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METRO
Bertero Basignani, owner of Basignani Vineyards in Baltimore County, said wholesalers aren't interested in wineries as small as his 3,500-case-a-year operation.
"It's going to put a big strain on me. I'm going to have to make a decision whether to continue," he said.
The comptroller's decision follows a Supreme Court decision last year that struck down state laws forbidding direct shipment of out-of-state wines to consumers if a state permits such shipments from in-state wineries. The wineries have until the end of next month to find distributors for their wines.
Prison Inmate's Murder Trial Moved
The murder trial of a Maryland prison inmate accused of strangling another inmate aboard a prison bus will be held in Worcester County Circuit Court, according to a court document filed yesterday.
The Baltimore County Circuit Court administrative judge signed the removal order for the first-degree murder trial of Kevin G. Johns Jr., 23. Johns is charged with killing Philip E. Parker Jr., 20, last February.
Prosecutors from Baltimore County, where Johns was indicted, will try the case before a Worcester County judge and jury.
Prosecutors have indicated that they will seek the death penalty for Johns. Defendants in Maryland capital cases have the right to be tried in another jurisdiction.
Parker, of Baltimore, was killed early Feb. 2, 2005, as a busload of inmates traveled from Hagerstown to Baltimore. The Division of Correction fired three of the five correctional officers who were on the bus and suspended a fourth for five days.
THE DISTRICT
Housing Trust Fund Gets $500,000 Gift
The Washington Area Housing Trust Fund, which offers loans at below-market interest rates to developers of both affordable multi-family rental and for-sale housing, received a half-million-dollar gift yesterday from Bank of America, bank and trust fund officials announced yesterday.
The regional trust fund has made $1.4 million in loans over the past three years to finance 850 units of affordable housing in D.C. and suburban Maryland and Virginia. Its operating costs are underwritten by 11 area local governments, and it also has received support from federal grants, the Fannie Mae Foundation and financial service company foundations.
VIRGINIA
