ANNAPOLIS – The Maryland Department of Agriculture’s animal health program is “totally incapable” of handling a large-scale animal health emergency without considerable help from other state and federal agencies, State Veterinarian Roger Olson told members of the Senate Health Subcommittee this week

ANNAPOLIS – School and county officials are mostly pleased with the recommendations of a commission set to overhaul the state’s education funding system, especially the call to end property tax caps in five counties

WASHINGTON – The Bush administration Friday refused to approve Maryland’s use of a project labor agreement on a contract for Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge, the latest thrust in a battle that has already delayed bids on the project by two months

WASHINGTON – Rockville resident Henry Rapalus, 78, will be in Hawaii on Friday, 60 years to the day after he was a young sailor handling ammunition on a naval destroyer when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor

WASHINGTON – Calvert County veteran John Smith thinks American Airlines pilot Charles Burlingame died like a hero and that he deserves to be buried like a hero

ANNAPOLIS – Maryland legislators should receive a 38 percent raise in their salaries over a four-year period starting in January 2003, the General Assembly Compensation Commission recommended Thursday

WASHINGTON – Supreme Court justices peppered lawyers from Verizon Maryland Inc

ANNAPOLIS – Maryland’s kindergarten classes could get a little older in the coming years, according to a proposal approved by the State Board of Education yesterday

COLLEGE PARK – Ben Hyman is only 13, but he has a lot to teach local government officials about Smart Growth

ANNAPOLIS – Gov