NEWS
October 12, 2009
Earlier this year, the Baltimore County Health Department dispatched two 18-year-old police cadets to 80 local stores where cigarettes are sold. Want to guess how often the teenagers were asked to show some form of identification? A miserable four out of 10 times. When county officials surveyed stores close to county middle and high schools, the results weren't much better: ID was requested less than half the time. Whenever the sole female cadet purchased cigarettes from male store clerks, the results were even more troubling - not once was she asked to show her driver's license or any other form of identification.
NEWS
By Nick Madigan | September 25, 2009
Baltimore County officials and Gov. Martin O'Malley took a big step Thursday toward improving the county's outdated public-safety radio network by unveiling a new digital transmission tower in Woodlawn. The tower is part of a $57 million project to replace the network by late 2011. In all, 10 new digital towers will be built around the county, and eight existing analog towers will be upgraded. County Executive James T. Smith Jr. said that the project "will further improve our first responders' ability to communicate with each other, with relevant county agencies as well as with our partners at the state and throughout the region."
NEWS
September 20, 2009
Clarksville man charged in burglary and jewel theft 1 A Clarksville man has been charged by Howard County police with burglarizing a neighbor's home last Sunday and stealing jewelry worth about $30,000. Michael Edward Macon, 23, of the 11800 block of Shepard's Crossing was charged with three counts of burglary and two counts of theft. Police were called to a home in the 11800 block of Shepard's Crossing, where the victims said they had been robbed. There were no signs of forced entry, and police say the suspect might have known the security code to enter the garage.
NEWS
By Larry Carson | August 29, 2009
Howard County's recession-battered development industry shut down Friday, potentially stranding more than 20 projects because the independent agency that reviews erosion and sediment plans ran out of money to pay two workers. But later in the day, the Howard County Soil Conservation officials said they have a plan to avert a crisis and would have one plan reviewer working on Monday. "It's going to come about," said Bill Barnes, a county farmer who is chairman of the district's governing board of supervisors.
NEWS
By Andrea F. Siegel | July 25, 2009
Suspecting that a pawnshop outside Annapolis was helping to fence stolen goods, officers raided it this week, seizing dozens of new items that were believed to have been stolen from area businesses, Anne Arundel County police said. The county also shut down the Trading Depot, at 2020A West St., for operating without needed permits and licenses, police said. Among the items seized Wednesday were housewares and hair-growth products, power tools and purses, diet aids and art supplies. Police said many were designer and brand-name goods, including more than 200 Vera Bradley purses and Oil of Olay products.
NEWS
By Dan Connolly | July 22, 2009
The Orioles are awaiting three governmental approvals in Florida this afternoon that would secure them a new spring training home for the next 30 years. The Orioles and Sarasota County officials have reached a tentative agreement that would relocate the club's spring training headquarters from Fort Lauderdale, in the southeastern part of Florida, to Sarasota on the state's western coast, starting in February. As part of the potential deal, $31.2 million in state grant money and a county tourism tax would be used to fully renovate 22-year-old Ed Smith Stadium, which hosted the Cincinnati Reds from 1998 to 2009, and dilapidated Twin Lakes Park, the Orioles' current minor league complex.
NEWS
By Timothy B. Wheeler | June 19, 2009
State and local officials are looking to buy a 190-acre waterfront farm in eastern Baltimore County from a developer, even though the partly wooded spread on Back River scored poorly on a rating system the state uses to rank potential purchases for parkland. No deal has been reached, and no one would reveal what price has been discussed with developer Mark C. Sapperstein, who says he has spent at least $6 million to buy and improve the land. But county officials, who paid Sapperstein more than the appraised value of another property two years ago, say they would be "very interested" in acquiring Bauer's Farm to preserve it from development and to expand public access to the river and Chesapeake Bay. "Anytime Baltimore County could preserve a couple hundred acres of prime waterfront property and add it to the county's park inventory, that would always get our interest," said Don Mohler, spokesman for County Executive James T. Smith Jr. The farm, with nearly a mile of shoreline, adjoins 1,360-acre North Point State Park, which has a wading beach, fishing pier and hiking trails.
NEWS
June 17, 2009
When government action does substantial harm to private property, the perpetrator's obligation to its victims is clear - undo the damage or, if that's not possible, make the victim whole. Such is the case with the Schneider family of Essex, whose seven-bedroom house on 1.4 acres of waterfront land was irreparably harmed by the construction of a Baltimore County sewer line. The conflict between the county and the Schneiders has been long and contentious. As District Court Judge Norman R. Stone III observed, the case (now on the verge of outright eviction)
NEWS
By Nick Madigan | June 16, 2009
An Essex family staved off eviction Monday when a District Court judge declined Baltimore County's request that he order the family off the property. Judge Norman R. Stone III told an attorney representing the county that the issues involved in the case were too complex for easy resolution and that county officials had not proved they were entitled to remove James M. Schneider, his wife and their children from their home without helping them relocate. "I wish I could put a stake through the heart of this case," Stone said, "but I can't."
NEWS
By Jeff Seidel | June 2, 2009
The Meade boys track and field team was stripped of its state, regional and county championships by the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association on Monday as punishment for the use of an ineligible athlete in the fourth marking period this spring. MPSSAA executive director Ned Sparks confirmed Monday night that Meade reported the violation itself to Anne Arundel County officials last week. The county released a statement Monday saying Meade used a player who was ruled academically ineligible when report cards were issued for the third marking period April 3, and the Mustangs must forfeit any competitions the athlete participated in after that date.