Degree

The 19-year-old man charged with fatally stabbing Dennis Lane allegedly told investigators that his girlfriend had instructed him to kill her father and his fiancee, specifying the number of times each was to be stabbed in the throat - 10 for him and 15 for her. Jason Anthony Bulmer charging documents In a conversation at school hours before the Ellicott City blogger and businessman was killed, Jason Anthony Bulmer said, 14-year-old Morgan...

Oriole Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. drew a laugh Sunday during his commencement address at the University of Maryland, College Park when he noted his wife, Kelly, graduated from the university, "although she will not allow me to reveal the year. " Dressed in a black robe and glasses, Ripken paused, leaned into the microphone carefully and said in a stage whisper, "1981. " The Comcast Center was packed to the rafters with family, friends and members of the Class of 2013. More than 7,700 students received degrees - although not at the campus-wide ceremony.

Starting to think about your Preakness hat choices? Not sure whether to pull the trigger on tickets to join Kegasus and Maroon 5 in the infield? Fear not; it's forecast to be a beautiful day -- for now. The 137th Preakness Stakes, on May 19, has come into the window of AccuWeather.com's 25-day forecast. It calls for cloudless skies, a 74-degree high and 52-degree low. That is actually slightly below normal for that time of year, which averages 76-degree highs and 58-degree lows.

Baltimore police officer Robert W. Mitchell faces a second-degree assault charge after police and prosecutors accused him of overstepping his powers and beating a young man more than a year ago. The Baltimore state's attorney's office also charged Mitchell on Friday with two counts of misconduct in office. Prosecutors allege that Mitchell beat Baltimore resident Tiyon Williams in the 1000 block of N. Mount St. on May 19, 2012. "The allegations against Mr. Mitchell are reprehensible," Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts said in a statement, "and I promise we will continue to aggressively target those who sacrilege the good men and women of this department and the sacred privilege of serving our community.

Baltimore surpassed its annual total of 90-degree days last week but is still equal to or behind tallies of hot days for the past two years. Twenty-one days in July have reached 90 degrees or above at BWI Marshall Airport so far this year. That makes 34 days at or above 90 so far this year -- four more than the annual norm of 30 days. At BWI, two days reached 90 in May and 11 did in June. But despite the seemingly high tally, 2012 is on pace with 2011 and won't meet the pace 2010 set through the end of July.

Swimmers at the MSP Polar Bear Plunge are in for a cold one. The event, to support Special Olympics Maryland, will take place at Sandy Point State Park, with plunges as early as 11 a.m. NOAA National Data Buoy Center 's buoy near Annapolis registers the water temperature at 35.5 degrees. The air temperature is expected to reach a high of 32, but it will feel more like 22 with the wind chill. The waves will be 2-3 feet near Sandy Point because of northwest winds of about 14 mph. Brave, warm-hearted plungers have another chance Feb. 23 at Deep Creek Lake.

The Baltimore area hit 90 degrees for the first time since Aug. 10 on Monday, tying a heat record set in 2002. Temperatures briefly passed the milestone at BWI Marshall Airport at 3:51 p.m., according to the National Weather Service. It was the hottest day of a year that has already been marked with warmer-than-average temperatures. And the heat is not likely to linger — cooler weather was expected to move in behind a cold front overnight Monday. A high-pressure system settled over the Carolinas and sent warm southerly winds heating the region and keeping it dry, said Carrie Suffern, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sterling, Va. A cold front was expected to move through the region Monday night, bringing temperatures down to the mid-70s Tuesday.

LAUREL -- High Degree surged between tiring rivals and drew off to a 1 1/2 -length victory in yesterday's Laurel Race Course feature.A Fur Piece led early in the $24,000 allowance race before I'm Wild overtook him in the early stretch. Then, High Degree rallied between those two before easily finishing clear of a belated bid from Seven Salutes.The winner completed 6 1/2 furlongs in 1 minute, 17 3/5 seconds on a track that was rated fast throughout the 10-race program despite intermittent rain.

RAVENS inside linebacker Ray Lewis has won the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player and been honored as the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year, but his greatest achievement may come Saturday when he walks across a stage on the University of Maryland campus. Nearly eight years after he left the University of Miami as a junior to enter the NFL draft, and on the day of his 29th birthday, Lewis will earn a bachelor of arts degree from Maryland in business administration. Talk about euphoria. To Lewis, this is better than taking out Eddie George and Steve McNair in a playoff game, or earning a sixth consecutive Pro Bowl appearance.

The Bowie State University student charged with fatally slashing her randomly assigned roommate in their shared suite last year was acquitted Thursday of every charge against her, as jurors apparently believed she was acting to protect herself in a sprawling melee. After about 21/2 hours of deliberation, jurors found Alexis Simpson, 20, not guilty of first-degree murder and a host of lesser charges in the September 2011 slaying of 18-year-old Dominique Frazier. They rejected even the idea that Simpson acted in a grossly negligent way in the death.

