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MARYLAND
Md. university shelves tests
Salisbury University will become the first public four-year college in Maryland to allow some prospective freshmen to apply without submitting scores from standardized tests such as the SAT under a pilot program approved yesterday by the system's Board of Regents. pg 1A
Businessman gets port contract
The Ehrlich administration, bypassing the agency that runs the Port of Baltimore, has awarded a grant for a study of the port's future to a company controlled by a politically well-connected businessman with no maritime experience. pg 1A
NATIONAL
Pelosi picks chairman
Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi picked Texas congressman and former border patrol agent Silvestre Reyes yesterday to be the next chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, ending what had become a distracting fight among Democrats over who should get the key post. pg 3A
WORLD
Mexican president inaugurated
Felipe Calderon was inaugurated yesterday as president of a deeply divided Mexico, amid fisticuffs between rival lawmakers and raucous protests in the country's Legislative Palace. pg 8A
KGB expert tied to polonium-210
An Italian KGB expert who warned Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko that his life might be in danger on the same day he was poisoned has a significant quantity of radioactive polonium-210 in his body, authorities said in London said yesterday. pg 1A
Provident earnings to fall short
Provident Bankshares Corp., one of the largest banks in Maryland, said yesterday that earnings for the year would fall short of analyst forecasts after the bank took a hit from a balance-sheet restructuring, while paying higher interest on certain accounts and collecting less in banking fees. pg 10C
SPORTS
Baze breaks jockey record
Russell Baze became racing's winningest jockey when he picked up his 9,531st career victory at Bay Meadows in San Mateo, Calif. Baze, 48, broke Laffit Pincay Jr.'s record with a victory aboard Butterfly Belle in the fourth race. pg 4C
Glavine staying with Mets
Pitcher Tom Glavine agrees to a one-year, $10.5 million contract with the New York Mets and opts against a possible return to the Atlanta Braves. Glavine is 10 wins shy of 300. pg 4C
TODAY
Toys take on technology
Nevermind the Lincoln Logs and Erector Sets. This holiday season, the hot toys are high tech, from video consoles to digitized games to computerized stuffed toys - items that prompted gadget buffs to form long lines outside stores well before Thanksgiving. pg 1D