Minors

A Jessup liquor store that has served customers for 32 years is in danger of losing its liquor license for allegedly serving an under-aged police cadet twice in the past two months.The Howard County Police Department is filing a petition to have the liquor board suspend or revoke 999 Tavern's liquor license.The family-owned bar and carryout in the 7700 block of Washington Blvd. was one of seven stores in Howard County caught in the past month selling alcohol to patrons under 21 without asking for identification, police said.

HE PUT ON one of the greatest displays of power hitting in Orioles history in 1961, setting records that stood for more than three decades. Now, at age 67, Jim Gentile is celebrating the 40th anniversary of his big season in the unlikeliest of ways - by managing a pro team for the first time. The rookie skipper of the Fort Worth Cats of the All American Association, a fledgling independent league, is anything but a typical rookie. "I'm loving every minute of it," Gentile said with a laugh yesterday from his hotel room in Montgomery, Ala., where the Cats are playing this week.

Concerned about the proliferation of navel hoops and tongue studs in teen-agers, Baltimore County is proposing criminal penalties for body-piercing of minors without a parent's permission. A bill scheduled for debate tomorrow and a vote later this month would prohibit piercing of those younger than 18 without written parental consent. Violators would face a $500 fine, 90 days in jail or both. The measure would close a loophole left in previous county regulations that required minors to obtain parental consent for tattoos.

Michael Dietrich is branded with the tattoo of a bulldog on his chest -- and his mother hopes it's not for life.The 13-year-old Dundalk youth and his mother want the bulldog gone, but that won't be easy. It could take a year's worth of laser treatments to remove the tattoo -- and it's unclear whether it would completely disappear after that.Michael's story became part of a scarlet letter drama in Annapolis yesterday as Sally Dietrich, two state senators and several professional tattoo artists urged members of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee to make it illegal to tattoo minors without parental consent.

FREDERICK -- It's after 11 o'clock on one of those warm summer nights when the humidity sticks like a layer of clammy skin.Teen-agers strut, stand and drive along Market Street with no discernible fear of being stopped by the police officer on the other side of this small city's main strip."

I am looking for information on the guidelines of a custodian account. I know a few things. But I want to know, when the child reaches the age of 18, what his rights are to the money in the custodian account. Once a child reaches the magic age, all the money or other assets in a custodial account must be turned over to him or her. This means that, in most cases, all the money and/or other assets in your child's account must go to the child when he or she turns 21 or 18, depending on the state.

In an unusual experiment, a group of Howard County high school students fanned out this month to gas stations and grocery stores to see how hard it would be to buy cigarettes in violation of state and federal laws prohibiting sales to minors. Even they were shocked by the results. "We couldn't believe it," said Manuel Salgado, a senior at Oakland Mills High School who participated in the study. "Your child has a 50-50 chance of getting a pack of cigarettes and getting addicted to nicotine at a young age."

It's understandable that fans wanted to see catching phenom Matt Wieters in an Orioles uniform on Opening Day, but it just wasn't sensible. What would you rather have had? A couple weeks of Wieters now as a rookie or a whole year of him when he is in his prime? I thought so. If Wieters were on the Opening Day roster, his service-time clock would have begun ticking. Assuming he remained on the club's 25-man roster or disabled list, Wieters would have been eligible for free agency after the 2014 season.

Three local liquor purveyors charged with selling alcohol to minors could have their licenses suspended if the Anne Arundel County Liquor Board finds them guilty.The board has scheduled a hearing at 6: 30 p.m. tomorrow in the Arundel Center on charges that Odenton Liquors, Whitey's Supermarket in Linthicum and Corridor Wine and Spirits in Laurel sold liquor to minors during county police sting operations in September and October.The alleged violations were the first for each store, said Richard Bittner, liquor board chairman.

After 14 months' enforcement, Howard County's two new laws aimed at reducing the sale of tobacco products to teens appear to be bearing fruit - and fines. "Just one year after health inspectors hit the street, the percentage of merchants willing to sell tobacco to minors dropped from 50 [percent] to 37 percent," said Mark E. Breaux, president of the Smoke Free Howard County Coalition. The inspectors focused on enforcing a law that changed the ban on selling tobacco to minors from a criminal to a civil violation that is enforced by the Health Department instead of police.