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Nonprofit organizations in Baltimore are committed to supporting the people, communities and quality of life here. As a group, they hope for opportunities to work with city officials to resolve the city's fiscal problems in a constructive way. These problems are the result of a severe national recession and policies that are allowing the deterioration of important services across the state. Baltimore City has lost more than $60 million from the statutory levels of state aid for the coming year.

There may still be an early spring chill in the air outside, but inside this Pasadena tanning salon there is warmth, light and the slight aroma of coconut. It draws a parade of women of all ages. Bronzed skin is not about to go out of style here — no matter how hard some push. Increasingly dire warnings about the cancer risk are coming from the world scientific community, tanning restrictions for minors have been passed at the local level, and new taxes will soon be collected by the federal government.

A proposed tax on hospital and university beds would be "disproportionate" and "unfair" to Loyola University Maryland, which would shoulder more than one-fourth of the $4 million in taxes the measure would generate, a university leader told City Council members at a hearing Thursday. The university would pay more than $1.1 million if the proposed $350-per-bed annual tax were imposed, Loyola Vice President Terrence M. Sawyer told members of the council's taxation and finance committee.

Props to the new mayor of Baltimore, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, for her savvy handling of the city's budget mess. The hurricane she predicted in March turned out to be mild rain in April, and all but the 250 employees who lose their jobs should breathe a little easier. The mayor is cutting the size of city government, but not where it really matters — law enforcement, public safety, recreation for kids — and she's filling the gap in revenue in the style of Thenardier. Monsieur Thenardier, a character from Victor Hugo's "Les Miserables," sings a show-stopper in the 1985 musical adaptation of the novel.

Authorities say skeletal human remains have been found on the grounds of a bed and breakfast in downtown Snow Hill. The remains were found after several hours of a search connected with a larger investigation. The remains are believed to be a woman's, and the person is being referred to as "Jane Doe." The remains were sent to the state Medical Examiner's office in Baltimore for identification. Worcester County State's Attorney Joel Todd says it would be inappropriate to immediately provide more details of the investigation.

Bowling Brook Preparatory School opened its doors in Carroll County in 1957 as a small school for orphans. But by the time 17-year-old Isaiah Simmons died there after being improperly restrained by staff in 2007, Bowling Brook had grown into a large, privately run juvenile detention center housing more than 170 boys. A law passed after Simmons' death capped the number of beds allowed at state-run residential facilities at 48, but left privately run programs open to expansion.

The Baltimore County Council will consider a measure tonight that would ban minors from tanning facilities and assess penalties on those who violate the law. The bill before the seven-member panel would require that minors under the age of 18 use tanning devices only with a written prescription from a physician, who specifies the nature of the condition that requires treatment, and the number of visits and time of exposure for each use. ...

The Baltimore County Council will consider a measure tonight that would ban minors from tanning facilities and assess penalties on those who violate the law. The bill before the seven-member panel would require that minors under the age of 18 use tanning devices only with a written prescription from a physician, who specifies the nature of the condition that requires treatment, and the number of visits and time of exposure for each use. Councilman Vincent...

Indoor tanning industry officials, salon owners and their fans packed a Howard County Health Department conference room to argue against a ban on teens younger than 18 using the beds, but to no avail. Although not outnumbered, the tanning fans were verbally outgunned by a series of physicians, anti-cancer advocacy groups and personal stories of cancer survivors, and the result was one of the quickest and most absolute bans on a public activity in county history, though a tanning industry lobbyist is threatening a lawsuit.