Arundel

Anne Arundel County Police are warning citizens to be aware of a phone scam in which the caller claims to be holding a family member at gunpoint and demanding money. Officials said during the past week, the department has seen several incidents involving telephone harassment and threats. The calls usually involve a person calling a victim and indicating that a relative - who is not specifically named - has been involved in a car crash; or that they are holding the relative of the victim at gunpoint.

James F. "Frank" Welch, the retired president and owner of an Anne Arundel County home building company, died Friday of heart failure at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. He was 87. James Franklin Welch was born in Baltimore and raised in Glen Burnie, where he graduated in 1943 from Glen Burnie High School. From 1943 to 1945, he served as a navigator in the Army Air Forces. After World War II, he studied for three years at the Maryland Institute College of Art . He later worked as a draftsman in Baltimore for Edward Colwell & Co. before founding Countryside Homes in the early 1960s in Severna Park.

Anne Arundel County's proposed stormwater fee provided newly appointed County Executive Laura Neuman with her first leadership test, and she failed. Her veto puts the county at risk of sanctions if it does not enact a fee structure by July 1, yet she appears to have no plan for complying with state and federal requirements for reducing the polluted stormwater that is washing into the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. The County Council should override her reckless decision without delay.

A nine-year veteran Bladensburg police officer was killed Saturday after veering his marked vehicle off an Anne Arundel County highway and colliding with a car traveling in the opposite direction, police said. Officer Brian Johnson, 38, who was off duty when the collision occurred about 9 a.m., is believed to have experienced a medical emergency just prior to the collision, Anne Arundel County Police said, though no specifics were immediately available. Police believe Johnson was traveling eastbound on Route 100 near Catherine Avenue in Pasadena when he suddenly crossed the center median.

Art on paper The Maryland Federation of Art presents the 36th annual Art on Paper Exhibition through Sunday, April 28, at the Circle Gallery, 18 State Circle in Annapolis. Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Information: 410-268-4566 or mdfedart.org. 'Saltwater Surf Art' An exhibition by Sheila Faye will be on display through Wednesday, May 1 at 49 West Cafe, Winebar and Gallery, 49 West St. in Annapolis. Gallery hours are 7:30 a.m. to midnight Sundays through Thursdays and 7:30 a.m. to 2 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

Anne Arundel County Executive Laura A. Neuman on Thursday vetoed that county's version of the so-called rain tax — making it the first jurisdiction to take action against the state-mandated stormwater management fee. Under legislation approved last year, Anne Arundel, eight other counties and Baltimore City have until July 1 to approve a fee on property owners to pay for stormwater projects aimed at curbing pollution in the Chesapeake Bay. ...