District

Democrats appeared to take control of the Anne Arundel County Council, as five of the seven Republicans were losing their races, according to early election returns last night.Going into yesterday's voting, Republicans had been clinging to a 4-3 majority, but they seemed to be losing that with 140 of 170 precincts reporting.Probably the biggest Republican upset appeared to come in District 4, where Republican incumbent Bert L. Rice, the council chairman, was trailing Bill D. Burlison, the longtime U.S. representative from Missouri who moved to Maryland after he was voted out of office in 1980 in an ugly political scandal.

INCUMBENCY CAN be a potent election asset. Just look at the 42nd Legislative District.In the four years since that northwestern city district was reconstituted to include parts of Baltimore County, Democratic delegates Samuel I. Sandy Rosenberg, James W. Campbell and Maggie McIntosh have so solidified their position they have no primary opposition. They have done a good job, too.So has Sen. Barbara A. Hoffman, by and large. A three-term veteran, the head of the powerful Budget and Taxation Committee deserves another term, despite showing poor judgment in sponsoring an administrator who is now under indictment in a city liquor board scandal.

SALISBURY -- For the first time, the only majority-black legislative district on the Eastern Shore will be represented by an African-American lawmaker.Rudolph C. Cane of Hebron yesterday successfully ended his four-year quest to win a seat in the House of Delegates.With all the ballots counted, the Democrat won 63 percent of the vote to 37 percent for his Republican opponent, Jacqueline B. Jones, a 43-year-old black professor at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.Lost by 20 votesCane, a former Wicomico County commissioner, acknowledged he never stopped running for the seat he lost by 20 votes in 1994.

DISTRICT 1A19 of 19 precincts - 100%George C. Edwards, GOP (i) 7,602 - 83 percentLawson Duckworth, Dem 1,592 - 17 percentDISTRICT 1B14 of 14 precincts - 100%Kevin Kelly, Dem 5,049 - 51 percentPatricia Wolfe, GOP 4,786 - 49 percentDISTRICT 1C19 of 19 precincts - 100%Casper R. Taylor, Dem (i) 5,976 - 70 percentEileen B. Steele, GOP 2,542 - 30 percentDISTRICT 2B12 of 12 precincts - 100%Christopher B. Shank, GOP 4,675 - 51 percentD. Bruce Poole, Dem (i) 4,438 - 49 percentDISTRICT 333 of 33 precincts - 100%3 to be elected.

DISTRICT 333 of 33 precincts - 100%Alexander X. Mooney, GOP 17,648 - 56 percentRonald S. Bird, Dem 13,747 - 44 percentDISTRICT 435 of 35 precincts - 100%Timothy R. Ferguson, GOP (i) 18,299 - 55 percentGeorge Littrell Jr., Dem 15,182 - 45 percentDISTRICT 623 of 23 precincts - 100%Michael J. Collins, Dem (i) 13,870 - 55 percentKenneth C. Holt, GOP 11,126 - 45 percentDISTRICT 829 of 29 precincts - 100%Thomas L. Bromwell, Dem (i) 22,389 - 68 percentWilliam Rush, GOP 10,617 - 32 percentDISTRICT 933 of 33 precincts - 100%Andrew P. Harris, GOP 23,599 - 61 percentAnthony O. Blades, Dem 15,160 - 39 percentDISTRICT 1235 of 35 precincts - 100%Edward J. Kasemeyer, Dem (i)

Anthony G. Marchione was hired as permanent superintendent of Baltimore County's schools two years ago to bring a steadying hand to a district in turmoil.Today, the unassuming 66-year-old educator is given high marks for restoring calm and instilling confidence, reaching out to teachers, parents and students who felt they had been shut out and ignored.Administrators no longer joke about learning of major new initiatives by listening to the radio as they drive on the Beltway. Parents say their concerns are heard.

WASHINGTON -- If the recent breathless pace of home sales is a fair indication, the city that basically had a "kick me" sign stuck to it for years is suddenly hot again.Forget the giant potholes, unplowed winter streets, misdirected ambulances and uncollected trash that have long made the district easy to tease.Recently, a house on a leafy block in Northwest Washington sold for $400,000 in a day. The buyer let it be known: She could pay cash.That sale was a stunner. But not much more so than many other deals in Washington as the city enjoys its best year of home sales in nearly a decade.

Kevin Feeheley and some old high school buddies were driving to a party not long ago when they decided to take a detour to explore a haunted village they'd heard about near the headquarters of the National Security Agency.The rumor was that government agents accidentally killed everyone in a town east of Laurel with radiation, buried their bodies in unmarked graves and left without even cleaning up.As his car's headlights swung around a bend, Feeheley saw evidence to suggest the ghost story was true.

Police Blotter is a sampling of crimes in Baltimore and Baltimore County.Central DistrictRobbery: Two gunmen robbed the Plant Hut florist in the 400 block of W. Baltimore St. of more than $100 yesterday after they asked an employee for change about 11 a.m.Theft from vehicle: A cellular phone valued at $300 was stolen from a 1988 Honda parked in the 1200 block of Pennsylvania Ave. yesterday.Eastern DistrictWeapons found: Police serving a search-and-seizure warrant Wednesday seized two semiautomatic weapons, ammunition and a small quantity of cocaine from the home of a drug suspect in the 3000 block of E. Monument St. The suspect, Michael Sutton, 38, who was charged in a warrant with drug and weapons offenses, was not at home and was being sought.

