Recent stories by Tim Wheeler

June 16, 2013

O'Malley lobbies EPA to ease cruise ship pollution rule

Gov. Martin O'Malley has interceded with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on behalf of Carnival Cruise Lines after the company threatened to pull its business from Baltimore over a pending air-quality regulation that would require large, ocean-going ships to burn cleaner fuel.

5:34 PM EDT, June 14, 2013

A patch of green brightens Broadway East

A new urban park is bringing a patch of green to a once-blighted corner of Broadway East, a project organizers hope can be a model for improving the quality of life and reducing pollution in other distressed Baltimore neighborhoods.

6:21 PM EDT, June 10, 2013

Baltimore gets $400,000 to redevelop brownfields

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Monday that it is awarding $400,000 to the Baltimore Development Corp. to evaluate potentially contaminated property in the city for cleanup and redevelopment.

8:10 PM EDT, June 10, 2013

City considering fee on shopping bags

Baltimore might impose a 10-cent fee on every plastic and paper bag distributed by merchants in the city — a move praised by environmentalists as a litter deterrent but decried by some businesses who say it would hurt them and their shoppers.

9:25 AM EDT, June 8, 2013

Police officer, tow truck driver injured in JFX accident

A city tow-truck driver was knocked 25 feet off the Jones Falls Expressway on Friday and a police officer was injured in a pair of afternoon rush-hour crashes that involved a water rescue of the victim who'd fallen into the storm-swollen stream below, police said.

7:33 PM EDT, June 4, 2013

Dismal shad run puts Conowingo Dam in crosshairs

It's been a busy but ultimately disappointing spring for the crew that runs the big fish lift at Conowingo Dam.

10:22 PM EDT, May 28, 2013

Derailed train carried toxic chemicals

The freight train that derailed Tuesday in Rosedale carried one chemical classified as hazardous by the U.S. Department of Transportation and another that also posed risks for firefighters and others at the scene even though not similarly classified.

8:26 PM EDT, June 6, 2013

Wyman Park stream turns colors in hunt for sewage leak

A stream flowing through Wyman Park turned bright pink, then lime green Thursday as city crews attempted to pinpoint with dye a break in a sewage pipe that officials estimate has spilled tens of thousands of gallons of untreated human waste into the tributary of the Jones Falls.

8:59 PM EDT, May 28, 2013

Royal Farms fined for Md. fuel leaks

Royal Farms has agreed to pay a $600,000 penalty for fuel leaks at two of its Maryland outlets and to check dozens more for possible problems, the state Department of the Environment said.

5:28 PM EDT, May 31, 2013

State sticks with Smith Island buyout

State officials have decided to forge ahead with a controversial offer to buy out about 10 homeowners on Smith Island as part of a plan for helping Somerset County recover from superstorm Sandy.

8:39 PM EDT, May 22, 2013

Alarming declines seen in frogs, salamanders

Some of springtime's more notable heralds appear to be fading away, as a new study finds frogs, toads and salamanders disappearing at an alarming rate across the United States.

6:43 PM EDT, May 21, 2013

Calvert Cliffs reactor shut down

One of two reactors at the Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant in southern Maryland was shut down again Tuesday, the second unplanned outage in the past two weeks.

7:39 PM EDT, May 19, 2013

Agencies aim to restore bay's depleted oysters, a creek at a time

It's planting time in the Chesapeake Bay, just as it is on land for farmers and gardeners across Maryland.

1:41 PM EDT, May 23, 2013

Calvert Cliffs nuclear unit restarts

Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant in southern Maryland restarted one of its two reactors Thursday after fixing the mechanical problem that caused its shutdown two days earlier, a Constellation spokesman said.

9:04 PM EDT, May 20, 2013

Casino site contamination prompts new lawsuit

A pair of Baltimore residents filed suit Monday accusing the city of breaking the law by allowing toxic chemicals to leach into the Patapsco River from the South Baltimore site where a casino is now under construction.

8:00 PM EDT, May 13, 2013

Maryland to limit female crab catch

Maryland moved Monday to reduce the commercial harvest of female blue crabs in the aftermath of a survey finding that the Chesapeake Bay's crab population hit a five-year low last winter.

8:16 PM EDT, May 15, 2013

Somerset drops buyout of Smith Island homes

A proposed buyout of Smith Island homeowners to help them escape future damage from tropical storms and rising waters has been dropped amid vocal resistance from residents of the low-lying community in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay.

6:35 PM EDT, May 12, 2013

Smith Islanders debate buyout offered by state

Superstorm Sandy barely laid a glove on Smith Island last fall, to hear residents tell it. Though storm-driven flooding damaged hundreds of homes in Crisfield and the rest of Somerset County, only a couple islanders got any water in their homes from the surging Chesapeake Bay.

5:22 PM EDT, May 9, 2013

Calvert Cliffs nuclear reactor shuts down

One of two reactors at the Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant in Southern Maryland shut down suddenly Wednesday night after an as-yet-unexplained malfunction, a Constellation spokesman said.

1:46 PM EDT, May 10, 2013

Rising temperatures increase health risks

Summer is almost here, and with it likely some blistering hot days. A recent study suggests the elderly should beware when the temperature spikes, because they face an increased risk of winding up in the emergency room short of breath on those days. And that's just a taste of what health problems to expect as global climate change cranks the heat up in many places.

10:57 PM EDT, April 30, 2013

Toxic waste in Severn wells investigated

Groundwater contamination from toxic waste dumped decades ago at a nearby factory in the Severn area has prompted widespread testing of residential wells and put eight homes on bottled water, state officials said.

7:24 PM EDT, April 15, 2013

Group offers to check park by planned city casino for pollution

A Washington-based nonprofit group has offered to test for toxic contamination in city park land that borders a new casino being built in South Baltimore, but City Hall says it's not interested.

10:54 PM EDT, May 3, 2013

Cyclist hit in Pikesville

A Pikesville man was seriously injured Friday when he was struck by a sport utility vehicle while bicycling near his home, Baltimore County police said.

4:57 PM EDT, May 3, 2013

New Calvert Hall principal named

Charles Stembler, long-time assistant principal at Calvert Hall College, has been chosen the next principal of the Catholic high school in Towson. Brother Thomas Zoppo, president of the school's board announced Stembler will assume his new duties July 1. He replaces Louis Heidrick, who retired after 48 years at the school, spending the last 12 as principal.

7:34 PM EDT, April 28, 2013

Eastern Shore wind project confronts eagles, Navy

A wind power project proposed on the lower Eastern Shore that's struggling to overcome objections from the Navy has a new, airborne worry — bald eagles.

8:55 PM EDT, April 7, 2013

Businesses, nonprofits object to stormwater fees

Residents across the Baltimore region could soon be hit with annual bills of $18 to more than $100 to pay for stormwater treatment, wetland restoration and other projects aimed at improving Chesapeake Bay water quality.

5:37 PM EDT, April 21, 2013

Food-scrap composting finds a home in Howard

Howard Hord considers himself a chef of sorts, but the food he works with is a little past its prime.

8:29 PM EDT, March 26, 2013

Bill would give farmers 10-year reprieve on new regs

A bill moving through the General Assembly would give Maryland farmers a 10-year reprieve from new state or local environmental regulations if the state Department of Agriculture deems they're doing their part to clean up the Chesapeake Bay.

9:39 PM EDT, April 5, 2013

State Senate gives preliminary OK to medical marijuana bill

The General Assembly is poised to pass legislation that would make Maryland the 19th state to legalize marijuana use for medical reasons — though how quickly the state's cancer patients and others might benefit remains in question.

8:08 PM EDT, April 24, 2013

Delmarva Peninsula fox squirrel makes recovery

Trapped in a steel cage barely big enough to hold her, the large squirrel was not happy, pawing at the bars and trying them with her teeth.

12:32 AM EDT, April 9, 2013

Measure to delay collection of runoff fees dies in state House

A move to delay controversial new fees to help clean up the Chesapeake Bay failed Monday night, when a Senate-passed measure to postpone the stormwater charges didn't get a vote in the House of Delegates.

7:31 PM EDT, March 22, 2013

House passes city school construction bill

The House of Delegates overwhelmingly approved a $1.1 billion plan Friday to rebuild Baltimore's deteriorated school buildings, sending the bill to the Senate.

12:24 AM EDT, March 27, 2013

Bill would give farmers 10-year reprieve on new regs

A bill moving through the General Assembly would give Maryland farmers a 10-year reprieve from new state or local environmental regulations if the state Department of Agriculture deems they're doing their part to clean up the Chesapeake Bay.

9:13 PM EDT, April 3, 2013

Bill to wrest power from Prince George's school board wins support

A bill authorizing a partial takeover of the troubled Prince George's County school system by the county's top elected official won critical support in Annapolis Wednesday.

4:58 PM EDT, March 31, 2013

Abandoned Henryton hospital slated for demolition

Perched on a wooded bluff in rural southeastern Carroll County, the old Henryton State Hospital bears silent witness to the ravages of decades of neglect and vandalism. First opened in 1923, the 18-building complex that once housed the sick and handicapped now appears beyond hope of recovery itself.

8:42 PM EDT, March 11, 2013

Judge temporarily blocks Baltimore casino construction

A Baltimore Circuit Court judge ordered a halt Monday to construction work on the city's planned casino until a hearing Friday on a lawsuit by Westport residents alleging that the city and state improperly approved an inadequate cleanup of industrial contamination at the site.

7:47 PM EDT, March 19, 2013

Legislation encourages wind farm, but hurdles remain

After three years of trying, Gov. Martin O'Malley has won approval of legislation that aims to spur construction of towering wind turbines off Maryland's Atlantic coast.

9:43 PM EDT, March 18, 2013

O'Malley offshore wind bill passes

Gov. Martin O'Malley achieved a long-sought victory Monday night as the General Assembly gave final approval to his bill to encourage development of a wind energy industry featuring dozens of giant turbines off the state's Atlantic coast.

12:29 PM EST, March 9, 2013

'Fracking' brings prosperity, problems to Pennsylvania

Times are good these days at the Linde Corp., where despite a sluggish economy nationally, the company is on a hiring binge.

