Baltimore Region

BALTIMORE COUNTY Convicted rapist arrested for murder held without bail Carl Preston Evans Jr., the convicted rapist who was arrested in the death of his 13-year-old stepdaughter, was being held yesterday without bail after a hearing Friday night, according to Sgt. John Young of the Baltimore County police. Young said Evans will appear before a judge tomorrow for bail review. He is being held at the Baltimore County Detention Center. Evans, 35, was captured about 3 p.m. Friday afternoon after a brief foot chase through city streets.

Maryland: Juvenile justice Newly hired monitor from Conn. resigns A Connecticut official hired to keep an eye on two Maryland juvenile detention centers has resigned from the post before even starting the job. Connecticut Juvenile Justice Director Donald W. DeVore withdrew from the part-time position after Connecticut's governor reportedly sent a letter reminding him that his first responsibilities were to children in that state. In September, Maryland hired DeVore to evaluate progress at the Charles H. Hickey Jr. School and the Cheltenham Youth Facility.

Police Blotter is a sampling of crimes from police reports in Baltimore City and Baltimore County. Baltimore City Northern District Arrest: Raymond Handy of the 500 block of E. 30th St., was arrested Tuesday at the state parole and probation office on Guilford Avenue by Warrant Apprehension Task Force members on a charge of first-degree murder. Handy, 34, on parole for a drug offense, is charged with shooting Mark C. Jones, 40, on May 1 in the 2900 block of Greenmount Ave. Jones was shot four times as a result of a dispute, homicide Detective Robert Dohony said.

ICC to take southern path The Intercounty Connector linking Gaithersburg to Interstate 95 will be built along a southerly route that state and local officials have backed for decades, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. announced. Federal officials have warned of environmental disruption. Housing average tops $300,000 The average price of a house in the Baltimore area raced across the $300,000 mark for the first time last month. The average price hit $309,090 last month, a jump of more than 17 percent compared with last year.

Are you paying too much for rent? Getting a steal? Check out what the average renter pays. New data in from Delta Associates, an Alexandria, Va.-based real estate research firm, shows the average rental price for higher-end apartment complexes in the Baltimore region is $1,497, up 3.2 percent from this time last year. The data was described in the firm's quarterly Mid-Atlantic “Class A” Apartment Market Report.  Newer apartments with amenities in common areas make up the Class A category.

Building activity in the Baltimore region reached its lowest level in nearly a decade last month, as lower interest rates failed to spark a resurgence in the construction industry, according to a report released yesterday.The Baltimore Regional Council of Governments reported that the number of residential building permits issued in Baltimore and its five surrounding counties fell about 22.5 percent during both October and the first 10 months of the year, compared with the same periods last year.

New housing permits granted in the Baltimore area shot up 41 percent in March compared with the same month last year, signaling a revival in residential construction, the Baltimore Regional Council of Governments said in its latest report.The region, which includes Baltimore and the five nearby counties, recorded 1,090 permits for new housing units in March, the agency said."Just by the volume of permits coming in, we see that a rather significant upturn is occurring," Josef Nathanson, council research director, said yesterday.

THIS IS the first day of class for nearly half the public school children in Maryland, including those living in Anne Arundel, Carroll, Howard and Baltimore counties.Yet even for students who don't return until after Labor Day, including youngsters in Baltimore City and Harford County, the realization that summer is over and school is back hangs in the air like chalk dust.Every new school year summons a fresh excitement, like baseball season in spring (only a little more bittersweet and a lot more important)