Warner

Never get into a game of "can you top this" with Chris Warner. But especially not this year. You've finally downloaded and cataloged all your vacation photos. He has shot a television pilot on the gushing rapids inside the Grand Canyon. You've finished a home-improvement project. He's opening a third climbing gym. You've increased your walking routine. He came close to conquering K2, the world's second-highest mountain and considered its most dangerous. Except it's never like that when you talk to him. Funny, thoughtful, self-deprecating, well-read and modest, Warner is one of those guys you love listening to whether it's on the phone or over a cup of coffee.

Time-Warner Inc.'s plan to build a huge distribution center for its movie and TV-related merchandise is in the right place and, as far as Baltimore County Executive Roger Hayden's re-election bid is concerned, at the right time.This project -- the largest private commercial development in the region since the construction of Towson Commons in Baltimore County and Commerce Place in Baltimore in 1989 -- is right for many reasons.Sited just east of Interstate 95 at White Marsh, it may be the stimulus to bring new development to the eastside of Baltimore County.

In an uncharacteristic unanimous vote, the Manchester Town Council appointed David M. Warner as acting town manager last night.Mr. Warner is no newcomer. He lives on Park Avenue, and served as a project administrator for the town for 1 1/2 years to rewrite the charter in preparation for the change to a town-manager form of government.He served until July 1992, when the town hired Terry L. Short as its first manager.Mr. Short resigned last month, saying his role as the town's first manager was one that naturally led to some friction with a few council members and some residents.

When Councilman David M. Warner resigned from the Town Council earlier this month, he already knew that a $400-a-week job with the town government would be waiting for him.The 51-year-old, first-term councilman had been discussing such a post with his fellow council members in closed session for months.Warner was named the town's first-ever projects coordinator minutes after tendering his resignation from the $500-a-year council seat on Jan. 8, as a unanimous vote of the Town Council approved a 90-day contract with the one-time director of transportation for the CarrollBoard of Education.

WASHINGTON -- Republican Sen. John Warner of Virginia is finding out the hard way the price of standing up to an ultraconservative icon. His adamant opposition to GOP senatorial candidate Oliver North has not only brought down the wrath of the Virginia party's right wing but also has the man Warner is supporting in the Senate race, former Reagan budget director James Miller, criticizing him -- apparently to appease the conservatives.The latest reward for Warner's outspokenness is a resolution by the Fairfax County Republican Committee saying it "repudiates" his attacks on North as a man unfit to serve in light of North's acknowledged lying to Congress in the Iran-contra affair, and demanding that Warner retract them.

You find a body. A colleague suffers a horrific fatal fall before your eyes. It snows almost every day. You dodge avalanches and hang on for dear life. And despite all that, you can't wait to plan another assault on K2, the world's second-tallest mountain. That's what makes Chris Warner different from 99.99 percent of the rest of us who spent our summer whining about Bay Bridge traffic, the unending heat and the sorry state of baseball in Maryland. "It's the most brutal conditions I've ever encountered," Warner says solemnly.

In a narrow vote among six candidates seeking two Town Council seats, Manchester residents elected Ryan M. Warner and Mary E. Minderlein to four-year terms yesterday.Christopher B. D'Amario, 37, received 198 votes as the unopposed candidate for mayor, replacing Elmer C. Lippy, 78, who did not seek re-election.Minderlein garnered 108 votes and Warner received 100 to edge incumbent James J. Singer, who had 96 votes.The remaining three Town Council candidates, A. Geoffrey Rice, Mark J. Mangieri and Howard Grundland, received 57, 47 and 13 votes, respectively.

Sara Warner can't believe it.First, she makes the North squad for Wednesday night's All-Star field hockey game at Johns Hopkins, and now she is being compared to former teammate Tinah Houck, who is considered one of the top field hockey players to come out of Westminster High."

Mount Hebron's Bryan Warner has made an early commitment to Rutgers to play lacrosse on a scholarship next year. The attackman scored 37 goals and had 35 assists for the Vikings this spring, and as a sophomore he scored 25 goals and assisted on 24."I wanted a big-school football atmosphere. And Rutgers also has Big East basketball," said Warner, who expressed relief that his college hunt finally has ended."It's a big decision, and I could feel the stress coming off my shoulders as I signed," he said.

His storied career at another seeming dead end, Kurt Warner is facing a return trip to oblivion this week. But at least the one-time NFL Most Valuable Player and Super Bowl hero won't have to go back to stocking groceries, just holding clipboards. Warner's fumble-marred career as an NFL starter likely reached its conclusion yesterday in the Arizona Cardinals' 32-10 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. He fumbled twice, losing one, and threw an interception. Cardinals coach Dennis Green yanked Warner in the fourth quarter for rookie first-round draft pick Matt Leinart, the 2004 Heisman Trophy winner at Southern California.