March 10, 2013

Ginseng, once widespread in Maryland, now dwindling

Ginseng, one of the most sought-after medicinal herbs in the world, once flourished across much of Maryland. It has nearly vanished now, though, from all but the westernmost counties, prompting officials to ponder banning commercial harvest of the lucrative plant from all state lands.

9:57 PM EST, March 8, 2013

O'Malley administration backs medical marijuana bill

Gov. Martin O'Malley's administration withdrew its opposition to legislation allowing doctors and nurses to dispense medical marijuana to patients through academic medical centers, raising prospects for passage this year.

12:38 AM EST, March 2, 2013

Police say Levy pictures may include child pornography

Baltimore police said Friday that patient pictures taken by Johns Hopkins gynecologist Dr. Nikita Levy could contain child pornography, and they've turned the evidence over to the FBI for analysis.

8:01 PM EST, March 1, 2013

Aberdeen 'Super Pond' ordered closed

Aberdeen Proving Ground's "Super Pond" has been closed indefinitely while investigations continue into the deaths of three divers in the underwater explosion test facility in the past month, the Army announced Friday.

7:37 PM EST, February 24, 2013

One of two missing Baltimore 13-year-olds returns home

One of two 13-year-old girls reported missing in Baltimore on Saturday night has returned home, city police said Sunday evening, but the other girl still has not been found.

10:30 PM EST, March 1, 2013

17-year-old shot in Northwest Baltimore

A 17-year-old was shot Friday in Northwest Baltimore, police said. The unidentified male victim was standing in the 5100 block of Chalgrove Ave. around 5:22 p.m. when an unknown male suspect began shooting at him, striking him in the torso.

8:35 PM EST, February 20, 2013

Westport residents suing to ensure casino site is properly cleaned

Six Baltimore residents financed by an environmental group sued the owner of Baltimore's yet-to-be-built casino, the city and the state, alleging that they colluded to skirt rules governing the study and cleanup of "highly contaminated properties" near their neighborhood.

8:39 PM EST, February 14, 2013

Archbishop Lori, O'Malley among parade of witnesses urging death penalty repeal

Sensing a real chance to abolish the death penalty in Maryland after years of trying, opponents of capital punishment brought a parade of religious, political and civil rights leaders to Annapolis Thursday to urge lawmakers to do away with the ultimate sanction.

3:49 PM EST, February 9, 2013

With brother on death row, a sister waits

At the time of her brother's arrest and trial, Patricia Booth-Townes supported the death penalty — "an eye for an eye," as she put it. Even after her brother was sentenced to die, she says, she didn't waver. She just didn't believe he'd committed that heinous crime, despite the evidence presented in court.

5:09 PM EST, February 17, 2013

Fish abnormalities found in three rivers

Scientists have found reproductive abnormalities in yellow perch in three Maryland rivers that are either heavily suburbanized or rapidly developing, which they say helps explain why the distinctive black-striped fish are not thriving in those Chesapeake Bay tributaries and may be linked to toxic pollution.

7:11 PM EST, February 23, 2013

Women weigh legal options in Hopkins case

Along with about 60 other women, Sophia Foreman went downtown Saturday to an Inner Harbor hotel to learn more about her legal options following the disclosure that her Johns Hopkins gynecologist had been accused of secretly photographing and videotaping his patients.

10:45 PM EST, February 13, 2013

In Annapolis, College Park shooting becomes part of the debate

The murder-suicide that left two University of Maryland students dead provided fresh fodder in Annapolis Wednesday for lawmakers debating whether to tighten Maryland's gun laws, with supporters saying the tragic incident gave them new resolve while opponents cautioned against rash responses.

8:27 PM EST, February 7, 2013

Eastern Shore farmer, Perdue seek attorneys' fees

The lawsuit may be over, but the bitter legal battle continues.

8:34 PM EST, February 5, 2013

Paper mills reap millions from state energy law

A Western Maryland paper mill and several others in the region have collected millions of dollars over the past eight years by taking advantage of an obscure provision in a state law that is supposed to encourage the development of wind, solar and other renewable energy projects.

7:16 PM EST, February 4, 2013

Black colleges seek more state funding

Hundreds of students and supporters of Maryland's historically black colleges and universities rallied Monday in Annapolis to press for increased state funding to make up for decades of discrimination.

8:15 PM EST, January 28, 2013

Environmentalists threaten to sue energy company

A trio of environmental groups warned Monday they would sue the operator of three coal-fired power plants in Maryland for allegedly discharging excessive amounts of nutrient pollution into Chesapeake Bay rivers and trying to mask their violations by transferring pollution "credits" among facilities.

February 2, 2013

Maryland's farm oversight called weak

As large-scale poultry farmers are required to do, Alan Hudson of Berlin filed a plan last year with Maryland environmental regulators spelling out how he intended to prevent manure from his flocks from fouling the Chesapeake Bay.

7:03 PM EST, January 13, 2013

Coal-ash pollution at three Maryland landfills to be cleaned up

The operator of three coal-fired power plants in Maryland has agreed to pay a total of $2.2 million in penalties and fix long-standing pollution problems at the landfills in Southern Maryland and Montgomery County where it disposes of the ash from those plants, according to court documents.

8:45 PM EST, February 6, 2013

Thousands go to Annapolis for gun-control rally and hearing

Several thousand Marylanders went to Annapolis to voice their opinions on gun control Wednesday as the General Assembly began considering Gov. Martin O'Malley's sweeping proposal to impose new limits on the purchase of firearms.

7:23 PM EST, January 28, 2013

New western Maryland wind energy project in works

While Maryland lawmakers debate whether to subsidize a large wind energy project in the Atlantic Ocean off Ocean City, an Annapolis company is moving ahead with plans for the state's third land-based wind "farm."

6:08 PM EST, January 18, 2013

Maryland child dies from flu

A Baltimore area child who died in December has tested positive for influenza, state health officials announced Friday, declaring it the first pediatric flu death in Maryland this winter.

6:20 PM EST, January 20, 2013

State drilling wells in Salisbury to probe contamination

State environmental officials are drilling monitoring wells on the outskirts of Salisbury to get a better handle on ground-water contamination there that has fouled dozens of household wells with a potentially cancer-causing chemical, according to a spokesman.

1:02 PM EST, January 15, 2013

Fight brews on Maryland drink deposit law

In a bid to boost recycling and reduce litter, a trio of lawmakers announced plans Monday to push for legislation that would levy a refundable nickel deposit on every beverage container sold in Maryland.

3:39 PM EST, January 12, 2013

O'Malley readies new offshore wind bid

After being thwarted the past two years by skittish lawmakers, Gov. Martin O'Malley is preparing once again to introduce a bill aimed at planting mammoth wind turbines off Ocean City — and the measure may finally pass, thanks to a shake-up in a committee that stifled it last year.

5:19 PM EST, December 24, 2012

Wood touted as 'new' renewable fuel

Lee Richardson is a pioneer of sorts in taking a new look at a very old energy source.

6:54 PM EST, January 4, 2013

Dominion wins right to export liquefied natural gas

A Calvert County judge brushed aside Friday a potential legal hurdle to exporting liquefied natural gas via the Chesapeake Bay, ruling that Dominion, the Richmond, Va.-based energy company, does not need the Sierra Club's permission to convert its LNG import terminal at Cove Point.

7:32 PM EST, January 7, 2013

O'Malley panel urges 'fracking' safeguards

An advisory commission studying whether shale gas extraction should proceed in Maryland called Monday for new legislation to deal with potential abuses in leasing and drilling for the fuel, but environmentalists said so many questions remain about the safety of the drilling method known as "fracking" that they want lawmakers to impose a moratorium until the issue has been fully analyzed.

7:13 PM EST, January 11, 2013

Oversight of hospital billing found lacking

The state commission that regulates hospital rates has not kept adequate tabs on hospital billings, according to legislative auditors, who say that four hospitals they checked have overcharged by more than $13 million.

3:49 PM EST, December 21, 2012

Researchers map Maryland's forest carbon

If a tree falls in Maryland's forests — even if no one hears it — researchers soon will have a handle on how much it could contribute to global warming.

6:26 PM EST, December 19, 2012

State grant helps upgrade city sewage plant

The state Board of Public Works approved Wednesday a $75.2 million grant to help pay for upgrading Baltimore's Patapsco sewage treatment plant, Maryland's second largest.

5:58 PM EST, December 27, 2012

Zebra mussels spotted in upper bay

Zebra mussels have finally made their way down the Susquehanna River to the Chesapeake Bay, though it's unclear what if any harm the invasive aquatic species might do there.

8:28 PM EST, January 1, 2013

Reducing utility costs, hospital visits

The first winter after Danielle Smith bought her house in North Baltimore, the 35-year-old schoolteacher wondered if it even had a furnace, it was so cold and drafty.

10:57 PM EST, November 30, 2012

Man shot in Northeast Baltimore

A man was shot Friday night in the 3100 block Cliftmont Ave. in the Belair-Edison neighborhood of Northeast Baltimore, according to police. The victim's identity was not released, but police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi reported the victim suffered gunshot wounds to his extremities.

9:08 PM EST, December 20, 2012

Eastern Shore farmers, Perdue win pollution lawsuit

Ruling in a bitterly contested case with national ramifications, a federal judge found Thursday that the Waterkeeper Alliance failed to prove that an Eastern Shore farm's chicken houses were polluting a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay.

7:32 PM EST, November 16, 2012

Toxic mystery surrounds Salisbury-area wells

In the 20 years she's lived on the outskirts of Salisbury, Arlene White said she'd never noticed anything unusual about her tap water.

8:36 PM EST, December 28, 2012

State building changes ordered to avert flood damage

Declaring that Maryland's coastal areas are increasingly at risk from a rising sea level, Gov. Martin O'Malley has ordered state agencies to weigh the growing risks of flooding in deciding where and how to construct state buildings.

10:04 PM EST, November 15, 2012

Farmers, homeowners spar over preservation

Residents and farmers in western Howard County sparred Thursday night over whether three farm families should be allowed to reclaim the development rights on their farmland — the first-ever attempt to defect from Maryland's agricultural land-preservation program.

