Before the start of the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland indoor soccer championship game Feb. 9, Maryvale Preparatory School, Brooklandville, athletic director, Terri Moeser walked into the Clarence Du Burns Arena, Canton, carrying the IAAM B Conference Traveling Championship Bowl secured last season. When he left, the athletic director was carrying the Traveling Championship Bowl for the A Conference.
With a consistent congregation of more than 100 each week, a two-month pilot program offering a weekly Spanish Mass at St. Michael the Archangel, Overlea has become a permanent fixture on the parish’s schedule.
VATICAN CITY – Listening to an early morning talk show on the radio one recent morning, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone grew annoyed as callers complained about the Vatican’s “silence” on soccer violence. So the Vatican’s secretary of state picked up the phone and soon found himself on the air, giving listeners an earful. Cardinal Bertone pointed out that Pope Benedict XVI, the Vatican newspaper and the cardinal himself had all condemned the recent killing of a policeman at a soccer match – and said if people didn’t know that, they weren’t paying attention. He added that it was a huge mistake to suggest, as some listeners had done, that the pope was somehow detached from the concerns of average people.
WASHINGTON – A Filipina forced into the sex trade and raped hours after her arrival in the Northern Mariana Islands appealed to U.S. senators to change immigration and labor laws in the commonwealth. “I know there are other women out in the (Mariana Islands) community like me,” Kayleen Entena said in her Feb. 8 testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources; its jurisdiction covers U.S. territorial islands and other insular areas.
OTTAWA – Liberal leader Stephane Dion gets mixed reviews from Canadian Catholic observers who like his emphasis on a sustainable environment and social justice but raise concerns about his highly individualistic notion of rights. They fear his approach as leader of Canada’s main opposition party could mean clashes down the road over group rights, especially those of families, religions and nationalities.
VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI congratulated the finance ministers of Italy, Great Britain, Canada and Russia for their efforts to promote the development of vaccines to reduce child mortality in poor countries.
WASHINGTON – The last prolife bill to be considered by the 109th Congress became one of the first introduced in the 110th Congress when Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., reintroduced the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act. The legislation, which died in the House of Representatives Dec. 6 when it failed to receive the two-thirds majority needed to break a procedural impasse, would require that women undergoing an abortion at least 20 weeks into their pregnancy be informed that an abortion causes pain to the fetus.
There’s no bigger proponent of exercise than Kelly Wojtowicz. For some 20 years, the registered nurse and certified personal trainer has devoted herself to helping others get in shape and develop healthy lifestyles.
When Karolina Pioro was chosen as a foreign exchange student to the United States, the 17-year-old Polish teen thought for sure she would be living in a metropolis with bustling streets and tall buildings. After arriving in the tiny Western Maryland community of Grantsville in late August, she was surprised to discover a wholly different slice of America.
When Stephanie “Stevie” Richards told her new husband to wash the dishes, he responded that it was not a man’s job. “In this house it is,” retorted the bride. The young girl’s stance may have been somewhat brazen for the year 1933, but Mrs. Richards knew she had married a pampered young man spoiled by five sisters and a doting mother.
PITTSBURGH – Inmates at the Allegheny County Jail in downtown Pittsburgh who get accepted into a program to help them straighten out their lives know “they’ve got to put some work into it,” said the chaplain who heads the program. “It’s very much about self-discipline. They have to get up, make their beds, keep their shirts tucked in, they cannot swear. The rules are pretty stringent,” said the Rev. Lynn Yeso. The United Methodist pastor is head chaplain at the jail. For two years she has been director of Potential HOPE, which stands for Helping Open People’s Eyes.
FORT WORTH, Texas – Tarek Saab became an instant celebrity after appearing on NBC’s “The Apprentice,” one of the most highly rated and critiqued shows on network television. He spent 10 weeks on the reality show last year before hearing the words “you’re fired” from the program’s executive producer and host, Donald Trump. While the 27-year-old lost a chance to work for the high-profile financier, he gained valuable insight into the power of fame and its impact on society.
