Investigation

One of two reactors at the Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant in Southern Maryland shut down suddenly Wednesday night after an as-yet-unexplained malfunction, a Constellation spokesman said. Unit 2 went offline at 9:47 p.m. after a shutdown of the turbine that generates electricity from the nuclear reactor, according to Kory Raftery, spokesman for the Constellation Energy Nuclear Group. Some valves feeding steam to the turbine closed unexpectedly, triggering its shutdown, Raftery explained, and that led to the reactor itself shutting down to prevent a buildup of steam pressure in its cooling system.

The recent study estimating that there may have been 26,000 cases of sexual assault in the military last year stirred a lot of tough talk from the Pentagon and the White House over the past 24 hours. But the question is whether that outrage will translate into much-needed reforms within the armed forces. On that front, we have our doubts. The U.S. military's failure to adequately address sex crimes within its ranks is hardly a new problem, but the rise of such incidents - up from 19,000 in 2010 - is shocking.

Baltimore County police are investigating an assault outside of Woodlawn High School Friday after a video was posted on YouTube. The incident took place sometime after school but does not appear to have been reported to police, according to a statement from the department. The victim and a 17-year old suspect have been identified, police said, but it is unclear if the teen will be charged as an adult or a juvenile. Police spokeswoman Cpl. Cathy Batton said investigators are still trying to determine if Woodlawn students were involved in the incident.

Anne Arundel County police are investigating sexual abuse allegations by a former student at Monsignor Slade Catholic School in Glen Burnie, officials of the Archdiocese of Baltimore said Wednesday. In a letter posted on the archdiocese website and sent to parents via email Wednesday, Barbara McGraw Edmondson, the superintendent of schools within the archdiocese, said county police searched the school Tuesday afternoon and that those being investigated have been suspended until "a determination is made concerning the veracity of the allegations.

After less than a year on the job, Larry Tolliver is calling it quits as chief of the troubled Anne Arundel County Police Department. Tolliver, 67, said his resignation — or "return to retirement," as he called it — will take effect May 21. "I am resigning today because the department needs a chief who can focus solely on the department's mission, something that is challenging to do in the current environment," Tolliver wrote in a statement...

Federal investigators began examining Monday the wreckage of a two-seater, home-built airplane that crashed Sunday in Virginia, killing a man from Davidsonville and his son from Westminster, the father of 10 children. On Saturday, experimental airplane owner and pilot Barry Raymond Newgent, 73, and his passenger and son, Thomas Barry Newgent, 51, were bound for the Virginia Regional Festival of Flight, a weekend air show. The other small airplanes in a group of four traveling from Maryland arrived safely.

Authorities say they are continuing to investigate a student murder-suicide this year just off the University of Maryland, College Park campus, a revelation that comes a month after the case was declared closed. Detectives are not looking for additional suspects but are seeking background information on the alleged shooter, Dayvon Green. They are also awaiting responses to subpoenas in the case, according to a Prince George's County police spokesman. A department attorney, Jamar Herry, cited the inquiry as a reason not to provide a copy of the case file requested by The Baltimore Sun through the Maryland Public Information Act. Police would not say who or what was subpoenaed, or what information police are looking to find on Green.

Baltimore police are investigating the shooting death of a man in East Baltimore early Thursday. Responding to a shooting in the 600 block of Cokesbury Ave. in the East Baltimore Midway neighborhood at 12:39 a.m., police said they found a man with gunshot wounds. Paramedics took him to an area hospital but he was pronounced dead Thursday morning, police said. Police have no suspects or motives and did not release the victim's identity. The murder was Baltimore's 71 s t homicide this year, following the shooting death of Dominic Hicks, 19, whose identity police released on Thursday.

Three men were injured when a truck crashed into a city bus stop on Wednesday morning, according to the Baltimore Fire Department. The collision occurred about 7 a.m. near the intersection of West North and Park avenues, along the northern edge of the city's Bolton Hill neighborhood, said Capt. Roman Clark, a department spokesman. The three pedestrians, one 34-year-old and two 60-year-olds, were transported to area hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, Clark said. The crash is being investigated, Clark said.

Groundwater contamination from toxic waste dumped decades ago at a nearby factory in the Severn area has prompted widespread testing of residential wells and put eight homes on bottled water, state officials said. The eight households have been notified that they have unsafe levels of industrial solvents in their wells, according to the Maryland Department of the Environment, and two other homes have been found to have levels below those deemed to pose health risks. State officials said they are anxious to complete testing for the chemicals — including possible carcinogens — at dozens of other homes that had yet to respond to requests to check their wells.