Personal Items

State police are investigating after an injured man, found inside a house where he doesn't live, reported that he had been assaulted and went inside the residence for help. Police received a 911 call about 1 p.m. yesterday reporting that a man was having trouble breathing in the 500 block of Deer Hollow Road in Mount Airy, police said. Troopers went to the house, found a shattered sliding door and a man inside who had cuts and bruises on his face, arms and legs. The man, 34, was taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where he was hospitalized last night.

A father and two sons hiking near Sulphur Spring Road in Arbutus in Southwestern Baltimore County discovered a decomposed body in a wooded area yesterday evening, authorities reported.Police said the body was so badly decomposed that neither the race nor gender of the person was known last night. A spokesman was unable to say whether the body was clothed, or if any personal items were found at the scene.The body was taken to the state medical examiner's office for an autopsy to determine its identity and the cause of death.

THERE IS A big difference between the disputed items in Robert L. White's collection of John F. Kennedy memorabilia, set for auction tomorrow, and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis' possessions, which brought her children millions at auction. Hers were purely personal items -- pillows, jewelry, drawings. But some of the artifacts Mr. White wants to sell are part of our national heritage.Material pertaining to the business of government -- even scribbles -- are, by law, U.S. property. But in Kennedy's day, no mechanism existed for determining what items made up the presidential record.

FireWestminster: Firefighters from New Windsor, Pleasant Valley, Union Bridge and Hampstead assisted Westminster at 6 p.m. Wednesday, responding to a dryer fire in the 1200 block of Fairway Drive. Units were out 37 minutes.PoliceWestminster: A resident of Ewing Drive told police Wednesday that someone entered a vehicle while it was parked at the home and stole personal items. The loss was estimated at $750.Westminster: A resident of Royer Road told police Wednesday that someone entered a vehicle while it was parked near the home and stole personal items.

FireWestminster: Firefighters from Reese assisted Westminster at 2: 32 p.m. Monday, responding to a fire alarm on Monroe Street. Units were out 12 minutes.PoliceWestminster: A resident of West Green Street told police Saturday that a television was stolen from her home. The loss was estimated at $300.Westminster: Employees at an auto dealer on Baltimore Boulevard told police Monday that someone stole tires from a vehicle parked at the business. The loss was estimated at $1,340.Westminster: A resident of Eckard Court told police Tuesday that personal items were stolen from his home.

WASHINGTON -- I have discovered a new form of cross-training that supplements aerobic exercise with cross-country, time trials and weight work. It's called covering a presidential campaign.Don't laugh. This boys-on-the-bus thing ain't all cigars and bourbon and pithy prose pounded out on portable typewriters. In fact, it isn't any of that any more.It's boys and girls on buses, planes, trains and automobiles performing as physical a bit of labor imaginable outside a construction site. No kidding.

ON SUNDAY, eight Hampstead youths put aside summer fun to help clean up the Gamber neighborhood where a tornado touched down Friday afternoon.They were members of the Youth Community Service group of The Fields Homeowners Association. Daniel Baumiller, Shawn Frank, Scott and Kevin Hammonds, Ryan Kraushofer, Eddie Mercer, Tom Piet and John Pollock, all led by adult Mary Landon, turned out to work. Ryan's mother, Marie Kraushofer, pitched in, too.The kids, ages 11 to 14, usually work in or near The Fields development to acquire community service hours for school.

We live in an age of information overload, bombarded relentlessly with useless statistics, studies and surveys. And while our natural inclination to "kill the messenger" might be a bit extreme, it probably wouldn't hurt to occasionally whack him upside the head.Certainly this is the case with a new poll that says two of five Americans (39 percent) admit they snoop in the medicine cabinets of homes they visit.The poll was sponsored by bathroom tissue manufacturer Quilted Northern, which is apparently doing so well that it has gobs and gobs of money to waste.

A 52-year-old Severn woman was killed Wednesday evening when a man backed his car into her as she walked up her driveway, Anne Arundel County police said yesterday.Rosemary Rice Walker of the 1200 block of Sleepy Hollow Road was pronounced dead at the scene.The incident began around 6 p.m. Wednesday when someone && broke into a barn on Ms. Walker's land and tried to take some items, police said.At 6:13 p.m., Ms. Walker called the police, then went outside, said Officer Randy Bell, a police spokesman.

$1000 reward offered for info on vandalsThe Harford County Crime Solvers is offering up to $1,000 in reward money for information leading to the arrest and indictment of those who damaged about 35 vehicles by throwing rocks and beer bottles at them in Joppatowne and Joppa.The vandalism occurred between 2 and 3 a.m. May 15 along Joppa Farm, Hanson and Old Philadelphia roads.Those with information may call the Crime Solvers hot line at (410) 877-STOP.5% Callers need not give their names or appear in court.

