Recent stories by Frank Roylance
7:25 PM EDT, October 28, 2011
Five or more inches of snow predicted for Saturday
The National Weather Service has posted a winter storm watch for Saturday for all of Western Maryland, and for the northern tier of counties, including Carroll, Frederick, Harford and northern Baltimore County.
7:11 PM EDT, October 26, 2011
Mikulski seeks House support for Webb Telescope project
Maryland Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski said Wednesday she expects the Senate will pass a budget bill on Tuesday that will include $530 million to continue work toward launch of the Webb Space Telescope in 2018 "and secure America's place in astronomy for the next 50 years."
7:38 PM EDT, October 24, 2011
Irene disaster declaration expanded to include city and county
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has added Baltimore and Baltimore County to the list of 13 Maryland counties eligible for federal disaster assistance in the wake of Hurricane Irene.
October 5, 2011
Near-normal snowfall this winter, forecasters say
If you liked last winter in Central Maryland — pretty cold, but with below-average snow — you may get a chance to live it over again this winter.
7:53 PM EDT, October 4, 2011
Johns Hopkins professor shares Nobel Prize in physics
More than anything else, in the wake of the elation and tumult accompanying Tuesday's announcement that he'd won a share of the 2011 Nobel Prize in physics, Johns Hopkins University astrophysicist Adam Riess wants to get back to work.
10:58 AM EDT, October 3, 2011
Astronomers fret over Webb Telescope's future
Congressional wrangling over the future of the overdue, over-budget James Webb Space Telescope has split astronomers in a struggle over billions in funding.
4:58 PM EDT, September 29, 2011
Messenger's mission to Mercury finds surprises
Six months after NASA's Messenger spacecraft began orbiting the planet nearest the sun, scientists have spotted a vast lava field at Mercury's north pole, weird sinkholes around some craters, and reason enough to throw out most theories for how the planet formed.
7:10 PM EDT, September 23, 2011
Baltimore rain record broken
Heavy rain across Central Maryland Friday caused flooding, road closures and cancellations for the second time this month, and forecasters say there's more on tap through the weekend and into next week.
6:52 PM EDT, September 28, 2011
Record rainfall brings a multitude of mushrooms
Baltimore is being invaded by flying saucers — in fungal form.
2:36 PM EDT, September 23, 2011
Arundel mosquitoes to be sprayed
Some Severna Park residents will see nighttime mosquito spraying in the coming weeks as state officials try to knock down the West Nile fever threat from local mosquitoes.
8:51 PM EDT, September 21, 2011
Dinosaur bone found in Laurel
Scientists working in Laurel's Dinosaur Park on Wednesday excavated the largest dinosaur fossil found in Maryland in five years.
9:27 AM EDT, September 17, 2011
As temperatures cool, stink bugs start seeking shelter
The harvest is on, and the nights are getting colder. So some Marylanders have begun to wonder when the stink bugs will show up.
8:01 PM EDT, September 16, 2011
President Obama OKs Maryland disaster aid
The state, 13 Maryland county governments and some private nonprofit organizations are now eligible for federal recovery assistance from damage from Hurricane Irene.
5:41 PM EDT, September 15, 2011
Mosquito counts triple in parts of Baltimore County
State inspectors say mosquito counts have tripled in parts of Baltimore County since heavy rains from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee hit the area.
6:57 PM EDT, September 13, 2011
Maryland dinosaur gets a name
Some 110 million years after its birth, a Maryland-born dinosaur has finally been given a name.
9:22 PM EDT, September 12, 2011
Susquehanna River falls, residents return
The Susquehanna River dropped back below flood stage Monday afternoon and residents of Port Deposit and Havre de Grace were busy trying to get to their homes and businesses to clean up.
7:03 PM EDT, September 14, 2011
Long-sought Zekiah Fort likely found
Archaeologists in Southern Maryland say they have solved a mystery that has baffled historians since at least the 1930s. They say they have found Zekiah Fort.
9:31 AM EDT, September 10, 2011
Flood cresting lower, earlier
Officials in Port Deposit said Saturday that 30 floodgates remained open at the Conowingo Dam as water steadily receded, though the town remained under its mandatory evacuation.
