We host Thanksgiving at our house each year and, while I don’t particularly care for this couple, I have always invited them to join us. I do this to make things easier for my daughter, so she doesn’t have to trek to both our homes. I realize she could also alternate holidays, but to be honest, I would miss celebrating Thanksgiving with her and my son-in-law and grandkids, so I have just sucked it up each year and try not to get grossed out at the dinner table.

Is there an alternative solution I haven’t thought of? I’m assuming it would not be appropriate for me to make the request that he trim his nose hair before coming over

– Grossed Out

Dear Grossed Out: Often, we work through major and minor holiday conflicts and quibbles by reminding ourselves, “it’s only one day.” Sometimes that works. Other times… one day is too much. And, in a case like yours, it’s not just one day; it’s the cumulation of years of one days. In short, you’ve had your fill of nose hair.

Alas, short of changing the seating arrangements so that you’re never catching a glance at it, I think your hands are tied as long as he remains on the invitation list. This, like so many other aspects of people’s bodies, falls into the category of personal preference. It’s not endangering him or others. While nose hairs, in general, trap dirt and pollen, overly long nose hair can accumulate debris and cause problems if not properly maintained. But it sounds like that’s not the concern here.

If he’s unmoved by his wife and kids’ requests, I daresay that your ask will probably also go unanswered. You mentioned that you don’t really care for the couple anyway, so your energy may be better spent focusing on enjoying your grandkids, your daughter and your son-in-law..

Dear Eric: Regarding the letter writer who was giving a $100 gift card for patching up the injured friend of her daughter (“Mom of a Wild Child”). I was taught during Community Emergency Response Training that bystanders are protected under Good Samaritan laws if we voluntarily provide emergency assistance to others – they cannot be sued for anything they do or attempt to do. However, the Good Samaritan cannot accept any compensation whatsoever to be covered by the law. We were told not to accept a stick of gum or a nickel for our help, or we could potentially be sued for damages. I doubt this person would be sued by the grateful mom, but it is possible.

The $100 gift card should be returned.

– Good Samaritan

Dear Good Samaritan: Thank you for this insight. It will definitely help in the future when/if I want to express my gratitude. The letter below is also in response to this question and offers a lovely alternative to monetary gifts.

Dear Eric: I had to smile when I read your article about the Good Samaritan receiving $100 for helping an injured child. While growing up in the ‘40s and ’50s I lived on a single block long, dead-end street where we must have had at least 15 or 20 kids. Someone was always getting hurt, mostly scratches and bruises, but once in a while a broken bone. My mother, the only nurse on the block, was the local emergency room.

I don’t believe she ever received money for her efforts, and I doubt if she would have accepted it, if offered.

Although she didn’t reap the benefits of her work, I was the beneficiary. At her death I received a number of letters telling me how grateful they were for what she had done. She also was the den mother of a cub scout pack that was so popular that she had to restrict the number of kids. She ran a disciplined pack that included crafts, games and learning and not the typical baby-sitting den. I also received letters from mothers telling me what an influence she had had on their son’s life. Talk about being rewarded. No amount of money could replace the thanks she received even though I was the beneficiary.

– Grateful Son

Dear Son: Thank you for sharing. And what a beautiful reminder to us all: it can be so impactful to tell those who mean something to us what they mean while they’re alive, and it can be equally impactful to share those stories with those they leave behind.

Send questions to R. Eric Thomas at eric@askingeric.com.

Copyright 2025 Tribune Content Agency

In 1936, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge opened as President Franklin D. Roosevelt pressed a telegraph key in Washington, D.C., and gave the green light to traffic.

In 1936, American playwright Eugene O’Neill received the Nobel Prize in Literature.

In 1948, Japanese general and former Prime Minister Hideki Tojo and several other World War II Japanese leaders were sentenced to death by a war crimes tribunal; he was executed in December 1948.

In 1954, Ellis Island officially closed as an immigration station and detention center. More than 12 million immigrants arrived in the United States via Ellis Island between 1892 and 1954.

