The County Times 2009.01.29 (Hi-Def)

THURSDAY January 29, 2009

Story Page 25

PAGE 25

Chopticon Takes Atlanta

PAGE 9

Chopticon Bands Shine at Chick-fil-A Bowl half time show.

Photo by Frank Marquart

Email Hacked

PAGE 13

Superintendent Martirano’s work email gets “spoofed”.

Celebrating 75 Years

Thursday, January 29, 2009 �The County Times

RESULTSRESULTSWeekly Poll

Too Much

Not Sure

Not Enough

State

Local

ORION 26-30CT EZ PEEL SHRIMP

PILGRIMS PRIDE FROZEN CHICKEN WINGS - 5LB BAG - REGULAR OR BLAZIN’ W/BREADING

Prices Effective January 30 - February 1 2009

Route 245Hollywood, MD 20636

301-475-2531

Route 246 & Great Mills Rd.Lexington Park, MD 20653301-862-7702

Route 5 & Mohawk DriveCharlotte Hall, MD 20622301-884-5636

Wildewood Shopping CenterCalifornia, MD 20619

301-866-5702The Shops at Breton BayLeonardtown, MD 20650301-997-1828

18PK 12OZ CANS BUDWEISER, COORS LT & MILLER LT

FOOTBALL VEGGIE TRAYS

MRS RENFROS SALSA ASST VAR 16OZ

$11.99

CORONA REG OR LT 12PK 12OZ BTLS

$13.99

FLYING DOG 6PK 12OZ BTLS ASST VAR.

$7.99

BECKS LT & DARK 12PK 12OZ BTLS $11.99CHICKEN WING PLATTER -

60CT - SERVES 12-15 PEOPLE$44.95

CHICKEN TENDER PLATTER - 50CT SERVES - 15-20 PEOPLE

$39.95

FRIEDCHICKENBUCKET16 PIECES

$14.99$12.99

$4.99 lb

$8.95

PEPSI FRIDGEMATES - 12PK 12OZ CANS - ASST. VAR.

TOSTITOS TORTILLA CHIPS, RUFFLES POTATO

CHIPS OR SUNCHIPS - 9 -13OZ - ASST. VAR.

3/$9.00

2/$6.003/$12.00

2FT ASST PARTY SUB (PLEASE ORDER AHEAD)$9.99

BEAR CREEK CHILI9.8OZ

$3.99

Same

Not Sure

No

Yes

Do you believe decisions about local land use policy should be made by local government or by state government?

Do you think Government has taken too much control over private property rights?

Should Maryland’s automobile fuel emission standards be more stringent than the national standards, even if automobiles will cost more money in Maryland?

73%

23%

4%

73%

23%

4%

73%

18%

9%

Thursday, January 29, 2009� The County Times

P.O. Box 250 • Hollywood, Maryland 20636News, Advertising, Circulation, Classifieds: 301-373-4125

James Manning McKay - FounderEric McKay - Associate [email protected] Pulliam - Office Manager..........................tobiepulliam@countytimes.netAndrea Shiell - Community [email protected] Stevens - Sports Correspondent........................chrisstevens@countytimes.netGuy Leonard - Government [email protected] Pratt - Sales Representative..........................prestonpratt@countytimes.netMatt Suite - Sales Representative.....................................mattsuite@countytimes.netAngie Stalcup - Graphic Artist.......................................angiestalcup@countytimes.net

WeatherWatch

Inside

4 CountyNews6 TownNews7 StateNews10 Money11 DefenseandMilitary13 Education14 CrimeandPunishment

8 Editorial/Opinion9 CommunitySpeaks

18 Lifestyles20 AHouseisaHome22 RealEstate27 BusinessDirectory

23 WanderingMinds26 Food28 Entertainment29 GoingOn32 History

24 Games33 RecreationandParks34 Hockey35 Basketball36 TheBleachers38 Softball39 St.Mary’sCollege

< news>

< commentary>

< living>

< culture>

16 Obituaries25 Community31 Newsmakers

< people>

< recreation>

Call Or Go Online Today To Subscribe!

301-373-4125www.countytimes.net

Special Rates Available

96 38

XH Sports& Giftware

GetReadyFor

the Big Game!

In-Store Face Painting Feb 1st 10 - 2pm

St. Mary’s Square Shopping Center21600 Great Mills Road Suite #27 • Lexington Park, MD – 20653

[email protected]

Small Design or Entire Face!

Your #1 location for sports Jerseys, Clothing, Caps & Collectibles

Come In and See our many

selections.NFL, NBA, MLB,

NCAA, NHL...

We Have Items for all

32 NFL Teams

TICKETMASTER:Concerts, Plays, Sporting

Events…and more

One Free Small

Face Paint Design

Good for 2/1/2009

10% OFFAny One

ItemGood 1/29/09

thru 2/1/09Excludes Sales & Clearance Items


By Guy LeonardStaff Writer

The director of the Three Oaks homeless shelter in Lexington Park says county agencies responsible for dealing with the homeless population in St. Mary’s County will do a one-day count Jan. 29 to determine their number.

Lanny Lancaster told The County that he expects the numbers to rise.

“It’s going up a little bit each year,” Lancaster said, which stands at about 1,280 for 2008. “I wish it wasn’t.”

Lancaster said he expected a 10 to 15 percent increase in the number of home-less living in the county for this year’s count. “The demands on the system have increased so much,” Lancaster said as evidence to back up his assertions.

That includes clients coming in for food and medical assistance, Lancaster said, es-pecially for prescription medications.

At the Three Oaks shelter, Lancast-er said groups from families to single women to single women with children as well as single men seeking help, has increased.

Many single men and women have lost their jobs on construction sites and in the food-service and house-keeping indus-tries, Lancaster said.

“They just can’t find a job,” he said.The problem, Lancaster said, is closely con-

nected to the economic downturn, but also a continuing influx of well paying jobs that drive up housing costs.

“For every new group with nice jobs and high-

level employment, the poor who didn’t think they were poor, their costs of living goes up,” Lancaster said.

“Then the working poor become homeless.”Lancaster said the homeless count would take

place throughout the tri-county area. It will also take them out into the woods here locally, he said.

Small homeless camps dot the woods in and around the Lexington Park area, Lancaster said, with some continuing to brave the cold winter.

Vernon Freelnd, 41, a client at Three Oaks had been sleeping out in the woods for months before he got a spot at t h e

shelter.Freelnd took The County Times to several

different locations in the community where the homeless stay.

They often use tents handed out for free by local churches. They wrap tents in plastic to keep the bone chilling cold out.

“It’s rough if you ain’t got money… basically you’re stuck,” Freelnd said of being without home

or work. He said he’d been homeless since about 2003 mostly because of drug use.

