WEEK IN REVIEW

Jan. 29-Feb. 4

Gay Marriage Ban Fails in MarylandBackers Vow to Revive the Measure

A measure that would have put a same-sex marriage ban on the November ballot died in a hail of parliamentary maneuvers as tempers flared in the Maryland House of Delegates over an issue that carried implications deeply personal and broadly political.

The death of a bill in a legislative committee usually spells an end to a debate on the matter, at least for the year. But the bill's backers vowed to continue fighting. The measure gained fresh urgency two weeks ago when a Baltimore Circuit Court judge ruled the state's 33-year-old same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional. The judge stayed her order, pending appeals.

Narrow Base for Duncan FundraisingAbout Three-Fifths of Money Is From Montgomery

Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan lags behind Maryland's two other contenders for governor not only in the amount of campaign cash he has raised but also in demonstrating a statewide reach. Nearly three-fifths of the $1.3 million Duncan (D) collected last year came from the county he has served for the past 11 years, according to a Washington Post analysis of campaign finance reports released this month.

By contrast, Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley (D) raised about $4.3 million during the period, with a little more than a quarter coming from his city. Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) took in a similar percentage from Baltimore County, his home base, en route to raising $4.9 million for the year.

Pr. George's Board Seeks ExtensionSchools Appointees See Harm in Election

The Prince George's County Board of Education approved a resolution urging the state to postpone or alter a fall election scheduled to replace the unelected board that oversees Maryland's second-largest school system.

Backers of the resolution said their aim was to keep at least some current members on the board through 2008. The nine-member board was appointed in 2002 by a governor and county executive, both Democrats, who are no longer in office. The board's mandate when it replaced an oft-ridiculed elected board was to stabilize a school system beset by leadership strife.

Howard Tightens Traffic Light PolicyPolice to Remain at Darkened Intersections

Howard County Police Chief G. Wayne Livesay said an investigation by the department of a Jan. 6 accident in which two teenagers were killed showed a series of miscommunications that contributed to a delayed police response to a darkened traffic light.

The internal investigation showed that 74 minutes passed between the first 911 call to police that reported the malfunctioning light and the 10:36 p.m. collision in which the two teenagers were killed by a truck at Route 175 and Interstate 95. Livesay said officers are now required to remain at intersections with malfunctioning traffic lights.

Across the RegionPrivate Stadium Funds Fail; Museum Site Picked

· A District government plan to use $246 million in private financing from Deutsche Bank to help build a baseball stadium collapsed in a blow to the D.C. Council, which spent months pushing to reduce public investment in the project.

D.C. Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi said the deal was called off in part because the bank was seeking a $5 million fee to structure the arrangement. But another complication arose when bank spokesman Ted Meyer said the bank had a signed contract with the District and remains entitled to the payment if the city uses the bank's strategy.

· The National Museum of African American History and Culture should be built on the Mall near the Washington Monument, the Smithsonian Board of Regents decided. The location, at the southwest corner of 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW, had drawn widespread support.

· The carcasses of hundreds of pets from the Washington region have been dumped in a rural West Virginia town, and a Chantilly company that was paid to cremate the animals is the focus of an investigation, Fairfax County police said.

Investigators with the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources said about 250 carcasses were discovered Saturday morning by a woman walking on private residential property in Hampshire County.