Infractions

The Naval Academy has recently seen what a high-ranking midshipman called an "unacceptable" increase in alcohol rules infractions, despite the launch last fall of a strict policy that put the school at the forefront of efforts at colleges nationwide to curb binge drinking. In a memo sent yesterday to all 4,400 midshipmen and obtained by The Sun, senior Rachel Barton, the drug and alcohol education student officer, said that in the past six weeks, midshipmen had violated the new rules as much as they did in the previous six months.

While the Maryland Board of Physicians weighs professional charges against one cardiologist accused of placing heart stents into hundreds of patients who didn't need them, a federal jury in Baltimore is considering criminal charges against another. The health care fraud trial of Dr. John R. McLean, who practiced at a hospital on the Eastern Shore before surrendering his medical privileges in 2007, opened Tuesday in Baltimore's U.S. District Court. Prosecutors outlined a set of allegations against him that are startlingly similar to those against Towson cardiologist Mark Midei, who practiced at St. Joseph Medical Center and was charged administratively - not criminally - last year with violating the Medical Practice Act. Both men are accused of falsifying patient records in order to justify hundreds of medically unnecessary procedures, specifically the placement of coronary stents into relatively healthy arteries, ostensibly to prop them open.

A little past 3 on a sunny afternoon, Natural Resources Police Officer Chris Morris steered his 19-foot Boston whaler around Baltimore's Inner Harbor and then worked his way to the outer edges of his patrol area. He sped by the cans stacked at the Dundalk Marine Terminal and over the Fort McHenry and Harbor tunnels, checked under the Key Bridge, looped around Sparrows Point and Fort Howard, skirted the choppy waters off Hart-Miller Island and ended up in the middle of Middle River. Without stops, the one-way trip took 31 minutes, cruising along at up to 36 knots, or 41 mph. Usually, Morris' "police post" is not so expansive.

At the height of the Baltimore Police Department's experiment with zero-tolerance policing in 2005, the number of people arrested reached six figures— a statistic that sparked protests and came to symbolize what critics called a misguided policy of mass arrests. Prosecutors not only criticized the arrests for minor infractions such as loitering and drinking in public, they declined to file formal charges in about a third of the cases. Now, a police commissioner armed with a strategy of more targeted enforcement of violent gun offenders has the department on track to record half as many arrests as five years ago — with the added benefit of crime going down.

Baylor basketball coach Dave Bliss, who has responded to allegations of NCAA rules violations by citing his history of integrity, left his job as coach at Southern Methodist in 1988 shortly after an internal investigation uncovered evidence of infractions similar to those that resulted in the "death penalty" for SMU's football program, an NCAA memo prepared at the time reveals. The memo, obtained by the Star-Telegram, outlines several matters that would typically be considered major rules violations, including booster payments to star center Jon Koncak.

The NCAA Committee on Infractions will meet later this month to consider new information that could cause the body to alter its ruling barring the University of Nevada-Las Vegas from defending its NCAA basketball title.The committee announced on July 20 that UNLV will be ineligible for postseason competition after the 1990-91 basketball season as a final penalty stemming from the infractions case that caused UNLV coach Jerry Tarkanian to take the NCAA to court 13 years ago.Immediately after the ruling was announced, UNLV president Robert Maxson said the school would appeal, and its appeal and the Committee on Infractions' response were scheduled to be heard by the NCAA Council's Division I Steering Committee during the council's meeting next week in Kansas City, Mo.However, the matter will not be heard by the council because of a request by UNLV officials to present unspecified new information to the Committee on Infractions, D. Alan Williams, the chairman of the six-member committee, said yesterday.

The Carroll County school board, rather than a federal judge, will confront the question of whether a Manchester-area school bus driver was fired for safety infractions or for leading her students in the Lord's Prayer. Attorneys for the Carroll County school superintendent and bus driver Stella N. Tsourakis, 37, agreed yesterday to a dismissal of her federal lawsuit without prejudice. That means either side can go back to the U.S. District Court in Baltimore if it finds the outcome before the county Board of Education is unsatisfactory.

College Basketball Michigan State @Indiana 9 P.M. [ESPN] Both teams are in the top 15, but each is trying to bounce back from a loss. The Spartans (20-4, 8-3) are coming off a defeat at Purdue, and the Hoosiers (20-4, 9-2) lost by two points to Wisconsin. But the overriding story is the developing scandal involving Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson. The allegations against Sampson revolve around recruiting infractions and statements to Indiana and NCAA officials.

