Chicken

A man, armed with a handgun, robbed a Glen Burnie restaurant Wednesday evening. Employees of the Kentucky Fried Chicken in the 6700 block of Ritchie Highway told police a man, in a black ski mask, entered the business at about 9:30 p.m., displayed the gun and demanded money. He left with an undisclosed amount of cash and was last seen running toward Furnace Branch Road, police said. Officers canvassed the area, but did not locate the suspect. Mary.gail.hare@baltsun.com Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts

Researchers who examined feather remnants of slaughtered chickens have found that antibiotics banned by federal regulators may still be used in poultry production. The researchers from  the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health and Arizona State University looked for drug and other residue in the feather meal. The findings included amounts of fluoroquinolones, a spectrum of antibiotics used to treat serious bacterial infections in people, including infections that have become resistant to older antibiotic classes.

State senators are scheduled to take a final vote today on whether to ban the use of arsenic in poultry feed, with proponents arguing it's needed to protect Marylanders and the Chesapeake Bay while Eastern Shore lawmakers contend it's unwarranted meddling with the state's poultry industry. Chicken and turkey producers have long used roxarsone, a veterinary drug containing arsenic, to treat common avian diseases and to plump up their birds. But the practice has raised concerns for human health and the environment.

Maryland farmers produce no crop more valuable than chickens. The state ranks eighth nationally, and the 1.4 billion pounds of broilers grown each year are valued at more than $600 million, or roughly 40 percent of all the state's crops added together. Yet the industry is in danger of harming itself - and others - with its continued opposition to a proposed ban on arsenic in chicken feed. How can poultry producers possibly oppose taking a known carcinogen out of the food chain?

Regarding the recent Etc. column on birds: Editor: A bit more research into the topic of birds and brains would have made you appear a bit less of a bird brain yourself. The term bird brain perpetuates out of ignorance. If you look into the study of animal intellect, you will find that crows hold something in common with only three other species on this planet: multiple step problem solving using self made specialty tools. The only other species capable of this, that we know to date, are elephants, apes and humans.

With all the hot spices at work, the first couple forkfuls of Chicken Biryani ($7.99) are liable to leave your lips tingling. But the downtown Thousand Kabobs packs in flavor with the flame — strips of scarlet tomato and glossy onion relieved the monotone texture, and the rice also helped mellow the heat. So does the naan. You get way more than enough rice and spice for 8 bucks with this biryani and you can still pick up a freshly tandoori-ed naan round for $1.50 and stay under $10. Thousand Kabobs' tandoori bread is a lighter weight than some with a charred bottom and a soft, chewy topside.

Even burglars get hungry on the job. Annapolis police say that one broke into a home about two blocks off Taylor Avenue north of downtown, and stole food. Maybe the pickings were sparse -- the cops don't say what the burglar passed up: "Burglary - 201200000690 - 700 block of Glenwood St - 02/08 11:30am to 1:10pm: An unknown subject entered an apartment and removed chicken salad and a can of salmon while the resident was away. The door's locking mechanism may have been forced open.

Chicken farmers nationwide have stopped feeding their flocks a drug containing arsenic since a 2011 government study suggested the cancer-causing metal may be tainting poultry, but Maryland lawmakers are still struggling with whether to ban the once-widespread practice. Health advocates and environmental activists squared off Wednesday in Annapolis with poultry industry officials over a bill that would prohibit feeding chickens and turkeys any additive containing arsenic. Proponents called it a matter of prudence, while opponents warned it could hurt Maryland's leading agricultural sector, already struggling to stay profitable.

To Baltimoreans by residence or in spirit, to Baltimoreans in need of comfort - that is, anyone with a corpuscle of love for the Ravens - I offer what works for me during any winter of discontent: coq au vin. The Super Bowl is a week away, and most of us will watch it, wondering what might have been had Billy Cundiff … or Lee Evans ... but never mind that. There are no comforting words for what happened last Sunday and what will happen next Sunday: our New England nemesis versus the New York franchise the Ravens trounced in the big game 11 long years ago. So let's try the coq au vin. Let me be clear: This is neither tailgate food nor a dish that requires a varsity letter in culinary arts.