Here are the Capital News Service stories tentatively scheduled to move Thursday, Oct. 29. If you have any questions, please call Rafael Lorente 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 rlorente@jmail.umd.edu or aflynn@jmail.umd.edu.^

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ANNAPOLIS - The O'Malley administration announced Thursday that federal stimulus funds have created or saved more than 14,000 Maryland jobs since late February. But concerns remain as to the speed at which those funds are distributed and the accuracy of the job numbers. Slug: CNS-Stimulus Jobs. About 500 words.

By Bobby McMahon.<

BALTIMORE - As the Congress works on health care reform legislations in Washington, supporters of "Medicare for All, a national single-payer health plan" protest at the CareFirst insurance company office in Baltimore Thursday. The sit-in, demanding the end of "insurance abuse" and "immediate approval of all doctor-recommended treatments," is a part of the nationwide Mobilization for Health Care for All campaign jointly launched by the advocacy groups Prosperity Agenda, Healthcare-NOW!, and the Center for the Working Poor. Slug: CNS-Insurance Protest. About 500 words.

By Sharmina Manandhar.<

WASHINGTON - Johns Hopkins Health System President Ronald Peterson asked Congress Thursday to reform pension funding rules, warning that unless changes are adopted, Johns Hopkins will have to divert resources from patient care and lay off personnel to meet pension obligations. Peterson's testimony before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee was introduced by Sen. Barbara Mikulski ,D-Md., who spoke about hardships faced by Maryland workers and retirees whose pensions were slashed following the bankruptcy of Bethlehem Steel in 2001. Slug: CNS-Pension Funding. About 400 words.

By Tina Irgang.<

BLADENSBURG - On a Wednesday morning in October, a large three-room van rolls into the Bladensburg Elementary School parking lot. Laura Koo, a nurse practitioner, welcomes her first two patients of the day aboard the Governor's Wellmobile. Neither has health insurance, nor anywhere else to go. And they're the lucky ones. For 15 years, the Governor's Wellmobile program, run through the University of Maryland, Baltimore's School of Nursing, has been providing free health care services -- such as routine check-ups, blood work and filled prescriptions -- to the uninsured. But as the state trims more than $4 billion from its budget over the next few years, funding for programs like the Wellmobile are being slashed. Slug: CNS-Wellmobile Cuts. About 1,000 words. With photos and audio clip in CNS-Extras.

By Jon Sham.<

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