Maryland Counties

Maryland transportation officials traveled to Carroll yesterday with the promise of state money to expand local bus service, but county officials expressed little interest despite increasing commuter traffic on major roads. Nearly $3 million in state transportation funds became available in July for Western Maryland counties, including Carroll. Other Maryland counties have expanded bus hours and routes. "The ultimate goal is to double ridership by 2020," said Darlene DeMario, regional planner with the Maryland Transit Administration, during a meeting with the county commissioners yesterday.

There won't be much room at the Maryland Board of Public Works hearing tomorrow when dozens of officials representing counties across the state gather in Annapolis to ask for more money for school construction. But Howard County parents and community members plan to make themselves heard nonetheless. A group of about 65 parents began a letter-writing campaign last week to members of the Board of Public Works, asking for support for a 12th high school in the county. The group hopes that the estimated hundreds of letters will make a statement in their absence about the county's desperate need for more classroom space.

Hunters during this year's two-week firearms season killed 42,850 deer in Maryland, 5 percent more than in 1999, according to preliminary numbers released by the state Department of Natural Resources. State officials say the total, coupled with the early black powder and bow seasons and the projections for the later seasons, means the Maryland kill will most likely top 80,000 for the first time. The black powder season reopens today and runs through Dec. 30. Bow season runs Jan. 1-31.

Gov. Parris N. Glendening is planning to announce plans Monday to look into the way Maryland conducts elections in the wake of the problems exposed in Florida's voting procedures by the close presidential contest. The governor is expected to name a task force to study the state's voting system and propose possible changes in the state's election laws. He is acting despite a 2000 election that came off with few problems in Maryland. Only one jurisdiction, Montgomery County, uses the punch card method of voting that has caused a nationwide furor over uncounted ballots in the race between Vice President Al Gore and Texas Gov. George W. Bush.

Political junkies who enjoy an old-fashioned, kidney-punching, name-calling, insult-trading grudge match should avoid Maryland's 5th District congressional campaign this year. The race has been downright gentlemanly, and most of the blame for that goes to the Republican challenger, Del. Thomas E. Hutchins. He's just one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. Ask his opponent, Democratic Rep. Steny H. Hoyer. "Tim Hutchins is a nice fellow. This is not a guy who's into attacks," Hoyer said last week after a civil, issues-oriented debate with the former state police captain.

Howard County led Maryland's 23 counties and Baltimore in census returns, with an 80 percent return rate - up from 76 percent in 1990. Howard County's performance topped the statewide average of 69 percent and beat the next highest county - Montgomery - by 3 percentage points. "The national response rate was 67 percent," said Andrea King, regional spokeswoman for the U.S. Census Bureau. "That's exceptional, especially since we were predicting a 5 percent drop nationally." Baltimore had the region's lowest response rate, 53 percent, a 10 percent drop from 1990 and one of the worst responses of any big city in the nation.

Howard County police have charged a Pikesville man with breaking into an Ellicott City pharmacy, saying the suspect had maps to area drugstores and tools that could be used in burglaries. Ryan M. Cunningham, 22, of the 6600 block of Chelwood Road was charged Sunday with first- and fourth-degree burglary, malicious destruction of property, possession of fireworks and concealing a deadly weapon, court records show. Cunningham was being held yesterday in the county detention center on $10,000 bond.

Vowing to take on as many as 50 opponents at a time, Eugene Perelshteyn strapped on his running shoes yesterday -- and proceeded to play chess. Though only 13 were brave enough to take on the 20-year-old international chess master at University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Perelshteyn seemed pleased with the day's results: 12 wins and one draw. The event was organized to popularize chess on campus. "Everyone showed spirit," he said. Perelshteyn rushed from board to board, and 90 minutes later it was over.

AN EPIDEMIC of lead poisoning courses through Baltimore's inner city, but testing shows children are exposed and poisoned in almost every Maryland county. The cases in rural and suburban areas don't climb into the thousands as they do in Baltimore, but no one in Carroll County or Anne Arundel, Howard or Harford should be consoled to learn that only a few of their were exposed and that fewer had lead levels deemed dangerous. In Montgomery County, the state's most affluent, 8,044 children were tested in 1998 under the Medicaid program.

Several counties are taking advantage of the state's offer to waive some snow days. Talbot County has received approval for its request to be excused from four days that students have missed because of bad weather. Montgomery County, which had used up its four snow days, will be excused from making up two of them. State Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick announced last week that all Maryland counties were eligible to have up to four days waived from the 180-day school attendance rule if schools were closed because of the governor's declaration of a state of emergency for Hurricane Floyd in September and last week's snowstorm.