JESSUP – Nine Girl Scouts, in unison with their mothers, pledged to respect authority, be honest, fair and responsible for their actions, and to make the world a better place — from behind the walls of a prison

WASHINGTON – The number of autistic children in Maryland’s public schools has grown by roughly 300 students per school year for four years, according to the state Department of Education, but advocates say it is difficult to pinpoint a single cause

LANHAM – Kristine Cruikshank’s business cards used to proudly display the words “woman-owned corporation

LANHAM – Kristine Cruikshank’s office is decorated in gray and blue ocean tones, a perfect color scheme to go with the sound of water trickling from a Japanese-style water fountain her employees gave her

ANNAPOLIS – Cotton swab users beware: flagrant violation of manufacturers’ warnings could leave you with wadding in your ear

ANNAPOLIS – Reused “single-use” medical devices accounted for less than 1 percent of first-quarter 2000 cases of possible device malfunctions, according to an analysis of newly released Food and Drug Administration data

ANNAPOLIS – A Maryland manufacturer’s infant warmer system pops up on a Food and Drug Administration database of medical device problems more than 40 times since 1992, but that doesn’t mean the device is faulty

WASHINGTON- Maryland-based contractors earned $11

ANNAPOLIS – Like special agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully on TV’s “X- Files,” Craig Rovelstad and Wendy Irminger are working together on a flying- object mystery

ANNAPOLIS – Small suburban airports are increasingly at odds with development interests in Maryland as the surging economy provides landowners with strong incentives to cash in their airports or the open spaces around them