6:04 PM EST, November 28, 2012

3 more Salisbury wells found to be contaminated

Elevated levels of a toxic industrial solvent have been found in three more residential wells near Salisbury, the Maryland Department of the Environment reported Wednesday, as an investigation continues into ground-water contamination affecting dozens of homes in the area.

9:07 PM EDT, November 1, 2012

Groups disagree on menhaden commercial catch limits

Fishermen and conservationists sparred Thursday over how much to cut back the commercial catch of Atlantic menhaden along the East Coast to rebuild an ecologically and economically important fish population.

8:52 PM EST, December 14, 2012

Panel votes to cut menhaden harvest by 20 percent

In a move hailed by conservationists, East Coast regulators ordered Friday a 20 percent reduction in the commercial catch of Atlantic menhaden, despite warnings that the cutback would cost some fishermen their jobs and may affect crabbers in the Chesapeake Bay.

7:15 PM EST, November 30, 2012

Eastern Shore poultry pollution trial winds up

Lawyers squared off one last time Friday in a packed Baltimore courtroom to wrap up the long-running trial of a bitterly contested pollution lawsuit with ramifications for water cleanup efforts and the poultry industry in Maryland and nationwide.

5:21 PM EDT, October 25, 2012

Hopkins report calls for tighter gun laws

Challenging a major political taboo, Johns Hopkins researchers contend that tighter gun control laws will save lives and reduce violence, particularly if "high-risk" people such as alcoholics and youths under age 21 are barred from buying or having firearms.

4:46 PM EST, November 25, 2012

Baltimore firm aims to turn food waste into green business

Many people see Thanksgiving leftovers as too much of a good thing and toss them out. Vinnie Bevivino wants those uneaten castoffs and more — he sees a chance to make some green with them while going green.

6:24 PM EST, December 13, 2012

Fisheries panel to rule on menhaden

From Virginia, New Jersey and points in between, busloads of fishermen are coming to Baltimore for a showdown Friday over how much to curb the industrial-scale harvest of a small, oily fish that figures prominently in the seafood industry, though no one eats it directly. It also is an important food source for fish and wildlife in the Chesapeake Bay and beyond.

4:47 PM EDT, October 14, 2012

Large harbor floating wetland project stirs debate

If a little green might help restore Baltimore's ailing harbor, how can a lot be bad? That's the question city, state and federal officials are pondering as they weigh a local marina magnate's plan to fill an unused corner of the Inner Harbor with a large floating marsh.

7:59 PM EDT, November 2, 2012

Scientists find a little to like in 'Bay' film

SPOILER ALERT: This story reveals features of the plot.

12:14 PM EDT, November 2, 2012

Banging helmets to reduce brain injuries

Once cheered as the sound of a good hit, the loud crack heard on the gridiron when two football helmets collide is more often greeted these days by gasps, as fans recognize the game- and potentially even season-ending injuries such jarring impacts can cause.

9:06 PM EST, November 30, 2012

Powerball jackpot winner in Maryland?

The public fascination with who won the record $587.5 million Powerball jackpot turned to Maryland on Friday, as reports surfaced that a customer at an Upper Marlboro gas station claimed he had the coveted winning ticket.

5:54 PM EST, November 21, 2012

Baltimore County sewage spill from Sandy belatedly detected

A broken sewer line in Catonsville that went undetected for three weeks after the storm called Sandy passed through the area poured nearly 1.3 million gallons of raw waste into a tributary of the Patapsco River, Baltimore County officials reported Wednesday.

3:03 PM EST, November 10, 2012

Farmland preservation effort faces defections

There have been Mullinixes farming in western Howard County for more than a century. Nearly three decades ago, as a mark of their commitment to working the land, the family sold the development rights on their farms to the state of Maryland.

9:56 PM EDT, October 31, 2012

Volunteers work to help Eastern Shore recover

As J.C. Barbely looked at Assateague Island in his rearview mirror Saturday night, he was pretty sure his seaside home away from home wouldn't escape Sandy's fury. But Wednesday morning, the assistant manager of the Maryland Park Service's biggest money-maker readied to reopen the park for day use before the week was out.

7:24 PM EDT, October 22, 2012

Northwest development's impact on stream eyed

In a city struggling to rebuild its population, construction cranes would seem to be a welcome sign. But office, shopping and housing projects in the works in Northwest Baltimore have some residents worried about the impact of development on a degraded stream that flows through their neighborhoods on its way to the harbor.

8:06 PM EDT, October 9, 2012

Eastern Shore poultry pollution trial opens

Lawyers in a closely watched pollution lawsuit targeting an Eastern Shore chicken farm and the Salisbury-based poultry company Perdue presented radically different previews of the case Tuesday as the trial began in U.S. District Court in Baltimore.

7:43 PM EST, November 20, 2012

City storm-water pollution cleanup fee proposed

Just two weeks after Baltimore voters approved setting up a special fund for cleaning up the city's degraded streams and harbor, City Hall has proposed legislation to begin levying a "storm-water remediation fee" next year on all property owners.

7:24 PM EDT, October 30, 2012

Storm triggers big Howard sewage spill

Sandy knocked out power to Howard County's "water reclamation" plant in Savage, causing 20 to 25 million gallons of untreated but rain-diluted human waste to spill into the Little Patuxent River, a branch of one of the Chesapeake Bay's most degraded tributaries. County Executive Ken Ulman called the outage "unacceptable" and called for a "full audit" of how to prevent future overflows.

7:05 PM EDT, October 4, 2012

Court hears legal challenge to Chesapeake Bay 'pollution diet'

— In a challenge to the Obama administration's efforts to jump-start the lagging restoration of the Chesapeake Bay, lawyers for farmers and homebuilders argued in federal court here Thursday that the Environmental Protection Agency overstepped its legal authority and relied on a flawed computer model in setting a pollution "diet" for the ailing estuary.

6:26 PM EDT, October 2, 2012

Olson Wire Products fined for waste violations

Olson Wire Products Co. has agreed to pay an $80,000 fine to settle allegations it improperly stored hazardous wastes at its southwest Baltimore plant, the Environmental Protection Agency announced Tuesday.

8:47 PM EDT, October 16, 2012

Striped bass reproduction hits record low

The number of young striped bass in the Chesapeake Bay fell to a record low this year, a drastic decline from a near-record high the year before, state officials reported Tuesday.

7:53 PM EDT, September 28, 2012

Baltimore Co. shooting investigated

Baltimore County police said Friday they are investigating the shooting of a Gwynn Oak seafood business employee the night before.

5:30 PM EDT, October 9, 2012

Poultry pollution suit goes to trial

A dispute that started three years ago when environmentalists accused an Eastern Shore chicken farm and one of the nation's largest poultry companies of polluting a stream that ultimately flows to the Chesapeake Bay comes to a head Tuesday in a Baltimore federal courtroom.

10:31 AM EDT, September 29, 2012

Three shot in South Baltimore

Police are investigating a South Baltimore shooting Friday evening that wounded three men.

6:49 PM EDT, October 24, 2012

Verdict put off in poultry pollution lawsuit

Testimony wrapped up Wednesday in the federal court trial of a lawsuit accusing an Eastern Shore poultry farm and Perdue of polluting a Chesapeake Bay tributary, but a ruling isn't likely until later this year.

5:27 PM EDT, September 21, 2012

Dominion's LNG export bid sparks legal dispute

For four decades, the owners of the liquefied natural gas terminal at Cove Point in Calvert County have given a pair of environmental groups a say over expansion of the sprawling complex, originally built to import fuel from abroad via the Chesapeake Bay. By all accounts, it's been a cordial, cooperative relationship.

6:53 PM EDT, September 25, 2012

UniStar appeals Calvert Cliffs reactor rejection

UniStar Nuclear Energy has asked the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission to review the rejection of the French-controlled company's bid to build a third reactor at Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant.

9:51 PM EDT, September 7, 2012

Laurel dry-cleaner pleads guilty to improper disposal of solvents

The owner of a Laurel dry-cleaning business has pleaded guilty to improperly disposing of cleaning solvents near Millersville, Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler announced Friday. Mehret Sium, owner of Discount Dry Cleaners LLLC, entered guilty pleas Aug. 31 in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court to charges of illegal disposal of hazardous wastes and failure to follow hazardous-waste transportation requirements, according to court records.

3:52 PM EDT, September 15, 2012

Smith Island kidney patient waiting on a new 'gift of life'

Joan Corbin's day is governed by the humming box in the alcove off her living room. For nearly an hour in the afternoon and nine hours at night, the Smith Island resident must tether herself to a suitcase-sized dialysis machine to get rid of the waste building up in her body.

8:29 PM EDT, August 31, 2012

Calvert Cliffs nuclear power project facing 60-day deadline

Once promoted as the vanguard of a "nuclear renaissance," a proposed new reactor at the Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant in Southern Maryland now faces a major new roadblock, with federal regulators threatening to shelve the troubled $9.6 billion project unless the French-controlled developer comes up with a U.S. partner in the next two months.

10:35 PM EDT, September 7, 2012

Perry Hall shooting victim's condition improves

The Perry Hall High School student shot on the first day of school has improved to fair condition, according to a spokesman for Maryland Shock Trauma Center. Daniel Borowy, 17, had been listed in critical condition since Aug. 27, when he was shot in the back in the school cafeteria. He underwent multiple surgeries to treat his injuries. A Baltimore County grand jury indicted student Robert Wayne Gladden Jr. earlier this week on multiple charges including attempted murder, first-degree assault and reckless endangerment. Gladden, 15, who was charged as an adult, is accused of firing a gun in the cafeteria that he had brought to school from his father's home. He is at Spring Grove State Hospital, according to court documents.

7:22 PM EDT, August 29, 2012

Trash-burning power plant gets another airing

A disputed proposal to build a trash-burning power plant in South Baltimore gets another airing Thursday, as the Maryland Public Service Commission weighs whether to give the New York-based developer more time to build the $1 billion facility.

