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Traffic Morning commute snarled by accidents, including two with injury Several accidents, including a fatal crash in Baltimore County, hampered Thursday morning's traffic, according to the state Department of Transportation. The morning commute became snarled at 5:41 a.m., due to a deadly accident involving three vehicles that closed all lanes and both shoulders of the Interstate 695 inner loop near Belair Road in the Overlea area of Baltimore County, DOT said. One adult was killed in the accident, and at least one adult and one child were injured and transported to area hospitals in critical condition, a Baltimore County Fire Department dispatcher confirmed.

The CSX Transportation dockworker who is suing a Panamanian shipping company for $5.2 million in connection with an accident at a Curtis Bay coal pier last August will be in court next week on charges he sexually abused a child. David Rienas, 42, of Abingdon was indicted in December on three counts of sexual misconduct for an encounter last year, Harford County Circuit Court records show. He faces a felony charge that carries a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison and two misdemeanors.

SARASOTA, Fla. - Brian Roberts has been through a lot over the past three years, but things are definitely looking up. He's back in camp with a new lease on baseball life after three years of injuries and frustration, and he said Friday that he and his wife Diana are expecting their first child during the upcoming season. “It's awesome," Roberts said. “It's been a huge blessing. Most people know of my passion and affinity for kids. Being able to add that to our life ... to be able to have that is really great timing for us after all that has gone on. I think it has provided us with an extra boost.” Roberts missed time in 2010 with a back problem and a late-season concussion.

A Harford County jury found James Thomas Starr, 26, of Fallston, guilty of sexual child abuse and third-degree sexual offense, Harford County State's Attorney Joseph Cassilly announced Friday. The verdict came after more than 10 hours of deliberation over two days and was announced Thursday, Cassilly said in a media release. Circuit Court Judge Stephen Waldron has ordered a pre-sentence investigation and remanded Starr to police custody. He had been free on $250,000 bail. Sentencing is scheduled for April 17 at 9 a.m. in Harford County Circuit Court.

An Annapolis woman was charged Thursday with murdering her two-year-old daughter, and the city's police also said she disposed of the body. Chelsea Booth, 25, of the first block of Bens Drive, is facing charges of first- and second-degree murder, and child abuse, according to court records. She was held without bond at the Anne Arundel County jail. Police said a "concerned citizen" reported Wednesday not having seen Kassidey Booth in recent days. They said an investigation indicated that the mother killed Kassidey earlier this week and disposed of her body.

A Severn father was found guilty of child neglect on Wednesday, but was acquitted of the most serious charge facing him - child abuse - in a case that stemmed from his 5-year-old son losing consciousness after drinking methadone. In a bench trial, Anne Arundel County Circuit Court Judge Paul A. Hackner found Paul K. Brooks Sr., 28, guilty of seven charges, including drug possession, stemming from the September 2012 incident. Hackner said Brooks should have acted faster to get the child medical help when he began to get sick - but he noted that Brooks ultimately made the 911 call, according to a recording of the verdict.

Police testified Tuesday that a Severn man, whose 5-year-old son lost consciousness last September after drinking methadone that the father acknowledged buying, waited more than an hour after the boy initially became ill to call for help because he "was scared. " The remark came as the trial of Paul K. Brooks Sr., 28, opened in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court. Brooks is facing child abuse and related charges. Three other charges in the case were dropped last month. In opening statements, defense attorney Peter S. O'Neill conceded neglect and "poor judgment," but said Brooks was not guilty of child abuse.

John Merzbacher, a former South Baltimore parochial school teacher convicted of raping a student, will remain in prison after the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a decision Friday that could have set him free. In an emotional victory for the former students named in civil lawsuits and identified by prosecutors as his victims, the court ruled that Merzbacher is not entitled to a plea deal that his lawyers argued should have been offered to him nearly 20 years ago. "This is a man who held a loaded gun to my head at ages 11 and 12 and 13 and threatened to kill me if I ever told," said Elizabeth Ann Murphy, a former student raped by Merzbacher in the 1970s at Catholic Community Middle School.

An article in the Jan. 24, 1963, edition of the Herald Argus and Baltimore Countian reported the heroics of a school custodian in rescuing a student. Fourteen-year-old Norman G. Gaither , an eighth grade student at Our Lady of Victory Catholic school on Wilkins avenue, was rushed to St. Agnes hospital in the Arbutus Volunteer Fire Department ambulance on Jan. 16 after a cinder block wall collapsed in the school room, knocking him into a chair, injuring his chest and fracturing ribs.

The state this month will begin sending all child support payments electronically, a move that the Maryland Department of Human Resources said Wednesday will save $1.4 million. The Child Support Enforcement Administration says eliminating the paper check option in favor of direct deposit and a new Electronic Payment Issuance Card for custodial parents will be easier, faster and safer for families. The state will save on the cost of printing and mailing checks. "Families shouldn't have to wait for a check to arrive by mail to receive child support payments we collect on their behalf," Maryland Department of Human Resources Secretary Ted Dallas said in a statement.