ARUNDEL DIGEST | Maryland Gazette (HometownGlenBurnie.com)

SEVERNA PARK - County health officials have confirmed three more cases of drug-resistant staph infections, a county Health Department spokesman said.

The new cases of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus brings the total to four confirmed ones among county school students, said Elin Jones, a spokesman for the county Health Department.

Two additional cases were confirmed at Severna Park High School and one at Ruth Parker Eason School in Millersville, she said. The first case, reported last month, was at Severna Park High.

Subsequently, the department was flooded with dozens of reports of skin infections and irritations that parents and others were worried might be staph. Last week, the department decided to focus on 15 self-reported cases of MRSA at several schools.

Pricey bird takes flight in scam

GLEN BURNIE - County police are on the lookout for a man and a woman with a taste for exotic birds.

The couple tricked the staff at a PetSmart last week, pulling a switcheroo at the checkout lane that netted them a $700 blue-head Pionus parrot instead of a $20 parakeet, police said.

A store employee told officers that the man entered the store at 597C E. Ordnance Road about 1 p.m. on Thursday, followed by the woman about a minute later. The man asked about the Pionus and said he wanted to buy it. The birds are prized by bird lovers as the lone parrot species that is quiet.

The woman asked to buy the parakeet.

A store employee gave them both paperwork, including a receipt for how much the birds cost. Neither was asked to pay before they returned to browse through the store.

At some point, police said the couple switched paperwork.

The man went to the register with the slip for the parakeet, but the box he left with contained the Pionus. The woman approached the register at about 1:35 and left the bird box with the $20 parakeet on the counter, telling the employee she'd be right back to pay for it, but didn't return.

All the information the pair gave PetSmart on the paperwork was found to be false.

The man was described as white, 5 feet 10 inches tall, 215 pounds. He was balding with dark hair on the sides and heavy set and had no front teeth, police said. The woman was white, 6 feet tall, 250 pounds with black curly hair, police said.

'Green fund' fee structure changed

ANNAPOLIS - The proposed "green fund" to raise money for the Chesapeake Bay has been changed again.

The latest incarnation of the fund still taxes commercial, industrial and institutional properties at 1 cent per square foot of impervious surfaces, such as rooftops, parking lots and sidewalks.

But with the change, residential homeowners would be charged a flat fee each year: $5 for homes up to 1,500 square feet of living space; $20 for homes that are 1,501 to 3,000 square feet; and $40 for homes larger than 3,000 square feet.

Previously, the fee would have been based on a home's exact square footage, as opposed to the proposed ranges.

The fund is projected to raise $85 million per year to fix stormwater controls, help farmers and boost the oyster population, wetlands and trees. The green fund will be the subject of a hearing during this week's special session of the General Assembly.

The way the money is spent also is slightly changed. Cities and counties will be able to keep a portion of the money collected up-front, if they can match a certain amount with their own stormwater fund.

One brother injured, one arrested in fight

PASADENA - A fight at a home on 215th St. Sunday night ended with one brother in the hospital and another charged with assault, county police said.

It started when Mark G. Henningsen, 45, asked his brother Jerard B. Henningsen, 47, to clean up in the basement of their home at about 9 p.m. The elder Henningsen got angry and hit his brother in the face, and the two got into a fist fight.

Jerard went downstairs but the two continued the argument, said Cpl. Mark Shawkey, a county police spokesman. He ran upstairs, grabbed Mark by the shirt and pulled him down the stairs, knocking him unconscious, police said.

Mark was flown to the Maryland Shock Trauma unit in Baltimore with neck and spinal injuries, police said. He was released Monday, according to a hospital spokesman.

Jerard was charged with first- and second-degree assault, police said.

MVA tutorials available online

GLEN BURNIE - The Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration is moving many of its tutorials online to aid student drivers studying for their learner's permit.

The tutorials prepare student drivers for the written road law portion of the permit test. Students have the option of practicing the test in a 15-minute timed or untimed mode as they study. The quiz presents 20 randomly selected questions from the test with multiple choice answers from which to choose. The test will immediately tell the taker whether the answer is correct. The untimed version of the exam also will provide the correct answer.

"Safety is our top priority and knowing the 'rules of the road' is key to becoming a safe driver," Transportation Secretary John D. Porcari said. "By using the Internet, we are making an important learning tool easily accessible to everyone from Oakland to Ocean City. Our goal is to help citizens better understand Maryland law so they become safer drivers when getting behind the wheel."

The tutorial is available at www.marylandmva.com.

Plan moves hundreds of kids to new school

ODENTON - In an attempt to fill a new elementary school with students and level out enrollment at neighboring elementary schools, a redistricting panel Monday night voted to shift hundreds of Crofton, Gambrills and Odenton area students into different schools.

The redistricting committee - a board of parents with children in 11 different elementary, middle and high schools as well as two school system administrators - met before 130 parents at Odenton Elementary and voted to fill the not-yet-named Gambrills elementary school with approximately 601 students from Crofton and Four Seasons elementary schools.

This includes students who live in any part of the Walden community as well as all students who live on the east side of Route 3 and who currently attend Four Seasons Elementary.