Around The Region

100,000 menhaden die in cove off South River

More than 100,000 menhaden died near Annapolis over the Labor Day weekend in a large fish kill that state officials attributed to low dissolved oxygen in the water - likely aggravated by algae growing in the enclosed cove off South River. The fish kill in an appendage of Aberdeen Creek was reported Monday afternoon, said Kim Lamphier, spokeswoman for the Maryland Department of the Environment. State officials believe the menhaden suffocated after becoming trapped in the cove, using up the dissolved oxygen in the water. Water samples detected algae in the water, including a toxic form. But levels of Karlodinium veneficum were not sufficient to poison the fish, according to Dawn Stoltzfus, another MDE spokeswoman. Oxygen levels typically decline at night in algae-laden waters, she pointed out, and that many fish could deplete the oxygen in such a small cove. Measurements taken yesterday morning found low oxygen levels in the water a day after the kill was reported. "We think they swam in during high tide and weren't smart enough to get out because the tide changed," Lamphier said. Officials expect the sight and smell of the dead fish to be short-lived, she said, because they decompose quickly.

Balto. Co. Council backs idea of 4-day work week

Talk about a groundswell. Even before Kevin Kamenetz, chairman of the Baltimore County Council, had finished describing his resolution advocating a four-day work week for county employees at last night's council meeting, he had added colleague Stephen G. Samuel Moxley's name to it as a co-sponsor. Not to be outdone, another council member, Vincent J. Gardina, piped up. "I thought this was such a good idea that I wanted to put my name on there, as well," he said. A moment later, barely audibly, a third councilman, Kenneth N. Oliver, said something to the effect of "me, too." Then Councilman Joseph Bartenfelder chimed in, at which point Kamenetz asked Council Secretary Thomas J. Peddicord Jr. to "please note that all members" wished to be recorded as backing the measure. And that was before they took a vote. The resolution instructs Mary P. Allen, the county auditor, to conduct a study that would explore the efficacy of condensed work schedules for some 7,000 county employees. Allen was asked to report to the council by Oct. 17. If implemented, fire and police personnel, as well as teachers, would be excluded from the four-day schedule.

Nick Madigan