8:43 AM EDT, September 9, 2011
Another day of high water and rising rivers in Maryland
After heavy rains from remnants of Tropical Storm Lee washed away bridges and roads, overwhelmed sewage systems and may have contributed to at least one Baltimore-area death, the runoff threatened to overwhelm Maryland towns along the Susquehanna River with the biggest flood in almost 40 years.
9:22 AM EDT, September 8, 2011
Heavy rains cause flooding around Maryland
Torrential rainfall brought on by the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee flooded dozens of Baltimore-area roads, and sent the water rising out of rivers and creeks — and rescue crews have responded to more than a dozen calls of stranded drivers since midnight Thursday.
8:31 PM EDT, September 6, 2011
Heat deaths up to 32 in Md.
Thirty-two people in Maryland have died because of extreme heat so far during 2011, according to a report released Tuesday by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
6:41 PM EDT, September 1, 2011
West Nile case prompts spraying in Arundel, Baltimore counties
A case of West Nile fever in the Pasadena area of Anne Arundel County has prompted the Maryland Department of Agriculture to begin spraying in the neighborhood beginning next week.
7:15 AM EDT, September 2, 2011
Medical, public safety officials ready for Baltimore Grand Prix
For Baltimore's emergency workers, the Baltimore Grand Prix Festival of Speed is more than a three-day party surrounded by shrieking Indy cars.
9:49 AM EDT, August 28, 2011
Irene whips Maryland
Marylanders began cleaning up from Hurricane Irene this morning but mostly the state emerged from the storm without significant damage or widespread flooding, as feared.
6:52 PM EDT, August 27, 2011
Hurricane-related robocalls wake city households
As Hurricane Irene approached Baltimore, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake set up automated phone calls to dispense emergency advice to residents, but the well-intentioned effort was met with annoyance from some who said they were awakened by the calls in the middle of the night.
10:37 AM EDT, August 27, 2011
Irene weaker but still dangerous
Slightly weaker, but still a big, wet and dangerous storm, Hurricane Irene hit the North Carolina beaches early Saturday en route to a battened-down Delmarva Peninsula.
7:10 AM EDT, August 24, 2011
Geologists could be studying reasons behind earthquake for years
Geologists say Tuesday's magnitude-5.8 earthquake in Central Virginia released forces that have probably been building for tens of thousands, perhaps millions, of years.
5:58 PM EDT, August 19, 2011
Corrections
In an article in Friday's editions of The Baltimore Sun about the former hospital ship Sanctuary, the name of Richard Scher, spokesman for the Maryland Port Administration, was misspelled.
1:23 PM EDT, August 26, 2011
Ocean City ordered to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Irene
As Hurricane Irene moves closer to Maryland, Annapolis MayorJoshua J. Cohen declared a State of Emergency within the city limits, effective 10 a.m. Friday, urging residents in low-lying areas to evacuate by Saturday afternoon.
7:51 PM EDT, August 24, 2011
Large and powerful Irene heads for Outer Banks, Maryland resorts
Hurricane Irene, already a 120-mph powerhouse with tropical storm winds 230 miles from its center, was turning toward North Carolina's Outer Banks late Wednesday en route to a very wet and potentially dangerous weekend encounter with Maryland's Eastern Shore.
12:38 PM EDT, August 19, 2011
USS Sanctuary leaves harbor to be recycled
The former Navy hospital ship USS Sanctuary, which served in the aftermath of World War II and in Vietnam, has been sold and is now under tow from Baltimore to Brownsville, Texas, for recycling.
4:17 PM EDT, August 16, 2011
Maryland cover crop program sets record
Maryland has enrolled a record 550,000 acres of farmland in the state's winter cover crop program, the state announced Tuesday. The project pays farmers to plant small grains in the fall to reduce the erosion of soil and harmful nutrients into the Chesapeake Bay.
3:51 PM EDT, August 16, 2011
Heat a factor in two more Md. deaths
Two more Marylanders have died this summer from heat-related causes. State public health officials said both deaths occurred in Baltimore, and both victims had underlying illnesses that made them more vulnerable to the heat.
6:28 PM EDT, August 15, 2011
Maryland launches new oyster farm permit process
Long-awaited "streamlining" of the tangled state and federal red tape Maryland watermen must navigate for permission to establish oyster farming operations finally took effect Monday.
6:46 PM EDT, August 15, 2011
Maryland copes with flooding after heavy rains
Last week's drought conditions seemed a distant memory Monday as Central Maryland shook off more heavy rains and braced for a fourth day of showers and storms on Tuesday.
