Region Digest

Steel plant under investigation

BALTIMORE, Md. (AP) — Authorities are investigating a furnace fire at a Maryland steel plant.

A state spokesman said Friday officials are investigating the Sept. 29 fire at the Severstal steel plant at Sparrows Point and that the plant has been cited for multiple air pollution violations over the past year.

Authorities said the steel company faces unspecified civil penalties for emitting excessive amounts of potentially harmful chemicals. Plant operators also allegedly failed repeatedly to run a pollution scrubber properly and on one occasion failed to take required steps to limit harmful particle pollution.

Maryland Department of the Environment spokesman Jay Apperson says officials are talking with the company to resolve the problems.

Man gets 20 years for killing Virginia woman

FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — A man who admitted murdering his ex-girlfriend by stabbing her with a pair of scissors has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Sayed Hashemi, who also went by Ehsan Amin, was sentenced Friday. He pleaded guilty in June to killing 25-year-old Virginia resident Homaira Rahman, stabbing her more than 90 times. The two had dated and then broken up.

In a plea agreement, prosecutors agreed to reduce a first-degree murder charge to second-degree murder and ask for no more than 20 years in prison.

In court, Hashemi, now 31, apologized for the killing. He said he prayed for Rahman every day.

Energy company gives $300k for tree planting

BALTIMORE (AP) — An energy company is spending $300,000 to help plant trees in Baltimore.

Constellation Energy is committing the money over the next three years to help with tree planting and maintenance for existing trees. Constellation's contribution will support the planting of 1,000 more trees, according to information provided by the city.

The city held a tree planting event Saturday and gave away free trees to residents.

The city is planting trees not only to provide shade but also in the hope of saving on energy costs and lessening the impacts of global warming.

3 more plead guilty in Ripken theft

BALTIMORE — Three more men have pleaded guilty in the theft of Cal Ripken Jr.’s monument from Camden Yards.

Gary Parker, 20, Matthew Rayner, 20, and Patrick Reynolds, 18, each pleaded guilty on Friday to one count of conspiracy to commit theft over $500. Earlier this week, Jason Stoneburner, 19, pleaded guilty to theft.

Parker, Rayner and Reynolds were sentenced to two years of unsupervised probation and community service.

Police say the men ripped the 31/2-foot aluminum No. 8 from its base outside the Camden Yards ballpark on Sept. 9, then threw it into the back of a pickup truck. They were arrested about two hours later.

Man gets life for cocaine dealing

BALTIMORE — A 42-year-old Essex man has been sentenced to life in prison after he was convicted of dealing more than 330 pounds of cocaine in the Baltimore area.

Federal prosecutors said William Graham was sentenced to life Friday on drug dealing charges because of the amount of drugs involved and Graham’s three previous narcotics convictions. A federal jury in Baltimore convicted him Aug. 19.

From March 2006 to August 2008, authorities said Graham and several others sold more than 330 pounds of cocaine in the Baltimore area. Their cocaine came from suppliers in Mexico.

Seven others pleaded guilty in a drug conspiracy.