11:16 PM EDT, September 5, 2012

Hard 'scraping' brings soft-crab rewards

It's hard work catching soft crabs, a fickle livelihood in an increasingly precarious part of the world.

5:24 PM EDT, August 23, 2012

Coal terminal operator pays pollution fine

A Baltimore coal terminal operator has agreed to pay a $34,600 penalty and settle pollution violations alleged by the Environmental Protection Agency.

8:00 PM EDT, August 15, 2012

Maryland gets grant to help teach climate change

Teachers in Maryland are about to get new help and encouragement to talk about the touchy topic of global warming in their classrooms. The National Science Foundation announced Wednesday that it is awarding $5.8 million for improving climate-change education in Maryland and Delaware through a partnership including universities and school systems from both states.

8:21 PM EDT, September 28, 2012

Annapolis lobbyist hit with lead-paint citation

Annapolis lobbyist Bruce C. Bereano has been fined $13,000 by the Maryland Department of the Environment for allegedly violating state lead-paint regulations on two properties he owns in the capital. But Bereano disputes the state's charges, saying the homes he rents out are lead-free.

6:51 PM EDT, September 23, 2012

Dundalk port cleanup plan set

Decades after first discovering the problem, state officials have settled on a $27 million plan to keep a cancer-causing chemical in the ground at the Dundalk Marine Terminal from seeping into the Patapsco River and blowing into nearby residential areas.

6:47 PM EDT, September 11, 2012

Maryland seeks comment on low-level lead exposure

State health officials are seeking the public's advice on how to deal with new federal guidelines expanding the number of young children deemed at risk of harm from low-level lead exposure. The Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is considering whether to have local health departments follow all young children testing positive for low levels of toxic lead in their bloodstream, or to leave the least exposed youngsters to doctors and other health care providers to track.

4:40 PM EDT, August 19, 2012

Repairing aquaculture's Achilles' heel

As fish farming grows to feed a world hungry for protein, there's a hitch — the seas are being scoured of the little wild fish to feed the big captive ones destined for the dinner table.

9:39 PM EDT, August 9, 2012

Residents sue over Sparrows Point pollution

Residents around Sparrows Point filed suit Thursday against the owners of the Baltimore County steel mill and a cement plant on the peninsula, contending that neighbors' health has been put at risk and their property contaminated by pollution from industrial activities there.

4:47 PM EDT, August 13, 2012

Calvert Cliffs nuclear reactor shut down

Operators of the Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant in Southern Maryland have shut down one of the two reactors there because a control rod unexpectedly dropped into the reactor core, causing a reduction in power generation, a plant spokesman said Monday.

9:51 PM EDT, August 8, 2012

Plan to cut menhaden harvest advances, but questions arise

A plan to reduce fishing for Atlantic menhaden along the East Coast moved ahead Wednesday, though the scale of the cutback came into question amid new doubts about how much overfishing has hurt the economically and ecologically important species.

4:46 PM EDT, August 5, 2012

Conowingo Dam sediment buildup threatens Chesapeake Bay

On a hot summer day, it's hard to see how the Conowingo Dam could hurt the Chesapeake Bay. Anglers line the shore below the 94-foot high impoundment, casting out into the gently roiling Susquehanna River for rockfish breaking the water.

5:12 PM EDT, July 21, 2012

Decaying water system needs makeover

Back in the late 1700s, when Baltimoreans got their water from nearby streams, springs and wells, every household was ordered to keep two leather buckets filled to fight fires.

8:48 PM EDT, July 30, 2012

Western Maryland wind project faces limits to protect bats, birds

Maryland's first industrial-scale wind energy project would be required under a federal plan issued Monday to slow down its turbines at certain times of the year to reduce the number of endangered bats that might be killed by the long, spinning blades.

4:46 PM EDT, July 13, 2012

Research buzz: Australopithecus sediba diet

Benjamin H. Passey, assistant professor in the Johns Hopkins University's Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences

5:35 PM EDT, July 14, 2012

Crabbers go digital to report their catch

When Richard Young gets done with a day of crabbing, he often calls the co-owner of his seafood business on his cellphone to let her know he's headed back in.

9:11 PM EDT, June 29, 2012

Income tax rate rising for state's high-earners

High-earners in Maryland will feel a financial pinch as employers start withholding more money from paychecks to accommodate the higher income tax rates approved by the General Assembly in May and signed into law by Gov.Martin O'Malley.

8:58 PM EDT, July 11, 2012

Fraud cases leave biodiesel industry reeling

Biodiesel producers told a congressional panel Wednesday that they're struggling to stay afloat in the aftermath of fraud cases uncovered in Baltimore and Texas, and a spokesman for petroleum refiners faulted the Environmental Protection Agency for slow response to a crisis he said has cost the industry $200 million so far.

5:40 PM EDT, July 13, 2012

New health issues tied to low-level lead exposure

Despite dramatic progress in reducing Americans' exposure to lead over the past 25 years, a growing body of research finds that children and adults still face health risks from even very low levels of the toxic metal in their blood.

9:10 PM EDT, July 9, 2012

Chesapeake Bay cleanup on track, officials say

The multistate effort to restore the Chesapeake Bay is on track to meet its latest timetable for cleaning up the ailing estuary, even though states failed to achieve all the short-term pollution reduction goals they set for themselves three years ago, officials said Monday.

8:32 PM EDT, June 25, 2012

Perry Hall man convicted in biodiesel fraud case

A federal jury convicted a Perry Hall man Monday of wire fraud and money laundering for selling $9 million worth of bogus biodiesel credits to commodities brokers and oil companies — a case that has shaken the nation's renewable-fuel industry and prompted congressional inquiries about the adequacy of federal oversight.

4:33 PM EDT, June 20, 2012

Toll Brothers agrees to pay pollution fine

Toll Brothers, one of the nation's largest home-building companies, has agreed to pay $741,000 in penalties for allowing polluted runoff from construction sites in Maryland and 22 other states, the Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday.

7:40 PM EDT, July 10, 2012

O'Malley says utilities should explore burying some power lines

Gov. Martin O'Malley joined Tuesday in calling for Maryland's utilities to explore burying at least some of their overhead power lines in the wake of the freak storm that left hundreds of thousands of households in the dark last week and vulnerable to a killer heat wave.

10:31 PM EDT, July 6, 2012

Dundalk crash kills man

A Dundalk man died Friday after the motorcycle he was operating struck a Dodge pickup truck turning in front of him, Baltimore County police report.

3:57 PM EDT, June 24, 2012

Bay's 'dead zone' smaller this year so far

The "dead zone" that forms every spring in the Chesapeake Bay is smaller than average so far this year, state officials report.

4:53 PM EDT, June 14, 2012

Gas company to give $500,000 in fracking spill deal

A natural gas company has agreed to give $500,000 to monitor water quality in the Susquehanna River basin after a Pennsylvania well blowout last year spilled "fracking" fluids into a tributary of the river, Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler announced Thursday.

8:43 PM EDT, June 18, 2012

Biofuel company owner denies deceiving anyone

The defense lawyer for a Perry Hall man accused of fraudulently selling $9 million worth of fake renewable fuel credits said he didn't deceive anybody because victims knew they were buying phony credits for an unworkable federal energy program.

8:04 PM EDT, July 10, 2012

Septic, farm rules debated before lawmakers

Farmers, builders and rural officials joined Tuesday in blasting new state environmental regulations that would limit growers' use of fertilizer and require more costly but less polluting septic systems on all new homes not connected to sewers.

9:05 PM EDT, June 13, 2012

Roaming bears in suburbia not going away

Call it wildlife tourism in reverse. As spring turns into summer, young black bears hit the road, and in recent years it seems a few turn up on the outskirts of Baltimore, ambling across manicured lawns, rummaging through trash cans and raiding bird feeders.

11:01 AM EDT, May 29, 2012

Lyme disease tick study stirs dispute

Hundreds of Baltimore-area families have volunteered for a government study to spray their suburban yards with pesticide, which researchers hope can protect them from Lyme disease but that environmentalists warn is unsafe.

8:59 PM EDT, May 23, 2012

Fish kills grow in algae-tainted waters

Something's rotten on the Baltimore area waterfront. Fish are washing ashore by the thousands in a mass die-off that officials say appears to be caused by a weather-driven worsening of the pollution that chronically plagues the Chesapeake Bay.

4:43 PM EDT, June 17, 2012

Urban farm raising greens, jobs

Farming in the city doesn't need a lot of land — and sometimes not even arable land. On a South Baltimore parking lot, inside six plastic-covered greenhouses, a handful of urban farmers are raising a cornucopia of greens in a thin layer of imported soil.

4:40 PM EDT, May 19, 2012

Trees linked to less crime, research finds

Who doesn't love a tree? Apparently, criminals. Researchers have found that leafier places in Baltimore tend to have lower crime rates than those with few or no trees.

3:58 PM EDT, June 16, 2012

Maryland biofuel fraud case rattles industry

The case that has rattled the nation's renewable fuels industry began with some flashy cars.

8:16 PM EDT, June 6, 2012

Baltimore landlord gets prison for lead-paint violations

A Baltimore landlord with a long history of violating lead-paint poisoning laws was sentenced Wednesday to a year and a day in prison by a federal judge, who called the now-bankrupt businessman a "scofflaw."

7:22 PM EDT, May 1, 2012

Baltimore officials tout greening efforts

With its dandelions, clover and discarded cigarette butts, the little "bioswale" in front of the Salvation Army community center in West Baltimore won't win any lawn-care prizes. But the shallow, weedy depression collects rainfall washing off an acre of litter-strewn pavement and filters out pollution that otherwise would foul the harbor.

9:09 PM EDT, July 6, 2012

Grand Prix construction to start by end of July

Organizers of the Grand Prix of Baltimore say they plan to start construction on the downtown auto race circuit by the end of July and finish just in time for the three-day Labor Day weekend event.

7:24 PM EDT, May 21, 2012

Warning against contact with water in lower Patapsco is lifted

A warning against water contact in the lower Patapsco River issued nearly two months ago has been lifted, the Anne Arundel County health department announced Monday.

