-6, 230-pound wing.   “They showed that they wanted me more than all the other schools,” Artis said Tuesday. “I was just waiting for the right time.” The right time came last weekend, when Artis - who recently achieved a qualifying SAT score - pledged to the Panthers during his official visit.

As the legislative session closed last week, I was happy to see that we made great progress on behalf of Maryland's children. We made strides in health, child welfare and education. However, one of the standout accomplishments was in juvenile justice. Before the General Assembly session began, juvenile justice public policy advocates came together to hammer out a five-piece legislative package aimed at right-sizing the Department of Juvenile Services and stopping the transfer of youths to the adult system.

Chris Davis' astonishing start to this season hasn't occurred by accident. Through 12 games, he's putting up numbers that are only fit for video games. But it's the result of the 27-year-old Orioles first baseman's realizing that he can truly get more with less. It's a result of countless discussions that Davis has had in the indoor batting cages with hitting coach Jim Presley, who told Davis to look at his 6-foot-3, 230-pound frame and realize he could hit homers without having to muscle a ball out. And it's the result of knowing he's going to be in the lineup every day - that's he's here in the big leagues to stay as a key piece of the Orioles and their success.

Regarding your recent editorial on making it easier for families to commit a mentally ill relative to a mental institution against their will, Maryland's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and some state delegates apparently are missing the urgent need to clarify the state's civil commitment standards ("The tricky question of involuntary commitment," April 6). Many relatives of individuals with serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, recently testified about the consequences of the denying timely treatment under the current law. Those consequences include homicide, suicide, homelessness, job loss and permanent brain damage.

Through the opening week of the new season, the Orioles have delighted their fans with an offensive cornucopia and a handful of exciting victories over the Tampa Bay Rays and Minnesota Twins, which is just the kind of first impression they were hoping to make after last year's uplifting playoff run. It was also just what they needed to overshadow what has not exactly been a smooth start for the pitching staff that was primarily responsible for...

While Connecticut's governor wasted no time signing that state's sweeping gun control bill into law the day it was passed on Thursday, Maryland's governor plans to abide by tradition and wait.  Gov. Martin O'Malley's spokeswoman Raquel Gillory said Friday that the governor will sign Maryland's gun bill after the General Assembly adjourns on Monday.   The legislature on Thursday passed the bill banning the sale of assault-style rifles, capping magazines to 10 bullets and requiring fingerprints and a license to buy a handgun, among other provisions.

A Severn mother who, despite a poison center's admonition to get her son to a hospital immediately, waited until her child began having a seizure from sipping his father's methadone, was placed on three years' probation Friday. Kimberly Brooks, 28, feared a huge hospital bill and so waited to see if the condition of her five-year-old son, who had vomited, would improve - a decision that nearly cost the child his life last Sept. 4, Anne Arundel County prosecutor Sandra Howell told Circuit Court Judge Paul A. Hackner.