Region Digest

Second arrest made in Baltimore officer's stabbing

DUNDALK, Md. (AP) — Baltimore County police say the man who allegedly stabbed a Baltimore city officer outside a Dundalk strip club has been charged.

A court commissioner charged 27-year-old Glenn Lansinger of Dundalk Friday night at Shock Trauma with attempted first-degree murder. Police said he ran up to the officer, 42-year-old Eric Jansen, as Jansen was leaving the Dundalk club early Thursday.

Police said he then stabbed Jansen in the neck and lower back, before Jansen pulled a handgun and shot Lansinger once in the chest.

Twenty-three-year-old Lucas Baumeister was charged Friday with attempted first-degree murder and is being held without bail. Police have said Baumeister also attacked Jansen at the strip club.

Baltimore officer shoots police dog during chase

BALTIMORE (AP) — Baltimore police say an officer shot an attacking police dog that may have mistaken the officer for a suspect during a chase.

The chase began Sunday evening after a motorist failed to stop at a speed checkpoint.

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi says when the motorist got out and ran, officers at the checkpoint asked a K-9 unit help to chase the man. Police say the dog was pursuing the man when an officer approached from a different direction and the dog attacked the officer.

Police say the officer shot the German shepherd at least once in the face after it started biting him on the chest. Guglielmi says the officer didn't know the dog, which was not wearing a police identification vest, was a police dog.

The dog underwent emergency surgery, but its condition is not known.

Magna asks to delay on initial bid announcement

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Magna Entertainment Corp. is seeking to extend the deadline to provide an initial bid for Maryland's thoroughbred race tracks.

Magna, which filed for bankruptcy protection in March, was scheduled to reveal the lead bidder Monday. Saying it needed more time to finalize an agreement with an unnamed party, the Ontario-based firm filed a motion on Monday asking a Delaware bankruptcy judge for permission to extend the deadline to Wednesday.

After the initial bid is announced, those who wish to bid against it have until Dec. 4 to submit a bid to Miller Buckfire, the New York firm handling Magna's assets auction. An auction for Pimlico Race Track, Laurel Park and the Bowie Training Center is scheduled for Jan. 8.

Potential buyers must agree to keep the Preakness, the second leg of the Triple Crown, in Maryland.

School funding ruling could cost PG County $26M

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. (AP) — The Prince George's County schools could owe up to $26.8 million in penalties after Maryland's attorney general found the county failed to comply with state school funding requirements.

Last week, Superintendent William Hite indicated that falling state aid meant the county might not owe anything.

But on Monday, Hite said he has found that the county may be vulnerable because aid had increased in some categories. He says it could be devastating to the system.

School officials in Montgomery County have said they could owe $16 million to $64 million.

The two counties are waiting for the State Board of Education to decide whether to issue penalties. Prince George's County has appealed an earlier state board decision and Montgomery County leaders have threatened to sue the state.

Allegany aims to reap tax revenue from natural gas

CUMBERLAND, Md. (AP) — Allegany County is looking to reap new revenue from natural gas production in western Maryland.

The Cumberland Times-News reported Sunday that the Allegany Commissioners have asked their state delegates and senator to introduce legislation requiring natural-gas producers to pay a 5.5 percent local tax on the wholesale value of gas produced in the county.

The measure would mimic a tax already in place in neighboring Garrett County.

The counties hope to benefit from production of natural gas trapped in the Marcellus Shale, a vast geological formation underlying parts of Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and West Virginia.

State Sen. George Edwards says at least one company is trying to secure permits to explore for natural gas in western Allegany County.

Diocese discloses retainer fees for firms

DOVER, Del. (AP) — Four professional firms helping the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy case have been retained at an initial cost of almost $800,000.

Court documents filed Monday indicate that more than half of that amount is for the diocese's Wilmington law firm, Young Conaway Stargatt and Taylor.

The diocese also agreed to a $200,000 retainer for the Florida firm acting as its financial adviser, and a $110,000 retainer for a California-based crisis communications firm that also represented the Archdiocese of Los Angeles during the priest sex abuse scandal.

The Wilmington diocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month after the breakdown of settlement negotiations with about a dozen alleged victims of priest sex abuse.

New Cumberland hospital opening Nov. 21

CUMBERLAND, Md. (AP) — The Western Maryland Health System is preparing to open a new hospital in Cumberland this month.

On Sunday, the organization opened up the virtually completed building to the public for tours. It officially opens for business Nov. 21.

The $268 million Western Maryland Regional Medical Center consolidates the city's two older hospitals — Memorial and Sacred Heart — at a single campus.

The seven-floor structure includes 275 patient beds.