Five from Md. killed in Iraq
Five members of the military from Maryland were killed while serving in Iraq, including three members of the Baltimore-based Army National Guard's 243rd Engineer Company. They were the first Maryland National Guardsmen to die while on duty overseas since World War II. Also killed were a Marine from Parkton and an Army specialist from Randallstown.
Former state senator indicted
A federal grand jury indicted former state Sen. Thomas L. Bromwell, a Baltimore County Democrat, on charges of accepting bribes from a local construction company president vying for millions of dollars worth of state contracts. The indictment, which also charges his wife, Mary Pat, and former Poole and Kent Co. President W. David Stoffregen, alleges a complex scheme that abused a system of special incentives to hire minority firms. The Bromwells denied the allegations.
Threat shuts harbor tunnels
Investigating a tip that terrorists were going to blow up one of two tunnels running beneath Baltimore's harbor, authorities temporarily shut down the interstates leading to the tunnels to aid the search for possible suspects. Federal officials later said it appeared the tip was not accurate and were investigating the informant.
Retirement liability grows
Maryland has promised its current and future retirees $20 billion in health care benefits, a staggering figure that could put leaders in Annapolis under intense pressure to divert as much as $1.9 billion a year from other programs, according to a report.
State will sell World Trade Center
Baltimore's World Trade Center will be sold by early December. That opens the possibility that the building could be transformed into luxury condos or a hotel.
Maryland students help the displaced
In what officials say was the largest charitable fundraising campaign ever mounted by the state's public school system, students throughout Maryland collected $1.32 million for families displaced by Hurricane Katrina.
