NEWS
By Michael Dresser | February 5, 2010
State roads have been drenched in ice-melting chemicals, and as today dawns, the workers who operate Maryland's snowplows should have had a good night's rest to prepare for a sleep-deprived weekend. By late morning, the plows should be in position to jump into action if and when the flakes - 18 to 24 inches, if you believe forecasters - begin to fall. State Highway Administration spokeswoman Valerie Burnette Edgar said road crews in most of the state spent Thursday applying salt brine intended to slow freezing on the roads.
NEWS
By Liz F. Kay | liz.kay@baltsun.com | January 4, 2010
Maryland advocates for a ban on a toxic flame retardant that accumulates in the environment and has been linked to cancer and brain development problems intend to pursue an earlier phaseout of the chemical than the timeline currently spelled out in a recent federal agreement. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced last month that the three largest manufacturers and importers of decabromodiphenyl ether, also known as decaBDE, had negotiated a pact to phase out the chemical, used in upholstery, mattresses, electronics and more, by 2013.
NEWS
By Peter V. Berns | November 29, 2009
Does terminology matter? Turns out it matters quite a lot, especially if it's about a person's intellectual disability. This is why the U.S. Senate is considering a bill to replace the term "mental retardation" and "mentally retarded" with "intellectual disability" and "individual with an intellectual disability" in federal health, education and labor policy statutes. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, Democrat of Maryland, introduced "Rosa's Law" on Nov. 17. Senator Mikulski's bipartisan bill would have far-reaching effects because the term is used to establish eligibility for many federal benefits and services.
NEWS
By Nicole Fuller and Nicole Fuller,Sun reporter | August 8, 2008
A teenage boy charged as an adult with murder in the shooting death of a man in an apparent drug deal and robbery plot is not competent to stand trial because he is mentally retarded, his lawyer said yesterday. Defense attorney Carroll McCabe entered a not-guilty plea on behalf of her client, Ross Ethan Womick, 16, and filed a motion asserting that he is not competent yesterday in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court. "There's been testing, and, based on that testing, he's not competent due to mental retardation," McCabe said after the hearing, declining to elaborate.
FEATURES
By Marla Cone | August 23, 2007
An epidemic of thyroid disease among pet cats could be caused by toxic flame retardants that are widely found in household dust and some pet food, government scientists reported last week. The often-lethal disease was rare in cats until the 1980s, when it began appearing widely. A the time, industry started using large volumes of brominated flame retardants in products, including furniture cushions, electronics, mattresses and carpet padding. Scientists from the Environmental Protection Agency noted a possible connection between hyperthyroidism and flame retardants.
NEWS
By ADAM LIPTAK and ADAM LIPTAK,THE NEW YORK TIMES | December 17, 2005
Though the Supreme Court has prohibited the execution of the mentally retarded, a Texas death row inmate who might be retarded cannot raise the issue in federal court because his lawyer missed a filing deadline, a federal appeals court ruled this week. The inmate, Marvin Lee Wilson, has "made a prima facie showing of mental retardation," a unanimous three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in an unsigned decision on Tuesday, meaning that the court presumed Wilson to be retarded for purposes of its ruling.