August 14, 2011
Archaeological finds boost profile of Arundel's Pig Point
Three years of digging at a prehistoric Indian site in Anne Arundel County has unearthed the oldest structures and human habitations in Maryland and is making this bluff above the Patuxent River one of the most important archaeological sites in the Mid-Atlantic.
7:12 PM EDT, August 9, 2011
Heat a factor in 4 more Maryland deaths
Four more deaths in Maryland have been linked to the summer's hot weather, Maryland health officials said Tuesday. The state's total for the year is now 25.
4:54 PM EDT, August 4, 2011
Running water found on Mars?
Images from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter appear to reveal evidence of liquid water running downhill during the Martian summer. But a device on the orbiter called CRISM, built by scientists at Johns Hopkins' Applied Physics Lab, scanned the stains and found no sign of water.
8:09 PM EDT, August 3, 2011
11 people died during last week's heat wave
Last week's heat, which reached a record 101 degrees on Friday, contributed to the deaths of 11 Maryland residents, state health authorities said Wednesday, raising the season's total to 21.
5:36 PM EDT, August 4, 2011
NOAA expects more storms this hurricane season
As the fifth named storm of the season fell apart in the Caribbean Thursday, federal hurricane forecasters rolled out an update their predictions for the rest of what they still say will be an "active" season.
9:35 PM EDT, July 28, 2011
A testy reception for new East Baltimore plans
Scott Levitan, development director of the 88-acre redevelopment project north of Johns Hopkins Hospital, was ready Thursday night to present area residents with new ideas for the project — a new park, a new school, a grocery store and other amenities designed to breathe fresh life into the slow-moving development to make it a better place for them to live and for the new residents he seeks to attract.
9:24 PM EDT, July 22, 2011
Heat wave leads to power cuts for some Marylanders
One of the hottest days on record in Central Maryland spurred electric power managers Friday to ask Marylanders to cut their demand for electricity in order to keep the juice flowing.
8:25 PM EDT, August 2, 2011
Baltimore gets a shade warmer, according to new averages
The National Weather Service's new 30-year temperature and precipitation averages, which are used by farmers, utilities and meteorologists, show a warmer, drier and snowier Baltimore.
6:23 PM EDT, July 26, 2011
Heat a factor in three Md. deaths
The July heat has been linked to the deaths of three more Maryland residents, bringing the season's total to nine, according to the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
6:14 PM EDT, July 21, 2011
Maryland moves to ban drugs known as 'bath salts'
Public health authorities in Maryland are moving to impose a ban, starting as early as Sept. 1, on the sale of synthetic drugs known as "bath salts."
7:50 PM EDT, July 21, 2011
Triple-digit heat wave continues in Maryland
Maryland really began to turn in the roaster Thursday, joining much of the rest of the country, now deep in the summer's worst heat wave.
6:15 PM EDT, July 21, 2011
Triple-digit weather continues in Maryland
Maryland really began to turn in the roaster Thursday, joining much of the rest of the country, now deep in the summer's worst heat wave.
8:48 PM EDT, July 20, 2011
NRDC report ranks Maryland fifth for power plant pollutants
Electric power plants that burn oil or coal in Maryland sent more than 27 million pounds of toxic pollutants into the air in 2009.
6:54 PM EDT, July 12, 2011
Crops getting parched on Lower Shore
When Ted Wycall started his organic farm in Salisbury five years ago, scarce rain was not a part of his calculations.
6:41 PM EDT, July 20, 2011
Hellbenders get new exhibit at Maryland Zoo
It's difficult to imagine an animal less likely to draw admiring crowds at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore.
8:29 PM EDT, July 17, 2011
Busy mosquito season tapers off in dry July
Drought conditions on the Eastern Shore are taking a toll on farmers' crops, but the dry weather is having at least one beneficial effect — there are fewer mosquitoes.
4:14 PM EDT, July 20, 2011
Heat continues in Baltimore, rest of state
It's hard to find a pleasant forecast anywhere in Maryland this week. There are alerts for excessive heat and poor air quality alerts up for almost the entire state for Thursday. The only exception is if you head west, to Garrett or Allegany counties, the only alert-free zone.