Rueben Berry, now the facilities superintendent at Three Oaks, was also once a client. He started his slide into homelessness in the early 1990s when he started using drugs regularly while working as an inventory specialist. He stayed in the bathroom and basement of his job and used rent money for drugs, he said.

By 2002 he had lost his job and he returned to his birthplace of Lexington Park to seek help at Three

Oaks.

It helped turn his life around, he said.“As long as I’ve been doing the right things good

things have been happening,” Berry, 52, said.Freelnd, whose tent in Lexington Park has been

taken over by another homeless person since he moved out, is still waiting for help getting a job.

“Everything’s in a freeze right now,” Freelnd said. “But I’m glad to be out of the cold.

ews

Start the New Year off in Fabuless Fashions from

50%Store Sale!!!

250 Town Square Dr.Lusby, MD 20657

(Behind Lusby Post Off ice)

Coming Soon in Spring: Little Diva Princess Parties

New! New! New Expansion: Misses, Men’s & More!

Locally Owned by Heather & Michelle

Hours: Mon. - Fri. 11-7Sat. 10-5 • Sun. CLOSED

443-404-5855

County To Tally Number Of Homeless


The St. Mary’s County Soil Conservation District has asked the Board of County Com-missioners for $500,000 to begin construction of a new Agricultural Services Center, which proponents say would provide space for all the agricultural agencies to better assist local farmers.

The total cost of the project is estimated at between $1.5 million to $2 million, which the soil conservation district hopes to regain through leasing out space to state agencies like the Maryland Department of Agriculture and the Farm Services Agency, according to a letter to commissioners from Stanley Boothe, chairman of the district.

Ben Beale, an educator with the Mary-land Cooperative Extension, which also assists farmers in their industry told commissioners that it was difficult to pool resources between all the agencies because they were spread out.

The cooperative extension currently shares space with the county health department.

“I think it’s a good opportunity to get all

the agricultural agencies under one roof… while we have some funding from other agencies.”

The new building would be constructed on county-owned land on the fairgrounds in Leonardtown and be approximately 10,000 square feet in size.

The building would be one-story and have an individual well and septic system. Construc-tion would be completed by 2010.

The request for the money comes at a time when commissioners are busy deciding which capital projects should move forward on sched-ule and which should be made to wait because of the current downward economic situation at the state level.

County Commissioner Lawrence D. Jar-boe said that in these economically uncertain times, putting out $500,000 for a new building was not tenable.

“We all want new things,” Jarboe (R-Golden Beach) said. “But the economics are such that none of us can afford something new.

“We’ve all got to tighten up.”The next budget work session for the

county commissioners is scheduled for Feb. 2.

County Conservation District Wants $500K For New Building

Photo By Guy LeonardReuben Berry, facilities superintendent at Three Oaks homeless shelter, points to a small homeless camp in the woods around Lexington Park.

The Northern Senior Center in Charlotte Hall is open once again af-ter a burst water pipe caused it to close down last week.

The pipe inside the center burst in six different places and caused flooding up to an inch deep in some sections of the senior center; whole sections of dry-wall had to be ripped out and replaced because of water damage.

George Erichsen, director of Pub-lic Works and Transportation, said that repairs would cost several thousand dollars.

“You’re looking at between $20,000 and $30,000,” Erichsen told the St. Mary’s Board of County Com-missioners Tuesday. “We were glad to be able to get in there and continue services.”

A similar incident occurred at the Hollywood Recreation Center just a day after the pipe malfunction in Charlotte Hall. A water main outside the facility ruptured and caused the loss of running water, necessitating the closure of the center.

Officials said the pipe was iron and had worn out after nearly 50 years of use.

Northern Senior Center Back Up And

Running


Peoplearecomingbacktousbecausethey can’t find a job.

Ella May Russell, director oftheDepartmentofSocialServices

Therearetimeswhenwethinkthat St. Mary’s County is immune… butthestatisticsshowit’s[theeconomicrecession] is having an affect.

County Commissioner Daniel H. Raley (D-Great Mills)

Today’s Newsmakers In Brief

ews

Cell: 301-481-8485Office: 301-863-2400 ext. 221Fax: 301-863-7528Email: [email protected]

Trish is the widow of a Marine Corp. pilot and is experienced in moves outside and in country.

Want a Realtor who identifies with military spouses and familiar with Pax River,

Call Trish Brow at 301-481-8485.

Trish Brow

Factun An inch (2.5 centimeters) of rain water is equivalent to

15 inches (38.1 centimeters) of dry, powdery snow.

Howistherecessionaffectinguslocally?


While St. Mary’s County is ahead of the national and state wide trends when it comes to maintaining its prosperity levels in tough economic times, many in the county are still feeling the squeeze according to a report from agencies with the newly formed Department of Human Services.

The report shows that the number of people running afoul of the law, asking for more social services assistance as well as seeking help with mental problems and personal and family cri-ses are all on the rise.

In the last six months, the report showed, the level of violent crime in the county has increased by 10 percent while the num-ber of visits to the emergency room at St. Mary’s Hospital has increased by 22 percent.

The number of county residents seeking help with issues such as emergency psychiatric services, housing assistance, food stamps, child support and substance abuse have all increased by 20 percent or more.

The three county homeless shelters, Three Oaks, Angel’s Watch and Leah’s House all report an increase in people looking for a place to stay.

The total referrals for families in 2008 as opposed to 2007 increased from 155 to 249. The actual number of families admit-ted to any one of the three shelters increased from 26 to 39 in just six months time.

County social service agencies are able to put up many of the remaining families or single men and women in emergency motel space with vouchers or help find relatives who can take in the homeless, said Ella May Russell, director of the Department of Social Services, but the tasks are mounting quickly.

The problems become more serious when the homeless, who have frequently also lost their jobs, can’t seem to get back on their feet.

“It’s becoming harder and harder to find employment for these people,” Russell told the St. Mary’s Board of County Com-missioners Tuesday. “People are coming back to us because they can’t find a job.”

Russell also reported that just under one-tenth of all fami-lies in St. Mary’s County are on food stamp assistance.

“Our case load has almost doubled,” she told county commissioners.

The report’s data also shows that the number of people who have sought employment has skyrocketed from 168 six months ago to 1,065, according to Department of Social Ser-vices figures.

The number of domestic violence clients seeking help has more than doubled from 60 to 143.

Those seeking child care vouchers has also increased from 424 to 866.

Rev. Marguerite Morris, director of Leah’s House said that her organization’s planned women’s shelter in Valley Lee is com-ing closer to fruition, but until then, some cannot be helped.

“We’re very close to bringing the new shelter to the coun-ty,” Morris told the commissioners. “We do have to turn people away constantly.”

Commissioner Daniel H. Raley (D-Great Mills) said the report showed that St. Mary’s County, which has relied for de-cades on federal dollars to provide high-tech, military oriented jobs, could still feel the pain of the economic downturn.

“There are times when we think that St. Mary’s County is immune… but the statistics show it’s [the economic recession] having an affect.”