In 1970, the Bhola cyclone struck East Pakistan, now Bangladesh. The deadliest tropical cyclone on record claimed the lives of an estimated 300,000-500,000 people.

In 2001, American Airlines Flight 587, en route to the Dominican Republic, crashed after takeoff from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, killing all 260 people on board and five people on the ground.

In 2019, Venice saw its worst flooding in more than 50 years, with the water reaching 6.14 feet (1.87 meters) above average sea level; damage was estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

In 2021, a judge in Los Angeles ended the conservatorship that had controlled the life and money of pop star Britney Spears for nearly 14 years.

In 2024, a federal judge sentenced Jack Teixeira, a Massachusetts Air National Guard member, to 15 years in prison for leaking classified military documents about the war in Ukraine; Teixeira had pleaded guilty to willful retention and transmission of national defense information under the Espionage Act, nearly a year after his arrest in the most consequential national security breach in years.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor-playwright Wallace Shawn is 82. Rock musician Booker T. Jones is 81. Sportscaster Al Michaels is 81. Singer-songwriter Neil Young is 80. Author Tracy Kidder is 80. Democratic Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island is 76. Actor Megan Mullally is 67. Olympic gold medal gymnast Nadia Comăneci is 64. Olympic gold medal swimmer Jason Lezak is 50. Pakistani filmmaker and journalist Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is 47. Actor Ryan Gosling is 45. Actor Anne Hathaway is 43. Golfer Jason Day is 38. NBA point guard Russell Westbrook is 37.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Nostalgia for a childhood experience of safety or carefree fun could surface, whether you actually got that back in the day, or not. It’s never too late to build these for yourself — building builds power, yearning gives it away.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Harsh words are hard to make right going forward, try not to say [or take personally] any message that could poison something good. Ground down into your roots, the core of your own self, your truest home.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Communication goes better with a receptive audience. Even if you’re speaking from the heart, someone or a group could be just too weary to hear you or take anything more in now. Adjust your expectations, it’s not you, just the moment.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): A financial feeling might not be worth acting on, it’s more likely to be an old fear than a new intuitive hit. Reactivity can tear down what is built with careful planning — let emotions recede before you take action.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Your inner foundation could feel a little tippy today. Lean on a friend if you can, other support can come from a housemate, a pet, a book, or online inspo. The goal is staying regulated from within, but sometimes a little help can help.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): A true, real, deep friend is a rarity, above all the shouting and pretending. Though they could feel more intense lately the bond should remain strong. A financial mutiny could begin to build up.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Working with warmth and caring can satisfy you within yourself, but too much emotional vulnerability can be a detriment in the workplace. This is a balance to walk: How to calibrate your openness for your best experience of the day.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Ultimate answers are always within, though inspo and ideas can be found out in the world. Grab what feels aligned but nurture yourself from within as your primary source of courage and strength.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Revisit your ideas around a situation: Is sharing even possible? Or is competition the only way? Try to untangle by assessing facts rather than letting emotion carry you away. A friend could have helpful advice.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): A partner might express intensely then flip and expect tender loving care. How you respond could be any of these: Confidence, skepticism, analysis and planning stretching loyalty, pessimism, or self-doubt.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): You give your all to life, sometimes you may just want a corner of comfort to call your own. Give yourself some basic nurture today, it’s likely needed. Seed your ideas out into the world — your light, every light, is needed.

IF TODAY IS YOUR BIRTHDAY: November 2025 is a gift month that keeps on giving, overall excellent stars can offer help to everything you do. Next week will bring one of the biggest opportunity days remaining in 2025, if you’ve got something ready to officially begin, and your individual cycles line up, this could be your moment. You might need to work around some frustrating moments or people, but it should be very worth it. A friend or collaborative effort could work miracles in December, it could be a magical month for you personally, not just because of the holidays. Your spirit guides are on the job and on point, healing is in the food and water, and your career could reach new heights. Even if you don’t work outside the home, your efforts should receive much-deserved rewards. Come out of the gate strong in the new year, stay true to your plans. January can be powerful, February and early March can be a challenge to keep the faith. Beyond that, the sky is the limit.

