ANNAPOLIS – Walking up a stairwell in the Naval Academy’s massive Bancroft Hall, Midshipman 3rd Class Grant Garcia points out a noticeable rut in the floor on the outside of the staircase

GLEN BURNIE – Mike Lichtenberg, 17, was waiting to get his driver’s license when he learned about tough new licensing restrictions that could take effect for teens like his friend, 16-year-old Nick Conway

ANNAPOLIS — For nine years, Angela Thomas relied on welfare to care for her family

ANNAPOLIS – The Court of Special Appeals upheld attempted armed carjacking and kidnapping convictions of man who complained that Prince George’s County Police let the victim identify him when “he looked as if he was

ANNAPOLIS – The statistics indicate that welfare reform in Maryland has been a breeze

ANNAPOLIS – Maryland lawmakers continued to expand victims rights this year, approving bills that will notify victims of plea bargains and give more people the right to speak at parole hearings

WESTOVER – Sheila Harding watched from behind a glass wall as the man who murdered her daughter with three blasts from a shotgun explained why he should be let out on parole after serving half of his 30-year sentence

ANNAPOLIS – Faced with a state mandate to perform 75 hours of community service, students in Caroline County’s Colonel Richardson High School decided to lobby for repairs to the aging Dover Bridge

CAMBRIDGE – Barbara Ennels Lake stood in the chilly one-room schoolhouse, looking beyond the buckets and tools that crowd the room now to a past when she learned to read and write

ANNAPOLIS – Child advocates are calling 1998 the best legislative session in memory, with passage of bills that upgrade standards and salaries for child welfare workers and make it easier to take children from abusive — even murderous — parents