Commissioner Lawrence D. Jarboe (R-Golden Beach) said that the majority of county residents were unaware of the extent of the problem.

“We’re seeing two levels of society here,” Jarboe said. “The ones with the nice jobs… and they’re not seeing that 10 percent.

“There’s a part of our population that’s hurting.”

National Economic Woes Put Stress On St. Mary’s Community


The directors and staff of the Metropoli-tan Commission (MetCom) and the county’s Department of Land Use and Growth Manage-ment (LUGM) are busy working out technical issues in a 20-year plan to provide more water and sewer service in the county that could drive costs up if not solved.

The water and sewer facilities plan was set to go before the St. Mary’s County Planning Commission for review on Monday but the is-sues that staff in both agencies found slowed its progress.

The plan itself details where water and sew-er facilities like water mains, sewer lines and pumping stations need to be placed to meet the demand for population and development growth projected by LUGM.

The plan must also be as accurate as pos-sible for the next two decades to insure that MetCom does not incur extra costs in the future because they will have had to construct facilities that hadn’t planned on, said MetCom Director Steven King.

“We’re in the process of correcting the plan so we can take it to the planning commission in

February,” King told The County Times. “It’s a vision for the next 20 years.”

Phil Shire, acting director of LUGM, said that a plan like this hasn’t been developed for about 15 years and that additions of pipes, lines and pumping stations have been “piece meal” as situations demanded.

“It was not comprehensive,” Shire said, adding that the new plan required intensive co-operation from both agencies.

“We’re working more closely now than we ever have before.”

Some of the technical issues could be costly ones, King said, if they are not corrected now.

For instance, a computer model created by the engineering consultants working on the plan, showed that water flow to fight fires was inadequate in many sections of the county and would have to be replace to the tune of some 81,000 feet of water pipe, King said.

That translated into more than 15 miles of new pipe to be laid down, but because fire hydrants were within about 450 feet of homes, which the computer model did not account for, the replacement was unnecessary.

“That’s tens of millions of dollars,” King said. “It’s not going in the plan like that.”

Water And Sewer Facilities Plan Being Reworked


TownAround


Dan Norris, the president of the Leonardtown Business Association (LBA), says that Leonardtown has plenty going for it when it comes to com-merce opportunities but its not perfect.

He said that their needs to be more retail outlets in town, particularly specialty shops and boutique-style stores, to attract not just county shoppers but those from a far off as well.

More over, Norris said, town businesses need to stay open longer.“They’re open late on Fridays,” Norris told The County Times. “I un-

derstand people need a day off, but they need to be open [later] Friday, Sat-urday and Sunday.”

It’s all part of a plan, Norris said, to create a buzz in town for consumers to choose Leonardtown as their place to shop.

“We’re trying to get excitement in the town to get people to come who’ve never come here before,” Norris said. “Times are tough, we’re seeing some people [businesses] who aren’t mak-ing it through.”

With about 65 members compris-ing the LBA, town officials consider it to be one of the most important inter-est concerns in town.

The lion’s share of the town’s rev-enue comes from business taxes, offi-cials have said.

Norris said that one way to attract businesses would be to maximize space in town by taking larger rental buildings and putting several shops in one, giving variety and convenience to customers.

One example would be the planned vacancy at the hospice build-ing in Leonardtown, Norris said, which could be turned into luxury apartments with retail shops on the first floor.

“That would be key for Leonard-town, to have a place like that,” Nor-ris said. “To get as much space as you could out of a building.”

That also fits in with Norris’ idea that making the town an officially designated arts district would also be good for attracting customers.

“We would like to see an arts dis-trict,” Norris told The County Times. “We really want to promote Leonard-

town as the friendly kind of town.”Kevin Thompson, owner of Thompson’s Corner Kafe in town, said that

the LBA tries to help out businesses with advertising even though they might not be members. But in tough economic times there was only so much the organization could do.

“They need to get out and invite people to their doors,” Thomp-son said. “You’re not going to draw them in by looking out your door.” Thompson, who owns a restaurant in the backside of town, is famous for greeting people in a crab suit handing out snacks to get people to come in.

Thompson said that the town government should consider putting a one-month hold on restaurants looking for a business license to ensure that a retail operation could have a chance at starting up.

“There’s nothing to do there now except to come to eat,” Thompson said. “That’s kind of tough but it could be just for a month.”

Business Group Looking For Variety In Town


County commissioners say that Gov. Martin O’Malley wants at least nine St. Mary’s residents from which to choose to fill three seats allotted to the county on the state man-dated Property Tax Assess-ment and Appeals Board.

So far, they say there are only three names in the running.

The whole point of the board is so that residents can have a chance to lessen their property tax burdens as well as have a board settle issues over tax credit and agricultur-al land easement programs., according to information from the state’s Web site on the board.

“People deserve to have a quorum to listen to their ap-peals,” said County Commis-sioner Lawrence D. Jarboe (R-Golden Beach). “I might be one of the people going there.”

Jarboe has been an advo-cate of initiating a constant yield property tax rate cap that would ensure county resi-dents would continue to pay the same amount despite the state’s recent assessments that have caused land values to rise dramatically.

Commissioner President Francis Jack Russell (D-St. George’s Island) said: “It’s an avenue to appeal property taxes and sometimes it really works.”

Jarboe said that with the economic recession forcing homeowners to tighten their fiscal belts, they were having a hard time meeting their in-creased tax obligations.

“It’s huge,” Jarboe said of the increases. “But [the ap-peals board] is a relief valve.

“They sit as citizen judg-es; we need volunteers for this board.”

Members of the committee are appointed by the governor and consist of three people plus one alternate. Appeals board members selected will meet in Leonardtown.

Interested citizens can contact the county’s Public Information Office at 301-475-4200 ext. 1341 to get a biographical information form to apply.

Members of the real estate community are not eligible to serve on the property tax ap-peals board.

County Wants Volunteers For Property Tax Appeal Board


On Jan. 20, the Town of Leonardtown’s Planning and Zoning Commission approved the second phase of a condo-minium project on Eastwick Lane.

Final approval for the first phase of the project was granted to the developer, Wayne Davis, back in April of 2006.

Davis has since completed the first phase of the Foxwell Condominiums project and phase two is expected to contain 10 condominium units with two parking spaces for each home.

A third phase of the plan is expected but will require further subdivision approval from the town’s planning commission.

Condominium Project Gets Approval

Photo By Guy Leonard

Photo By Guy LeonardThe Leonardtown planning commission has approved a second subdivision for more condominiums like these at the Foxwell development on Eastwick Lane.

Dan Norris, president of the Leonardtown Business Association likes the view from his second floor; he likes to keep an eye on how town businesses are doing.


By Erich WagnerCapital News Service

Gov. Martin O’Malley and two lawmakers an-nounced legislation Friday that would require Maryland to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 25 percent by 2020.