Between firing aces and diving all over the floor for critical digs that kept rallies alive, Ball powered a 12-point stretch that flipped the Lions’ eight-point deficit into a four-point lead.

“I actually told one of my teammates, ‘Wow, I’m really tired from serving that much,'” Ball said. “She said, ‘Just serve five more and then we’ll be good.’ So, I think seeing the finish line and seeing my team feed off my serves made me feel like I just had to keep pushing. If I missed my serve, that energy was just going to crash down. So, I wanted to keep that energy up.”

Howard’s extended run quieted a capacity Arundel crowd and powered the second-seeded Lions to a 25-21, 25-23, 25-22 sweep of the sixth-seeded Wildcats. The Lions (19-0) advance to the state finals for the first since 1980 when they claimed the program’s only state championship. A tough challenge awaits as they’ll face top-seed and undefeated North Hagerstown at APG Federal Credit Union Arena at 2 p.m. Saturday.

“Practically unbelievable. Being down that big to a quality team like Arundel and to believe in ourselves in the way that the whole team did,” Howard coach Grant Scott said of Ball’s service run. “She’s the heart of this team, so for her to go back on the line and push 10-plus points in Game 3 of a state semifinal against a quality opponent, I couldn’t be prouder of her and my team.”

Despite having swept the Wildcats during the regular season, Howard knew taking down Arundel in its home gym would be no easy task. The Wildcats (14-5) buzzed with energy from the support of passionate fans and gave the Lions everything they could handle. Junior setter Imagine Peltier closed out an all-important first set with an ace, which briefly quelled the excitement of the electric crowd.

“We really tried to focus on ignoring the crowd,” Peltier said. “We knew that there was going to be a giant crowd. We did our best to try and block it out, just focus on ourselves, on our energy, keeping us together and not focusing on the external stuff.”

The second set was also neck-and-neck with each side mounting an answer whenever one built slight separation. Down the stretch, Howard and Arundel exchanged three-point spurts, which tied the score at 23.

Yet again, the Lions elevated their level in a defining moment. Peltier capped off the second set with another ace, placing it on the floor in front of several diving Wildcats.

In a win or go home moment, Arundel burst out of the gates in the third. The Wildcats stymied Howard’s attack and jumped out to a 7-1 lead and built the advantage to eight late in the set.

However, Howard displayed its championship DNA and roared back to officially move one step closer to its ultimate goal.

Scott first identified this could be a special group and championship caliber team two years ago. He saw the potential of the now veterans as underclassmen, which began coming to the forefront last year with the Lions reaching the state semifinals. Now, the Lions are taking that potential to new heights and doing so in dominant fashion. Including the Bel Air Tournament where it played five best-of-three matches, Howard has dropped just one of its 68 sets this season.

The Lions can beat you in a variety of ways with a diverse attack, stout defense and consistent serve-and-receive.

Each of those elements will be tested in the state final on Saturday with Howard wholeheartedly embracing its toughest challenge yet. Howard and North Hagerstown are familiar with one another having faced in a tournament last season.

One team will leave that contest with a banner hanging in their gym and the unique distinction of closing out a perfect season. Howard is hoping to be that group and accomplish something no Lions team has done in 45 years.

“It means so much,” Ball said. “All the years that I’ve been playing here, we’ve had a good team, we just haven’t been able to execute when it really matters. I think this team really learned from those past mistakes. We kept our energy up, because we see the banners at our school and we see how there hasn’t been a state championship one. Our saying is that we want to put a banner on the wall. That’s what we’re going to try and do on Saturday.”

Have a news tip? Contact Jacob Steinberg at jsteinberg@baltsun.com, 443-442-9445 and x.com/jacobstein23.

Current view of the aurora from Queenstown, MD – can see with naked eye and short long exposures @capitalweather @wbaltv11 @washingtonpost pic.twitter.com/yJgSjwpo73

— Ryan Booth (@TheRyanBooth) November 12, 2025

The storms, caused by the sun expelling bursts of energy known as coronal mass ejections, created auroras visible across the Northern United States and potentially as far south as Alabama.

But the storms could also disrupt radio and GPS communications.

