Local News - The Daily Record

It may come as a surprise to some that France routinely used the guillotine as its official method of capital punishment until 1977, when Hamida Djandoubi became the last man guillotined in the port town of Marseilles.

The title is "Step Brothers." You know, because there are two of them. But Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly are essentially playing the same person, which is the movie's fundamental, irreparable flaw.

FREDERICK — Every morning, as the dawn's early light reaches the bronze statue of Francis Scott Key, Ronald Pearcey steps down from his porch and opens the iron gate to Frederick's 156 year-old Mount Olivet Cemetery.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Using a fleet of satellites built in Maryland, scientists have exposed some of the mystery behind the northern lights.

When the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra warms up a week from Friday, the musicians will be clad in their usual summer attire: White dinner jackets and bow ties for the men, white tops and black skirts or slacks for the women.

With the market for electronic books still relatively sleepy, Sony Corp. is trying a new tack: untethering the latest model of its e-book reading device from its own online bookstore.

If you are a small-business owner, you have probably poured much of your life into building a successful enterprise. You may be reaching a point where you have thought about retiring.

Americans' struggle with $4 gas doesn't just mean we are turning in our gas-guzzling SUVs for more fuel-efficient cars, forgoing vacations or socializing more at home.

PIKESVILLE - The head of Maryland's state police says a federal investigation into his agency's surveillance of anti-war and death penalty opposition groups is not needed.

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. - Records show that more than a dozen corrections officers at the Prince George's County jail have had run-ins with the law. The officers' legal troubles include charges of theft, assault, domestic violence and drunken driving.

WASHINGTON - D.C. police say nearly 200 people have picked up firearms applications now that the city's handgun ban has been lifted, but fewer than 20 have begun or completed the registration process.

ANNAPOLIS - An agreement to rescue the Prince George's Hospital System is complete. A deal made last week sets up the state and county to split a total commitment of $150 million in grant support over five years.

PIKESVILLE -- The head of the Maryland State Police has scheduled a news conference Friday afternoon to discuss his preliminary review of the department's surveillance of anti-war and death penalty opposition groups.

ANNAPOLIS - An Anne Arundel County judge has released a 19-year-old woman who served eight months in a juvenile detention facility for the death of her newborn baby.

FREDERICK - Maryland congressman Roscoe Bartlett is refusing to release income tax returns that would show whether he reported to the Internal Revenue Service several property sales that he failed to report on personal financial disclosure forms.

The two masked men who robbed Jason Schwindler and shot him to death had gotten away, but their DNA had not.

An Anne Arundel County jury has awarded $1.95 million to a Baltimore truck driver who was struck by a cement mixer on Route 295 in April 2005.

The 30 percent drop in net income that Sandy Spring Bancorp Inc. experienced this quarter resulted from $6.2 million set aside for bad loans.

The baby boom ended more than 40 years ago, but as that generation marches boldly into its 60s — and into the nation’s hospitals — the health care system will feel the ripple effect.