ROSE (roz) n. One of the most beautiful of all flowers, a symbol of fragrance and loveliness. Often given as a sign of appreciation.

RASPBERRY (raz'ber'e) n. A sharp, scornful comment, criticism or rebuke; a derisive, splatting noise, often called the Bronx cheer.

We hereby deliver:

• ROSES to the alert citizens with cell phones, police dispatchers and all of the officers involved in removing a dangerous driver from the road in Philomath on Wednesday. It's amazing that nobody was hurt during a wild ride that ended when the driver of a stolen Ford Ranger crashed after hitting a curb.

Callers to the dispatch center reported the driver passing in no-passing zones, forcing other vehicles off the road and in general driving without regard for the safety of anyone, including himself.

The man arrested in connection with the ride had been released from jail the day before. He'd been jailed for parole violation. We're not sure whether Wednesday's events mean the man will be kept in jail pending his appearance in court, but we hope so.

• RASPBERRIES to insult on top of intrusion. Sunday at 4:28 a.m, a Philomath resident was awakened by a 26-year-old Philomath man. The intruder allegedly told the resident that he'd stopped by to commit a "robbery," but he just didn't see anything he wanted after all, so he started to leave.

The resident followed the unexpected visitor a short distance and the two got into an argument. When the police showed up, the man took off running and the officer chased him, caught him and cuffed him for trespassing.

No laws against offering a lame excuse for being caught in the wrong place.

• ROSES to Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, one day after the observance of his 200th birthday. And roses to the organizers and participants who presented the "Lincoln Town Hall" event Tuesday evening at the Benton County Historical Society Museum.

Actor Steve Holgate wowed the crowd with his eerily convincing depiction of the tall, rangy president, whose greatest accomplishments were leading the nation through its bloodiest war to a victory that preserved the union and ended slavery.

Lincoln could be considered the last casualty of the Civil War. He was assassinated on April 14, 1865 - six days after Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered on behalf of the Confederacy. His death did not end the nation's fascination with him, however. According to the New York Times, more words have been written about Lincoln than any other American. And to this day, books on every topic from Lincoln's legacy to his love of oysters still fly off the shelves.

Oregonians, on the eve of our state's 150th birthday, might enjoy pondering the "what if's" evoked by this little bit of history: Lincoln was offered the governorship of the Oregon Territory in the late 1840s, but turned down the offer because it would have meant leaving the fast-growing state of Illinois and sidetracking his political career. It's fun (and, actually, a little scary) to imagine how history would have been changed had Lincoln accepted the offer to come west.

• RASPBERRIES to baseball star Alex Rodriguez, who admitted this week that he used performance-enhancing steroids for three seasons beginning in 2001. Rodriguez came clean, of course, only after Sports Illustrated reported the drug abuse.

Rodriguez joins a roster of some of the game's biggest names who have tarnished their reputation - and the reputation of all of baseball - through steroid use. The leaders of Major League Baseball have botched the steroid issue from the get-go, and the result is that it still casts a huge shadow over the game. Last week in this space, we talked about how much we were looking forward to the start of baseball season again. Now, we're not so sure, and we likely speak for millions of other fans.

• ROSE-BERRIES to a blast from the old-timey politicians' past. It was songwriter and entertainer George M. Cohan who was credited with saying "I don't care what you say about me, as long as you say something about me, and as long as you spell my name right."

Well, it turns out that Lebanon Mayor Ken Toomb isn't all that fussy about that part, either. The spelling, we mean.

For years, most people - including news reporters - referred to the longtime mayor as Ken Toombs, with an s, despite the fact that his legal name is Toomb. But the mayor said in January that he decided some time ago to just go along with it when people started referring to him as "Toombs" because it was easier to say. In fact, he had his business cards printed up that way.

But because it was clarified recently that his legal name is Toomb, the city's Web site now reflects the mayor's real name. The city says it hasn't changed paper references, which would mean spending money.

We trust this means there are no legal ramifications for up and adding a letter to the name of an elected official -. ? We're just askin'.