The bill, sponsored by House Majority Leader Ku-mar Barve, D-Montgomery, and Sen. Paul Pinsky, D-Prince George’s, looks to the Maryland Department of the Environment for a plan to meet the emissions reduction target in the allotted time. The department would need to submit the plan by 2011.

The bill also specifies a reevaluation period in 2016 to ensure that the state is on track to meet its goal.

The department’s plan would likely include some of the Maryland Commission on Climate Change’s 42 rec-ommendations on how to reduce greenhouse gas emis-sions, which range from energy conservation techniques to developing alternative energy sources.

Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide contribute to the warming of the planet. Human activities, such as driving cars that burn fossil fuels, increase the levels of greenhouse gases.

Some elements of getting to the reduction goal are simply saving electricity through better home construc-tion, Pinsky said.

“Less electricity means less greenhouse gases,” he said. “If you put better insulation in homes, with program-mable thermostats and better windows, it’ll mean savings for people who have to pay their electricity bill.”

This reduction in emissions won’t break the bank, and would in fact lead to an overall economic gain, Barve said.

“According to the [Maryland Commission on Cli-mate Change], there would be $2 billion in net savings for Maryland,” Barve said. “The way most scientists look at this thing is the cheapest electron is the one you don’t have to buy.”

Any costs that the state may have to pay for devel-oping green energy will be more than reimbursed by the boost to the economy, said Shari Wilson, secretary of the Maryland Department of the Environment.

“A lot of job growth would result from new invest-ment in energy conservation and alternative energy,” Wil-son said.

A similar bill failed in the General Assembly last year because of concerns by manufacturers and labor groups. Leaders are confident that this year’s bill will win over past holdouts.

Last year’s failure allowed lawmakers and environ-mentalists to rework the bill into a form all stakeholders would support, O’Malley said. Manufacturers and labor groups previously opposed to the bill have signed a letter in support of the new legislation.

“After working through the year and having those who were opposed to it last year and those who were ad-vocates come together, I think we have a really good bill to put in the legislature this year,” O’Malley said.

If Maryland were to pass the bill this session it would have an impact on environmental policy across the coun-try, Wilson said.

“By having this requirement in state statute it sig-nals to the rest of the country that as we switch to a more carbon neutral economy, Maryland is very serious about encouraging investment in energy efficiency and green energy,” Wilson said.

By KATHLEEN MILLERAssociated Press Writer

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) _ Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley wants to raise the minimum age for teen drivers and strengthen penalties for those who repeat-edly drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

O’Malley wants to raise the age for getting a learner’s permit from 15 years and nine months to 16 years old. Drivers would have to be 161/2 to get a provisional driver’s license, rather than 16 years and 3 months. And drivers couldn’t get a full, `̀ graduated’’ license until they were 18. The current age is 17 years and nine months.

The proposals are part of the governor’s legislative goals, which O’Malley released Mon-day. They also include using speed cameras in highway work zones and allowing them in local jurisdictions that want them.

Another bill would take fire-arms out of the hands of domestic abusers.

Governor Pushes Hike In Age For

Teen Drivers

Governor, Legislators Unveil Plan to Reduce Greenhouse Gases

ASHBURN, Va. (AP) _ The Washington Redskins have made a second round of layoffs, dismissing six employ-ees in the stadium ticket office and four seasonal employees.

The six laid off Monday at the stadium worked in gen-eral admission sales. The four seasonal employees worked at the Redskins Park training facility.

Earlier this month, the Redskins laid off more than 20 people, mostly in the market-ing, legal and technology de-partments. Director of player development John Jefferson and salary cap analyst Jimmy Halsell were also let go.

The Redskins are feeling the effects of the economic downturn even though they are the second most valuable NFL franchise with an esti-mated worth of $1.538 bil-lion, according to Forbes’ annual rankings. They play in the NFL’s largest stadium and have sold out every home game since the 1960s.

Redskins Lay Off 10 In 2nd

Round Of Cutbacks


Over 250,000 Southern Marylanders can’t be wrong!

To The Editor:

Do you have something to say?

Would like your voice to be heard?

Send us a letter telling us what’s on your mind!

Send to:The County TimesP.O. Box 250 • Hollywood, MD 20636

Make sure you include your name, phone # and the city you live in.

We will not publish your phone #, only your name and city

E-mail letters to: [email protected]

Dear Editor, As a first time reader of your publication, I thought the Weekly Poll Results section was a bit different. As a Journalism student at UMUC, public polling is taught as a basic means to gather localized informa-tion but you don’t see it used very often in local papers. The County Times seems to cover the news that affects its community of readers quite well, in a straightforward and ethical way. This particular poll holds very important information, especially for someone like me that is just settling in the

area. The one thing that made me very cu-rious was that while 68% of the community BELIEVES Obama can solve the problems, only 50% believes we’ll be able to actually be better off because of it. I know I haven’t held much admiration for our national lead-ers of the past, but 68% of a community believing in something is certainly news... so here’s my nod to keep him in for 8! Kudos for the enlightenment! Very Respectfully, -Carrie G. Munn

Lexington Park, Md

Dear Editor,

I feel the new format for The County Times is a great improvement. The newspa-per has made great progress since the initial publication.

The recent addition of Linda Reno as

a Contributor is a great addition. Linda is a tireless researcher and will be a future attraction of historical information to St. Mary’s Countians.

Joseph Guyther, M.D.Mechanicsville, Md

St. Mary’s County enjoys a long history of service from hundreds of volunteer firefighters and rescue workers who have performed out-standing service to our community for many years. Mechanicsville Volunteer Fire Depart-ment is celebrating 75 years of service this year to our community; we congratulate them along with all the volunteer fire departments, rescue squads, and the Advanced Life Support Unit.

Few can argue that the level of service these men and women offer to our community is as professional and competent as anywhere in our nation. With the best of training, equip-ment, and dedicated volunteers, our commu-nity is truly blessed by the safety and service they provide.

Many people are familiar with communi-ties where these services are performed by paid fire and rescue workers hired by local govern-ments. There is no doubt that communities served by paid fire and rescue workers are well served, yet there is no evidence that these com-munities are any better served than our own.

Some people from time to time question the wisdom of the volunteer system and wonder if St. Mary’s County should move to a paid sys-tem. We strongly reject this idea for obvious reasons and for some reasons not so obvious.

There may well come a time when there simply isn’t enough volunteers to maintain the level of service our community requires, how-ever there is no certainty that will happen and there is no sign of that being the case any time soon.

There is legitimate concern within the Rescue Squads and the Advanced Life Sup-port Unit that if certain changes aren’t made that some type of hybrid system of volunteers and paid workers may be needed. The daytime demand upon these agencies to provide service has grown disproportionately to the rest of the demand over the past 10 years. Today, doctors regularly call the local rescue squad to trans-port patients from doctor’s offices to the hospi-tal, something that was practically unheard of 10 years ago.

