River

The story of a 24-year-old Georgia graduate student fighting a flesh-eating disease has prompted a microbiologist with the Veterans Affairs Maryland Health Care System to speak out about the infection. Aimee Copeland lost most of her left leg after the flesh-eating bacteria necrotizing faciitis is believed to have entered a cut on her leg, according to the Associated Press, which reports she may also have to have her fingers amputated. The waterborne bacteria Aeromonas hydrophila is believed to have caused the infection.

Arjun Rohit Adapa, Zachary Ryan Allentuck, Schuyler Olivia Ames, Kathryn Marie Andersen, Jenelle Flora Anderson, Kurtis LeRoy Anderson, Anthony Hagop Andonian, Austin Benjamin Arnold, Caitlin Brooke Asher Marissa Leah Babazadeh, Danielle Ilana Lynn Bacharach, Rachel Sierra Bade, Soheil Bagheri, Zachary Alan Bailey, Brandon Ashkan Bakhshai, Elizabeth Anne Bamber, Rachel Elizabeth Beck, Jacob Douglas Benedict, Auctavius Devalle' Bennett, Julian James...

North County High School freshman Jack Andraka stood on the auditorium stage, speaking about the invention that earned him the $75,000 grand prize at the recent Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. Behind him stood Dr. Anirban Maitra, a professor in the Johns Hopkins University's department of pathology who gave Jack use of his lab to craft his invention, a cheap and effective "dipstick-sensor" method of testing blood or urine to identify early-stage pancreatic cancer and other diseases.

Baltimore County planners want to allow hundreds of houses on waterfront conservation land along the Bird River in Middle River, over the strong objections of environmental regulators. Some county officials say a proposal for up to 400 homes where only three are now allowed would defeat the purpose of multimillion-dollar public investments in natural resource protection and would represent an unprecedented expansion into an area where the county has restricted growth since 1967. Joseph Stamato, owner of Verus Development LLC, the company that wants to develop the site, said "we're protecting the land" by using only about half of the 292 acres of woods and fields.

Navy Lt. Mark Tedrow has no problem reconciling an air show with a commemoration of the War of 1812, an era that precedes flight by almost a century. The Blue Angels pilot said he looks forward to flying over the Inner Harbor, Middle River and Fort McHenry - birthplace of the national anthem - during a bicentennial celebration in June. "It will be outstanding to perform multiple maneuvers over Fort McHenry," he said. "It will show just how far we have come. " Tedrow and his co-pilot flew into Martin State Airport in Middle River on Thursday to give a small preview of what the Navy's renowned flight team will do for the bicentennial maritime and air festival that kicks off June 13. "Stake out your places on the waterfront so you don't miss a thing," said Lt. Cmdr.

You can talk all you want about cleaning up the environment, but sometimes you just have to get your hands dirty. That's the lesson a muck-spattered Ben Boor says he's picked up from his summer job clearing debris from Back River, one of Maryland's most degraded waterways. And some think it could be a lesson on how to tackle the Chesapeake Bay, too. As the sun blazed overhead Wednesday morning, the 21-year-old from Bel Air and three other area college students waded across the mudflats downriver from Interstate 695, reaching into the shallow water to wrest tires, a plastic garbage can and a waterlogged foam cushion from the murky ooze.

Tubing -- the masochistic act of hurtling down a fall-fraught river while clinging to an inner tube. Somehow my husband, Mark, talked me, a devout wimp, into trying it.Why did I go along for the rocky river ride? Perhaps I was dazed by the beauty of the Catskill Mountains' Esopus River. Perhaps the brave (or the foolish) teens who plunged heedlessly into the Esopus shamed me into saying "yes." Or maybe I was just feeling a bit guilty for being a perennial naysayer. Whatever the reason, on a recent summer day I broke my first rule of survival: If they advise helmets, avoid it.I'm not the world's best swimmer.

The important part, says Robert Law Hartge, is being on the water.If you are in Galesville, you are on the water.There is a Main Street here, but the key artery is the West River."

Scrutiny of water and mud samples found none of the microorganism that had been suspected of harming fish in a lower Eastern Shore river, a Maryland Department of Natural Resources spokesman said yesterday.John Surrick, the spokesman, said a scientist in Florida had tentatively identified Pfiesteria piscicida in the Pocomoke River samples sent to her.But a subsequent examination with an electron microscope indicated the presence of a less toxic microorganism.To allay fishermen's concerns about what may be causing sores on fish in the Pocomoke, state scientists plan to test the river from its mouth to Snow Hill.

