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The Baltimore Sun

Ethanol could fuel corn-farming growth

The national boom in ethanol production could spark as much as a 50 percent growth in corn farming in the Chesapeake Bay region - and perhaps a 5 percent increase in nitrogen pollution from runoff, according to a new report.

The additional pollution in the bay is a reason for Congress to include more money in the Farm Bill for cover crops and other runoff control programs, said Beth McGee, a senior scientist at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and an author of the report.

"Given that this is going to happen, let's make sure we also provide the farmers with funds that will help them minimize the impact" of the additional crops, McGee said.

The report, written in cooperation with the University of Maryland and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, says 15 ethanol plants are planned or under construction in the states surrounding the bay. Together, these plants would produce about a billion gallons a year of ethanol, requiring about 370 million bushels of corn.

This would translate to between 500,000 and 1 million additional acres of corn planted in the region and 8 million to 16 million more pounds of nitrogen flowing into the bay, the report estimates.

Lynne Hoot, executive director of the Maryland Grain Producers Association, said the report is "scaremongering," and that the figure of 1 million acres is probably twice the actual likely increase.

She added that higher corn prices also could discourage the sale of farms to developers, which could be good for the environment.

Tom Pelton

Anne Arundel

Probation in jewelry thefts

A criminal case that began with a few pieces of jewelry stuffed in a bra ended yesterday with a former National Security Agency worker being placed on two years of probation and the divvying up of 984 baubles that police seized from her Severn home.

As part of a sentencing agreement, Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge Joseph P. Manck allowed Linda Ann Kelley, 51, to keep about $21,000 worth of jewelry for which she had receipts.

Much of the rest was returned to two jewelry stores where she had worked part time, said county Assistant State's Attorney Warren Davis III.

Kelley will be allowed to pay the county about $30,000 for unclaimed jewelry with a maximum retail value of about $78,000, he said. A county auction of that jewelry would not have netted close to the retail value, he said.

Kelley's legal troubles began June 6, 2004, when she was arrested on charges of shoplifting nearly $1,000 in lingerie from the J.C. Penney at Marley Station mall in Glen Burnie. At the time, she was on a break from Whitehall Jewelers at the mall.

Officers who searched her at the police station discovered three rings and a necklace in her bra, according to court documents.

That prompted further questions from Whitehall, leading to a search of her home during which police found 649 rings, 165 necklaces, 138 bracelets, 12 pendants, 15 watches and five pairs of earrings.

Since August 2005, when she had entered an Alford plea to felony theft - not admitting guilt but agreeing that prosecutors had sufficient evidence to convict her, the parties have bickered over who owned what jewelry. Davis said Kelley had a hoarding problem.

Kelley resigned from NSA about two years ago, said her lawyer, Leo P. Hylan. He said he did not know what her job there was.

Andrea F. Siegel

Report card

Legislators rated high on 'green'

Maryland's legislature has taken a greener hue since last year's election, approving matters dear to conservationists, a state environmental group said yesterday.

The state League of Conservation Voters released a report card for this year's legislative session, giving lawmakers high marks for supporting bills pushed by environmental groups.

New laws include a requirement for cleaner cars, plus a bill requiring dishwashing detergents to contain less water-polluting phosphorus.

But it's unclear whether the environmental trend will continue, said Executive Director Cindy Schwartz. She noted that environmental and other concerns are being overshadowed by a looming projected deficit that threatens to cripple progress. Maryland is barred by law from running a deficit, so the fiscal pinch has dominated debate since lawmakers adjourned work for the year.

"We have a very tight budget coming up," Schwartz said. "It will be a real test of the legislators."

Among the biggest questions relating to money and the environment are the prospects for a so-called "Green Fund," a tax aimed at development that would boost spending on Chesapeake Bay restoration.

The Green Fund was approved by the House of Delegates, but it stalled in the Senate amid concerns it would cost too much money as the state is looking at other new potential taxes to ease the budget strain.

"Because of the fiscal situation, the environment is on a back burner," said Sen. Robert J. Garagiola, a Montgomery County Democrat who favors a special session of the legislature to consider taxes so lawmakers can resume routine business next year.

"We need to get that 800-pound gorilla out of the room" before the Green Fund gets a second look, Garagiola said.

Associated Press

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