Alarming

Something is killing the honey bees of Maryland. Close to 60 percent of the managed hives died last fall and over the winter - about twice the national average, according to the state bee inspector and local keepers. "I had a healthy hive that produced 50 pounds of honey last year, and we were anticipating another great year," said Stephen Christianson, a Mount Washington beekeeper of three years. "Then, they were just gone. It took my breath away. " Some blame inexperience on the part of the beekeepers, most of whom tend their hives as a hobby, coupled with a bad winter.

She acknowledged later to the psychologist that it didn't seem to make sense, buying more diapers for her infant son so close to the end. But, Annamaria Angel Rescott explained, she had wanted her two boys to be as comfortable as possible on the last day of their lives.She loved them.She watched cartoons with them and played with them and finally kissed them goodbye in that Holiday Inn motel room four autumns ago. Then, one after the other, she suffocated them with motel pillows.Mrs. Rescott was found to be insane, the victim of postpartum depression, paranoia and delusions.

My 62-year-old husband had a prostatectomy a year ago. It was successful, but he continues to have bladder problems. His urologist put him on Detrol for this. When he started acting confused and paranoid, I got concerned. At the urologist's appointment I explained this to the doctor, and he matter-of-factly muttered that "yes, a side effect is cognitive decline." I was shocked and very upset that this was not in any of the pharmacy inserts we got with the prescription. Why isn't this information more accessible?

WHEN GEORGE Ryan pardoned four death row inmates and commuted the sentences of the other 167 in his last hours as governor of Illinois, he knew he'd be coming in for a pummeling. And, predictably, death penalty enthusiasts have focused on the most heinous of the murderers who have now been snatched from the clasp of the death gurney. Since Sunday, when the commutations were announced, Illinois and the rest of the nation have been treated to the retellings of lurid and grisly tales of homicide, the better to appreciate the folly of the governor's leniency.

REBUFFED BY Baltimore's teachers last week, Bonnie S. Copeland must go to the city school board today with a proposal on what to do next in the struggle with the system's $58 million deficit. Unfortunately, the schools chief had threatened the teachers with up to 1,200 layoffs if they refused to go along with her idea of furloughs or pay cuts; if that was a bluff, they called her on it. If it wasn't a bluff, the good news now is that some other options may be available. Layoffs of that magnitude are just not tenable, because of the damage they would inflict on the system and on the city's children.

SPAIN PRESENTS an extraordinarily delicate dilemma to the rest of Europe and to the United States. Spaniards overwhelmingly opposed their nation's participation in the war in Iraq - and, we believe, with good reason - yet their repudiation of the government that allied itself with Washington poses a very real danger, coming as it does on the heels of the Madrid train bombings. Simply put, it is this: that Sunday's election will teach al-Qaida, or whoever set off the bombs, that terror is effective and can influence politics in the Western nations.

NINE NORTHEASTERN states are finalizing a plan to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants by 10 percent within 15 years. Unfortunately, Maryland is not a party to this. Neighboring Delaware is. So are New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont and Rhode Island, all states with Republican governors. These leaders recognize the environmental threat posed by excess carbon dioxide - and understand that the Bush administration isn't about to address global warming, at least not in any serious way. A multistate agreement - one that includes business-friendly cap and trade provisions - could be the first step to a more rational U.S. policy on this pressing issue.

It is always tragic when lives are lost to fire, and all the more so when the lives cut short are those of children. But the deaths last week of 11-year-old Abigail Young and her brother, Matthew, 16, from a fire in their Roland Park home hit this newspaper especially hard, because their dad, Stephen A. Young, a deputy copy desk chief, is a member of the Baltimore Sun family. As we grieve for the Youngs' loss and hold in our thoughts Mr. Young, who was critically injured in the fire, it seems appropriate to reflect on ways that other households might be spared such a disaster.

An analysis of Maryland's High School Assessments shows that too many African-American students in suburban schools are in serious danger of not graduating because they have not passed the required tests. Dunbar Brooks, president of the state board of education, rightly points to the analysis, by The Sun's Gina Davis and Liz Bowie, as a "wake-up call" to black parents and students in Maryland that mere enrollment in a suburban school does not guarantee academic success. The results should also serve as a stark reminder to educators around the state that there is still a lot of work to do to ensure that all students have a fair chance to fulfill graduation mandates.