Balto

In Friday night's pregame huddle, Milford Mill's girls basketball team let loose with their best impression of the Ravens' "Seven Nation Army" cheer and then emulated their football heroes by taking a big first-half lead and holding off a second-half run from Catonsville. The No. 6 Millers used their quickness and speed to fuel second- and fourth-quarter bursts to run by the Comets, 65-36, and clinch the Baltimore County Class 4A-3A division title. They will go after their second straight county championship on Feb. 19 against the 2A-1A division winner.

The woman stabbed to death in her Garrison apartment this week was under police watch and had sought a court order for protection against her alleged killer, a former boyfriend who had been threatening her for years, Baltimore County police said Thursday. Katie Hadel, 33, was three months pregnant when she died Tuesday night, her mother said. She was in the apartment with at least two children when police say Jeffrey Matthew Shiflett - a man who had made many violent threats to harm Hadel - arrived at her door.

The Baltimore County Public Library has launched a new service that will give patrons access to more than 100 magazine titles on their computers and mobile devices. Patrons can sign up for the Zinio service through the library system's website (www.bcpl.info) and download the application to their tablet, smartphone or computer for free. The service gives them access to the library's digital magazines 24 hours a day. The program is compatible with iPhones, iPads and other tablets, Androids, PCs and Macs, but not with Kindle or Nook, library officials said.

Baltimore County elections officials on Tuesday rejected a referendum challenge to a planned Wegmans in Owings Mills and a mixed-use development in Middle River, saying petitions used in the ballot drive did not give voters enough information. Board of Elections director Katie Brown ruled that the developer-funded petitions, which sought to place the County Council's zoning decisions on the 2014 ballot, didn't meet legal standards. The referendum drive involved a number of properties, including Green Spring Station in Lutherville, where the owners hoped a voter challenge could overturn a zoning decision that limited their ability to expand and renovate.

Members of the Baltimore County Council on Monday approved spending $3.7 million on school safety equipment, including cameras, improved electronic entry systems and a new visitor ID system. County police, county officials and school leaders proposed the package last week, and the plan was added to the capital spending bill council members voted on Monday. Under the plan, the county will expand the use of cameras in schools, and the video will stream live to police patrol cars, precincts and command staff at police headquarters.

Police on Thursday identified the man found fatally shot in Northeast Baltimore two days ago. Travis Jennings, 29, who lived in the 1600 block of N. Warwick Avenue, was pronounced dead at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He had been found by police in the Lauraville neighborhood, hours after police received an emergency call reporting gunshots near the 4900 block of Morello Road at 2:30 a.m. They found Jennings about three blocks away in the 2600 block of Southern Avenue.

Men and women armed with clipboards and pens have been common sights at grocery stores, libraries, farmers' markets and shopping centers in Baltimore County, seeking signatures on petitions to overturn zoning decisions through a voter referendum. But many were not passionate local activists - they were paid by petition companies based in other states, hired by firms with ties to developers with interests in the zoning decisions. Some were accused by residents of lying to gain a petition signature.

Baltimore police have two men in custody after seizing 29 stolen handguns Tuesday morning. Around 2:30 a.m. Monday, two men allegedly broke into an outdoor supply store in Saxton, Pa. by crashing into it with a vehicle, then stole multiple handguns. They then drove to Baltimore with the intention of selling the guns, police said. Law enforcement with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives alerted Baltimore police that the vehicle might be in the city. Police located the vehicle in the western patrol district around 4 a.m. Tuesday.

More than 150 Baltimore County firefighters tackled a fire in a Rosedale strip mall Saturday afternoon, which appeared to have started in Jackie Chen's Chinese Restaurant, officials said. At least six stores were involved in the three-alarm fire in the 8400 block of Philadelphia Blvd., officials said. Firefighters, who were dispatched around 12:40 p.m., got it under control around 3:05 p.m. No injuries have been reported, and the cause of the fire is still under investigation.