The Vine News

ANNAPOLIS | With the energy of a high school cheerleader and the showmanship of a professional football mascot, Anthony Carvo waves, points and performs tricks for drivers on Sunday afternoons in Annapolis. "I like to get people"s attention," said Mr. Carvo, 18, who spins 6-foot-long signs that advertise area businesses at the corner of West Street and Route 2. "I like to make them laugh. I also like to make them cheer for me." Mr. Carvo works for AArrow Advertising, a national firm that employs more than 500 people between the ages of 16 and 24 to spin special signs. ...

Every day, many of us rise early and get to bed late, sometimes without even enjoying a good meal. We live from the house to the car, from the car to the job and back again -- our feet barely touch the ground. We don’t even think of looking up.

To Heath and Bernadette Wiggins, marriage is an obstacle course, played out in the everyday challenges of life.

The founders of the Family Bootcamp – relationship training program that starts and ends with trips through an outdoor obstacle course – are helping singles, engaged couples, married couples, families and even church groups find ways to work through their obstacles in life as a team.

Crime dropped substantially early this year in Prince George"s and Montgomery counties, including double-digit reductions in reports of violent offenses, law enforcement officials said. Total crime fell by more than 14 percent from January through June compared with the same period last year in Prince George"s County. For the first four months of 2009 in Montgomery County, total crime fell 6.7 percent compared with the same time last year. "Crimes against persons," which includes homicides, rapes and aggravated assaults, were down 10 percent.