PHOTOS: Northern Lights visible in Maryland!
Photos courtesy of viewers via Chime In.
SEE FULL GALLERY: https://t.co/CaVAXDxGkN pic.twitter.com/GLJ8w0kBq5

— FOX Baltimore (@FOXBaltimore) November 12, 2025

The potential for interruptions in services did not stop locals from across the DMV region from snapping photos of the luminous sky, displaying vibrant shades of reds, blues and greens.

According to the Space Weather Prediction Center, peak geomagnetic conditions were reached Tuesday night around 8:20 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

The U.S. may have another chance to view the aurora, including in Maryland, according to the space weather forecast, which has issued a geomagnetic storm watch for Wednesday.

Olney, MD – The aurora appeared before the clouds rolled in, captured at 8:20 PM EST tonight from Olney Manor Recreational Park. @capitalweather #northernlights #aurora #MdWx #Wx @MeteoMdWX @JustinWeather @Bopegfs pic.twitter.com/NPHO8MmLge

— MyDrone.Pro (@MyDronePro) November 12, 2025

Have a news tip? Contact Mathew Schumer at mschumer@baltsun.com, 443-890-7423 and on X as @mmmschumer.

The Blazers never trailed in the match before recording a 25-22, 25-11, 25-20 victory in the Class 1A semifinals. Clear Spring (15-5) will play for its third state championship in four years on Saturday at noon at Harford Community College against Harford County’s Patterson Mill.

“We knew going into the game that they were going to be a tough team,” South Carroll senior Elaina Murphy said. “I think for the most part our biggest challenge was our serve receive. They had some pretty tough serves and we couldn’t handle it.”

The best set for the Cavs (14-2) was the first. After trailing most of the set, South Carroll rallied from a 21-15 deficit using the service of Morgan Taylor. Taylor served five straight service winners, and Murphy and Jenna Todd contributed kills to go on a 5-0 run to tie the set at 21 apiece. That, in turn, forced a time out by Blazers coach Jessica Custer.

The Blazers looked like a different team after the time out. Clear went on a 4-1 run to close out the set and record a 25-22 win.

South Carroll struggled mightily in the second set. After cutting the deficit to just one at 7-6, Clear Spring’s Ella Wagner went on a serving run of her own, recording five service winners including two aces to extend the lead to 12-6. Even after Cavs coach Kristine Keck called a time out, South Carroll continued its slide. A combination of Cavs mistakes and excellent ball placement lead to South Carroll only recording five more points and dropping the second set 25-11.

“I think our energy fell off in the second set,” senior Gabriella Deyo said. “That ultimately affected our play for the rest of that set. It was a mental thing, and I think that was our biggest challenge today.”

The third set was much closer. After a service error by Clear Spring, the Cavs trailed 20-17 late in the set. Clear Spring then got an ace by Kaisy Custer and kills by Juliet Hodge and two by Olivia Smith to end the set 25-20 and take the match.

The loss ends the career of South Carroll’s Murphy. The senior will leave as one of the greatest players in South Carroll history. She has already been named county Player of the Year by the coaches for three consecutive seasons and should win it again this year.

“I just blessed to have played these four years and stayed healthy and played with these awesome girls,” Murphy said. “It’s been a fun ride.”

Keck was just proud of the effort her team, which is losing seven seniors, showed throughout the year.

“We had an incredible season,” Keck said. “I think these girls preformed to the best of their abilities. The reason they were so successful is that they worked as a team and they trusted each other. That brought us further than maybe their athletic ability indicated it would.”

No. 13 Reservoir falls in Class 3A semifinals

In the Class 3A volleyball semifinals, Washington County’s North Hagerstown (23-0) used 28 kills from Marquette-bound senior Caydence Doolan to defeat No. 13 Reservoir (19-3), 25-19, 15-18, 25-13 at Thomas Johnson High School in Frederick

The Hubs will play Howard/Arundel on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Harford Community College. North Hagerstown will be playing for their fourth consecutive state title.

Doolan was almost a one-person show and kept the Gators off their game all night with her thundering kills.