5:57 PM EDT, July 9, 2012

Ospreys in Back River get 'nest calls'

Perched atop a weathered navigational marker near Rocky Point in Back River, the osprey shifted nervously, screeched and flew off as a boat full of people approached. With the raptor circling overhead, Rebecca Lazarus climbed onto the marker and peered into its nest, a tangled heap of tree branches and scraps of plastic.

12:48 PM EDT, May 9, 2012

Emails show close ties between O'Malley, Perdue lawyer

A series of emails between Gov. Martin O'Malley and Perdue's corporate lawyer shows what an environmental group calls a "cozy relationship" between the two law school classmates as Maryland's chief executive weighs farm pollution regulations of concern to the Salisbury-based poultry producer.

8:26 PM EDT, July 2, 2012

Maryland's crab outlook, like weather, iffy

Independence Day means steamed crabs for many Marylanders, but the outlook for celebrating the nation's birthday with a heaping tableful of locally caught crustaceans is as iffy as the weather of late.

7:15 PM EDT, May 29, 2012

More Baltimore-area fish kills reported

Dead fish continued to surface Tuesday in Baltimore-area waters, though the conditions that scientists believe have been causing the weeklong die-off may be moderating slightly.

12:58 PM EDT, June 14, 2012

Fish kills fade, troublesome algae remain

The fish kills that have plagued Baltimore's Inner Harbor and nearby creeks over the past two weeks may have eased with the dip in temperatures, but scientists caution that's not the last we've seen of potentially toxic and even deadly algae blooms in area waters.

7:45 PM EDT, May 3, 2012

Study: Pollution trading could trim bay cleanup costs

Steep projected costs for cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay could be trimmed by billions of dollars, a new study suggests, by allowing polluters to buy "credits" for less-expensive reductions made by others.

7:51 PM EDT, April 25, 2012

Offshore oil exploration plan draws fire

The Obama administration's latest move to permit testing for oil and gas off Maryland and other Atlantic coast states is drawing flak from both environmentalists and the oil industry.

9:19 PM EDT, May 16, 2012

CDC lowers lead poisoning threshold

The number of young children deemed at risk of lead poisoning in Maryland and nationwide expanded drastically Wednesday as a federal health agency declared it would effectively cut in half its threshold for diagnosing the environmental illness.

7:38 PM EDT, May 14, 2012

Domino sugar plant settles pollution lawsuit

The owner of the Domino sugar refinery in the Inner Harbor has agreed to pay a $200,000 civil penalty and install pollution controls to settle a federal lawsuit accusing the plant of violating the Clean Air Act.

7:30 PM EDT, April 23, 2012

Warehouse owners plead guilty in metal theft plot

Two Baltimore men who owned a warehouse have pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiring to transport stolen nickel, which had been imported through the Port of Baltimore, the U.S. attorney's office announced Monday.

10:48 PM EDT, April 29, 2012

Scientists use algae to scrub harbor water

In their quest to cure Baltimore's ailing harbor, advocates and authorities have tried one gadget after another: floating wetlands, a solar-powered aerator, even a trash wheel.

7:09 PM EDT, May 22, 2012

6,000 fish killed in Arundel creeks

State officials are investigating what killed thousands of fish in Marley and Furnace creeks in northern Anne Arundel County, but suspect they suffocated after an algae bloom sucked the oxygen out of the water, a Maryland Department of the Environment spokesman said Tuesday.

11:13 PM EDT, April 23, 2012

Suspicious death investigated

City police are investigating a suspicious death Monday in Northeast Baltimore, a police spokeswoman said. The death was reported around 2:45 p.m. in the 5400 block of Hillburn Ave., said Det. Nicole Monroe. No further details were immediately available.

6:41 PM EDT, May 2, 2012

Chesapeake Bay Foundation to appeal Sparrows Point ruling

Environmental groups are appealing a federal judge's ruling that the owners of the Sparrows Point steel mill need only do a limited search for offshore pollution from the plant.

2:18 PM EDT, May 5, 2012

Grand Prix trees finally getting planted in city

It's said good things come to those who wait. But somebody still has to pay for them.

7:26 PM EDT, April 23, 2012

City man gets life plus 20 in murder

A West Baltimore man, Tyrone L. Webb Jr., 31, was sentenced Monday to life plus 20 years in prison for killing his girlfriend, dumping her body in the woods and reporting her missing, according to the city state's attorney's office.

7:49 PM EDT, April 23, 2012

Cardiologist's defamation suit dismissed

A Baltimore County Circuit Court judge dismissed Monday a defamation lawsuit filed by Dr. Mark Midei against St. Joseph Medical Center, barring the embattled cardiologist from seeking damages against his former hospital in the scandal over unnecessary heart stent procedures he's been accused of performing.

7:54 PM EDT, April 18, 2012

October trial set in Shore pollution suit over chicken waste

A new trial date has been set for Oct. 9 in an environmental group's lawsuit accusing an Eastern Shore farm couple and Perdue Farms of polluting a Chesapeake Bay tributary.

7:03 PM EDT, April 10, 2012

Safety violation charged at Calvert Cliffs

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has charged Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant with a safety violation after an employee "deliberately became inattentive" — meaning he was caught napping — last year in the room housing diesel generators for use in an emergency.

7:24 PM EDT, April 19, 2012

Crab population has rebounded, state says

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.

8:38 PM EDT, April 10, 2012

Environmentalists praise assembly session

While others found much to criticize about this year's General Assembly, environmental activists hailed it Tuesday as the most significant in decades for advancing long-running efforts to restore the Chesapeake Bay.

4:51 PM EDT, April 17, 2012

Unusual weather worsened Chesapeake Bay's health

Heavy spring rains, a hot summer and two major storms caused the Chesapeake Bay's overall health to worsen last year, scientists said Tuesday, though there apparently was a slight improvement in the Baltimore area's Patapsco and Back rivers, long considered among the bay's most degraded tributaries.

9:58 PM EDT, April 13, 2012

Harbor pollution going public, real-time

Boaters, anglers and anyone bold enough to swim in Baltimore's troubled harbor will soon be able to get timely information about whether they're risking an upset stomach or infection from splashing in water fouled with sewage leaks and other pollution.

3:43 PM EDT, April 14, 2012

McCormick warehouse cuts energy bill to zero

With 369,000 square feet under roof, it would seem McCormick & Co.'s sprawling distribution center in Belcamp would have an eye-popping power bill, with some 3,300 light fixtures and a refrigerated storage area big enough to drive forklifts in and out.

9:14 PM EDT, March 22, 2012

Contaminant search limited around Sparrows Point

A federal judge signed off on a deal between government regulators and the owner of the Sparrows Point steel plant requiring the company only to look near its shoreline for toxic contaminants it might need to clean up.

8:14 PM EDT, April 17, 2012

Democrats, GOP lawmakers disagree on need for special session

Democrats and Republicans sparred Tuesday over whether a special session of the General Assembly is needed to pass tax increases to avert steep budget cuts, while Moody's Investors Service warned the situation could hurt the credit ratings of localities that depend on state aid.

10:48 PM EDT, March 19, 2012

Farm pollution lawsuit spurs public relations battle

With a catch in her throat, Kristin Hudson talks in a video posted online about her young daughter asking if "they" will take away her daddy's farm.

4:07 PM EDT, March 25, 2012

Fruit growers fret over early spring

Just as they do every April, the fruit orchards at Larriland Farm have donned their spring finery.

7:15 PM EDT, March 20, 2012

Plan finds state on track to reduce greenhouse gases

Maryland is largely on track to meet its goal of reducing climate-warming pollution 25 percent by the end of the decade, according to O'Malley administration officials, but still needs legislation being debated in Annapolis to put wind turbines off Ocean City, limit sprawl and increase funding for mass transit.

9:55 PM EDT, March 13, 2012

North Point dump declared a Superfund site

For nearly 30 years, local, state and federal authorities have wrestled with what to do about an old dump in North Point that's been leaking toxic waste into nearby wetlands and Back River.

5:54 PM EDT, March 14, 2012

A new champion grows in Baltimore

There's a new champion in Baltimore. Not a sports team, a tree. Tucked amid a clump of loblolly pines in Druid Hill Park stands Maryland's largest striped maple.

9:11 PM EDT, March 12, 2012

Smoke returns plane to BWI

A Delta Air Lines flight to Atlanta returned to Baltimore late Monday afternoon after passengers smelled smoke in the cabin, an airline spokesman said.

8:09 PM EST, March 6, 2012

Lawmakers gird for renewed debate on lead poisoning

With efforts to reduce lead poisoning among children at a crossroads, Maryland lawmakers are wrestling with proposals to expand state regulation of home sales, rentals and repairs to reduce youngsters' exposure to the toxic metal.

10:52 PM EDT, April 8, 2012

Artificial wetlands to grow in Inner Harbor

Baltimore's Inner Harbor is about to dramatically enlarge one of its newest attractions — one meant to draw crabs and fish as well as tourists.

6:37 PM EDT, March 12, 2012

Three waterways opened for shellfishing

Parts of three waterways have been opened to shellfish harvesting after tests showed declines in bacteria there, the Maryland Department of the Environment announced Monday.

5:01 PM EST, March 2, 2012

Museum marks USS Monitor's 150th anniversary

One hundred fifty years ago this month, two strange-looking ships met near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay and changed the course of naval, if not American, history.

8:23 PM EST, March 6, 2012

Gas drilling study fee debated

A study of how or whether to allow a controversial drilling method for extracting natural gas in Western Maryland cannot be finished without funding, state officials told lawmakers Tuesday.

6:05 PM EST, February 26, 2012

Federal agency investigating sand-blasting hazards

For years, the wastes from burning coal and producing copper have enjoyed a second life, used in sand-blasting to remove paint, rust and grime from ship's hulls, storage tanks, bridge trusses and other surfaces. Painting contractors, shipyard workers and thousands of others in Baltimore and across the country are said to use the black, gritty material called slag.

6:02 PM EST, March 5, 2012

Review finds Fort Detrick cancer studies inconclusive

An independent panel of scientists says two government-issued studies can't show if people were harmed by toxic pollution from Fort Detrick contaminating the ground water, but further studies are unlikely to answer lingering questions about the health impacts of the cancer-causing chemicals buried decades ago at the Frederick military base.

