Search for Affordable Insurance Consumes Small Business Owners

WASHINGTON – John Slingluff’s business is conveyor belts

Maryland Officials Worry Bush Insurance Plan Could Hurt Small Businesses

WASHINGTON – Maryland officials fear that a White House proposal to let small businesses in different states pool resources and buy health insurance could ruin a decade-old state insurance program

`USDA Organic’ Seal Doesn’t Seem to Stick With Consumers, Producers

WASHINGTON – Four months after the first nationwide rules on organic food went into effect, they appear to have made little difference to consumers, retailers and producers

Potassium Iodide Distribution Reached Thousands in Shadow of Nuclear Plants

WASHINGTON – Maryland officials who distributed potassium iodide tablets to residents near nuclear power plants reached twice as many people as they had hoped to last year, but there is still room for improvement, they said Friday

Senate Panel Forwards Death Penalty Moratorium

ANNAPOLIS – With just one vote to spare, a controversial bill to stop Maryland’s use of the death penalty for three years made its way out of a Senate committee Friday

Deeper Budget Cut Proposals Unite Higher Education Leaders

ANNAPOLIS – Public and private college presidents banded together in an unusual show of camaraderie Thursday to fight additional higher education budget cuts

Public Smoking Ban Gets Legislative Airing

ANNAPOLIS – Calling working in smoky pubs a “death penalty,” Sen

Tears, Pleas Mark Hearing On Death Penalty Bills

ANNAPOLIS – Madison Hobley, 42, on Illinois’ death row for 12 years before he was exonerated in January by the outgoing governor, cried after testifying before Maryland’s House Judiciary Committee Thursday

Senate Committee Examines Campaign Financing Reforms

ANNAPOLIS – A Senate panel Thursday examined campaign financing against the backdrop of a General Assembly grappling with slot machines and a study that linked gaming and $500,000 in election donations

Maryland’s Poor Kids Fend for Themselves When Snow Closes Schools

WASHINGTON – When winter weather closes Maryland’s public schools, it also shuts down the school lunch programs that provide tens of thousands of Maryland’s poorest kids with guaranteed meals