6:54 PM EDT, July 12, 2011
Rainfall and temperatures BWI
Average temperatures, departure from average, 2011 for BWI-Marshall Airport:
10:38 AM EDT, July 19, 2011
Temperatures headed for 100 degrees
Temperatures in the mid-90s on Monday drove Marilyn Ramirez to the beach at Rocky Point Park, where her children splashed in the Chesapeake Bay. But they probably won't be back at week's end.
10:18 AM EDT, June 25, 2011
Rocket launch set for Tuesday at Wallops will be visible for most of Mid-Atlantic
If skies are clear and all goes well Tuesday evening, observers throughout Maryland and much of the Mid-Atlantic region should be able to watch a big rocket launch from Virginia's Wallops Island.
5:59 PM EDT, July 14, 2011
Cat found in Baltimore tests positive for rabies
One person is being treated for rabies exposure after a stray cat in Baltimore tested positive for the disease. It is the first rabid cat or dog found in the city since 2008.
6:56 PM EDT, July 8, 2011
WWII shipwrecks could threaten U.S. coast
On the evening of Feb. 2, 1942, an unarmed tanker with 66,000 barrels of crude oil on board was steaming in the Atlantic, about 90 miles off Ocean City. Without warning, it was struck by German torpedoes. The attack set the W.L. Steed ablaze, and sank it; only a handful of the crew of 38 survived.
June 19, 2011
Maryland father finds his son after 35 years
For 35 years, Ron Ryba dreamed of a reunion with the infant son he and his high-school sweetheart had given up for adoption. Two days before Father's Day, that dream came true over burgers and beer at a Wilmington, Del., restaurant.
8:25 PM EDT, July 6, 2011
New study scrutinizes heart stent procedures
A new study of more than 500,000 cardiac patients who underwent recent cardiac stent or angioplasty procedures in the United States has found that up to 15 percent were either unnecessary or appeared to be of uncertain medical benefit.
9:04 PM EDT, June 15, 2011
Emerald ash borer detected in Baltimore suburbs
The emerald ash borer, an invasive Asian insect deadly to ash trees, has turned up in trees and traps in three locations in Howard County, accelerating the threat to hundreds of thousands of valuable shade trees in Baltimore and its suburbs.
6:05 PM EDT, July 11, 2011
Emerald ash borer found in Arundel, Allegany
Just weeks after it turned up in Howard County, the emerald ash borer has been detected in Anne Arundel and Allegany counties.
8:49 PM EDT, May 11, 2011
Alternative autism treatments can be appealing to desperate parents
After her daughter Jodie was diagnosed with autism, Alison Singer went online, searching desperately for anything that looked like it might help her little girl.
5:08 PM EDT, June 23, 2011
One of two dolphin calves found dead at National Aquarium
One of two baby bottlenose dolphins born at the National Aquarium in April was found dead in its pool Tuesday morning. A necropsy is being performed to determine the cause.
7:07 PM EST, February 22, 2011
End of mercury thermometers is near
It was one of Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit's most famous inventions, in 1714. But after nearly 300 years on the market, the still-common mercury thermometer now appears headed for extinction.
7:42 PM EDT, June 23, 2011
NASA flights could startle Maryland drivers
If you're easily startled by big, low-flying airplanes, you'll need to get a good grip on the steering wheel Monday.
6:49 PM EDT, June 16, 2011
NASA's Messenger disproves several theories about Mercury
Only three months after NASA's Messenger spacecraft became the first to orbit the planet Mercury, scientists are already tossing out some long-held ideas about the place, and wondering at some surprising and unexpected discoveries.
5:39 PM EDT, June 20, 2011
National Aquarium taps Californian as new CEO
The National Aquarium Institute has tapped a California aquarium industry veteran to be the organization's next CEO.
5:22 PM EST, December 30, 2010
Stargazers' calendar for 2011
One of the most complex convocations of planets in memory will be the highlight of the new year for Maryland's backyard stargazers.
6:48 PM EDT, May 20, 2011
O'Malley ousts David Geier from autism commission
Gov. Martin O'Malley removed David A. Geier from Maryland's Commission on Autism on Friday, telling his one-time appointee in a letter that "you do not at the present time qualify to serve."
5:45 PM EDT, June 14, 2011
Two tornadoes confirmed in Harford Co. from Sunday storm
Some of the violent winds that snapped and toppled trees in sections of Harford County Sunday afternoon were small tornadoes, the National Weather Service determined Tuesday.
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