BALTIMORE – Young people who enter the work force immediately after graduation from high school have poor writing, reading and communication skills, according to findings of a new survey by the Maryland Business Roundtable for Education

ANNAPOLIS – Three Western Maryland counties will get about $500,000 to maintain and expand local parks, the Board of Public Works announced Wednesday

ANNAPOLIS – Voter support for an increase in the state sales tax on cigarettes may be stronger than party loyalty, according to poll results released Wednesday by an anti-tobacco coalition

WASHINGTON – A House panel voted Wednesday to offer more life insurance coverage to federal workers and their families

ANNAPOLIS – The Board of Public Works is expected Wednesday to transfer $30,100 in state funds to the University of Maryland at College Park for a library dedicated in memory of Lucille Maurer, the late state treasurer

ANNAPOLIS – The Maryland Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that when a parent consents to a police search of his or her home, police may search any personal belongings left in common areas by a minor child, even if the child objects

WASHINGTON – Eighth-graders in Maryland public schools scored below the national average in a science test last year, the Education Department said Tuesday

ANNAPOLIS – A program that provides rehabilitative services for non-violent substance abuse offenders will take its first steps Wednesday toward expanding into six other counties

WASHINGTON – Montgomery County continued to lead Maryland in business development, but neighboring Howard County and sections of the Eastern Shore and Western Maryland experienced faster growth rates, the government reported

WASHINGTON – NAACP officials and black federal workers, calling the Interior Department racist and “the whitest of all federal agencies,” Tuesday demanded Secretary Bruce Babbitt’s resignation