Burt Greenwood Jr.'s business is booming - not in spite of a dismal economy but because of it. His squadron of tow truck drivers can barely keep up with the orders to repossess cars and trucks of people who have fallen behind in their payments. "Our intake of new work is increasing like crazy because of the state of affairs economically," said Greenwood, chief executive officer of Greenwood Recovery, who estimates his volume at 40 percent higher than a year ago. That mirrors what appears to be happening statewide.

State police are investigating after an injured man, found inside a house where he doesn't live, reported that he had been assaulted and went inside the residence for help. Police received a 911 call about 1 p.m. yesterday reporting that a man was having trouble breathing in the 500 block of Deer Hollow Road in Mount Airy, police said. Troopers went to the house, found a shattered sliding door and a man inside who had cuts and bruises on his face, arms and legs. The man, 34, was taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where he was hospitalized last night.

A Parkville man charged with leaving a loaded gun in a carry-on bag that went through a security checkpoint at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport last month was denied bail yesterday by a District Court judge in Annapolis. DeJuan L. Hunter, 35, who was arrested Tuesday, had been held on $3.5 million bail at the Anne Arundel County Detention Center. Judge Thomas J. Pryal told Hunter that his conduct - police said he left the scene when the Raven Arms MP25 semiautomatic handgun was detected - made the situation worse.

Twelve days after a man left a loaded gun in a carry-on bag at a security checkpoint at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, delaying travel for thousands of passengers, the Maryland Transportation Authority Police arrested a Parkville man yesterday and charged him with multiple felonies. DeJuan Laron Hunter, 36, is being held on $3.5 million bail at the Anne Arundel County Detention Center and has a bail review scheduled for today. Cpl. Jonathan Green, a spokesman for the transportation authority police, said Hunter was arrested late yesterday morning at his Hunt Valley workplace and charged with attempting to carry a handgun onto an aircraft, interfering with security operations and other firearms violations.

About 130 inmates at a prison in Hagerstown staged a 30-hour protest this week over living conditions, refusing to return food trays and blocking windows of their cell doors so correctional officers could not see inside, prison officials confirmed yesterday. The protest at Roxbury Correctional Institution was over restrictions on personal items prisoners are allowed to keep in their cells, according to Major Priscilla Doggett, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Division of Correction. She said the protest began at 5 a.m. Wednesday when inmates refused to return their trays after breakfast and blocked their door windows.

Three state agencies paid as much as 28 times more than the best-available prices for janitorial supplies from July 2001 through last November, according to a report by the Department of Legislative Services. The three agencies - the State Highway Administration, Springfield Hospital Center and Morgan State University - purchased goods worth a total of $1.4 million from 17 companies through the period that auditors identified as showing a pattern of paying exorbitant prices, the report said.

If you bought a new PC recently, chances are good that it came with a no-frills mouse - a boring, two-button, scrolling model with a rubber ball underneath. There are a couple of good reasons for this. First, it's a good way for the manufacturer to save a buck or two in a market where margins are razor thin. Second, plenty of customers will be satisfied with it - at least until it wears out. Third, for heavy PC users, mice are very personal items - most people who care about them would rather pick out their own. This explains why retailers have dozens of after-market mice on display in a bewildering variety of shapes and sizes.

Maryland State Police Superintendent Edward T. Norris has been charged with illegally spending about $20,000 in Baltimore police funds while he was the city's top officer to cover personal expenses, including romantic liaisons with several women, according to a federal indictment unsealed yesterday. Norris, 43, who is married, promptly resigned and is expected to appear in U.S. District Court for his initial hearing today on charges that he conspired to misapply funds, misapplied funds and made a false statement on a mortgage application three years ago. Norris' former city chief of staff, John Stendrini, was also indicted on charges of misapplying the police money and is accused of obstructing justice by lying to city officials about how the expense account was used.

Police Blotter is a sampling of crimes from police reports in Baltimore City and Baltimore County. Baltimore City Southern District Shooting: Confronted at gunpoint by a robber as he walked in the 200 block of S. Mount St. early Tuesday, Ramone Simpson, 22, pushed the weapon aside and was shot in the left hand when it discharged. The gunman fired four errant shots at the fleeing victim, who ran to nearby Bon Secours Hospital for treatment. Theft from vehicle: A laptop computer, compact discs and personal items - all valued at $1,825 - were stolen Tuesday from a 1999 Jeep Cherokee in the 1300 block of Covington St. Northeastern District Burglary: Someone entered a house in the 5600 block of Pilgrim Road through a sliding glass door Tuesday and stole a DVD player, DVDs and three wine bottles containing coins.

In Baltimore City Three groups call for Tuesday boycott of MTA buses Several groups representing transit riders announced yesterday a one-day boycott of Maryland Transit Administration buses to protest the fare increase and service cutbacks taking effect this month. The Transit Riders League, Citizens Planning and Housing Association and All Peoples Congress are calling for the boycott on July 1, the day after the base fare will go up from $1.35 to $1.60. Those groups also have organized a protest rally for Friday at 4 p.m. at Eutaw and Saratoga streets.