Young Boys

It looked like a playoff match in the National Basketball Association, with players diving after loose balls and fighting their way under the basket in hopes of getting that key rebound.But these players are built a lot closer to the ground than Patrick Ewing, of the New York Knicks, or Scottie Pippen, of the Chicago Bulls. And the oldest are only 14.Eight teams of about 12 boys each spent a sun-filled weekend on an outdoor court playing basketball to rival the NBA, at least to their family and friends.

WESTMINSTER -- Clarence Yinger, the former president of the Gamber Volunteer Fire Companywho is serving a 38-year sentence for sexually assaulting young boys, is set to ask a Carroll County judge today to let him out of jail.In court records, Yinger claims his sentence should be reduced or revised because he is "no longer a danger to society or adolescent males."Yinger, 41, filed the motion to have his sentence modified in October 1989, one month after he was sentenced to 88 years in prison with 50 years suspended.

150 years ago in The SunSept. 9: Almost every-one that uses anthracite coal in this city, is grumbling at the high price of that article at the present time. At this time last year, it could be had at $5 per ton, delivered to the door. Now the price is $6, with an extra charge for delivery.Sept. 13: "The man who starves a horse degrades humanity." The same may be said of the man who abuses in any way the horse or any other dumb-beast.100 years ago in The SunSept. 9: The bicycle is becoming more and more conspicuous as efforts are made to adapt it to other uses besides a pleasure vehicle.

New York -- Peter Jennings, ABC anchor, doesn't take kindly to the idea that he, a journalist, might be perceived as performing a teaching-preaching role normally reserved for a cleric. This, even as Mr. Jennings prepares to advance the news business' growing preoccupation with moral and ethical issues in four hours of ABC specials on the subjects of prejudice and rape.The three specials are: Saturday's 90-minute "Prejudice: Answering Children's Questions" (11:30 a.m. EDT); an hourlong "Peter Jennings Reporting: Men, Sex and Rape" (May 5)

A former Swansfield Elementary School music teacher -- sentenced to 15 months in jail for fondling two young boys -- is no longer teaching in Howard schools.School officials said Craig A. Smith, 38, left the school district payroll May 8, but -- citing personnel rules -- refused to say whether he had resigned or been fired.Smith who had been employed by the school system for about seven years, was sentenced to nine months in jail Friday after pleading guilty to charges he molested a boy for two years, beginning in 1988 when the boy was 8.The boy reported the abuse seven years after it ended after he read in newspaper accounts that Smith had been convicted in July of last year of fondling another boy.Smith -- a former Boy Scout leader -- pleaded guilty in March to one count of child abuse in an agreement with prosecutors on the new charges.

New York -- Peter Jennings, ABC anchor, doesn't take kindly to the idea that he, a journalist, might be perceived as performing a teaching-preaching role normally reserved for a cleric.This, even as Mr. Jennings prepares to advance the news business' growing preoccupation with moral and ethical issues in four hours of ABC specials on the subjects of prejudice and rape.The three specials are: Saturday's 90-minute "Prejudice: Answering Children's Questions" (11:30 a.m. EDT); an hourlong "Peter Jennings Reporting: Men, Sex and Rape" (May 5)

The young boys involved in the shooting death of Monae Turnage, whose body they hid under trash bags in an East Baltimore alley, were sentenced in juvenile court Wednesday. The 13-year-old who said he pulled the trigger will be committed indefinitely to a treatment facility; the 12-year-old who helped him move the body will be monitored by the Department of Juvenile Services while living with a relative in Harford County. But the family of Monae — the bubbly 13-year-old who wanted to be a pediatrician — sat outside the downtown Juvenile Justice Center after the hearing, stunned at the outcome.

Members of Baltimore's tightly woven Lithuanian community gathered at St. Alphonsus Church yesterday to say goodbye to one of their own, Vitalis V. Pilius, who was slain last week after he was abducted from a downtown parking garage during a robbery.Before the hourlong service, relatives and friends embraced outside the West Saratoga Street church.Some spoke with sadness about the death of "Vito," a father of four young boys, soccer coach and support technician for Hewlett-Packard Co. Others were outraged about at the slaying, for which two teen-agers have been arrested.

The sounds of Franz Liszt's "Liebestraum" gently wafted across the room as 60 Parole Elementary School students strolled into the school's dining hall, transformed momentarily into a fine dining establishment.Well, maybe strolled isn't quite the correct word. After all, these were fifth-graders. Actually, they made more of a mad -- yesterday before sitting down for their invitation-only, formal luncheon and social."We wanted the kids to feel special," said Principal Charles Bowers. "We wanted them to have a chance to get dressed up and experience what it's like dining in a fine restaurant."

Annie McCann's parents desperately want information about the death of their 16-year-old daughter, whose body was found behind a Baltimore trash bin last year after she ran away from her Alexandria, Va., home. But the father of a teenage boy recently charged with stealing the McCanns' car on the day the girl died says his son can't provide it. "This is a dead end for what they want," Bryant Woodley Sr. said in an interview. "The boys don't know nothing." He asked that his son, 16, not be named.