Arundel Mills

Anne Arundel County voters will decide in November whether to allow Maryland's most lucrative slots casino to be built at Arundel Mills mall, after the state's highest court ruled Tuesday that a referendum challenging zoning for the project should be placed on the ballot. Supporters and opponents likely will mount vigorous campaigns leading up to the fall election, and observers say higher turnout in Anne Arundel could have an impact on the races for governor and county executive.

A group of five men robbed a 14-year-old boy of his shopping bag outside Arundel Mills mall after he walked out of a Bed Bath & Beyond store about 2 a.m. Friday, Anne Arundel County Police said. The victim told police the men accosted him on the sidewalk just outside the store, one of them punched him and another stole a bag containing merchandise he had just purchased. The suspects, who the boy described as black men aged 17 to 21 wearing black North Face jackets and jeans, ran away toward the mall's Bass Pro Shops entrance.

Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold told the county's members of the House of Delegates Friday that anticipated slots revenue would likely stave off the need for public employee furloughs. The county is expecting to receive about $15 million from a slots casino at Arundel Mills mall that is expected to open later this year, officials said. The county has furloughed its employees for up to 12 days for the past two years at a savings of $7.6 million annually as revenues have fallen.

Most of the candidates vying for a vacant seat on the Anne Arundel County Council appear inclined to vote on rezoning Arundel Mills mall to allow the state's most lucrative slots parlor to be built there. The leanings of the six aspiring council members moved front and center into the slots debate because the current council on Monday again delayed voting on the contentious issue, rescheduling its decision until after they pick a new member Dec. 17. According to interviews and responses to a questionnaire, none of the applicants for the seat would state definitively how they would vote, though many voiced some support for Baltimore-based Cordish Cos.' plan to build a 215,000-square-foot entertainment complex in the parking lot of Arundel Mills - and specifically for the prospect of millions of dollars in revenue the project is expected to bring.

Arms full of campaign brochures and colorful maps of the proposed casino near Arundel Mills mall, the wiry man with wavy gray hair is bounding up the block of tidy homes in Brooklyn, making his pitch. He skips the house with the "Beware of the dog" sign, but opens gate latches and pounds on doors with the vigor of a seasoned politician. When one opens, he extends his hand and says, "Hi, I'm David Cordish. Can I talk to you about the slots?" That a 70-year-old billionaire developer is spending his evenings and weekends knocking on doors like a candidate for the local school board says much about the stakes in next month's referendum in Anne Arundel County that will decide whether Cordish's lavish slots parlor can be built.

Gov. Martin O'Malley has won a second term in Annapolis, handing Republican former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. a second consecutive statewide defeat. "We're going to have a lot of tough days still ahead of us," O'Malley, 47, told cheering supporters at a Baltimore museum. "But we are coming back. " He added: "Tonight we chose a better future for the children of Maryland. " A few minutes later, around 11 p.m., Ehrlich congratulated O'Malley at a gathering of his supporters at the state fairgrounds in Timonium, prompting a brief chorus of boos.

With apologies to Kmart, "Attention, shoppers." Anne Arundel County police issued a holiday traffic advisory to the public yesterday, saying to expect delays on roads around the new Arundel Mills mall, off Route 100, watch for officers directing traffic and use the third and fourth entrances to the mall parking lot. Police said "huge" State Highway Administration message boards will provide "useful information." The department's final bit of advice: "Be patient." Arundel Mills, with 217 stores that make it Maryland's largest shopping center, opened Friday, just in time for the traditional holiday shopping period.

With apologies to Kmart, "Attention, shoppers." Anne Arundel County police issued a holiday traffic advisory to the public yesterday, warning people to expect delays on roads around the new Arundel Mills mall off Route 100, watch for officers directing traffic and use the third and fourth entrances to the mall parking lot. Police said "huge" State Highway Administration message boards will provide "useful information." The department's final bit of advice: "Be patient." Arundel Mills, with 217 stores that make it Maryland's largest shopping center, opened Friday, in time for the traditional holiday shopping period.

An expanded police substation is scheduled to open this summer in Arundel Mills mall, the site of a proposed slots parlor, Anne Arundel County officials announced Wednesday. Community relations staff, bike patrol officers and civilian police reserve officers, who are now spread over the department's four districts, will be assigned to the office, the police chief, Col. James Teare Sr., said at a news conference at the mall. The 2,000-square foot space - which is being lent to the county for free - will replace a smaller office that police use in the mall.