Ferndale

Knife-wielding robber ransacks Dash Inn store cash registerA man armed with a knife held up the Dash Inn store in the 6900 block of Baltimore and Annapolis Blvd. yesterday, county police said.Officers said the robber walked into the store shortly after 1 a.m., told the clerk he had a knife and demanded money.The clerk was unable to open the cash register, prompting the robber to use a screw driver to pry it open. The robber took the money and ran out of the store.

A 63-year-old Ferndale man was beaten and stabbed in the throat with a foot-long piece of wood in his home yesterday by an acquaintance who then robbed him, county police said.Rosario L. Vinci of the first block of Mapledale Road was treated and released at North Arundel Hospital.Police said Mr. Vinci's assailant visited him shortly before midnight Tuesday and after they had been in the basement for a while, demanded money.The man the man -- known only as John -- began to beat Mr. Vinci, threatened to kill his elderly mother, who was asleep upstairs, and again demanded money, police said.

County police arrested a Ferndale man on drug charges in the parking lot of North County High School shortly after midnight Monday, authorities said yesterday.Officer Richard A. Schinzel was making a routine check of the lot about 12:30 a.m. when he saw a man sitting in a Dodge. As he approached the car, he smelled marijuana smoke coming from the vehicle, police said.The man denied he had drugs in the car and allowed Officer Schinzel to search it. The officer found a pipe containing marijuana residue and a small cellophane pack and a plastic bag of marijuana on the suspect, police said.

Amy Brocious, "Little Miss Ferndale" for 1995-1996, took her first ride in a convertible automobile last week as part of Severna Park's Fourth of July parade. She said the ride was "really neat and a lot of fun."The parade was her first appearance since winning the title in May. She is scheduled to ride in another parade in September, will serve as hostess at a pageant in December and attend Ferndale's annual Christmas Tree lighting ceremony.Amy, who will be entering sixth grade in September at Linthicum Elementary School, was one of 10 girls who competed for Little Miss Ferndale.