Additionally, more and more people are using the emergency room services at the hos-pital as their first entry into the medical ser-vices care system when they suffer from mi-

nor illnesses such as the common cold or an upset stomach. And all too often they decide that transportation to the hospital by the local rescue squad makes more sense than driving themselves or having a family member carry them.

We are not suggesting that folks should not call for emergency services when it is needed, however there can be little debate that the de-cision to use these services is much different than it was 10 years ago, leading to a greater demand.

Additionally, with the expansion of senior care facilities and retirement communities, res-cue squads are finding themselves extra busy during daytime hours servicing these senior care facilities.

Local government needs to find a sensible way to address some of these issues. One idea is to create a separate paid service agency that would address the needs of doctors and senior care facilities, using health insurance funding as well as tax dollars.

Otherwise, our current system of volun-teer’s is alive and doing quite well. The system we have is affordable; our local fire and rescue tax rates are very low. Because of these volun-teers combined with local fundraisers and do-nations, only a small amount of tax dollars are needed to support the system. A paid system would cost taxpayers much more.

Just as important as the cost, our system of volunteer’s strengthens our community. First, more young men and women have the opportu-nity to serve in a well-structured system giving them invaluable life training. Entry into a paid system would be limited to fewer people. Sec-ondly, these volunteer’s are not in this because it’s a job, they are truly doing this to serve the needs of neighbors and friends. The strength of our community is greatly enhanced by these volunteer’s, and as a community we have the highest level of respect for what they do.

Our firehouses and rescue squad’s are like local community centers, and we are all proud of these facilities and respect them.

Our volunteer system provides as good of service as would a paid system, it strengthens our community, and it’s affordable, we should all do more to support it.

Volunteers Or Paid Fire And Rescue Workers?Editorial:Local Polling Is Refreshing Addition To News

County Times Has Made Great Progress


Quote Of The DayLegal NoticeCommissioners Of LeonardtownNotice Of Public Hearing

The Leonardtown Planning and Zoning Commission will hold a public hearing on Tues-day, February 17, 2009 at 4:10 p.m. at the Town Office, 41660 Courthouse Drive, Leonardtown, MD on the following parcel of land applying for a Planned Infill and Re-development Dis-trict (“PIRD”) classification. The purpose of the hearing will be to present for public review and comment - the request to grant the PIRD classi-fication to Parcel 277, 22840 Lawrence Avenue. It is the purpose of the PIRD to encourage re-de-velopment of sites within the Town’s designated PIRD area, which are in deteriorated condition. Information about the proposed project is avail-able for public review at the Leonardtown Town Office. The public is invited to attend, and/or send written comments, to be received by Feb-ruary 17, 2009 at 4:00 p.m. to the Commission-ers of Leonardtown, POB 1, Leonardtown, MD 20650. Special accommodations will be made for persons with disabilities upon request.

By Authority: Laschelle E. Miller, Town Administrator

Speaks

Notice Of Request For Bid Proposal For The Construction Of The Municipal Parking Lot

The Commissioners of Leonardtown will be accepting bids for the construction of the Municipal Parking Lot #3. This work includes the construction of pervious paver installation, masonry concrete paving, curbing, edging, striping, sand filter landscaping, inlet and storm drain placement, under drain installation and other stormwater management structures.

Interested bidders may obtain a copy of the RFP by contacting Tony Wheatley, Capital Project Coordinator, Commissioners of Leonar-dtown, POB 1, 41660 Courthouse Drive, Leon-ardtown, MD 20650 or by calling 301-475-9791 between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m, Monday thru Friday.

A pre-bid meeting is scheduled at 10:00 a.m. February 11, 2009 at the Town Office for all interested bidders. Sealed bids will be received until 10:00 a.m. February 27, 2009 at which time they will be publicly opened and read.

The Commissioners of Leonardtown re-serves the right to reject any and all bids and proposals, and to accept any proposal deemed to be in the best interest of the Town.

ServingSt. Mary's County

Since 1978

• Wedding Invitations, Programsand Accessories

• High Speed Digital Black/White& Color Copy Service

• Perfect Binding, Hard BackBinding, GBC / Coil Binding,Saddle Stitching

• Graphic Design

• Free In-County Delivery

41690 Courthouse DriveLeonardtown, Maryland 20650

Phone: 301-475-5531Fax: 301-475-9636

email: [email protected]: Mon - Thur 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

FreeeSTIMATeS / FAST TurnArounD / CHeCk our PrICeS

• Posters• Flyers• Menus• Admission

Tickets• Raffle Tickets• Wedding

Accessories• Announcements• Invitations• Composition /

Layout• Copy Service• Rubber Stamps• Letterheads• Envelopes• Newsletters• Business Cards• Business Forms• NCR Forms

• Envelope Inserting

• Certificates• Contracts• Continuous

Forms• Booklets• Brochures• Funeral

Programs• Programs• Bumper Stickers• Magnetic Signs• Laminating• Labels• Bindery• Specialty Work• Color Work• Briefs

The 2nd District Volunteer Fire Depart-ment and Rescue Squad Auxiliary wishes to thank the residents who faithfully and gener-ously contributed to our 2008 “Bakeless Bake Sale”. This effort has proven to be a great suc-cess in the years past. The talents of your hands in this recipe provided the main ingredient: a pinch of “giving”. The “Bakeless Bake Sale” is our major community fundraising event of the year, where we make a personal appeal to all who “are served by” the 2nd District Fire De-partment and Rescue Squad.

Each year the SDVFD&RS continues to advance its vision and mission through your giving as we strive to support our neighbors despite our declining economy. Due to your continuing support, we are able to contribute to updated equipment and expansion of the Fire Department and Rescue Squad so they can con-tinue to meet their daily tasks of keeping our community safe.

Our Firefighters, Rescue Squad personnel and Auxiliary will be honored at the upcoming Installation of Officers Banquet on February 7, 2009. They will be acknowledged for their hard work, dedication, and pride for supporting our community. At this event, the Auxiliary will proudly present our contribution to the Fire Department and Rescue Squad reflecting funds we have raised from our monthly break-fasts, other events and generous community donations.

If you received a “Bakeless Bake Sale” letter and haven’t yet responded, it’s not too late. Please make your check payable to SDVFD&RSA and send it to: P.O. Box 238, Valley Lee, Maryland 20692. Additionally, if you would like to join the Auxiliary, new members are always welcome.

If you have any other questions or con-cerns, feel free to contact Ms. Darlene John-son at 240-434-1095.

Thanks again for your generous support.