Colonial Pipeline Co. should contribute something other than polluted water to the south branch of the Patapsco River, people who fish, wade and canoe in the river told state officials last night.About 20 residents of Carroll, Howard and Baltimore counties called for independent monitoring of the South Carroll company's discharges into the river at a public hearing conducted by the Maryland Department of the Environment.They also urged the petroleum distribution company, which uses water from the river, to test its petroleum pipelines and tanks to help improve water quality.

It has been a familiar scene the past two days at UMBC: lacrosse sticks flying everywhere, a mass celebration, then the traditional team photo with the state championship plaque proudly displayed. When it was the South River boys' turn, after a stunning, 10-8 comeback win over Westminster in the Class 4A-3A final, the sticks flew a bit higher, the celebratory pile came together quicker and the smiles were broader. The No. 8 Seahawks had more to enjoy than bringing home the program's second state championship Wednesday at rainy UMBC Stadium.

When they graduated from River Hill High School in 2008, Jonathan Hill , Rajiv Stone and Daniel Thyberg had a grueling summer of physical training awaiting them as they prepared to attend the U.S. Naval Academy together. Four years later, the three friends, all Clarksville natives, are looking forward to graduation and impending commissions as officers. Hill, a history major, will board the USS Ramage, a destroyer based in Norfolk, Va., in June as the ship's auxiliary officer.

• On a Notre Dame men's lacrosse team where everyone contributes, Clarksville's Jim Marlatt has grabbed the spotlight. The River Hill grad had a career-high five-point day in the NCAA first-round win over Yale. But it's depth that has been the key: 19 different players have hit the back of the net for the Irish, who play Virginia on Sunday in the NCAA quarterfinals. "We're just looking for the opening guy and whoever that guys is at the end of the play is going to get the goal," said Marlatt, a 2012 Big East Conference first-team honoree.

South River High School senior Caitlin Byrnes says her parents have been stressing the importance of college since she was young, and though she listened to the message, she didn't think it applied to her. The Crofton resident would consider the family hardships — her father struggling through a myriad of illnesses since his childhood, her mother never fulfilling her dreams of going to college because of a disability — and she didn't see how...

The 3,000-mile water and land trail network created to relive the Chesapeake Bay's 17th century exploration by English colonists is about to grow still larger. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis are slated to visit Sandy Point State Park in Annapolis this afternoon to celebrate the addition of four new river river trails to the existing Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail .  The federal officials are to be joined by Gov.Martin O'Malley, local officials, Native American tribal leaders and conservation group representatives.

The Potomac River, which flows between Maryland and Virginia, was named the nation's "most endangered" waterway today by a Washington-based environmental group. American Rivers put the Potomac atop its annual list of endangered rivers.  Though cleaner than it used to be, the "nation's river," so named because it flows through Washington, D.C., still faces threats from urban and agricultural pollution, the group says, and from cutbacks being pushed in Congress of federal environmental regulations.

Only one thing could make me want to be a child again: to travel once more by boat on the river Magdalena. Anyone who did not have the experience cannot even imagine what it was like. I had to make the trip twice a year -- up to Bogota and back -- during my six years at secondary school and the first two at university.On each journey I learned more about life than I ever did at school, and in a better way. When the river was in full flow, the trip from Barranquilla on the Atlantic coast up to Puerto Salgar, the train link to Bogota, took five days.

The third quarter of the Class 4A-3A East region boys lacrosse semifinal on Monday proved to be a microcosm of the South River boys lacrosse's perfect season. The No. 8 Seahawks, being pushed with a one goal advantage at the half, proved stingy at the defensive end and resourceful on offense against Anne Arundel County rival Severna Park. With John Carr scoring two of his four goals and goalie Nick Marcelino making saves on three straight Severna Park possessions in the pivotal stretch, the Seahawks took charge with three straight goals and went on to advance with a 10-7 win against the No. 13 Falcons in Edgewater . South River, Anne Arundel County and District V champions, improved to 17-0 on the season and will host the winner of the Arundel-Chesapeake-AA semifinal in Wednesday's region title game.

A tot's discarded rocking horse has taken on an artful life and become a compelling symbol of a river befouled by debris. Towson University art students recently salvaged the toy, in two large chunks, during a volunteer clean-up along Back River in Essex. "When it came out of the river, it was scary, dirty and something like the swamp creature," said Vicki Miller, 19, of Parkton, during a class critique last week in anticipation of a trash art auction. But Olivia Moore saw in the yellowed, broken toy the potential to deliver an anti-pollution message.