Reservoir, which has overachieved this season after getting hit hard by graduation, just had no answer for Doolan. North Hagerstown also did a good job of taking advantage of serving errors and unforced errors by Reservoir. The Gators made several runs, and even cut the lead to 20-17 in the first set, but the Hubs were just too much.

In an interesting side note, the last Maryland school to beat North Hagerstown was Reservoir. The Gators did that in the state semifinals in 2021.

Have a news tip? Contact sports editor Tim Schwartz at timschwartz@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/timschwartz13. 

The fashion choices contradicted what unfolded on the court inside Xfinity Center. The Terps used a 29-10 opening and then withstood a testy lull just before halftime before sprinting to a 84-64 victory before an announced 10,461.

With the win, Maryland (2-1) bounced back from Friday’s 70-60 loss to Georgetown during which the visiting Hoyas led wire-to-wire. So Tuesday’s outcome was a welcome sight for the players and coaches.

In addition to the 29-10 run at the beginning of the first half, the team used a 15-2 burst to open the second to gain some distance from the Braves. Coach Buzz Williams was pleased with those developments even as he watched the Terps let Alcorn State remain competitive.

“I think we probably played 25 minutes the way we want to play,” he said. “I thought the first 10 minutes, a lot of what we want to accomplish was happening on both ends of the floor. Then it really drastically changed from an execution standpoint, a stamina standpoint. And then in the second half, I thought a lot of what happened in the first 10 minutes was very similar — without having watched it — to the first 10 minutes of the first half. Then the air almost went out of the balloon again.”

Senior power forward Pharrel Payne continued his strong start for the Terps, amassing a season-high 22 points and seven rebounds. The Texas A&M transfer entered the game tied for the team lead in points per game at 19 and leading in rebounds per game at 8.5 and is the only player to score at least 10 points in each of his first three games.

Redshirt freshman shooting guard Andre Mills contributed 16 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals. Senior small forward Elijah Saunders finished with 12 points, two rebounds and two assists, and freshman shooting guard Darius Adams compiled 10 points, three rebounds and two assists.

The offense converted 50% of its field goals (28 of 56), outscored the Braves 34-24 in the paint, and scored 14 second-chance points off of 14 offensive rebounds. Mills noted that the team racked up 14 assists.

“I wouldn’t say there was more of a change tonight,” he said, comparing the games from Tuesday and Friday. “We just shared the ball a little more. We are starting to care about the little things. Every single day, we kind of harp on the little things.”

Payne had been tied for the scoring lead with redshirt junior point guard Myles Rice, who dropped 19 points in his debut for Maryland against Georgetown. But the Indiana transfer returned to a walking boot on his left leg and sat out Tuesday’s game.

The Terps did not appear to miss Rice at the outset. They scored six of the game’s first eight points before the Braves (0-4) tied the score at 7-7 almost three minutes into the game.

Maryland answered by scoring 13 consecutive points in a 5:55 stretch to assume a 20-7 advantage. When junior point guard Jameel Morris sank a layup with 10:26 left in the stanza, that snapped a 6:59 drought during which Alcorn State missed eight straight shots.

The Terps took off on a 9-1 burst to enjoy a 29-10 advantage with 8:28 remaining. That cushion seemed to put the game out of reach.

Maryland vs. Alcorn State in men’s basketball | PHOTOS

Except someone forgot to inform the Braves. Rather than curl up, they reasserted themselves by scoring 10 unanswered points in just over four minutes. On the flip side, Maryland went 5:46 without scoring until Payne drained a pair of free throws with just under three minutes until halftime.

After Payne converted two more free throws at the 2:13 mark to give the Terps a 33-22 lead, they did not score again until halftime. That opened the door for Alcorn State to score the final five points of the half and trail by just 33-27 at intermission.

Fortunately for Maryland, halftime was a timely moment to reset. The team rediscovered its offense and opened the second half with a 15-2 spurt, which proved too much for the Braves to overcome.