Five football players have been cleared to participate in Saturday's opener against Virginia, but as part of the process of restoring their eligibility, Maryland admitted to a secondary rules violation that will be addressed by a member of the NCAA infractions committee. No significant penalty, if any, is expected.Superbacks Mark Mason and Doug Burnett, wide receiver Andrew Carter, cornerback Gene Green and defensive lineman Sharrod Mack were cleared to play yesterday by the NCAA, which on Monday was asked by the Maryland athletic department to look into the players being overpaid in an on-campus summer jobs program.

BALTIMORE -- Driver education classes do not appear to be producing safer drivers, said researchers at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.The researchers, who reviewed data from several studies, said they could find no evidence that teen-agers who took classes had fewer accidents or committed fewer infractions than those who did not. The classes might actually be contributing to accident rates by putting more younger drivers on the road, researchers said.About...

Remember John Tyner? He was the young man whose smartphone captured an "enhanced" pat-down at the San Diego Airport — a search immortalized when he warned, "Don't touch my junk. " This simple quote captured how many of us felt about the government getting too much into our business. After this episode, I never imagined publicly using the Department of Homeland Security as an example of government common sense. Unfortunately, recent actions by the Talbot Public County Schools — the suspension of two lacrosse players (and arrest of one of them)

Lyndsay Benefiel's mother gave her pepper spray for protection during her long walk to Severna Park High School. But after she was turned in last week by a former friend for having it on school property, the 16-year-old was suspended, is being referred to juvenile authorities and could be charged with possession of a weapon on school property. Her suspension and a case involving two Talbot County lacrosse players last month have focused attention on the zero-tolerance policies enforced by some school systems in Maryland.

Owners of Looney's Pub in Maple Lawn were fined $5,000 by Howard County's liquor board for a series of infractions during the first few months after the establishment opened in spring 2009. The fine was imposed Monday by the County Council, sitting as the liquor board. The council members normally hear only unusual or serious liquor cases, leaving the majority to an appointed Alcoholic Beverage Hearing Board. Looney's problems began opening day, March 14, 2009, when two county police officers saw children playing the bar's electronic games.

Full disclosure: I have no horse in the NASCAR Chase for the Championship. Flip a coin, doesn't matter. OK, maybe I wouldn't be so despondent if Jimmie Johnson finished second or worse. The guy is fabulous. Maybe it's time to let somebody else get a sip of that victory champagne. But I would like a moment of silence for Clint Bowyer. His Chase for the title is now a death march, thanks to one of those typical, inexplicable NASCAR decisions where common sense goes flying out the window.

Send waves to Alabama Mike Bianchi Orlando Sentinel If I were king of the NCAA, I would not only saturate Alabama with investigators, I would set up a branch office in Tuscaloosa. In Alabama, cheating is as much a part of the football lore as the houndstooth hat worn by Bear Bryant. Alabama has seen it all over the last 20 years. Shady loans. Athletes illicitly accepting cash payments from agents and boosters. Multiple probations. Postseason bans.

T he parole and probation agent had his gun drawn as he made his way inside the West Baltimore rowhouse. The man he was searching for was upstairs, according to relatives who answered the early-morning knock. "Come down with your hands up," the agent shouted as he peered up the dark stairway. The man slowly walked down, then was quickly handcuffed and seated on the living room sofa. He couldn't understand why eight armed officers had crowded into his rowhouse before 7 on a recent weekday morning.

David D. Nuyen, landlord for about 15 low-income rental properties in Maryland and Washington, pleaded guilty yesterday to charges that he committed and concealed infractions of the Lead Hazard Reduction Act of 1992. According to a statement filed yesterday in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Nuyen, 65, of Silver Spring failed to give tenants notice of actual and potential lead hazards before they signed leases, as the law requires, and then submitted false documents to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development officials.

Looney's Pub has been open in Maple Lawn for less than a year, but the licensees, Anna Lee and Steven Litrenta, were fined $1,000 and ordered to stop selling alcohol for two days next month for several liquor law violations. According to an agreed-upon statement of facts, the pub was swamped with well over 300 customers on March 14, the pub's second day in business, and things got out of hand. A county police officer found unsupervised children in the game area, 10 feet from the bar; an inebriated man who was still being served drinks; and people drinking outside on the sidewalk.