Warrant

Denver captured the Eastern College Athletic Conference tournament last spring, grabbing the automatic qualifier to the NCAA tournament and advancing to the Final Four. The thinking is that the No. 16 Pioneers may need to win the conference tournament this week for a shot at repeating that path. They compiled an 8-5 overall record and a 3-3 league mark, which made them the No. 4 seed behind No. 1 seed Loyola (12-1 overall and 6-0 in the ECAC), No. 2 seed Ohio State (8-6, 5-1) and No. 3 seed Fairfield (11-3, 4-2)

Anne Arundel County Sheriff Ronald S. Bateman says he has a plan for an innovative crime tool that plays on criminals' greed by making them turn themselves in before they can collect tax refunds. At Bateman's urging, the General Assembly signed off on a bill —awaiting Gov. Martin O'Malley's signature — that will allow the state to withhold refunds for people with outstanding arrest warrants in the county. Bateman says he hasn't seen such a program anywhere else. "I came up with the idea because I know greed is a close first or second to the root of all crimes," Bateman said.

I am surprised that the Towson Times (Feb. 15) would endorse the medical marijuana bill favored by state Del. Dan Morhaim (HB1158) and not endorse the medical marijuana bill (HB1024) favored by Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, secretary of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Sharfstein has an outstanding record in protecting public health from untoward side effects of drugs and other consumer products, and there is ample reason to believe his stance on medical marijuana is based on similar concerns.

Editor: I do attend church, I know I need to; I am not anti religion. I am aware that front men promote wants and causes they hope will produce big bucks for themselves and their sponsors. Religious promotions are some of America's biggest recipients of money. Religion sells well on TV and in other public arenas. Some religious promoters become rich and some do go broke. Here in Harford County prayer is banned from public schools during the school week, however some of Harford's Public Schools become Churches on the weekend.

Police say an "alert citizen" in Sykesville tackled a man who was beating a High's convenient store clerk with a baseball bat on Friday, Jan. 6, but couldn't detain the assailant long enough for police to make an arrest. As a result, Maryland State Police and the Sykesville Police Department are searching for the clerk's attacker, and have obtained a warrant for Darrell Webb Jr., 21, of the 1800 block of Amanda Lane, Sykesville. Police said Webb is wanted for armed robbery, first degree assault and theft.

Grandmothers being groped in airport security may make headlines, but many people take invasive tactics for granted as a tradeoff for safety. They shouldn't. We are increasingly living in a police state whose scope and technological complexity is redefining the meaning of Big Brother, while systematically violating Americans' right to due process under the law. Take the report last week in The Los Angeles Times on the widespread use of drones by local law enforcement agencies around the country.

The man accused of taking money from Maryland schools in order to produce Ravens players for assemblies – and then not following through but keeping the funds – was arrested Tuesday in Aberdeen, police said. Joseph Gill, of Annapolis, was taken into custody by the Aberdeen Police Department on a warrant from Queen Anne's County, said Dale Patrick, a spokesman for Queen Anne's County's office of the sheriff. He is being held at the Harford County Detention Center on $10,000 bail.

Harford County sheriff's deputies and Maryland State Police report: Aberdeen Steven Ryan Dalmida, 47, of the 800 block of Oxford Avenue, was arrested on two bench warrants Thursday in cases he was charged with paraphernalia possession and two counts of marijuana possession. Timothy S. Mauck, 20, of the 100 block of Poplar Hill Road, was charged Thursday with marijuana possession and possession with intent to distribute. Derek Edwin Snidow, 20, of the 1400 block of Old Philadelphia Road, was charged Friday with being a rogue and vagabond.

A Baltimore Police officer was shot in the arm by a Baltimore County officer Monday afternoon while in Odenton serving a warrant with a law enforcement task force, police said. The city officer, who was not identified, was shot at about 2:15 p.m. in the 100 block of Pinecove Ave., in a townhouse community east of Fort Meade, officials said. The injury was described as a "through and through" wound and was not considered life threatening, though he was taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center as a precaution.

Baltimore police officers serving a warrant on a man wanted in a minor crime said they stumbled on a stash house in Mount Vernon where more than 8 pounds of marijuana worth an estimated $25,000 on the street were being stored. Detective Jeremy Silbert said the rowhouse where the drugs were found on Monday is in the 800 block of Cathedral St., near the Baltimore School for the Arts and Mount Vernon Park, where a holiday lighting festival is scheduled at the Washington Monument on Thursday.