Morris came off the bench to pace Alcorn State with 22 points, three assists and two steals, and senior shooting guard Travis Roberts and junior shooting guard Shane Lancaster added 14 and 10 points, respectively. But the Braves suffered their third loss of 20 points or more while absorbing an 0-4 start for the second year in a row.

“We still turned the ball over way too many times,” he said. “We have to really improve in that area. And they did a phenomenal job of rebounding the basketball. It’s one of the things my team has to understand. Coming into these environments and playing teams of this magnitude with this size and this length, you have to put a body on somebody, and I don’t think we did a great job of that this evening.”

Have a news tip? Contact Edward Lee at eklee@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/EdwardLeeSun. 

They danced and mouthed along as coach Josh Wagener relayed the plan for what became the winning set to the team huddle. That energy carried over into the third set, players still dancing and singing to the melody as they waited for the opening serve. Their looseness came in handy when CMIT-North crawled back from a large deficit to take a late lead. A Wagener timeout reminded his players of the goal, and Patterson Mill pulled back ahead to complete its straight set victory, 25-20, 25-16, 25-22 and clinch a state championship appearance.

“It means the world to all of them to make it to that Saturday,” Wagener said. “That’s the first major goal. I know it means the world. Being so close for so many years, and most of them have been with the varsity for at least three years, just means so much for the whole program.”

This stage has been the ceiling for Patterson Mill in recent years. The Huskies have reached the state semifinal round four years in a row but lost in each of the last three. This year was different because of the senior class that experienced all of those heartbreaks.

“I’ve been with these girls for years, you know the buttons to hit,” Wagener said. “I just put it all in perspective. We’ve been here for four years in a row and came so close, and now we’re a couple points away. You just gotta push. I could see them getting tired and just didn’t want it to go to a fourth set.”

Their experience showed in Tuesday’s win. Patterson Mill controlled the first two sets with big early leads they maintained throughout and fended off a late CMIT-North surge in the final moments.

Patterson Mill will face Clear Spring, a three-set victor over South Carroll in the other 1A semifinal, in Saturday’s state title game at Harford Community College. Until then, practices will be kept light and fun, Wagener said. Just like how they play when it matters.

Bel Air falls to 17-time state champion

The Bobcats knew what they were up against.

Williamsport, the dominant Washington County squad, has controlled the Class 2A girls volleyball bracket for years. The defending state champions’ path back to the top this year took them through Bel Air, which lost in straight sets 25-20, 25-18, 25-22 to end its season Tuesday night in a Class 2A state semifinal on its home court.

“They were just a really good team,” senior right side Annalise Lewis said. “We could have executed better, but at the end of the day, we still played an amazing game. It was our own mistakes, little mistakes.”

Coach Dave Simon felt Tuesday was Bel Air’s first of two state championship games, the next coming Saturday if the Bobcats were to win. Instead, they couldn’t get past the semifinal round for the third time in seven years.

At the center of this year’s team was Lewis. Bel Air’s offense funneled through the imposing senior. “Every time she goes up, you can’t wait to see what’s gonna happen,” Simon said. She was a focal point again in the loss, leading comebacks that fell just short after Bel Air started each set in an early hole that proved too steep to climb out of.

“Just the people,” Lewis said when asked what she’ll remember most about the program. “You can’t get any better than this.”

“Annalise is a true leader,” Simon added. “She’s a great person, loves her teammates, does all the little things right, everything you’d want in a captain. She really ignites us and gets the fire started. And we want to keep it burning.”

Bel Air seems to reload every year, replacing county players of the year with ease to fuel its next deep postseason run. Last season, it was Anna Kane. This season was Lewis’ turn. There’s some underclassmen Simon has his eye on to take over in 2026. He’s confident his Bobcats will be back.

“We’ll kind of have to hit the reset button, to a degree,” Simon said. “We’re not starting from scratch. We’ll remain competitive.”

Have a news tip? Contact Taylor Lyons at tlyons@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/TaylorJLyons.

Police officers found a man with a gunshot wound to his upper body. He was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead by staff.

Detectives are investigating the shooting. Anyone with information can call 410-396-2100.

Have a news tip? Contact Chevall Pryce at cpryce@baltsun.com.