7:55 PM EST, February 14, 2012

O'Malley grilled on green agenda

Gov. Martin O'Malley fielded skeptical questions from lawmakers about three of his top environmental initiatives Tuesday as he appealed to them to approve bills aimed at promoting offshore wind energy, limiting development and improving water and sewer systems.

5:59 PM EST, February 18, 2012

EPA gives mixed grades on Chesapeake Bay cleanup plans

Federal regulators have given mostly high marks to the latest Chesapeake Bay cleanup plan drafted by Maryland but found fault with Pennsylvania's and Virginia's restoration blueprints.

7:47 PM EST, January 30, 2012

UM 'synthesis' center seeks to balance nature, people

Scientists, economists, politicians, educators and even an artist gathered Monday in Annapolis to mark the launch of an unusual University of Maryland think tank that aims to bring academic disciplines together to tackle thorny environmental issues.

7:24 PM EST, March 7, 2012

Blackwater wetlands bought

Another 112 acres of wetlands are being added to Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge near Cambridge, federal officials announced Wednesday.

9:44 PM EST, February 2, 2012

U.S. gives green light to offshore wind farms

Lighting Maryland homes with power from giant turbines off Ocean City moved closer to reality Thursday as federal officials announced they are ready to go forward with leasing vast areas along the Mid-Atlantic coast for wind farms.

6:13 PM EST, January 31, 2012

It's official: Atlantic sturgeon 'endangered'

The federal government declared Tuesday that it's formally listing most Atlantic sturgeon along the East Coast — including in the Chesapeake Bay — as endangered, providing new legal protection for the big, prehistoric-looking fish believed to be at risk of extinction.

4:14 PM EST, January 9, 2012

Richard K.C. Hsieh

Richard K.C. Hsieh, a public health specialist and former National Library of Medicine official who in retirement traced his family tree back to seventh-century China, died of a heart attack Dec. 31 at his Towson home.

8:56 PM EST, January 20, 2012

O'Malley 'flush fee' increase may fall short

With the Chesapeake Bay cleanup at a critical juncture, Gov. Martin O'Malley is calling on Marylanders to double down on their contribution to the effort, proposing to raise the "flush fee" every household pays from $2.50 to $5 a month, on average.

7:38 PM EST, January 5, 2012

Report urges more manure-to-energy efforts

Maryland and other Chesapeake Bay states struggling to clean up the degraded estuary should do more to encourage projects that convert farm animal manure to energy, a new report says.

1:20 PM EST, January 8, 2012

Fire in West Baltimore home injures one person

A fire in a West Baltimore home on Sunday slightly burned one person, a fire department spokesman said.

7:35 PM EST, January 24, 2012

Effort to save cranes sees successes, challenges

Just as it can with human couples, sharing a good meal apparently sparks thoughts of love among whooping cranes.

7:13 PM EST, January 8, 2012

Rugelach sold in Md. recalled because of eggs

A New York company that makes vanilla rugelach sold in Maryland stores is recalling the product because it contains undeclared eggs, which may cause a life-threatening illness if consumed by anyone with an allergy or severe sensitivity to eggs.

6:51 PM EST, February 6, 2012

Man charged in shooting death

A 43-year-old man has been charged with murder in the shooting death of a 25-year-old man found dead last week in a Northeast Baltimore home, police said.

10:06 PM EST, February 6, 2012

County police investigate sex assault on teen in Catonsville

Baltimore County police said Monday that they were seeking information on a sexual assault that occurred three weeks ago in the Catonsville area.

4:07 PM EST, February 15, 2012

Maryland sturgeon restoration effort in limbo

— "Sturgie" is biding his time, waiting to be introduced to the right female.

3:41 PM EST, January 8, 2012

Va. man is killed in one of two S. Baltimore shootings

Baltimore police are investigating two shootings that occurred overnight in South Baltimore, one of which killed a Richmond, Va., man, a police spokesman said Sunday.

5:51 PM EST, January 5, 2012

Calvert Cliffs reactor challenge to be aired

Federal regulators plan a hearing Jan. 26 on a challenge to a French company's bid to build a third reactor at the Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant, and will take public comments the day before.

7:34 PM EST, January 3, 2012

Nearly $2 million in grants to restore Eastern Shore habitat

Nearly $2 million in federal grants have been awarded to protect and restore wetlands on the Eastern Shore, including a portion to enhance wildlife habitat on a 950-acre former bird sanctuary whose owner just donated the development rights to the state.

8:11 PM EST, February 10, 2012

Natural gas exports eyed through Calvert County

— It's quiet these days at Dominion's liquefied natural gas terminal in the Chesapeake Bay. Only five tankers docked last year at the pier a mile off the Calvert County shoreline, and not much traffic is expected this year, either.

6:16 PM EST, December 15, 2011

Watermen charged with oyster violations

An Eastern Shore watermen faces up to $28,000 in fines for multiple oystering violations in Dorchester County, the Maryland Natural Resources Police said Thursday. Officers charged Joshua T. Tieder, 23, of Taylors Island with 13 counts of possessing undersized oysters, 14 counts of failing to tag the location of his harvest and one count of exceeding the daily catch limit.

6:45 PM EST, December 21, 2011

Former Eastern Shore sanctuary to be preserved

In a deal hailed as a model for land preservation in lean budget times, a wealthy businessman has agreed to give up development rights — and grant limited but free public access — to a 950-acre former wildlife sanctuary on the Eastern Shore that he bought 18 months ago.

8:22 PM EST, December 13, 2011

Plan aims to make harbor swimmable by 2020

Seeking to end a long history of abuse and neglect of Baltimore's waters, an ambitious new plan calls for a concerted public and private campaign to curb sewage leaks and littering and make the harbor swimmable by decade's end.

6:54 PM EST, December 26, 2011

City, suburban residents try hand at fish farming

The aquarium in the living room of Meir and Leah Lazar's Baltimore County home isn't just for decoration. The tilapia and bluegills packed into the 50-gallon glass tank are waiting their turn to wind up on dinner plates.

11:05 PM EST, February 6, 2012

Three city shootings leave one dead, one seriously wounded

One man was killed and another seriously wounded Monday afternoon in separate shootings, according to city police. A third man was shot Monday night.

8:05 PM EST, February 8, 2012

Lawmakers debate ban on arsenic in chicken feed

Chicken farmers nationwide have stopped feeding their flocks a drug containing arsenic since a 2011 government study suggested the cancer-causing metal may be tainting poultry, but Maryland lawmakers are still struggling with whether to ban the once-widespread practice.

6:54 PM EST, January 10, 2012

Marylanders favor offshore wind, poll says

As Gov. Martin O'Malley prepares to renew his push to build industrial wind turbines off Maryland's coast, a new poll shows strong public support even if the outlook for offshore wind development has grown cloudier lately.

8:36 PM EST, December 12, 2011

City, counties foresee costly bay cleanup tab

Maryland's counties and cities say they will need to spend billions of dollars to take the extra steps needed to restore the Chesapeake Bay to health by 2020, the deadline the state gave them for action.

8:06 PM EST, January 26, 2012

Maryland power plant closing to avoid pollution rules

An aging, little-used power plant in Williamsport is slated to be closed later this year rather than meet new federal air-pollution limits, its owner announced Thursday, in what could be a spate of such shutdowns resulting from the controversial Obama administration regulation.

4:31 PM EST, January 8, 2012

Delay sought for trash-burning power plant in Fairfield

A New York-based company that had announced more than a year ago it was ready to start building a disputed trash-burning power plant in south Baltimore is now seeking a waiver of a state-imposed deadline to begin work on the $1 billion project within the next month

4:49 PM EST, December 11, 2011

Police investigate nonfatal shooting in West Baltimore

Baltimore City police said they were investigating a Sunday morning shooting in West Baltimore.

5:25 PM EST, December 11, 2011

Man, 20, arrested on drug charges in Arundel

A 20-year-old Upper Marlboro man was arrested on drug charges Saturday after police said they recovered bags of marijuana that he tossed while trying to flee from a police officer, according to Anne Arundel County police.

4:29 PM EST, December 31, 2011

Gas leasing in Western Maryland spurs calls for reform

— The first natural gas well has yet to be drilled into the Marcellus shale deposits underlying Western Maryland, but ripples already are being felt here from an industry that has brought wealth — and controversy — in neighboring states where drilling has proceeded apace.

5:52 PM EST, December 11, 2011

Habitat group rehabs 300th home in Sandtown

Edging closer to its goal, Sandtown Habitat for Humanity and its volunteers have finished rehabilitating their 300th home in the blighted West Baltimore neighborhood where the nonprofit group has been laboring for more than 20 years.

11:29 AM EST, December 11, 2011

Three die in Cumberland house fire

Three people died early Sunday in a house fire in Cumberland, according to the state fire marshal's office.

10:33 AM EST, December 11, 2011

Two men charged in Edgewood homicide

Two men have been charged with murder in the shooting death of an Edgewood man, according to the Harford County sheriff's department. Christopher Curtis Alves, 21, was killed Thursday in the 1300 block of Harford Square Drive in Edgewood.

11:53 AM EST, December 11, 2011

Police officer and 2 motorists injured in W. Baltimore crash

A Baltimore police officer and two motorists were injured around 7 a.m. Sunday when their vehicles collided at the intersection of Clifton Ave. and N. Longwood St. in West Baltimore, police said. All three were taken to a hospital with what were believed to be non-life-threatening injuries, according to Det. Kevin Brown, city police spokesman. The crash is under investigation, he said.

11:44 AM EST, December 11, 2011

Ellicott City man dies after car hits tree, overturns

An Ellicott City man died early Sunday in a single-vehicle crash in Howard County, police said.

3:30 PM EST, December 10, 2011

Sewage leaks foul Baltimore streams, harbor

Heavy rains routinely trigger big sewage overflows in Baltimore, but there is growing evidence that chronic leaks from the region's aging, cracked sewer lines are a bigger threat to public health.

