Deadlock

An 80-minute videotape viewed by jurors shortly before they adjourned for Thanksgiving provided the breakthrough that led to Mayor Sheila Dixon's conviction, one of the jurors said Tuesday. Before viewing the tape, which replayed testimony of developer Patrick Turner and other witnesses, three jurors refused to convict the mayor on any charges, according to a 23-year-old Highlandtown woman named Shawana, known during the trial as Juror No. 3. One of those jurors disputed others' recollections that Turner had said the gift cards he gave Dixon were intended for needy children.

Jurors weighing charges against three men accused of killing former City Councilman Kenneth N. Harris told the judge overseeing the case Wednesday that they could not reach agreement on the most serious charges of murder, but were instructed to try again. The jurors told retired Baltimore Circuit Judge David Ross that they had been unable to arrive at a consensus on charges of first- and second-degree murder against Gary Collins, 22, Jerome Williams, 17, and Charles McGaney, 22. The three face counts on more than two dozen crimes connected to the Sept.

The day after an emotional Anne Arundel County Council meeting ended without a selection to fill the open District 1 seat, council members said they remained firm in their positions but were hoping to end the stalemate before they reconvene Tuesday. The council met Thursday night to fill the position vacated by former Councilman Daryl D. Jones, who began serving a five-month federal prison term last month. The 41/2-hour meeting was marked by shouting, a racial slur, accusations of bullying and a 3-3 deadlocked vote over two candidates.

For the first time since charter schools opened in Baltimore, officials are confronting the complex issue of whether those schools should lose their right to operate when they produce poor academic results. The city school board deadlocked this week over schools CEO Andrés Alonso's proposal to revoke the charter of Dr. Rayner Browne Academy, an elementary/middle school in West Baltimore with poor test results, in an unusually open and heated discussion in front of hundreds of charter school parents and teachers.

BEIJING - Negotiators in the North Korean nuclear program talks decided yesterday to meet at least one more day in hopes of breaking a deadlock with North Korea, even as discussions began about what might be salvaged if this round of talks ends without an agreement. The outcome of this fourth round of nuclear talks appears to rest solely with North Korea, which continues to resist agreeing to a draft joint statement of principles that would move the disarmament talks forward. The other five nations in the talks - the United States, Russia, China, South Korea and Japan - have essentially agreed to the draft.

JERUSALEM -- Pressing to conclude an agreement on Arab self-rule in Israeli-occupied territories in time for a signing ceremony in Washington this week, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres met Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat last night for a major effort to resolve the deadlock.On his way to the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Taba, where he has met Mr. Arafat twice in the last two months, Mr. Peres said he was carrying a new proposal on the West Bank city of Hebron, though he offered no details.

Hampstead Town Council members braved the snowdrifts Monday to discuss painting another crosswalk at Boxwood Drive and North Woods Trail -- only to deadlock on the question, forcing it to be tabled until next month.Dwight Womer of Gaming Square asked the council to paint a crosswalk across North Woods Trail on the east side of Boxwood Drive. He said the crosswalk would make the walk to Spring Garden Elementary School safer for his 6-year-old son, Bryan, and other neighborhood children."It's for the safety of the children," he said.

Officially, there was no winner and no loser, but the post-game reactions told an entirely different story.No. 13 Gilman's players were celebrating while No. 6 Archbishop Curley's were glum after the two schools fought to a 1-1 tie last night in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference title game at UMBC."

It took 8 1/2 hours and an unprecedented 88 ballots to nominate Baltimore lawyer J. Michael McWilliams as president-elect of the American Bar Association because some ABA members wanted a stalemate, the lawyer who represented Maryland in the voting said yesterday.Mr. McWilliams, who received the nomination Tuesday at the ABA's midyear meeting in Seattle, fought a three-way battle for the leadership of the 380,000-member organization with Allen E. Brennecke of Marshalltown, Iowa, and Roberta Cooper Ramo of Albuquerque, N.M.Ms.