Farm

After three years of trying, Gov. Martin O'Malley has won approval of legislation that aims to spur construction of towering wind turbines off Maryland's Atlantic coast. Now comes the hard part. Daunting regulatory, political and financial hurdles remain before a wind-driven power plant could be built in the water 10 to 20 miles from Ocean City . Even if all goes right, construction could be four to seven years away, industry and government experts say - long after O'Malley has left the State House.

What industry gets a significant discount on property taxes funded by other taxpayers? Can you think of a business the price of whose products is supported by the treasury? Or a business that is paid from taxpayer funds not to make its products? Wouldn't you like to have a business that has access to cheap, guaranteed loans or casualty insurance subsidized by taxpayers? The only industry I know of that has available all of these entitlements is agriculture. Recently, the agriculture industry has profited from another publicly financed benefit.

The concept behind the proposed Maryland Agriculture Certainty Program is sound. Farmers would voluntarily agree to meet relatively high standards for pollution runoff and hire third-party inspectors to verify the results. In return, they would be spared from new regulations for 10 years. In a business that is fraught with uncertainty from droughts and floods, rising and falling commodity prices and boom or bust crop yields, the appeal of predictability is clear enough. The model is not unlike the discharge permit of some manufacturers or sewage treatment plants - a kind of contract between regulators and polluters.

With only minor changes, the House of Delegates on Wednesday gave initial approval to Gov. Martin O'Malley's $37 billion budget, the governor's first spending plan in several years that doesn't propose significant cuts. While a final vote in the House is expected Friday, Wednesday's actions signaled the last cuts the chamber will make before the budget proposal moves to the Senate. Delegates cut about $80 million in state spending, scaling back one of O'Malley's initiatives to improve digital learning in classrooms and nixing another that would have created a $5 million fund for innovative ideas.

A Severn man was charged with attempted robbery after attempting to steal from the cash register of a Royal Farms store in Linthicum Tuesday night, police said. Sherman Jerome Artis, 50, pretended to make a purchase at the store located in the 400 block of Camp Meade Road South when police say he reached over the counter and struggled with the clerk. He then fled the scene at approximately 10:42 p.m. in a gold-colored Buick without obtaining any money, according to police. Detectives from the Northern District witnessed the incident and detained Artis on Williams Road in Ferndale, where he was positively identified by the store's clerk as the suspect, officials said.

Horse racing Sagamore Farm's Walkwithapurpose wins Caesar's Wish Trainer Ignacio Correas saddled Walkwithapurpose and Listen Boy in Saturday's $150,000 Caesar's Wish Stakes and saw them run first and second in the one-mile test for 3-year-old fillies at Laurel Park. Both fillies are Sagamore Farm homebreds, the winner by Candy Ride, the runner-up by After Market. "It's a great day for Sagamore," Correas said. Walkwithapurpose was the prohibitive 2-5 favorite under Jeremy Rose and won by 91/2 lengths in 1 minute, 38.38 seconds.

After a lifetime in Maryland, my husband and I have come to the conclusion to put our farm on the market. Due to the burden of new regulations and the financial burden of higher taxes, we can no longer afford to live in this state. While lawmakers in Annapolis struggle to pay for their excessive spending while furthering their own political agendas, we are the ones being penalized. Whether it be higher taxes on gasoline, higher costs to citizens in order to facilitate illegal immigration, speed-camera rip-offs or new fines and penalties for lawful firearms ownership, we are watching our income dwindle.

Instead of visiting country manor homes that are occasionally open to the public, here is an opportunity to own an estate in northern Baltimore County. Nestled on 50 acres of bucolic pastures and agricultural land, Alistatim Farm , in the heart of My Lady's Manor — a national historic district near Monkton — presents dramatic views for every season. Long summer days can be spent by the pool, while autumn mornings call out for a bit of competing in the dressage ring. "A seven-stall barn comes complete with hay storage, fly-spraying system and tack room," noted Ashley Richardson, a Long & Foster agent who listed the property.

Six horses were removed from Harford County Friday and taken to a rescue farm in Howard County, according to the organization that is caring for them. The horses, four mares and two stallions, which were described as "emaciated," were taken to Days End Farm Horse Rescue, Inc. in Woodbine, according to a media release from the non-profit animal rescue organization. On Wednesday, Harford County government spokesman Bob Thomas said the animals were removed from a farm in the Baldwin area.

William C. Ensor Jr., a retired estate manager and decorated World War II veteran, died Feb. 13 of heart failure at Lorien Mays Chapel. He was 91. The son of farmers, William Clark Ensor Jr. was born in Monkton and later moved with his family to Ruxton, where his father farmed in what is now the Four Winds neighborhood. Mr. Ensor attended Towson High School and enlisted in the Army in 1943, where he served with the 78th Infantry "Lightning" Division in the European theater. Mr. Ensor took part in the Battle of the Bulge and in the capture, intact, of the strategically important Schwammenauel Dam that spanned the Roer River.