 Other news, a man is dead after a small plane crashed into a river in Talbot County, Maryland, shortly before 9.40 this morning. Maryland State Police say 56-year-old Robert Eugene Merlini was the pilot of a twin-engine Cessna that took off shortly before 9 from Tipton Airport in Fort Meade. Nobody else was on board. Police believe he was heading to Easton Airport before the plane crashed into the Tread-Avon River, close to Travelers Rest Circle Southeast.