Robert Jarrett Jr. was convicted Tuesday of murdering his wife, following a trial in which prosecutors described him as a "cold-blooded killer" who allowed his sons to walk over her body buried beneath their backyard shed for two decades. Howard County jurors handed down a guilty verdict on one count of second-degree murder after deliberating into the night, bringing an end to a years-long investigation. Prosecutors, who had pushed for a first-degree murder conviction, said they would seek the maximum penalty of 30 years in prison at Jarrett's sentencing, scheduled in August.

A Baltimore City Circuit Court jury on Thursday convicted a 22-year-old man of second-degree murder in a shooting in Southwest Baltimore that killed a bystander and left two others injured in 2010. Harry Davis, 22, faces a maximum sentence of 108 years. He was also convicted of two counts of second-degree assault and two weapons violations, the Baltimore City State's Attorney's office said. Sentencing is scheduled for July 2. Prosecutors said Davis approached four men on the 500 block of Eastlynn Ave. on Sept.

Aberdeen Teresa Alfiea Gonzales, 44, of the 700 block of Custis Street, was charged Wednesday with second-degree escape. Lisa Marie Diban, 44, of the 300 block of Baltimore Street, was charged Thursday with failing to appear in court for a case in which she was charged with driving while under the influence of alcohol, driving on the sidewalk and driving while impaired by alcohol. An SUV was driving over ball fields in the 600 block of Chelsea Road on Tuesday. Juveniles were playing with fire in the woods, near the 500 block of Plume Court, on Tuesday.

A German native who consorted for years with New England's social elite by pretending to be a Rockefeller was convicted Wednesday in Los Angeles of first-degree murder, capping a nearly three-decade-old mystery involving a missing couple and a body buried in a Southern California backyard. Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, 52, was accused of bludgeoning his landlady's adult son with a blunt object, then digging a 3-foot-deep grave in the backyard of the victim's home in San Marino. The body was buried behind a guest house where Gerhartsreiter had been living.

Maryland skipped over spring and went straight to summer-like weather Tuesday, as a "Bermuda high" system more common to June or July created a chance for record-breaking heat on Wednesday. Temperatures reached 85 degrees at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport and 89 degrees in downtown Baltimore on Tuesday. That is 20 degrees above normal, and even more of a departure from what has been a chilly spring - March was, on average, colder than December. The long wait for warmth meant Baltimoreans flocked to the outdoors.

Howard Community College student Katie Dunklee won't name the four-year school - her top choice - that turned her down for admission out of high school, but nowadays she doesn't lament the rejection. In fact, to hear the Elkridge resident tell it, the snub, though disheartening at the time, has proved to be beneficial. Surely her performance at HCC bolsters that claim. She has a 4.0 grade-point average, has become a leader of her junior college honor society and last month was awarded two national scholarships for her academic achievements.

A lifelong wish has come true for Mable Lewis. It's been 67 years since she left college, and the 85-year-old Ellicott City resident is finally getting her degree.The alumna of McMurry College, nowMcMurry University, in Abilene, Texas, has many fond memories of hertimes as a student there in 1924 and 1925."She is always talking about Texas and her days when she was astudent attending McMurry College," said Ken Brown, an associate minister at Glen Mar United Methodist Church in Ellicott City, where Lewis is a member.

Carl Stahlman is a member of Towson University's alumni association, has an $800 class ring, his name on a memorial brick at the school and fond memories of his parents attending his commencement in 1997. But there's one thing Carl Stahlman doesn't have: a degree. Stahlman has filed suit in Baltimore County Circuit Court seeking a court order that would require Towson University to give him the bachelor's degree in law enforcement that he says he earned when he finished his course work in May 1997.

Rain was expected to clear early Friday morning, with partly cloudy skies and highs around 60 degrees for Opening Day at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. While showers could linger into the morning commute, with clouds clearing out over the afternoon and evening, according to the National Weather Service. Strong winds are expected to kick up after about noon, with breezes of 10-15 mph and gusts of 20-30 mph. Overnight lows are expected around 40 degrees. Clear skies are expected to remain through Saturday afternoon.

A Laurel teenager is being charged as an adult with first-degree assault in the shooting of a police vehicle with a BB gun while it was being driven by an officer, Prince George's County Police said Saturday. Andre Christopher Rivers, 16, of the 13500 block of Attleboro Court, was arrested Friday evening after an officer driving along Contee Road "heard a projectile strike his driver's side door" about 6 p.m. and immediately called for backup, police said in a statement. "The patrol officer believed he was being fired on and immediately requested a search of the area," the statement said.