Sincerely,

Pamela A. Kuniecki, President2nd District Volunteer Fire Department Rescue Squad Auxiliary

Thank You 2nd District Community

Youthisacircumstanceyoucan’tdoanythingabout.Thetrickistogrowupwithoutgettingold. -FrankLloydWright

St. Mary’s County’s first significant snowfall took many drivers by surprise Tuesday morning as snow quickly coated roadways.St. Mary’s Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Dep. Cindy Allen reports that officers were running from one call to an-other all day Tuesday, and officers were held over from the midnight shift to handle the increased call volume.Between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. police responded to 45 property damage vehicle crashes, eight crashes with personal injuries and 22 calls for disabled vehicles stuck in snow.One of the injury crashes involved a St. Mary’s County Public Schools bus, which had no students on board. At approximately 9:30 a.m. a bus crashed on Maddox Road, causing the bus to overturn. The driver, who was alone in the vehicle, was taken by ambulance with undetermined injuries, Allen said.A second public school bus, this time carrying 11 students, was also involved in a crash near 8:30 a.m. on Laurel Grove Road. No one on the bus was hurt, but the driver of a passenger car that collided with the bus received minor injuries.“Fortunately we don’t get weather like this too, too often,” Allen said. “But unfortunately when we do, drivers need to be very mindful and need to allow more time when driving.”

First Snowfall Causes Havoc On Roads

The Chopticon High School March-ing and Symphonic Bands recently re-turned from their trip to Atlanta, GA. The bands, under the direction of Mr. Todd Burroughs, participated in the Chick-fil-A Bowl half-time show and music festival sponsored by National Events.

The Symphonic Band performed in the concert competition and received 1st place and a “gold rating” (which is a score of 90-100 and is considered the highest rating). Later the same day, the “Showband of Southern Maryland” per-formed their 2008 show, “The Phantom of the Opera,” in the marching band competition held in the Georgia Dome where they also received 1st place and

a gold rating. Additionally, the band front, or f lags, received top honors.

On the band’s final day in Atlanta, students participated in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl Parade and received 2nd place and a silver rating (a score of 80-89). The band performed for nearly 50,000 people lining the streets of Atlanta.

At the Chick-fil-A Bowl, Chopticon band members joined approximately 1,000 other band students from across the country in performing a pre-game and halftime show. Their performance, featuring the music of Lynyrd Skynyrd and Cameo, was enjoyed by the 72,000 spectators in attendance. The game saw Louisiana State University defeat Georgia Tech.

Chopticon High School Bands Rack Up Awards

Thursday, January 29, 2009 10The County Times

Moneyfor the love of

The Times Pick 10

FactunNeutral-colored U.S. currency paper is composed of 25 percent linen and 75 percent cotton.

Red and blue synthetic fibers of various lengths are distributed evenly throughout the paper.

Andrea ShiellStaff Writer

St. Clements Island Museum was literally overrun with antiques Jan. 24, as inheritors and collectors gathered with their hand-carried treasures for the annual antique appraiser fair.

Assembled there were a team of fine arts, dolls, and jewelry appraisers, each taking time to peruse everything from costume jewelry to custom card tables, as well as members of the Washing-ton Conservation Guild, who were there to offer advice on antique restoration and preservation.

This year marks the fifth year for the fair, said Christina Bar-bour, event coordinator and site supervisor for the museum.

“At nine o’clock they started coming. They were lined up at t h e door,” Barbour said, adding that this year’s turnout had

been heavier than in previous years. “We’ve had a lot of people, we’ve

sold a lot of tickets,” she said, “I think we’ve had a lot more people this

year.” Barbour said that fine art

items dominated the show, as many brought paintings and sculptures and waited as long as two hours to have them appraised.

One such patron was Al Levinrad, who brought a col-orful mosaic glass lampshade to the fair. Levinrad said he ob-

tained the item years ago at an estate sale.

“It says it’s from Tiffany’s, so I thought we’d come to see what it’s

worth,” he said, adding that he would

Appraising Old Treasures

probably sell the item.Helen Hewitt brought two paintings with her,

holding up one featuring a Jesus-like child with a sheep.

“My mother gave it to me in the 60’s, and she said her mother gave it to her for a wedding,” she said, adding that her paintings would eventually go to her children.

One patron held up a hand-crafted table and smiled proudly.

“My great uncle made it during the depression,” said Chris Humes, who brought the table with her as part of a set that had been made in 1939. “It’s never been restored or anything.”

She added that the pieces would stay in her family, but she wanted to know how much to insure them for.

Linda Neely, an expert doll appraiser and former President of the Southern Maryland Doll Club, settled back in her seat and commented that this year’s turnout was indeed heavier than previous years, and more peo-ple were having items appraised in order to sell them.

“They’re trying to find places to get rid of them,” she said, “so I guess they must want the extra money.”

As the crowds of people started to thin, Barbour said the idea for the fair had partly been fueled by the number of museum patrons who had brought their items to the museum when there were no appraisers to look at them.

“After a while, we thought it would be good to give these people an avenue,” Barbour said. “So this is a very educational event, and it’s a good way for people to find out what their stuff is worth.”

BEGINNING AT 6:00 P.M.You will be greeted by your host and shown to your private table located in one of the rooms throughout the Antiques Mall and Art Galleries while partaking of

Valentine’s Punch and enjoying our silver tray service of both hot and cold hors d’oeuvres.

BEGINNING AT 7:00 P.M.With lighting dimmed and candles lit, you will be served a

glass of wine with a delicious three- course dinner, special-ly prepared by The Maryland Antiques Center Tea Room,

and you will be serenaded with romantic violin strings.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14th

SEATING IS LIMITED. FOR MORE INFORMATION AND FOR RESERVATIONS, CALL THE TEA ROOM @ 301-475-1980 OR THE MARYLAND ANTIQUES CENTER @ 301-475-1960. $60 PER PERSON (plus $15 Tax and Gratuity, a Total of $75 per person all inclusive).

THE MARYLAND ANTIQUES CENTER “A Unique Dining and Shopping Experience”

26005 Point Lookout Road (Route 5), Leonardtown, MD, 301-475-1960

Sponsored byTHE TEA ROOM

&THE MARYLAND ANTIQUES

CENTER DEALERS

A Magical CandlelightValentine’s Dinner

You’re Invited to Join Us at

With private seating throughout The Antiques Center

By KEN THOMAS and DAN STRUMPFAssociated Press Writers

WASHINGTON (AP) _ President Barack Obama wants automakers to make greener cars at a time when General Motors and Chrysler are hanging by the thread of a massive government loan and auto sales have plummeted to their low-est levels in more than two decades.

Obama’s plans could bring smaller cars, more hybrids and advanced fuel-saving technologies to showrooms, but car shoppers will probably pay more upfront because the new rules are expected to cost the hamstrung industry billions of dollars.

`̀ The consumer needs to understand that they will see significant increases in the cost of vehicles,’’ said Rebecca Lindland, an auto analyst for the consulting firm IHS Global Insight. Her firm estimated the upgrades could add $2,000 to $10,000 to the price of a vehicle.

