Hamer

A chief executive officer trying to improve the quality of life in Anne Arundel County. An outspoken lobbyist striving for improvements in education. A local leader fighting to protect the environment.Also, an educator tutoring children and adults. A federal attorney working to ensure that minorities receive equal opportunities. And a community activist guiding children in positive directions.These are six accomplished women who have had an impact on the county this year through their involvement in politics, education, business and community issues.

A member of the Baltimore liquor board who also is the son of a city councilwoman has been charged with attempted murder after one of his mother's campaign workers was shot at in a dispute over $40.William A. Welch, 46, is free on $25,000 bail pending his next scheduled court appearance next month. He is one of three liquor commissioners who can levy fines or close bars for violating laws governing the sale and consumption of alcohol.Police arrested Welch, the son of Councilwoman Agnes B. Welch, on Wednesday, the day after the primary election, at her campaign office on Edmondson Avenue.

An 84-year-old woman was attacked while walking to her car from a K mart store at Chatham Mall yesterday afternoon, Howard County police said.The victim, Dorothy Hamer, was taken to St. Agnes Hospital, where she was reported in stable condition late yesterday. Officers said she received injuries to her head and arm that were suspected stabbing wounds.Shortly after noon yesterday, Hamer left the store and was walking to her car when someone grabbed her from behind. The assailant took her purse and and personal items and fled, police said.

For years, Ken, Larry and Joe were part of what they called "the roof team," which came to be known across Maryland and beyond for successful design, specifications and inspections of school roofs in Baltimore County.But over the past six months, the roof guys have mostly sat around an office in Pulaski Business Park with nothing to do -- while the school system paid them $126,000 in salaries.That is not because no roofing projects were under way -- there have been 13 since fall. Since September, however, the school system has paid or promised consultants $547,000 to do work employees used to do."

WASHINGTON -- The discovery of ''new evidence'' of a ''gay gene'' was trumpeted as a scientific breakthrough equivalent to a cure for cancer. But the story is another exercise in the uncritical reporting by most of the major media when it comes to homosexuality and an example of the loss of credibility the press suffers when it climbs into bed with an advocacy group.The story quotes another study by Dean Hamer, a molecular biologist at the National Cancer Institute, without mentioning that Dr. Hamer's widely trumpeted 1993 ''gay gene'' study is under investigation by the federal Office of Research Integrity for alleged fraud.

Why Year-Round Schooling is BadI am writing to express my opinion on year-round schools. I firmly believe that it is a terrible mistake.First, all the schools would have to be air-conditioned, which would cost a lot of money. . . . Also, speaking as a student, I know that we are motivated in part by the fact that we look forward to summer vacation. . . . We go to pools and beaches, ballfields and snowball shops. Who wants to take that away from us by putting us in school?The parents . . . would have to find day care for their younger children during awkward, staggered vacations while they work.

PALERMO, N.J. --- When Phil Dubruille retired from his casino carpentry job seven years ago, he quickly decided how he would spend his time: He'd sit and watch the grass grow.Dune grass, that is. Somebody's got to grow the stuff ` it doesn't just sprout up on its own.Somebody's got to take little dune-grass seedlings and put them in sandy ground, and water and fertilize them for a whole year.Somebody's got to yank up the weeds that choke them. And somebody's got to furnish the fully grown stalks to shore towns, which put the tall, slinky grass on the beaches to keep the sand dunes from eroding.