Elkridge

Always, there were those lovely old country estates and gracious manor taverns with roaring fireplaces, but in the old days fine dining was associated with the city. Not so anymore. Now, there are more compelling reasons than ever for diners to cross county lines for a good meal. The 50 best county restaurants in Howard County, Anne Arundel County and Baltimore County is a mix of the old and the new, destinations for special occasions and joints for Monday night suppers, the chef-driven and crowd-pleasing.

A Washington, D.C., police officer was charged Tuesday with money laundering in connection with an alleged drug-trafficking scheme in the Pittsburgh and Baltimore areas. Federal authorities say more than $2 million in proceeds from cocaine was hidden. Officer Jared K. Weinberg, 28, was taken into custody Monday at the 4th District police station, according to a department spokeswoman. The charges in a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh allege a broad conspiracy that includes meetings in which prosecutors say large amounts of cash were exchanged at apartment buildings in Howard County and at the Mall in Columbia.

Four more families are set to buy new homes at a discount under Howard County's housing program for middle-income families, but six additional residences are awaiting owners. The county requires developers to make a small percentage of units built in some areas available at below-retail prices under the Moderate Income Housing Unit program. Three Ryan Homes developments along U.S. 1 have units in the program about to go under construction. In the drawing held Wednesday in the county's Gateway Building, two townhouses were available at both the Belmont Station and Village Towns developments, while one townhouse and five two-bedroom condominiums were offered at Elkridge Crossing.

FLIR Systems' government-contracting arm is more than doubling its space in Howard County as it prepares to start assembling threat-detection devices. Gov. Martin O'Malley visited the company in late February to discuss concerns about the employment effect of the federal government's sequestration budget cuts. Now, FLIR says, it feels more confident about expansion because funding for its programs is less uncertain. "With budgets beginning to get resolved, it makes decision-making for us in the future somewhat easier," said David Cullin, chief technology officer of FLIR Government Systems, FLIR's government-contracting division.

Cheer coaches The Ellicott City Patriots Youth Football &Cheer Program is looking for volunteers to serve as head coaches, assistant coaches, stunt coaches, dance coaches, gymnastics coaches, fitness trainers and competition- level coaches. Information: Linda Lagala- Spano, 410-461-1225, or linda3at home@msn.com. Spring art classes Howard County Center for the Arts is holding registration for its visual and performing arts programs April 12 through June 13. Adult courses include beginner watercolor painting, sumi painting and knitting.

James (Jim) H. Durfee , of Office Movers, Inc., in Elkridge, has been elected president of the Office Moving Alliance at its 2011 Annual Meeting, held Oct. 24-27, in Phoenix. Durfee will serve a two-year term at OMA, an international trade organization that boasts member revenues in excess of $780 million. Durfee will serve as President of OMA in addition to his regular position at Office Movers Inc. Ron Mason , chief operating officer, and chief executive officer Jerry Rader , both of Corridor Mortgage Group, presented a check for $7,500 to Special Olympics Howard County director Bob Baker . Corridor raised the money through a golf tournament held in October.

Howard County police shot a man Monday near railroad tracks by an Elkridge industrial park after he refused to drop his handgun, police said. Police spokeswoman Sherry Llewellyn identified the man Monday night as Jeffrey Dustin Nichols, 19, of the 6600 block of Grouse Road in Elkridge. He was taken to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where he was listed in critical condition, she said in an email. Police said they were called about a man firing shots in the Hanover area around 3 p.m. Police followed him from the area near Loudon and Melrose avenues to an industrial park in the 7400 block of Hi Tech Road.

Elkridge-based electronics recycling company E-Structors was honored with a Maryland Green Registry Leadership Award Tuesday, June 7. The award is given to organizations that "have shown a strong commitment to sustainable practices, measurable results and continuous improvement," according to a news release from the Maryland Department of the Environment. E-Structors was able to ensure that 100 percent of the materials it recycles stay out of landfills by increasing the company's operational efficiency and taking advantage of new opportunities to recycle material such as shrink wrap and broken wooden pallets.

A collision Thursday morning in Elkridge claimed the lives of three men and closed Route 1 for several hours, police said. Howard County police identified the three men as Degly Ubaldo Monroy Melendez, 20, who was driving; Carlos Osorio, 25, who was in the front passenger seat; and his brother Oscar Osorio, 31, who was in the rear right seat. All were from Hyattsville. The accident occurred about 6 a.m. in the 7500 block of Route 1 near Meadowridge Road. A Chevrolet Impala traveling north at a high rate of speed on Route 1 struck a southbound tractor-trailer as the truck driver attempted to turn left across the highway, according to a preliminary investigation.

