Survey

Bernie Fowler evidently found the faintest glimmer of hope Sunday in his 25th annual Patuxent River wade-in.  The Associated Press reports the former Calvert County state senator and friends made it 35 inches deep into the river at Jefferson-Patterson Park in St. Leonard before they lost sight of their feet in the water. That's the clearest he's seen the water in a decade. Though his wade-ins are an unscientific survey of the river's health, it's the third year in a row Bernie's " Sneaker Index " has made it above 30 inches.

Baltimore is among the regions hardest-hit by organized retail crime, a growing national problem in which gangs steal and sell goods, a retail trade group reported Tuesday. A survey by the National Retail Federation shows that almost no retailer is immune, whether the outlets are department or big-box stores, discounters, drugstores, supermarkets, restaurants or specialty chains. The crimes have also become more violent, the survey noted. "Criminals have become more desperate and brazen in their efforts, stopping at nothing to get their hands on large quantities of merchandise," Rich Mellor, NRF vice president of loss prevention, said in a statement.

More buyers are looking to score a deal on a foreclosure, while more Americans are worried that the foreclosed properties will lower their home values. Those are two of the highlights from a recent Realtor.com survey that illustrates how people's attitudes about foreclosures are changing. That's perhaps not too surprising, given that bank-owned properties have become commonplace in American cities in recent years. Realtor.com, the website for the National Association of Realtors, commissioned the survey, which was conducted May 4-6. The results are based on more than 1,000 interviews.

If you create ponds and rain gardens to capture polluted runoff, will they work - and keep working?  A recent survey of storm-water control facilities put in along the Severn River in Anne Arundel County found that a third of them were in good condition, but more - 43 percent - were either in poor shape or couldn't be found at all. That's what 26 volunteers for the Severn River Association found earlier this month when they fanned out...

Century High School in Sykesville was one of 23 Maryland high schools - and the only school in Carroll County - to earn a spot on Newsweek magazine's annual ranking of "America's Best High Schools" The listing, released this week, placed Century High as the No. 20 high school in Maryland, and ranked No. 854 in the country. The Newsweek survey ranked what it considers the "best" 1,000 public high schools in the nation. The list was based on six components provided by school administrators - graduation rate (25 percent)

The hunter-backed effort to bring wild elk back to western Maryland is gaining some steam, though fierce resistance remains in key quarters. A survey done by pro-hunting groups finds that nearly three-fourths of Marylanders asked favor restoring the large, majestic ungulates to the state's mountainous region, which hasn't seen any of the animals since the 1700s. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources has been working with the Maryland Legislative Sportsmen's Foundation and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation to review the biological, social and economic feasibility of restoring the species in the state.  The telephone survey, done by Responsive Management , a Virginia-based polling firm, was underwritten by the two foundations, according to a DNR press release about it. While the survey found widespread public support for bringing elk back to Maryland, the survey also found a strong current of opposition among some western Maryland farmers and others  who feared the large animals could jeopardize their livelihood, spread disease or damage their property.

A survey of 549 community-based organizations suggests that housing discrimination is on the rise, particularly targeting disabled individuals, immigrants, minorities and families with children, according to the nonprofit Consumer Action . Locally, Baltimore Neighborhoods Inc. has said it found similar problems. The organizations, which has sent “testers” out in the region to inquire about available housing, filed suit last year and in 2010 over alleged discrimination.

Maryland, according to a new survey of business titans, is the 40 th most business-friendly state, down from 37 last year. Or, put another way, we are the 11 th least friendly. Those are the findings by Chief Executive magazine's annual survey . Business leaders were asked to rate states based on their taxes, regulations, living environment and quality of workers. According to the magazine, Maryland's "income-tax increases on 'middle class' nick and frustrate business owners.

Rebounding from near-collapse four years ago, the Chesapeake Bay's blue crabs are more plentiful than they've been in nearly two decades, with a record crop of young, Maryland officials announced Thursday. The annual winter survey of Maryland and Virginia waters found an estimated 764 million crabs baywide — two-thirds more than last year and the highest since 1993, officials said. The number of juvenile crabs nearly tripled to 587 million, the most seen since the survey began 22 years ago. That should mean there'll be plenty of the crustaceans available this year, especially in late summer.

Many Americans aren't exercising despite all the health messages about obesity and staying in shape, according to a new survey. The report by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association found that 68.2 million people, or nearly 24 percent of people surveyed, were inactive in 2011. That means that they didn't participate in 119 activities, such as swimming and basketball, identified by the organization.  The number of inactive adults jumped 1.6 pecent from the prior year and 8 percent over the past three years.