Cecil County

A 10-year-old girl is in critical condition on life support after being struck in the head on Tuesday in what Cecil County Police say appears to be from a bullet fired in the air during New Year's Eve celebrations. Cecil County Sheriff's Office Lt. Michael Holmes said on Wednesday that the girl, a resident of Manheim, Pa., was standing in the yard of a home in the unit block of Ajs Court in Elkton and watching neighbors set off fireworks when she suddenly collapsed. Holmes said that a call came in from 911 that someone had observed trauma at the top of the girl's head.

Four more days remain until St. Nicholas arrives. By this time next week, there will be nothing left but leftovers. Last weekend in church, our minister blessed the straw in the manger. The story goes that if a husband/father takes a piece of straw and keeps it in his wallet or pocket, his family will never go hungry. May that be my wish for you and yours. The Ladies Auxiliary units from Singerly, North East, Rising Sun, Chesapeake City, Perryville and Water Witch fire companies gathered at North East Fire Hall for their quarterly dinner meeting.

The Maryland Republican Party rejected a resolution Saturday calling on the newly elected Cecil County executive to step down after she changed her party affiliation from the GOP to independent. Meanwhile, a much-discussed move to call for state GOP Chairman Alex Mooney's resignation never materialized. Holding its first statewide convention since its dismal showing in the Nov. 6 election, the party also turned down a resolution urging its representatives to the national GOP to vote against a second term for Republican National Chairman Reince Priebus.

The incoming Cecil County executive's decision to switch her party registration from Republican to independent Thursday has become a major flashpoint at the state GOP convention in Howard County this weekend, exposing a gaping split in party ranks. Tari Moore, who was elected Nov. 6 as Cecil's first executive under charter government, confirmed Friday that she had changed her registration -- less than four weeks after winning election under the Republican banner and with financial support from the state GOP. Moore said she would give a full explanation of her reasons when she is worn in Monday.

Why does the Chesapeake Bay Foundation refuse to take seriously the threat posed by the Conowingo Dam's inability to hold back Susquehanna River pollution? With respect to the effect of Susquehanna River pollutants, the bay foundation has taken an inexplicable U-turn in its long-held doctrine regarding pollutants and the Chesapeake. In August, the U.S. Geological Survey reported last year's Tropical Storm Lee contributed 39 percent of the sediment, 22 percent of the phosphorus and 5 percent of the nitrogen flowing through the Conowingo Dam over the entire previous decade.

Two brothers got into a fight Wednesday in Edgewood and one ended up at the hospital after being stabbed. Scott Cameron Little was taken to Upper Chesapeake Medical Center in Bel Air around 12:30 a.m. Wednesday after being stabbed in the abdomen and cut on his arms, allegedly by his brother, Gregory Duncan Little. Scott Little told police he was fighting with his girlfriend earlier in the evening at a house in the first block of Railroad Avenue in Edgewood and left to avoid further confrontation, according to a Harford County Sheriff's Office police report.

In the far corners of Maryland, cars from Harford County, especially eastern Harford County, as well as Cecil County (the western parts, notably) can be picked out in any crowded parking lot. They're the ones that have the large grocery store-style bar code stickers affixed to their drivers' sides. In some cases, half a dozen or more stickers are visible; other folks are more judicious and placed new stickers over the old ones. The stickers made possible unlimited crossings of the Route 40 bridge over the Susquehanna River.

The Maryland House Travel Plaza on I-95 near Aberdeen will close for reconstruction on Sept. 15 for at least a year, the Maryland Transportation Authority said Thursday. When the Maryland House closes at midnight on Saturday, Sept. 15, the Chesapeake House Travel Plaza near North East in Cecil County will remain open for business, with a full complement of new food concepts opening in phases through early October, MDTA said in a news release. Food service, however, will be limited the week of Sept.

A strange quirk of Maryland's governance is the degree to which the state legislature needs to act on certain laws that really should be the sovereign responsibility of the counties. For example, thanks to the latest version of what has become the annual special session of the Maryland General Assembly, Harford County's veterans organizations are now permitted to operate slot machines in their post homes. It may seem like a logical bit of rider legislation to include gambling permission for these not-for-profit organizations in a statewide gambling law, but the reality is gambling for American Legion and VFW post homes has been decided on a county-by-county basis by the state legislature on many occasions in the past.

Five tourism projects along the Lower Susquehanna Heritage Greenway in Harford and Cecil counties have secured nearly $198,000 in matching grants from the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority. The town of Port Deposit in Cecil County will use $36,500 to complete the river walk promenade that links its Marina Park to its historic district. The project includes a pedestrian trail and interpretive signs at the Jacob Tome Gas House and Northern Map Turtle Refuge, a protected habitat for the endangered species.