Obama on Monday directed the Environ-mental Protection Agency to review whether Cali-fornia and more than a dozen states should be al-lowed to impose tougher auto emission standards on carmakers to fight greenhouse gas emissions. The Bush administration had blocked the efforts by the states, which account for about half of the nation’s auto sales.

The new president also said his administra-tion would issue new fuel-efficiency requirements to cover 2011 model year vehicles. The rules would be the first step toward a 2007 energy law that re-quires the auto industry to boost efficiency by 40

percent to at least 35 miles per gallon by 2020.Obama set in motion a new regulatory pro-

cess at a time when the nation is coping with an economic recession and auto sales have fallen to their lowest pace since 1982. Underscoring the hardships, GM said Monday it would slash 2,000 jobs at plants in Michigan and Ohio.

In December, the Bush administration signed off on $17.4 billion in loans to General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC to keep the companies afloat. The automakers are undertaking intense efforts to restructure this spring or face potential bankruptcy.

David Cole, chairman of the Center for Au-tomotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich., said he doesn’t believe the EPA will approve all the waiv-ers asked for by the states. To do so would be eco-nomically unworkable.

`̀ If the industry is in total shambles, you can have any regulation you want _ it’s not doable,’’ he said.

Cole said the additional regulations would have to be implemented `̀ in a way that’s achiev-able in the industry.’’

Environmental organizations said Obama’s approach would help the companies in the long term, forcing them to produce fuel-efficient cars coveted by more consumers. Roland Hwang, a senior policy analyst with the Natural Resources Defense Council, estimated that a more efficient car would save its driver $1,000 to $2,000 in fuel costs over its lifetime, offsetting some of the up-front cost.

Green Car Rules Give Auto Industry A New Challenge

Company Symbol Close Close Change

1/28/2009 12/31/2008

WalMart WMT $48.73 $56.06 -13.08%

Harley Davidson HOG $12.90 $16.97 -23.98%

Best Buy BBY $30.23 $28.11 7.54%

Lockheed Martin LMT $82.57 $84.08 -1.80%

BAE Systems BAESF $5.35 $5.41 -1.11%

Computer Science Corp. CSC $38.46 $35.14 9.45%

Dyncorp International Inc. DCP $15.74 $15.17 3.76%

General Dynamics Corp. GD $60.01 $57.59 4.20%

Mantech International Corp. MANT $55.83 $54.19 3.03%

Northrop Grunman Corp. NOC $49.72 $45.04 10.39%

Thursday, January 29, 200911 The County Times

Defense & Military

Use the Realtor with experience and knowledge of Southern Md. Proudly serving the military and

defense contractors of Southern Maryland.

I can help make your transition to or from the Pax River area as smooth as possible. Also help with

spouse job search and temporary housing. Your Full Service Realtor

Buying Or Selling A Home?

Shaun DuganCell: 240-298-2963Office: 301-863-2400 ext. 246Fax: 301-863-7528Email: [email protected]

Honesty, Integrity and PerformanceThe Best of Southern Maryland

www.homesdatabase.com/shaunduganSEARCH FOR HOMES AT-

Sean RiceStaff Writer

A landmark within Patuxent River Na-val Air Station, Lil’ Eva’s nightclub is history, and after a major retrofit, the building will soon reopen as the new Pax River Liberty Center.

Workers are renovating the inside of the building now, replacing walls, wiring and ventilation to make way for a fleet of new equipment and furnishings.

Lil’ Eva’s “was getting old and it wasn’t getting used a lot,” said Pax River Liberty Coordinator Tom Kubalewski, adding that the new “single sailor center” will be loaded with things to do.

The facility is provided on base for sin-gle and unaccompanied enlisted personnel, thought all service members could use it.

“It’s really for the people who don’t have anyone else here,” Kubalewski said.

The old bar featured a dance floor and a DJ booth. The new center will be alcohol and tobacco free, but packed with electronic entertainment.

In the plans for the facility are: 12 com-puters, two Xbox 36os, two Nintendo Wii stations and two Playstation 3 stations. The building will also be wired for wifi.

There will also be a home theater area for watching movies, with reclining chairs and a large screen, in addition to several flat-screens throughout, and pool and poker tables.

“It’s going to be sweet,” Kubalewski said. “There’s going to be a lot of stuff in a small area which will be good.”

The new Liberty Center is scheduled to

open in late May. The hours will be about the same, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, and until midnight on weekends.

K u b -alewski said a couple ad-ditional em-ployees will be hired to staff the center.

Sa i lo r s who miss drinking and dancing at Lil Eva’s can still visit the Flight Deck, an “all hands” club on base that occa-sionally features live music.

The Navy’s building of new high-class Liberty Centers is becoming a common trend at bases across the country, Kubalewski confirmed.

“The liberty centers have been a proven to be a necessary component to Navy bases around the world to help serve those men and women who seek an environment where they can relax and have fun in an alcohol-free at-mosphere without having to leave the base,” Kubalewski said. “It helps to provide a place for those who are new to the base to come and meet and interact with other servicemen and women.”

Lil’ Eva’s Nightclub on Base is History

By ANNE FLAHERTYAssociated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Defense Sec-retary Robert Gates is arguing that Afghani-stan now is America’s `̀ greatest military challenge.’’

In a national security assessment that he will give to Congress later Tuesday, Gates also

says the international effort to fight Afghan-istan’s growing violence has been `̀ less than stellar’’ so far.

In a copy of the testimony obtained by The Associated Press, Gates says it will take a long and difficult fight to rout insurgents and help develop an Afghanistan that rejects the Taliban and backs its elected government.

Secretary: Afghan War Is ‘Greatest Military Challenge’

A draft of plans for the new single sailor center shows how the space will be redesigned.

Company Symbol Close Close Change

1/28/2009 12/31/2008

WalMart WMT $48.73 $56.06 -13.08%

Harley Davidson HOG $12.90 $16.97 -23.98%

Best Buy BBY $30.23 $28.11 7.54%

Lockheed Martin LMT $82.57 $84.08 -1.80%

BAE Systems BAESF $5.35 $5.41 -1.11%

Computer Science Corp. CSC $38.46 $35.14 9.45%

Dyncorp International Inc. DCP $15.74 $15.17 3.76%

General Dynamics Corp. GD $60.01 $57.59 4.20%

Mantech International Corp. MANT $55.83 $54.19 3.03%

Northrop Grunman Corp. NOC $49.72 $45.04 10.39%


THANK YOUMechanicsvilleVOLUNTEER

FIRE DEPARTMENT FOR 75 YEARS

OF GREAT SERVICE

Accent Accounting Service, Inc

The Apple Basket

Bert’s 50’s Diner

Bob Green Siding & Gutters

Brandywine Automotive Parts

Cord’s Cabinetry, Inc.

