7 Eleven

State officials have identified fuel tanks at a 7-Eleven convenience store in Aberdeen as at least one potential source of a gasoline additive contaminating that city's public drinking water supply. The Maryland Department of the Environment ordered 7-Eleven Inc. in an Aug. 13 letter to perform additional groundwater and soil sampling at its store at 602 S. Philadelphia Road after "extremely high concentrations" of methyl tertiary butyl ether, or MTBE, were detected beneath the store's underground fuel tanks.

Immigrant advocates released video footage yesterday that they say shows federal agents unfairly targeted Latinos in January 2007 outside a 7-Eleven in Southeast Baltimore. The video, taken from store cameras, captured U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents rounding up 24 men suspected of being illegal immigrants. Most have since been deported or left the country voluntarily. In the video, agents can be seen ignoring black store patrons while focusing on Latino men. Advocates say a white man who had hired three Latinos for day labor was allowed to drive his pickup truck away from the 7-Eleven, while the three workers were taken into custody.

2 Westport teens charged with first-degree murder Two 18-year-old Westport men have been charged with first-degree murder in a killing that took place near their homes in July. Tyrone Fields Jr. and Jawaun Harris, who both live on Sidney Avenue, were identified by witnesses as the men who chased down and shot Bernard Solomon, 23, on July 29, according to charging documents. Solomon was standing in the 2200 block of Sidney Ave. when two men approached and began to shoot at him. He ran down Sidney Avenue to elude his attackers but was struck numerous times by gunfire.

The state fire marshal yesterday ordered a Pennsylvania company to stop distributing a firecrackerlike device that injured a 31-year-old Fallston High School custodian Thursday night, in an apparent prank by two students.As a result, the 7-Eleven convenience store chain immediately ordered the noisemaker -- called "Pulling Trick" -- off the shelves at stores that carried it in Maryland, Virginia, Delaware and Washington."It's a no-brainer decision," said Mark Nevins of 7-Eleven's Northeast region marketing department.

Howard County police were searching for a man who fatally shot a convenience store clerk at a 24-hour 7-Eleven in Running Brook in Columbia early yesterday. Police with K-9 dogs searched the area and adjacent walking paths for the assailant, who a witness said fled on foot from the store in the 5700 block of Columbia Road, soon after the 3:10 a.m. shooting, police said. Police did not reveal the name of the clerk, a 40-year-old woman, because they have been unable to notify her relatives.

New convenience store could add to crime I am appalled that 7-Eleven might successfully lease a property for a new 24-hour convenience store at a corner adjacent to Mount Vernon Square ("Bid to block 7-Eleven in Mount Vernon falls short," Nov. 25). As it is, the neighborhood often serves as a crossroads for the homeless and - much worse - for muggers, petty thieves, drug dealers, prostitutes and recently even a serial rapist. The fact that administrators of the Peabody Conservatory apparently view this development with indifference is especially outrageous, since their own students are frequently mugged and sometimes raped in the area.

A woman appealed to a Baltimore police sergeant for help early yesterday with a written note in a 7-Eleven, which led to a confrontation in which the officer shot her male companion outside the store, authorities said. The incident is the first police-involved shooting this year in Baltimore and the first under the department's new policy of withholding the names of officers who use deadly force in the line of duty. Officer Troy Harris, a police spokesman, declined to release the sergeant's name, noting the new policy, which police say helps ensure officer safety.

Four "community policing stations" that recently opened at Harford County 7-Eleven convenience stores are not police stations and their primary focus is not to deter crime, business and law enforcement officials said last week.The stations will give deputies on patrol places to stop to fill out reports, make follow-up telephone calls in investigations and save time they often spend driving to the sheriff's office in Bel Air to carry out those duties.The stations, which officially opened Tuesday, are at 7-Eleven stores in Fallston, Jarrettsville, Abingdon and Edgewood.

Teen-ager charged with store holdupsA 17-year-old has been charged with holding up three convenience stores and a doughnut shop in Annapolis in the past month, police said.Warren Chase of the 700 block of Newtowne Drive was arrested without incident at his home shortly after 10 a.m. Tuesday. He was charged as an adult with four counts of armed robbery and one count of theft after a stolen car stereo was found in his room, police said.City detectives are looking for three other men in their late teens or early 20s wanted in the string of holdups along Forest Drive and Bay Ridge Avenue.

West County civic leaders have appealed a county Board of Appeals ruling that would allow a rubble landfill near their community.The Crofton Civic Association, the Greater Odenton Improvement Association and a number of other community leaders are asking a Circuit Court judge to overturn the board's decision to allow the Silver Spring-based Halle Co. to construct a rubble fill on 150 acres near the intersection of Maryland Routes 3 and 424.The board voted...