The U.S. Navy recently released a photograph on social media showing a sailor firing his M-4 aboard a ship. No doubt some public relations officer thought the picture looked great—a fit and ready sailor shooting his rifle, with spent cartridges flying. A perfect picture for a recruitment catalog, except for one crucial detail: the rifle’s scope—which the sailor appears to be looking through—is mounted backwards, and its lens covers appear to be closed. A swift social media uproar arose over the bizarre and glaring error. Someone with actual military experience...

A new rule finalized by the Department of Justice this week would require background checks on all gun sales. It comes months after the deadly Lewiston shootings. The rule finalized by the U.S. Department of Justice this week will require background checks on buyers when firearms are sold at gun shows or other places outside brick-and-mortar stores. It closes the so-called "gun show loophole" that has allowed tens of thousands of guns to be sold in the U.S. each year by unlicensed dealers without ensuring the buyer is allowed to...

Donald W. “Don” Kalkman Jr., a former Baltimore County budget analyst and avid rail fan, died of cancer March 28 at Stella Maris, a hospice facility in Timonium, Baltimore County. The longtime Towson resident was 83. “Don was a great guy and we’ve been very close all of our lives,” said his brother, William “Bill” Kalkman, who lives in Timonium. “He was a very meticulous and detail-oriented person.” Donald Wilmer Kalkman Jr., son of William W. Kalkman Sr., who worked for Martin Marietta Corp.’s Gemini Space Program, and Marie Bittrick...

A Republican member of the Maine House of Representatives is facing backlash after suggesting that last year's deadly mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine — that left 18 dead and more than a dozen wounded — was vengeance from God. NBC News reported that Rep. Michael Lemelin took to the floor of the house on Thursday to condemn LD 1619, which was legislation expanding privacy rights for abortion patients that passed the same day as the October 25 shooting. He then went on to suggest that the shooting was retribution from...

Designers behind Mecklenburg County's future Red Line, a commuter train that could connect Uptown with Lake Norman, are mulling a stop at Camp North End. Why it matters: Development has exploded across the region in the years since the long-planned commuter rail project stalled. Now that it has new momentum, planners are reconsidering where some stations will be. • Camp North End, which the line passes through, is one of several areas that have transformed since the original 2008 designs. Catch up quick: CATS has long proposed sharing Norfolk Southern's...