Argument

A 46-year-old man died after he was stabbed Thursday night during an argument in Laurel, and a 20-year-old man has been charged on multiple counts, according to the Howard County police department. Officers were called around 7:15 p.m. Thursday to the 10000 block of North 2nd Street in Laurel, police officials said. They found Robert Lynn Foster of Savage lying near the entrance to the Midway mobile home park with stab wounds. Foster was taken to Laurel Regional Hospital with stab wounds and was pronounced dead there, according to police.

Isaac Truss, his body shaking so much that the clinking of his shackles could be heard in the back of the courtroom, seemed unsure during his sentencing on two murders Wednesday whether he wanted to show remorse or try the case.  Having already pleaded guilty to killing two men in downtown Baltimore over the course of less than two days, Truss was now appearing before Circuit Court Judge Althea Handy for sentencing. But he started off the hearing by seeking to revoke his plea.  "I wanted to go to trial," he told Handy.

I'm sorry, but replacing Ron Smith's column with Bob Ehrlich is like substituting homemade hooch for a fine wine. Though conservative, Mr. Smith could disagree with fellow conservatives with reasoned argument. It seems presently that Mr. Ehrlich, like so many other conservatives, is just spewing out worn out party phrases as election propaganda. What happened to the era of independent thinking Republicans along the lines of Dwight Eisenhower or locally Charles McC. Matthias? Have they simply no one with an original, cogent idea?

When I was a little kid, there was a game I used to play while out and about with my family. Every time we came upon an escalator, I'd run ahead and charge up it as fast as I could, just so I could then stand at the top and "pull" everyone else up by the moving handrail. When they joined me at the top, I'd proudly claim full responsibility. No one could escape being pawns in my victory if they were on that escalator. It was their own fault if they didn't take the stairs. I was about 5 at the time.

Baltimore City police have arrested two men in connection with the shooting of a 32-year-old man Saturday night following an argument at an East Baltimore bar. Police arrested Erasmo Sandobal, 32, of the 5500 block of Bel Air Road, and Alberto Ramos, 30, of the 1700 block of Patterson Park Avenue. The men have been charged with attempted first-degree murder, according to Sgt. Anthony Smith, a police spokesman. The victim was shot in the arm and torso at about 7:10 p.m. inside El Rancho Blanco Tavern, at 100 S. Fagley St. in the Baltimore Highlands neighborhood, Smith said.

Oral arguments in the Howard County school board's case against board member Allen Dyer ended Wednesday, with administrative law judge Douglas Koteen setting the close of the case for Sept. 6, the due date for final written arguments. The school board on June 9 of last year requested that the state board of education remove Dyer, accusing him of such transgressions as breaching confidentiality requirements and bullying. The state board referred the matter to the office of administrative hearings, where 10 days of hearings began in May. After the final written arguments, Koteen has up to 90 days to submit a recommended decision to the state board and both parties.

Anne Arundel police have charged a 21-year-old Glen Burnie man with attempted second-degree murder in a stabbing incident late Tuesday. Aaron Matthew Adams was arrested at his residence in the 1000 block of Thomas Road shortly after the 10:42 p.m. assault. He also faces assault and reckless endangerment charges. Officers responded to the 7600 block of Baltimore-Annapolis Boulevard, where they found an 18-year-old man suffering from stab wounds to his upper body. The victim was taken to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center with injuries that are not life-threatening.

Defense attorneys for Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold, who is fighting accusations that he used his police security detail for personal and political gain, clashed with prosecutors Wednesday, as the defense asked a judge to dismiss the criminal charges or split them for multiple trials. Lawyer Bruce L. Marcus told Judge Dennis M. Sweeney the charges are unconstitutionally vague or do not say what rules or laws Leopold is charged with violating. He also argued that a charge of misappropriation of funds is "simply the wrong offense" because Leopold neither holds nor disburses funds.

A 20-year-old Milford Mill woman was arrested Saturday after kidnapping a 10-month-old boy from Pikesville, Baltimore County police said Saturday. The boy, who was unharmed when police found him about an hour after he was reported taken, has been returned to his legal guardian, police said. Police were called about 5:15 p.m. to the home of the boy's biological mother in the 4800 block of Hawksbury Road in Pikesville, where a verbal argument had broken out between a large number of people, according to Officer Shawn Vinson, a police spokesman.

Julian Bauer's May 31 letter raises some important questions. He says marriage benefits society, and therefore not everyone should be allowed to marry. He says "homosexuality ... [has] an effect on society," but the only effect he names is a supposed decline in birth rates. He doesn't explain how banning same-sex marriage would increase birth rates. Bauer says the comparison to interracial marriage is a "straw man. " He should read the arguments in Loving v. Virginia about miscegenation and God's will.