Man, 63, identified as victim of house fire in Edgewater

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Anne Arundel County Fire Department officials have identified the victim in Sunday's fatal fire in Edgewater as John B. Sorrell, 63, the owner and sole resident of the house. He was a lawyer, according to court records. Investigators believe the blaze Sunday afternoon originated in the master bedroom suite on the second floor of the two-story house in the 800 block of Bayview Drive. Investigators were trying to determine the cause and find out whether smoke detectors were working, Lt. Frank Fennell said Tuesday. A preliminary damage estimate was about $105,000 for the house and contents, Fennell said. The house is in one of many sections of the county that is not served by hydrants. Firefighters had to truck in water in tankers, but Fennell said they had a "good supply of water" to fight the blaze. The fire was brought under control in about 25 minutes.

- Andrea F. Siegel

22-year-old Marine from Towson killed in Afghanistan

A 22-year-old Marine from Towson was killed Saturday in Afghanistan, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. Lance Cpl. Jeremy M. Kane was assigned to the 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 4th Marine Division, Marine Forces Reserve, based in Camp Pendleton, Calif. Kane died in combat in the Helmand province. He was the first armed-services member from the Baltimore area killed in combat this year. Kane joined the Marines in May 2007. He was serving his first tour in Afghanistan.

- Brent Jones

Furloughs will be repeated, Ulman tells Howard workers

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Howard County employees likely will face another year of unpaid furloughs, according to County Executive Ken Ulman. Howard's nearly 2,000 workers received no cost-of-living increase this year and lost four days of pay between Christmas and New Year's, while department heads and elected officials gave up five days of pay, saving a total of about $1.8 million. "Based on current projections, I assume furloughs will be repeated," Ulman said after his annual state of the county speech Tuesday before more than 400 people at Turf Valley. He also said he will not ask for tax increases in fiscal 2011 but won't decide until March whether to dip into the county's $47.5 million rainy-day fund. Ulman also is supporting a Maryland Association of Counties' push for a statewide waiver on "maintenance of effort" rules that require local governments to fund school budgets at or above the current year's levels or risk major state cuts. For Howard, that would cost about $8 million more.

- Larry Carson