After approving a design plan for an elementary school in the northeast region of Howard County, the Board of Education is moving forward with a site for the new school - just not the one previously discussed. The board unanimously selected a site along Ducketts Lane in Elkridge, less than two miles from the site initially proposed on Coca-Cola Drive in Hanover, at its meeting Tuesday, June 21. The site came recommended by Ken Roey, executive director of facilities, and Joel Gallihue, manager of school planning, and their staffs.

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.

When Howard County authorities said they found the badly decomposed remains of Christine Jarrett beneath a shed in her own backyard, they moved swiftly to charge her husband - long a suspect - with the murder. That discovery - two decades after her disappearance - is expected to become the focus of Robert Jarrett Jr.'s first-degree murder trial as it enters its second week. Though the body proved to be the tipping point for investigators in the field, it has also become a target for Jarrett's lawyers, who say it doesn't prove their client is guilty.

The second in the Historical Society of Harford County's tours of historically significant or interesting buildings and homes in Harford County will take place this Sunday, March 17, at the Elkridge-Harford Hunt Club in Monkton. The clubhouse will be the focus of the day's tour, according to the society. Designed by prominent New York Architect James O'Connor, the clubhouse was built on the foundation of an older structure destroyed by fire. The public is welcome to stop in and see the home of the second oldest recognized foxhunting club in the United States.

UPDATE (Jan. 18): Not so fast. Although the Baltimore Business Journal reported soon-to-be new owner (paperwork still needs to be completed to make it official, he said) Steve O'Donnell would "likely 'keep everything the same'" at J. Patrick's, O'Donnell says that's not the case. During a phone conversation this morning, he said he will likely leave it as an Irish bar, but that "it can't stay open and operate how it is right now. " "Is it going to stay J. Patrick's?

The murder trial of a Howard County man whose wife's body was found buried in the backyard of his home 21 years after she was reported missing has been postponed until next year because one of his attorneys had a medical issue. Robert Jarrett, 58, appeared in court Monday for a pretrial motions hearing at which his attorney unsuccessfully argued that the remains identified by the state medical examiner as those of his wife, Christine, should be excluded as evidence because her body was cremated before the defense could conduct its own tests.

Two Maryland Transportation Authority police officers were struck by a vehicle on the side of Interstate 95 in Howard County during a traffic stop about 10:40 p.m. Wednesday, according to Maryland State Police and an MdTA official. The officers were conducting a traffic stop on a suspected stolen vehicle when another oncoming vehicle either hit the officers directly or hit their patrol car and forced it into them, police and MdTA officials said. One officer suffered a fractured leg, said Derek Nunez, a MdTA operations technician fielding questions on the incident late Wednesday.

One in a series of profiles of Maryland delegates to the Republican National Convention O.P. Ditch almost didn't make it to the Republican National Convention - not because of Tropical Storm Isaac, but rather a missed deadline. The retired Air Force colonel decided in January he wanted to be a delegate for Mitt Romney. But after making up his mind, the 73-year-old Vietnam veteran learned that the deadline to put his name on the ballot was only hours away. There wasn't enough time.

Two people were injured, one critically, in a crash Friday on Route 100 in Hanover, police say. Shortly before 5:30 p.m., a 2007 Honda Accord driven by Mary Catherine Kroder, 48, of Ellicott City, was stopped for traffic in a westbound lane of Route 100 near Arundel Mills Boulevard, police said. A 2000 Volkswagen Passat driven by Ryan Abbott Scott Albright, 26, of Elkridge, was traveling in the same direction and failed to stop for traffic, striking the back of Kroder's Honda and pushing it into the left guardrail.

A collision Thursday morning in Elkridge claimed the lives of three men and closed Route 1 for several hours, police said. Howard County police identified the three men as Degly Ubaldo Monroy Melendez, 20, who was driving; Carlos Osorio, 25, who was in the front passenger seat; and his brother Oscar Osorio, 31, who was in the rear right seat. All were from Hyattsville. The accident occurred about 6 a.m. in the 7500 block of Route 1 near Meadowridge Road. A Chevrolet Impala traveling north at a high rate of speed on Route 1 struck a southbound tractor-trailer as the truck driver attempted to turn left across the highway, according to a preliminary investigation.