4:27 PM EST, November 14, 2011

446,000 gallons sewage spilled in Gwynns Falls

A sewer overflow in Southwest Baltimore spilled an estimated 446,000 gallons of untreated waste into the Gwynns Falls on Sunday, city officials reported Monday.

7:35 PM EST, November 21, 2011

State fertilizer rules moving ahead over objections

State officials are plowing ahead with new rules on how and when farmers can fertilize their fields, despite last-minute objections from environmentalists that the proposed limits have been weakened in an apparent bid to mollify agricultural interests.

10:06 AM EST, December 11, 2011

Six injured in Beltway pileup

A pileup involving eight vehicles on Interstate 695 in Catonsville Sunday morning sent six people to area hospitals, including a state trooper, and blocked outer loop Beltway traffic for about 30 minutes, Maryland state police said.

9:15 PM EST, December 1, 2011

Audit finds shortcomings at Maryland Department of the Environment

A suspicious pattern of bidding on state grants for installing less-polluting septic systems — part of a wide-ranging critique of the Maryland Department of the Environment — has prompted legislative auditors to call for a criminal investigation.

6:47 PM EST, November 8, 2011

Chesapeake Bay cleanup fee increase proposed

A state task force called Tuesday for tripling the "flush fee" Maryland homeowners pay as a way to help finance an accelerated cleanup of the Chesapeake Bay.

4:48 PM EST, November 18, 2011

O'Malley voices disapproval of law school clinic's pollution suit

Gov. Martin O'Malley has revived a simmering political dispute over the University of Maryland law school's role in a lawsuit accusing an Eastern Shore farm and the Perdue poultry company of polluting a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay.

6:09 PM EST, November 24, 2011

Maryland environmental law clinic focuses on enforcement

Thelma Boyd and her Cheverly-area neighbors were at their wits' end when they connected with the University of Maryland's environmental law clinic.

11:31 PM EST, November 7, 2011

Gas line break cuts off Locust Point

Residents and businesses in Locust Point face life without natural gas for heat, cooking and heating water for "several" days after a contractor ruptured a 12-inch main serving the South Baltimore neighborhood, according to Baltimore Gas and Electric Co.

6:47 PM EST, November 25, 2011

Fingers crossed for Mars launch at Goddard

Florence Tan says she'll have fingers and toes crossed when NASA's latest Mars mission blasts off as early as Saturday morning from Cape Canaveral in Florida.

5:40 PM EST, November 7, 2011

2 cases of legionnaires at Hampden senior home

Baltimore city health officials have confirmed two cases of legionnaires disease at a Hampden nursing home.

8:05 PM EST, November 10, 2011

Grand Prix group misses tree-planting deadlines

Add another problem to the mounting woes for the financially troubled organizers of Baltimore's inaugural Grand Prix auto race — the company has missed all its deadlines for planting trees downtown to make up for those cut down for the Labor Day weekend event.

8:28 PM EST, November 29, 2011

State tries to cope with backlog of pollution violation cases

— Charles S. Long was upset to discover that a bulldozer had cleared the land next to his, knocking down trees and uprooting day lilies on his property in the process.

5:26 PM EST, November 29, 2011

State trying to cope with backlog of pollution violation cases

FEDERALSBURG — Charles S. Long was upset to discover that a bulldozer had cleared the land next to his, knocking down trees and uprooting day lilies on his property in the process.

9:18 PM EDT, October 25, 2011

Panels recommended higher Md. taxes, fees

Two groups charged with figuring out how the state can pay for new roads, a cleaner Chesapeake Bay and other key functions of government suggested the same basic answer Tuesday: Marylanders should be asked to dig a little deeper into their pockets.

8:46 AM EST, November 15, 2011

Regional climate compact created jobs, study says

Maryland and other Northeastern states have helped their economies with "cap-and-trade" regulation of their power plants' carbon dioxide emissions, a new study finds.

8:38 PM EDT, November 3, 2011

Study finds signs of gradual Chesapeake Bay recovery

Efforts to reduce pollution of the Chesapeake Bay are starting to pay off, a major new study says, finding that despite weather-driven ups and downs, the "dead zone" that stresses fish and shellfish every summer has actually shrunk, on average, in recent years.

10:26 PM EST, November 8, 2011

BGE begins forced entries into homes as it repairs gas leak

Natural gas service will be restored to customers in Locust Point starting late Wednesday and the company has begun forced entries into homes as part of repair efforts, according to a Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. official.

5:50 PM EDT, October 14, 2011

$5.7 million grant awarded to fight stink bugs

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is committing $5.7 million to find non-chemical means to control stink bugs, the brown pests from Asia that wreck fruit and vegetable crops and invade homes when the weather cools.

6:13 AM EST, November 9, 2011

Survey finds oyster die-off intense but limited

State biologists have found "concentrated pockets" of dead oysters in the upper Chesapeake Bay, which they blame on a record-high influx of fresh water into the estuary this year. But the die-off appears so far to be limited to two areas north of the Bay Bridge, officials note, which together account for just 2 percent of the state's overall oyster harvest.

5:18 PM EDT, November 2, 2011

Baltimore scientists find low but possibly harmful Gulf contamination

Scientists from the National Aquarium and the Johns Hopkins University say they've found low but potentially harmful levels of toxic oil contaminants in the Gulf of Mexico months after the Deepwater Horizon well blowout was capped.

7:22 PM EDT, October 11, 2011

O'Malley vows new offshore wind push

Gov. Martin O'Malley vowed Tuesday to renew his stymied push for building wind turbines off Maryland's Atlantic Coast but said he's not sure yet what type of government incentive he'll ask lawmakers to approve for the industry next year.

November 8, 2011

State investigating storm-related oyster die-off

The tropical storm that deluged Maryland in early September may have killed off many of the oysters in the upper Chesapeake Bay, a Department of Natural Resources spokesman said Monday.

3:58 PM EDT, October 18, 2011

Paint company pays $570,000 waste fine

The Sherwin-Williams Co. has agreed to pay $570,000 to settle alleged hazardous-waste violations at its southwest Baltimore paint plant, the Environmental Protection Agency announced Tuesday.

7:07 PM EDT, October 30, 2011

Catch limits debated for 'most important fish in sea'

A big fight is brewing over a little fish — a fish that no one wants to eat but that many regard as the most important in the sea.

9:15 PM EDT, October 24, 2011

Md. court strikes down landlord protection in lead paint law

Maryland's highest court struck down Monday a key provision of state law that shielded owners of older rental housing from civil lawsuits — and potentially costly payments to victims — if they took precautions to protect children in their units from lead-paint poisoning.

7:27 PM EDT, October 13, 2011

Millions unaccounted for in biodiesel fraud case

A federal prosecutor said Thursday that the government has recovered only a third of the $9 million that authorities charge a Perry Hall businessman with taking from his customers in a massive biofuel fraud scheme.

9:43 PM EDT, October 16, 2011

Handcrafted, everyday beauty from Africa on display

Beauty can be found even in the utilitarian.

5:16 PM EDT, October 10, 2011

Home builder to pay pollution fine

The Ryland Group, one of the nation's largest home builders, has agreed to pay $625,000 in penalties for storm-water pollution violations at construction sites in 14 states, including Maryland.

9:08 PM EDT, October 12, 2011

Biofuel fraud case puts industry under scrutiny

On its website, Clean Green Fuel offered customers "a unique blend of biodiesel" made from vegetable oil that would produce less air pollution and help reduce the nation's dependence on petroleum.

4:46 PM EDT, October 8, 2011

A death from cancer, and a search for answers

Randy White had just buried a daughter, dead at 30 with a brain tumor. Now his other daughter had been diagnosed with growths in her abdomen.

6:33 PM EDT, October 5, 2011

Annapolis electric-vehicle charging business grows

An Annapolis company has received an order to produce 1,500 electric-vehicle charging stations to serve the small but growing number and variety of plug-in, battery-powered cars on America's roads.

7:37 PM EDT, September 30, 2011

Maryland state offices going off the bottle

The O'Malley administration has decided to stop buying bottled water for state facilities where tap water is available, saying it's striking a blow for frugality and the environment at the same time.

7:29 PM EDT, September 25, 2011

Septic pollution woes divide Kent Island

— Residents of Kent Island are never far from the water. That's what drew many of them to the largest island in the Chesapeake Bay, where they're close to boating, fishing and all nature's bounty.

7:47 PM EDT, October 7, 2011

Scientists fault biodefense lab planning at Fort Detrick

A panel of independent scientists has found flaws in the Army's planning to shield workers and the public from harm from a proposed biodefense laboratory at Fort Detrick in Frederick.

7:32 PM EDT, August 31, 2011

Calvert Cliffs nuclear plant due greater scrutiny

Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant in Southern Maryland is due for closer scrutiny by federal regulators after unspecified security lapses discovered there earlier this year.

6:48 PM EDT, September 27, 2011

Study eyes Chesapeake Bay pollution threat from dams

Two weeks after Tropical Storm Lee flushed millions of tons of mud into the Chesapeake Bay, state and federal officials announced Tuesday they are launching a study of how to protect the estuary from sediment and other pollutants building up behind dams on the Susquehanna River.

6:55 PM EDT, September 28, 2011

Arundel man charged for shore tree removal

A Severna Park man has been charged with illegally removing trees from his and neighboring community property along the Severn River, in what officials say is the first criminal prosecution for alleged violations of laws regulating shoreline development.

7:11 PM EDT, September 15, 2011

Chesapeake Bay effort faulted for lack of common goals

A new report says the Chesapeake Bay restoration effort is handicapped by the failure so far of the federal government and bay watershed states to agree on common goals for reviving the troubled estuary.

9:04 PM EDT, September 1, 2011

Grand Prix aims to be green, but challenges remain

When race fans roll into town for the Baltimore Grand Prix this weekend, they can expect to find the Inner Harbor course lined with more than 1,200 recycling bins, and their drinks will be served in cups made of biodegradable corn instead of plastic.

