COLLEGE PARK – State election officials say they are satisfied that thousands of new touch-screen voting machines will function properly in four counties this fall, although experts have raised concerns about the accuracy and usability of the machines

COLLEGE PARK – A Silver Spring woman has been named one of the nation’s top 10 journalism students by the Scripps Howard Foundation

WASHINGTON – When personal watercraft rental businesses open for the season, their stock will include 5,000 quiz books

WASHINGTON – The number of personal watercraft accidents in Ocean City has fallen significantly since the state enacted stricter safety regulations in 1996, according to a review of six years of Coast Guard recreational boating accident reports

WASHINGTON – A mandatory Maryland boating safety course is apparently neither mandatory nor significantly promoting safety, according to an analysis of Coast Guard boating accident statistics

ANNAPOLIS – Six Flags’ Batwing coaster didn’t kill the 16-year-old Maryland girl last Sept

ANNAPOLIS – Willie Collier knew he was an outsider the first time he climbed the State House steps

ANNAPOLIS – Think “lobbyist,” and money, influence and lots of backslapping are some of the things that come to mind, says Ann Ciekot, one of 695 such folks registered to prowl the halls of Maryland’s General Assembly

ANNAPOLIS — The Big Daddy of State House lobbyists, Bruce Bereano’s prowess is so secure he withstood a felony conviction — pushing bills from a pay phone while serving time for mail fraud

WASHINGTON – Maryland manufacturers released significantly fewer toxic chemicals into the environment in 1999 than they did a decade before, according to the latest statistics available from the Environmental Protection Agency