The ambitious city-state reorganization of Baltimore's public schools officially makes its debut today when the doors to the district's 183 schools swing open to begin the 1997-1998 school year.But what really will be different for the district's 108,000 students when they return to their classrooms?The short answer: Everything, and not much.Members of the new school board and district administrators believe they have made fundamental changes in school environment throughout the district.

In all but formalities, the 2010 race for Baltimore County executive is on. County Councilman Joseph Bartenfelder said he's in, Councilman Kevin Kamenetz is doing most everything but saying so, and both Democrats continue raising money in advance of a campaign that is expected to cost more than $1 million. At least one Republican, state Del. Patrick L. McDonough, said he's thinking about running, but he also has an eye on the gubernatorial race. Candidates can wait until July 6 to officially declare themselves, and the primary in this heavily Democratic county is not until Sept.

Schools closing for spring break Anne Arundel County public schools will be closed Thursday through April 13 for Easter/Spring break. Schools will re-open April 14. Information: 410-222-5000. AACC open house Anne Arundel Community College will hold an open house for the noncredit, continuing education program in truck driving 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Glen Burnie Town Center Arundel Center North, Room 420. Information: 410-777-2325. An "AACC Information Session" will be held from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Center for Applied Learning and Technology, Room 107, 101 College Parkway, Arnold.

Baltimore is facing a historic choice on Tuesday: to elect women as the city's top municipal leaders, a trifecta of female power. In Mayor Sheila Dixon and Council President Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake, city voters have assured, knowledgeable leaders who should be elected. Comptroller Joan Pratt is running unopposed. Ms. Dixon and Ms. Rawlings-Blake have spent most of their adult lives in public service, getting involved in politics in their respective West Baltimore neighborhoods as young professionals.

The Anne Arundel County public schools have generally solid financial practices, but spotty recordkeeping for inventory and inadequate safeguards for employee credit card use make the school system vulnerable to theft or fraud, according to a legislative audit released yesterday. The report, completed by the Office of Legislative Audits as part of its state-ordered review of all 24 Maryland school systems, noted Anne Arundel's sound management of federal funds and policies governing payroll.

One would think that a measure in the House of Representatives to give full voting rights to the District of Columbia would be easy now that Democrats are in charge of Congress. After all, they've been pushing it as a basic civil rights issue for years - and rightly so. But all that has happened so far is a weak-kneed change giving the district's delegate, along with those from U.S. territories, including Guam and American Samoa, limited votes on the House floor. For residents of the district, who pay federal income taxes, that's a copout.

Today, The Sun continues its endorsements for the Nov. 7 general election with General Assembly races in the city. District 40: Residents of this district that includes Mount Vernon and Park Heights will have almost all-new representation in Annapolis. Democrat Catherine E. Pugh, who previously served on the City Council and who was appointed to the House of Delegates in 2005, is the best choice to replace longtime Sen. Ralph M. Hughes, who retired. Ms. Pugh promises to work for more senior housing, better health care and a higher minimum age at which students can legally drop out of school.

This election has been much less stressful for the city's political establishment than the last General Assembly contest, which took place on the heels of a painful redistricting and loss of seats. Incumbents who have learned to get along have formed tickets designed to provide for a little longevity in Annapolis - and to keep newcomers out. There is something to be said for continuity, because Baltimore has lost some of its most effective voices in the capital in recent years. But in some races, the benefits of seniority do not outweigh the vitality and smarts that challengers offer.

CHICAGO -- The nation's first charter-only school district is taking shape in New Orleans - an unprecedented opportunity to reinvent an urban district that was in an academic and financial sinkhole long before Hurricane Katrina. As education officials scramble to prepare for an estimated 24,000 students expected to return to New Orleans schools in the coming school year, they are tapping into the expertise of Chicago's charter leaders, who will help launch this extraordinary experiment over the next two years.

CHELSEA, Mass. -- Attendance at Chelsea High School had hovered at a disappointing 90 percent for years, and school officials were determined to turn things around. So, last fall they decided to give students in this poverty-stung city just north of Boston a little extra motivation: Students would get $25 for every quarter they had perfect attendance and another $25 if they managed perfect attendance all year. "I was at first taken a little aback by the idea: We're going to pay kids to come to school?"

MANSEHRA DISTRICT, Pakistan - Mujahid Mohiyuddin insists that he and his district are innocent. Speaking in his religious seminary, or madrassa, in the Mansehra district of northern Pakistan, Mohiyuddin, a young cleric, admitted receiving military training in 1996 from Harkat-ul-Mujahedeen, or "Movement for Holy Warriors," a Pakistani group linked to al-Qaida and the killing of the American journalist Daniel Pearl. But he insisted that the group had disbanded and that training camps no longer operated in the Mansehra district.