Markakis homer keys Baltimore past KC

Daniel Cabrera threw a three-hitter to remain perfect against Kansas City, Nick Markakis backed him with a three-run homer, and the Baltimore Orioles snapped a five-game losing streak with a 4-1 victory against the Royals on Thursday night.

Cabrera (3-1) struck out seven and walked one in his fifth career complete game and first since Sept. 28, 2006 against the Yankees.

In seven career starts against the Royals, the right-hander who led the AL last year with 18 losses, is 4-0. The Orioles in those games are 7-0. His lifetime ERA in 714 2-3 innings is 4.89. But in 44 innings against the Royals, it's 2.25.

Markakis connected off rookie Luke Hochevar …

Give students their school days, The state has no excuse for failing to deliver enough instructional time

WEST Virginia's terrain is challenging. Add a skim of ice to theroads and busloads of schoolchildren are off to skating rinks - nota good idea.

But cancel school, and officials trade bitterly cold days inJanuary for sweltering days in the classroom in June or write offsome instructional time altogether.

Kanawha County school officials should be praised for trying tokeep the focus where it should be - on actually delivering the 180days of instruction required by state law. It isn't easy.

The Kanawha school system canceled school on Wednesday andThursday. To make that up, educators tacked June 6 and June 9 ontothe school calendar.

So far, the system has …

The Piano

The Piano

by William Miller

illustrations by Susan Keeter

Lee & Low Books, Inc., April 2000

$15.95, ISBN 1-88000-098-9, Ages 4-8

Set in the deep South of the early 1900s, The Piano is a warm story of an African American girl named Tia. Tia loves music, and is free to roam the summer streets while her mother and brother work at the cotton mill. Music is an escape from everything for Tia. She often forgets where she is when listening to it. Whenever she hears a blues guitar or even a child singing, she feels good inside.

One day Tia became hungry for new sounds and crossed the railroad tracks for the first time in search of different music. As …

Champions League: Arsenal, Liverpool need wins

Arsenal and Liverpool return to Champions League action this week seeking to recover from what could be crushing Premier League losses.

Arsenal is desperate for a morale-boosting victory over visiting Fenerbahce after a defeat at lowly Stoke left the Gunners six points off the top of the Premier League and fading from title contention. Liverpool will be especially keen to beat Atletico Madrid after its first loss of the season at Tottenham cost it first place.

Both English teams look well placed to rebound, with Arsenal having won 5-2 at Fenerbahce two weeks ago and the Liverpool team that drew 1-1 in Madrid likely to be strengthened by the return from …

Nursing home didn’t tell them mom died: lawsuit

Three siblings have filed a lawsuit against a North Side nursing home, accusing the facility of failing to notify them of their mother's death.

Three family members contend Ridgeview Nursing Home did not inform them of their mother's May 2010 death until the woman's daughter called to wish her mother a happy birthday more than four months later, according to a suit filed Wednesday in Cook County Circuit Court.

The suit says Lovera Staples was admitted to Ridgeview Nursing Home, 6450 N. Ridge Blvd., in 1991. She suffered from numerous disabilities and required help with eating, bathing and walking.

Mary Staples, of Chicago, claims she visited her mother at the …

DALE'S MAILBAG

Q: I was reading your article (last Sunday) and had a question. Ithought mountain lions and panthers are the same thing.

Joseph, a former history teacher from the south suburbs

A: Like most, I thought the black panther was a subspecies of themountain lion. Check again. I went to Bob Bluett. The wildlifebiologist for the Illinois DNR is leading the investigation into thediscovery of a mountain lion in Randolph County last month. Hechecked several resources to find our answer. The rare and endangeredFlorida panther is a subspecies of the mountain lion. All other so-called black panthers are a myth or a melanotic (opposite of albino)mountain lion. Mountain lions can be …

Oman Air employees stage demonstration outside HQ

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Dozens of employees of Oman's national airline staged a protest in front of the company's headquarters Sunday, dragging one of the sultanate's most prominent companies into the unrest that has shaken the strategically important Gulf state.

The Oman Air demonstration follows days of protests elsewhere in Oman urging political reforms. The sultanate and the island nation of Bahrain have seen the biggest and most sustained outbursts in the Gulf as part of the Arab world's wave of unrest.

Witnesses said about 100 Oman Air employees began gathering by late morning and were calling for improved working conditions. The state-run carrier's corporate …