*A Canadian energy company and privately held New York firm are looking to build a deep-water natural gas pipeline off the coast of New Jersey.

*Eight NYPD officers are facing disciplinary charges in the shooting of Sean Bell.

*Express weekend train service from New York City to Atlantic City will start in early 2009.

*After an arbitration panel awarded city police officers a raise amounting to 9.7 percent over two years, the firefighters’ union said that would reopen its contract covering the same two years.

*The federal prison in Otisville is overcrowded and understaffed and so are the three other federal prisons in New York, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.

*NYS Governor David Paterson’s doctor says he should be able to resume normal activities Wednesday, a day after undergoing an emergency procedure for glaucoma.

*Lakewood fire officials were sifting through the rubble left by a shed fire that spread to a detached garage at Central Avenue near St Nicholas Avenue on Tuesday evening. The family was not home, and no one was injured.

*Tri-State Weather: Temperatures will rise from 49 with today’s high of 68 occurring around 11:00AM. Skies will range from mostly sunny to mostly cloudy. Tonight, showers and thunderstorms may fall, probably before 9:00PM.

*BALTIMORE, MD. — A day after an overturned tractor trailer snarled traffic on northbound JFX, Wednesday morning part of the JFX was still closed. Cleanup crews worked through the night to clear the road surface of battery acid and spilled diesel fuel. Batteries that weren’t damaged were loaded on another truck. I-83 was shut down Wednesday north of Cold Spring Lane and Northern Parkway until 6 a.m.

*FREDERICK, Md. — Maryland State Police said two men in their 80s died after the car they were traveling in was hit by a car and a tractor trailer on Interstate 70. The crash occurred at about 12:30 p.m. on westbound I-70 near I-270. Police said a Buick La Sabre was hit by a Chevrolet Cobalt when 83-year-old Verlin Krabill of Frederick tried to cross three lanes of traffic to exit onto Route 15. The Buick spun out of control and was then hit by the tractor trailer.

*BALTIMORE, Md. —  A group of city residents is taking Baltimore city to court after they said they were illegally evicted from their homes — but according to the city, they simply didn’t pay their rent. The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court claims that the Baltimore City
Housing Authority is violating tenants’ rights by evicting them without allowing them the right to a full hearing.

*WASHINGTON, Dc. — Nicholas Ramfos, director of Commuter Connections, says that over the first three months of the year, the number of people applying for area carpool and vanpool programs spiked 37.5 percent, compared to the same period last year.

*WASHINGTON – Maryland and Virginia have the dubious distinctions of being ranked fourth and sixth, respectively, when it comes to people who text while driving, a new survey finds. The survey finds that 36 percent of Marylanders send text messages while driving. In Virginia, the number is 35.6 percent.

*Baltimore Shkia (21215): 8:19

*Baltimore Weather: Today: Partly sunny. Scattered showers this afternoon. Highs in the upper 60s Lows in upper 40’s. Chance of rain 30 percent. Tomorrow: Partly sunny with a 30 percent chance of showers. Highs in the mid 60s.

*Baltimore Gas Prices: $3.77 Chevron, Reisterstown Road & Fords Lane. Most Expensive: $3.91 Carroll Fuel, Patterson & Reisterstown Road (.04 less using cash).

(YW-MD-03 / YWN Desk – NYC)