9:12 PM EDT, September 20, 2011

Lead poisoning cases decline in Md., but gaps remain

Lead poisoning, once widespread, appears on the way to becoming a rarity among children living in old rental housing in Baltimore and the rest of Maryland. But the problem is growing among youngsters who live in owner-occupied and newer rental homes, and that is prompting state officials to look for new ways to fight the longtime health scourge.

3:13 AM EDT, October 3, 2011

Solar home business shining in Maryland

It might not seem to be a bright investment right now, after weeks of seemingly endless clouds and rain, but solar panels are popping up on rooftops all over Maryland.

8:53 PM EDT, September 2, 2011

Hurricane Irene leaves sewage spills in wake

Hurricane Irene did more than topple trees and turn out the lights across the Baltimore area. The storm left behind some nasty, stinky reminders of its fury, as sewage spills forced beach closures and triggered warnings to stay away from the water as summer draws to a close.

9:34 PM EDT, August 3, 2011

Grand Prix to plant more trees than it cuts

Baltimoreans — at least some of them — care passionately about their trees. One thousand of them signed onto an online petition by late Wednesday calling on City Hall to "halt the clear-cutting" of trees downtown so race fans could get a better view of the Baltimore Grand Prix. The petition drive's organizer said he planned to go to court to block any further tree removal for the three-day street race.

7:24 PM EDT, July 25, 2011

Musicians, volunteers dig up school parking lot to help bay

Kyle Scheren and other members of the punk band So Long Arletta work up a sweat when they perform, but nothing like what they got Monday wielding picks and shovels to turn an old school parking lot in Hampden into a garden and outdoor education space.

9:58 PM EDT, August 9, 2011

Study urges greater protection of Chesapeake Bay's female crabs

A new scientific study finds that though the Chesapeake Bay's blue crab population is basically healthy, it has yet to recover enough from trouble a few years ago to be considered completely stable.

9:52 PM EDT, July 15, 2011

Chessie the manatee pays return visit to Chesapeake Bay

Chessie, the wandering Florida manatee that has visited the Chesapeake Bay at least twice over the past 17 years, is back. The well-traveled mammal has not been seen since 2001, and his resurfacing is making waves among marine scientists and bay folk alike.

8:21 PM EDT, August 31, 2011

Maryland's oysters more depleted than thought, study says

A new scientific study recommends halting all commercial harvest of oysters in Maryland, warning that the ecologically important bivalves are even more depleted than previously believed and that continuing to catch them risks eliminating them altogether from much of the upper Chesapeake Bay.

7:27 PM EDT, September 13, 2011

Green jobs economy has hits and misses in Maryland

Dirty, used oil promises to bring some badly needed jobs to Baltimore, one recycling company says. But energy-saving light fixtures aren't proving to be the growth business that another company thought they were — at least not yet.

7:44 PM EDT, August 7, 2011

Crabbers seek to take charge of their future

The sun is just peeking over the treetops as Billy Rice steers his 24-foot boat, Miss Jill, out into the Potomac River.

7:02 PM EDT, August 24, 2011

Federal grant to protect endangered beetles in Md. cliffs

The Obama administration announced Wednesday it is providing $2.4 million to protect endangered Puritan beetles living in cliffs overlooking the Chesapeake Bay.

12:21 PM EDT, July 8, 2011

EPA rule seeks to curb long-distance air pollution

In a sweeping move aimed at curbing long-distance air pollution that afflicts the health of 240 million Americans — including Marylanders — the Environmental Protection Agency is ordering power plants across much of the eastern United States to sharply curtail emissions.

9:33 PM EDT, July 17, 2011

Dirty trucks in port targeted

With more than a million miles on the road, Armand Patella's 19-year-old Ford 9000 truck has seen better days.

5:15 PM EDT, August 27, 2011

University of Maryland launches beehive project in city cemetery

An overgrown graveyard downtown, where some of Baltimore's early historical figures rest in walled isolation, buzzes now with new life.

12:27 PM EDT, September 15, 2011

Chesapeake Bay fouled by Susquehanna flooding

The Chesapeake Bay looks like a dirty bathtub, its waters turned brown with mud and awash in pollution and floating debris, including uprooted trees, propane tanks, even a battered dining-room chair.

3:41 PM EDT, July 14, 2011

Greening rolls back blight in Reservoir Hill

When Gerrie Okwesa moved to Reservoir Hill five years ago, she had no intention of staying long. Vacant rowhouses marred the block, and a fence obstructed one end of the street where she lived — put there by police, she was told, to disrupt the drug trafficking that plagued the neighborhood.

8:26 PM EDT, August 8, 2011

Judge tosses out Grand Prix tree suit

Residents angered by the removal of trees downtown to make way for the Baltimore Grand Prix got a sympathetic but firm lesson in the law Monday, as a city Circuit Court judge summarily dismissed a lawsuit seeking to prevent any more trees from coming down.

6:46 PM EDT, July 27, 2011

Calvert Cliffs nuclear plant security faulted

Federal nuclear safety inspectors found unspecified "security deficiencies" at the Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant in southern Maryland earlier this year, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission disclosed Wednesday.

7:13 PM EDT, July 5, 2011

Volunteers try to restore Maryland's vanishing butterfly

Don't look now, but Maryland's state insect is fluttering away.

9:17 PM EDT, July 4, 2011

Draft Chesapeake Bay rules rile farmers, local officials

State officials looking to clean up the Chesapeake Bay are weighing a series of new restrictions on how and when farmers can fertilize their fields — and on when municipal sewage treatment plants can spread their sludge on farmland.

8:33 PM EDT, June 28, 2011

Response to homeowners' lead dust concerns highlights holes in system

The dust was thick enough that Sally Dworak-Fisher could trace letters in it with her finger.

10:11 PM EDT, June 24, 2011

Federal help for restoring Patapsco pledged

Obama administration officials converged Friday on Baltimore to announce a new initiative to clean up and redevelop blighted urban watersheds — with the ailing Patapsco River one of seven waterways chosen nationwide to test a partnership between federal agencies and local communities. 

7:47 PM EDT, June 27, 2011

Crabs plentiful for now, though still pricey

Crabs are plentiful so far this year in Maryland, but that doesn't mean there'll be enough to go around on Independence Day weekend, when nearly every patriotic Marylander, it seems, dreams of feasting on the state's official crustacean. Nor will they be cheap — with the price for a bushel of big Jimmies, or male crabs, topping $200 in some places.

11:39 PM EST, February 28, 2011

Baltimore loses federal lead-paint funding

Baltimore, where thousands of buildings contain lead-based paint that can poison young children, has lost federal funding for abatement programs due to mismanagement of its most recent grant, officials said Monday.

8:29 PM EST, March 11, 2011

Health department investigating destruction of lead paint records

The state's health secretary said Friday that his department's laboratory has destroyed test results dating back to the 1980s documenting lead poisoning of Maryland children — potentially thousands of records that plaintiffs' lawyers say are crucial to pursuing lawsuits seeking damages on behalf of poisoned children and their families.

7:58 PM EDT, July 12, 2011

Court limits Sparrows Point pollution liability

In a ruling that's left Dundalk-area residents shaking their heads, a federal court has declared that recent owners of the century-old steel-making complex at Sparrows Point can't be made to clean up past contamination of surrounding waters.

11:14 AM EDT, May 27, 2011

Gadget aims to breathe life into Baltimore's harbor dead zone

Something new is floating in the Inner Harbor. Not litter this time, but a space age-looking gadget meant to see whether new life can be breathed into the troubled body of water.

8:59 PM EDT, June 17, 2011

U.S. provides funds for farm pollution control

Maryland got an infusion of $2 million in federal funds Friday to pay state farmers to plant cover crops in winter, replacing state money cut from one of the most effective efforts to reduce nutrient pollution fouling the Chesapeake Bay.

8:17 PM EDT, April 12, 2011

Officials revamp lead-paint removal program

City officials said Tuesday that they've revamped Baltimore's struggling program to remove lead-paint poisoning hazards from housing after losing a $3.9 million federal grant, and intend to reapply soon for federal funds to underwrite the effort.

1:01 PM EDT, June 20, 2011

Oyster farming off to a slow start in Maryland

— The dock built to hold water-filled tanks of baby oysters stands empty. The new marina for landing fully grown bivalves is being used for now by some crabbers.

January 30, 2011

Healing Baltimore's harbor

Ray Bahr ought to be taking it easy. He's 75 and retired after a successful career as a cardiologist. Instead, the Canton resident finds himself prowling alleys in East Baltimore on the lookout for illegally dumped trash and goading city officials to clean up mini-landfills in back of abandoned houses.

11:07 AM EDT, May 1, 2011

Two wounded in separate city shootings Saturday

Two men were wounded in Baltimore city Saturday in separate shootings, police said.

8:28 PM EDT, April 20, 2011

Schaefer's bay, environmental efforts recalled

When William Donald Schaefer was elected governor 25 years ago, Maryland's environmentalists braced for the worst. During his run for statewide office, the longtime mayor of Baltimore had talked about rolling back moves by his predecessor to save a dying Chesapeake Bay.

8:02 PM EDT, July 11, 2011

Maryland offshore wind area slashed

The Obama administration took another step Monday toward opening the Mid-Atlantic coast for offshore wind development, but in the process slashed Maryland's potential stake in the developing new energy industry by more than half.

Thanksgiving dinner's carbon footprint

As if you need another reason to feel guilty about chowing down on Thanksgiving Day, consider this: researchers at the University of Manchester in England figure that a turkey-n-trimmings feast for eight produces approximately 44 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions. About 60% of that planet-warming gas comes from the life cycle of the turkey, alone. And that doesn't include drinks.

4:34 PM EDT, April 6, 2011

Civil war events

Sesquicentennial events abound as the four-year observance of the Civil War begins this week. Here's a sampler of those upcoming in the next few months:

4:24 PM EDT, April 6, 2011

Civil War sites in Maryland

While the first shots of the Civil War were fired on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor in South Carolina, the first blood spilled in fighting occurred in Baltimore on April 19, 1861, when a mob of Southern sympathizers clashed with Massachusetts soldiers who'd debarked from a train on their way to Washington. Eight rioters, one bystander and three soldiers were killed, while dozens were wounded.