Arundel Digest | Maryland Gazette (HometownGlenBurnie.com)

GLEN BURNIE - A 16-year-old boy was rescued by two lifeguards on Wednesday after he was found unconscious at the bottom of a swimming pool in an apartment complex, county Fire Department officials said.

Paramedics were called to the Woodhill Apartments in the 200 block of Woodhill Drive about 5:20 p.m. Lifeguards told the crew the teen had been swimming without any problems for more than an hour that day, said Battalion Chief Matthew Tobia, a county Fire Department spokesman.

Suddenly, the teen went under water. The two lifeguards jumped into the pool and pulled the boy from the bottom. They brought the teen to land and started rescue breathing after they could not find a pulse.

When paramedics arrived, the teen was unconscious on the side of the pool, but had regained a pulse and was breathing on his own, Chief Tobia said.

The boy was taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore with critical but stable injuries.

Chief Tobia said the two life guards are credited with saving the teen's life.

Police seek missing Alzheimer's patient

PASADENA - Police are asking the public to be on the lookout for a woman suffering from Alzheimer disease who has been missing since 1 a.m. Wednesday, county police said.

Kathy Kovacsi was last seen at her home in the 7600 block of Solley Road near Fort Smallwood Road. She has no history of violence and suffers no additional illnesses.

Mrs. Kovacsi may be wearing a long-sleeved red paisley shirt, with a white tank top underneath, white ankle socks, and white canvas shoes with polka dots. She also could be wearing pants and glasses.

She usually wears her hair in a ponytail, and she is missing two upper teeth. Mrs. Kovacsi is 5-feet, 3-inches tall and weighs about 140 pounds. She has shoulder length brown hair, brown eyes, a medium build and a light complexion, police said.

If you see her or have any information about her disappearance, please call 911 or contact the police Northern District Station at 410-222-6135.

Fake Viagra nets hard time

ANNAPOLIS - With this much hard evidence, the case was anything but flimsy.

A Jordanian man caught last year with 36,000 fake Viagra pills in a Glen Burnie storage facility was sentenced Thursday to four years in federal prison.

Upon his release, prosecutors said they expect Iyad Dogmosh, 27, to be deported.

Dogmosh pleaded guilty in August 2007 to two counts of trafficking counterfeit pharmaceuticals. Specifically, prosecutors said, Dogmosh was dealing in fake Viagra, which is prescribed to men to treat erectile dysfunction.

According to the plea agreement, Dogmosh and another man in October 2006 sold 2,000 counterfeit Viagra pills to a private investigator in Astoria, N.Y. He sold the pills, which are worth more than $10 a tablet, for $5,000 - or $2.50 a tablet.

Police later searched a locker July 12, 2007, at EZ Storage at 6704 Ritchie Highway in Glen Burnie. There, police seized a suitcase containing more than 36,000 counterfeit Viagra tablets.

The Food and Drug Administration tested the pills and found they contained none of the active pharmaceutical ingredient sildenafil citrate. Instead, the tablets contained an antibiotic that can cause abdominal cramps, nausea and vomiting when combined with alcohol.

Prosecutors said the tablets, which would have been worth more than $402,000 if they were real, were imported to the United States from Egypt.

State change in MSA may improve scores

BALTIMORE - State education officials say they changed the Maryland School Assessment this year in a way experts say contributed to an unusually large improvement in scores.

Experts said the test given in third through eighth grades in reading and math for the past five years was shorter, but it was not easier. That may have meant students taking the test were less tired.

Deputy state school superintendent Ronald Peiffer said there was a psychological advantage, but that doesn't mean it wasn't as difficult.

Maryland saw significant improvements on the MSA this year, particularly among African-American and low-income students and those learning English.

The state also substituted locally written questions for a small number of questions.

Experts said the changes were justified, but they make comparisons with previous results imperfect.

Officials ask for help in vehicle arson

GLEN BURNIE - County firefighters are seeking the public's help in identifying those responsible for a vehicle fire in Glen Burnie July 4 that has been ruled an arson.

Between midnight and 1 a.m. someone smashed out the rear window of a Nissan Sentra in the 500 block of Dogwood Drive and threw a firecracker into the passenger area of the car, county Fire Department officials said. The firecracker ignited the interior of the vehicle.

A passerby saw the smoke, informed the car's owner of the blaze and called for help. The owner extinguished the flames with a fire extinguisher, but the car still sustained $5,700 worth of damage.

Fire investigators are asking anyone with information to call 410-222-TIPS. Callers may remain anonymous.

Correction

A table in the Maryland Gazette on Wednesday omitted Maryland School Assessment test stores for several north county schools.

North county results are on Page A9 of today's edition.

We regret the error.