A couple of thousand students from 30 schools — including The Summit School in Edgewater — join in a historic celebration of literacy on May 10. From Baltimore to Honolulu to Cairo, they’ll be relay-reading a single book for pleasure, honor and conviction.     The book, The Sword of Darrow, is a fantasy novel that begins, beneath the image of a spooky spider, with these words: Evil: Within this simple word lies a vast collection of deeds.     ...

Maryland politicians and Department of Natural Resources officials are patting themselves on the back (and deservedly so) for the resurgence of the blue crab population this year, with a predicted abundance of juvenile crabs greater than has been seen in almost 20 years. Due to the restrictions placed on the harvest of female crabs beginning in 2008, the population of Maryland’s most famous crustacean has been rebounding smartly every year since. The total 2012 crab population is...

You’ve got no control over where most of your tax dollars go. The exception is Line 35 on the Maryland state income tax form. Check that line and you make a direct contribution to Chesapeake Bay and the Endangered Species Fund. The Fund — split evenly between the Chesapeake Bay Trust and Maryland Department of Natural Resources — supports Bay restoration and conserves native wildlife and endangered species.     Last year, the tax check-off amounted to more than...

This year’s Maryland migratory bird stamp and bear stamp hunt bagged 23 entries. Their images are judged this weekend as part of the 23rd Annual Friends of Patuxent Wildlife Art Show and Sale at the National Wildlife Visitor Center in Laurel.     Judging takes three rounds in each competition starting with the bird stamp followed by the bear stamp.     All the entries are on display, and artists have been invited.     Judges work against the...