Calvert County

Most homes along Claire Road in a middle-class Elkridge neighborhood have a backyard shed, but underneath one of them, authorities say, a family secret has been buried for more than two decades. Robert A. Jarrett, 57, has been charged with murder after what police believe are the remains of his wife, Christine, were found under floorboards and concrete in the shed behind his home. Christine Jarrett vanished in 1991. Police said at the time that she apparently kissed her two children goodbye, took $4,000 and left because of marital problems with her husband of 16 years.

Lou Ruth Blake was the family's matriarch who sang in the church choir and organized gospel shows. Lowell Frederick Blake liked to make people laugh. Venessa Marie Blake was the ardent churchgoer with a contagious smile. All three family members died within days of each other earlier this month from complications of the flu — a cluster that state officials acknowledged was unusual. Their deaths caused a stir in the community of Lusby in Calvert County, where Blake family roots run deep in the town of nearly 1,600.

State health officials say today that lab tests confirm all four members of a Calvert County family striken with a severe respiratory illness in recent weeks had the H3N2 strain of influenza A, a strain of the flu that has been going around this season. Three have since died. At least two of the cases were complicated by bacterial infections with methicillin-resistent Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, according to the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene . Additional lab testing and investigation continue, but the health officials said there still have been no other clusters of severe respiratory illness in the state discovered.

— It's quiet these days at Dominion's liquefied natural gas terminal in the Chesapeake Bay. Only five tankers docked last year at the pier a mile off the Calvert County shoreline, and not much traffic is expected this year, either. But thanks in large part to booming production of natural gas from shale deposits in neighboring states, the East Coast's largest LNG terminal could be bustling again in several years — exporting the heating and industrial fuel to other countries, instead of importing it. Dominion, based in Richmond, Va., has won approval from the Department of Energy to use Cove Point for exporting liquefied natural gas to about 20 nations with which the United States has free-trade agreements.

Boating deaths in Maryland have reached their highest level in more than a decade, with 20 so far this year. But authorities say they can't find any explanation for the increase other than nice summer weather. "Boating is a recreational activity, and when the weather is good and conducive to boating, we're going to find a lot more activity," said Sgt. Art Windemuth, spokesman for the Natural Resources Police. But Windemuth said insufficient attention to safety has also been a factor.

Crews restored power to nearly 15,000 customers following severe storms across the state Friday evening, according to a statement from Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. BGE hopes to restore service to all customers by 5 p.m., but some outages may last longer due to "extensive damage" from the storms, the company said. By 3 p.m. Saturday, approximately 265 customers are still without power, according to the company's website. "Crews working through the night were able to make significant progress restoring electric service to more than 15,000 customers as safely and as quickly as possible," A. Christopher Burton, senior vice president of gas and electric operations and planning for BGE, said in the statement.

Suddenly, On Sunday, July 26, 2009, HOWARD HENRY KENT, son of the Rev. Howard Kent and the late Mary Kent. Also survived by his children Quante', Tinya and Keisha and one sister Mary Cali and a host of other relatives and friends. Friends may call at the Victory Ministry of Christ Church, 240 S. Hilton St. on Friday at 5 P.M. Musical Wake 7 P.M. On Saturday, family may receive friends at 9 A.M. at the St. Bernadine RC Church, 3800 Edmondson Ave., Funeral AT 9:30 AM. Interment 1 P.M. at the St. John UMC, Lusby, MD (Calvert County)

Manhole cover blown after small underground fire Fire officials say a manhole cover blew off a downtown Baltimore street Friday when a small electrical fire broke out underground. There were no injuries. It happened about 8:25 p.m. at Saratoga and Eutaw streets. Fire Department spokesman Chief Kevin Cartwright said fire crews arrived to find one manhole blown off. Light smoke was coming from the manhole. Cartwright said crews from Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. determined that a small fire had occurred, but it went out by itself.

Warning that the water is rising in the Chesapeake Bay, scientists and activists urged Tuesday that Congress act to reduce climate-warming pollution that threatens to flood bayfront communities and worsen the fish-suffocating "dead zones" that plague North America's largest estuary. With a House vote possible Friday on a bill that would seek to curtail greenhouse gas emissions nationwide, two natural resources subcommittees held a field hearing Tuesday at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater to learn more about what global warming might mean for coastal regions like the Chesapeake.