Janey

Anne Arundel County homicide detectives fear that an Annapolis woman who may have witnessed the fatal stabbing of Denise McAteer on Tuesday may be in danger, police said yesterday.Wanda Rebecca Hall, 31, whose last known address was in the 1000 block of Bay Ridge Road, has not been seen since Tuesday, said Sgt. Rick Tabor, head of Anne Arundel County's homicide unit.Sergeant Tabor said homicide detectives believe that Ms. Hall witnessed the slaying of Ms. McAteer, whose fully clothed body was found Tuesday afternoon near some woods in the 300 block of Dubois Road, just outside Annapolis.

The man county homicide detectives charged with murder Tuesday in the stabbing death of an Annapolis woman escaped in October from the Anne Arundel County Detention Center, where he was serving a six-month sentence for beating the same woman, according to police and court records.Richard Edward Janey, 30, was charged yesterday in the slaying of Susan McAteer, 32, of the first block of Southgate Ave. in Annapolis. He was ordered held without bail by District Court Judge Essom Ricks.Court documents, which list Mr. Janey's address as the 100 block of Obery Court in Annapolis, show that he was convicted Sept.

You can still have a lunchtime drink on The Block, according to a tentative agreement worked out between Baltimore officials and owners of the adult entertainment district.The agreement, reached sometime over the summer, would settle a lawsuit filed against the city by Block owners by easing some restrictions -- particularly a ban on daytime operating hours -- imposed in a city law passed last year. An amended bill is now before the City Council."The Block is going to survive and stay open and hopefully flourish.

Hours after City Council President Mary Pat Clarke publicly criticized the mayor for allowing a tough new curfew bill to languish unsigned for nearly a month, administration officials announced yesterday that he is expected to sign the measure when he returns from vacation today.The bill -- which received final council approval June 27 -- requires children under age 17 to be off the streets by 11 p.m. weeknights and by midnight Saturday and Sunday.Police can take violators to their homes or to designated holding facilities.

Baltimore City Solicitor Neal M. Janey says he only wanted to err on the safe side.But supporters of Council President Mary Pat Clarke call his request for extensive details on a Board of Estimates item involving her husband a deliberate political attack."

It's a more cautious era at Baltimore's Board of Estimates, seven months after Comptroller Jacqueline F. McLean slipped a million-dollar deal past her colleagues to lease the former headquarters of her travel agency to the city.Concerned by even the slightest chance of impropriety after the comptroller's indictment on theft and misconduct charges, City Solicitor Neal M. Janey yesterday asked that the board delay voting on two items involving the spouses of the mayor and council president.

Baltimore Comptroller Jacqueline F. McLean last night asked the city to withhold her salary until the resolution of allegations that she improperly hired a "mystery worker" and steered a city lease to a building owned by her and her husband.The request came just hours after Mrs. McLean turned over the keys to her city-owned car yesterday after top officials pointed out that she did not need it while on a leave of absence.Mrs. McLean has been on an indefinite paid leave of absence since Dec. 20.The request to withhold salary came in a one-paragraph letter to Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke, in which an attorney for Mrs. McLean wrote: "Because she believes it is in the public interest and because it was never her intention to create any difficulty for her colleagues or for the city of Baltimore, she respectfully requests that you withhold payment of her salary until this matter has been resolved."

Since the Democrats swept to power in last week's presidential election, speculation has intensified over the likely prospects to fill three vacant seats on the federal bench in Baltimore and to replace U.S. Attorney Richard D. Bennett when he steps down.Those most frequently mentioned for the three judgeships by courthouse and congressional sources are Baltimore City Solicitor Neal M. Janey, U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah K. Chasanow and Prince George's County State's Attorney Alexander Williams Jr."

City Solicitor Neal M. Janey said yesterday that Baltimore is not considering a compromise that would allow Odell's, the troubled North Avenue nightclub, to reopen.Mr. Janey also took issue with a story that ran yesterday in The Sunthat said Odell's owner and the city might strike a compromise that would allow the club to operate."The suggestion was that yet another deal is in the offing, and that is just not the case," Mr. Janey said. "The city's position is that the zoning board has ruled and . . . in effect, they're closed down."

Much good can be said about incumbent Councilmen Martin E. "Mike" Curran and Wilbur E. "Bill" Cunningham. Both rank among the City Council's hardest working members.So why does The Sun urge Third District electorate to vote them out Sept. 12?Simply because Kevin O'Keeffe, Linda Janey and Martin O'Malley are free of the burdens of divisive political quarrels of the past. They can work cooperatively, while we seriously question whether the incumbents can. This is important: alienated and isolated councilmen cannot function effectively on the 18-member council.