Eds: Good afternoon. Here are the Capital News Service stories tentatively scheduled to move Friday, Dec. 7. If you have questions, please call Steve Crane in the Annapolis bureau at 410-626-1008 or Adrianne Flynn in the Washington bureau at 202-628-1677, or you may e-mail us at scrane@jmail.umd.edu or aflynn@jmail.umd.edu. Thank you.

WASHINGTON - Changing Maryland's primary date from March to snowier February, has left many local election officials scrambling to make sure strong emergency weather plans are in place and enough poll workers are available on Election Day, Feb. 12. Slug: CNS-Primary Prep. About 700 words.

By Anju Kaur.

ANNAPOLIS - The Maryland Court of Special Appeals has rejected a teenager's claim that she acted in self-defense when she stabbed a 15-year-old girl to death at a 2005 high school football game. The unarmed victim threw the first punch during a fight between two groups of girls at James Hubert Blake High School in Montgomery County. The appeals court said Thursday that murder defendants can claim self-defense in a situation where their life is not in danger only if they believe it is. Slug: CNS-No Defense. About 400 words.<

By Andy Zieminski.

ANNAPOLIS - While students with limited English proficiency are a rapidly growing population in Maryland schools, the population of teachers trained to work with them remains disproportionately small. As a group, students in English for Speakers of Other Languages programs perform at the bottom of nearly all state tests. ESOL educators say that these students present unique challenges, and that more Maryland teachers need to be prepared to accommodate them. Slug: CNS-Mucho ESOL. About 700 words.

By Rick Docksai.

ANNAPOLIS - Put him in an institution. He'll be nothing but a vegetable. That's the advice doctors gave Nancy and Lawrence Capone 42 years ago, shortly after learning their fifth child, Ken, had cerebral palsy. The doctors were only pushing the prevailing wisdom at the time, but the Capones "wouldn't even hear of it," said Ken's half-brother, Steve Harrell. "There was no way Kenny was going in any institution." Four decades later, Ken Capone's cerebral palsy has left him unable to walk or talk. He uses a headstick to operate his motorized wheelchair and type messages to others on a computer that sits on his wheelchair. But he is also about to begin his fourth term as an intern focusing on disability issues in the Maryland Senate, becoming such an influential advocate for those with disabilities that the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee has never rejected one of his recommendations. Slug: CNS-Disability Advocate. About 750 words.

By Bernie Becker.

COLLEGE PARK - A growing number of people are getting medical information online and e-mailing or networking with others, according to a 2007 survey by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, which found that 51 percent of Americans living with a chronic health condition access the Internet and 86 percent of those look for health information online. The survey found that the Internet is being vastly utilized by people with chronic conditions who research medical information and network with one another. But some experts caution surfers that all information on the Internet is not sound, and search results may be confusing. Slug: CNS-Digital Doctors. About 900 words.

By Rachel Mauro.

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