County First Bank – Charlotte Hall

Crabby Rick’s Crab House

Cross & Wood & Associates

Daly’s Fresh Seafood

Delegate Johnny E. Wood

Forbes Accounting, Inc.

Guy Motor Sales

Maryland International Raceway

Metro Restaurant & Janitorial Supply

Motovation Cycles & Accessories, Inc.

NAPA Auto Parts of Charlotte Hall

Performance & Custom American Motorcycles by Wayne Hicks

Potomac Speedway

REMAX Country Properties

Ryce Electric

Seabreeze Restaurant & Bar

SMAC Fitness

SoMd Blue Crabs

Southern Maryland Oil

Southern States Cooperative

Steven D Mattingly Insurance

Three Mules Welding Supply

VIDSEC Systems

Thursday, January 29, 200913 The County Times KnowIn T

he Education

Factun 14.2 million Number of computers available for classroom use in the nation’s 114,700

elementary and secondary schools; that comes down to 1 computer for every 4 students.


OnDecember14,2008,theSt.Mary’sCountyBureauofCrimi-nal Investigations (BCI)beganan investigation into the“spoofing”ofSuperintendentMichaelMartirano’semailaccount,whichresultedinarashofharassingemailsbeingsenttoSMCPSstaffmembers.

Spoofingisamethodofelectronicallycopyingaperson’semailidentifierandsendingemailsasifyouwerethatperson.BCIinvestiga-tionsrevealedthatBrianL.Still,45yearsofage,fromIssue,Maryland,spoofedtheSuperintendent’semailaccountandsentelectronicmailtoaschoolboardemployeeandaschoolboardmember,andthesuperin-tendent.Thedefendantthenspoofedanotherpublicschoolemployee’semailaddressandsentemailstoacquaintancesofthatemployee.

MikeWyant,SupervisorofSafetyandSecurityforSMCPSsaidthat this is the first incidenceofemail spoofing in theschool system.Whenaskedwhathadfirstpromptedtheinvestigation,WyanttoldtheCountyTimes“therewereaseriesofemails thatwerereceivedin theschool system that were obviously fictitious and false, and that con-tainedalotofincorrectinformation.”

Martiranocouldnotbe reached forcommenton thecase,butWyantexplainedthathehadfirstcontactedtheSt.Mary’sCountySher-iff’sOfficeregardingthematterinmid-December,whichledtoasearchof Mr. Still’s home on Dec. 22 and uncovered evidence at that timethat implicatedStill in the crimes. Stillwas chargedon Jan.27withthree counts of electronic email harassment, which is a misdemeanoroffense.

“This is a very serious incident,” said Wyant, “it was a veryspecificattempt todisrupt theschoolsystem…but theSheriff’sofficedid an outstanding job with this investigation and we thank them fortheirhelpandsupport.

Martirano Gets “Spoofed”Investigation Reveals Tampering with Superintendent’s Email Account


BudgetshortfallsandconcernsovertoughtimesaheadwerethefocusoftheSt.Mary’sCountyPublicSchoolsbudgetforumJan.15.aslegislatorspredictedcutbacksearlierthismonthfortheschoolsystem’sop-eratingbudget.

“These are the best of times, and the worst oftimes,” said Superintendent Michael Martirano, ex-plainingthatthoughstudentsmadegainsinallgradesforMSAandHSAtests, theachievementgapclosedin10ifthe12testedareas,and22ofthecounty’s26public schools achieved their 95 percent attendancetarget,therewerestillchallengeswithdecliningfiscalresources,increasedoperatingcosts,slidingrevenues,andtheeconomicrecession.

“Cutshavetocomefromsomewhere,”Martiranosaid, adding that the school system’s obligations fornextyearwouldtotal$195million,ascomparedwithprojectedrevenuesequaling$182.2million.

Martirano said the school systemplans tocoverthe$13millionshortfallby takingmoneyfromtheirgeneral fund balance to help pay off the mortgagefor their administrative center on Moakley Street inLeonardtown and pay for textbooks and materialsfor the new Evergreen Elementary School, which isscheduledtoopennextfall.

Comments ranged from congratulatory to con-cerned,ascitizensandfacultymembersofferedtheirperspectivesonthisyear’sbudgetcycle.

Anna Laughlin, a social studies teacher fromLeonardtownMiddleSchool,saidshewasconcernedabout increasing class sizes and the lack of qualityequipment.

“Thefurnitureisfallingapart…Idon’tevenhave

enough desks for all my students,” she said, addingthat failingnetworksystemshadkeptmany teacherstherelatethispastweekinafranticeffort toturningradesforreportcards.“It’stimeforthepeoplehold-ingthepursetodedicatethemselves,”shesaid.

Peg Johnson, a seventh grade STEM scienceteacher,expressedconcernsaboutprogramscompet-ingforlimitedfunds.

“Everyoneisdoingmorewithless,”shesaid,“butthereisgoingtocomeabreakingpoint.”

WandaTwigg,PresidentoftheSt.Mary’sCountyEducationAssociation,creditedGov.MartinO’Malleywithanadditional65millioninproposedstateeduca-tionfunding,butaddedthat thestate’seffortswouldbeinvainifthecountydidnotsharetheburden.

“Domorewithless.That’swhatwealwayshear,”Twigg said. “But this is unacceptable, even duringtheseeconomictimes,”shesaid.

Board of Education Chair Bill Mattingly com-mented later that he was surprised by the sparse at-tendanceatThursday’smeeting.

“I hope we’re not victims of our own success,”hesaid,addingthathefeelsconfidentthecountywillhonorrequestsformoneytoopenEvergreenElemen-taryinthefall.

“They have a $30 million fund balance,” Mat-tinglysaid,explainingthattheschoolsystemhasre-quested $1 million from the county. “And based onourneedtoopenthatnewschool,Ican’timaginethemnotdoingthat.”

MartiranosaidSMCPSisreadytomake$800,000inpositioncuts,asninepositionsarecurrentlyfrozen,unfilled,andhavebeenpulledfromthebudget,buthetooechoedconfidence thatcountyallocationswouldhelpmakeupthedifference.

“Ifnot,furthercutsareimminent,”hesaid.

Shortfalls Dominate Budget ForumCommunity and Faculty Concerns Highlighted

Ina3-waytie,HannahWalk-er, a first year graphic communi-cations student at the Dr. JamesA.ForrestCareerandTechnologyCenter, won third place in the St.Mary’sCountyTechnologyHand-book cover contest sponsored bythePatuxentPartnership.

Walker,a10thgradestudentatLeonardtownHighSchool, sharesthishonorwithEdwardHoltonJr.of ManTech Systems EngineeringandKebbieSoleoofAmelex.Firstand second place honors went tographicartistswithEMA.

Graphic artists who residein or are employed in St. Mary’sCounty were invited to competeinthecoverdesigncontestfortheSt.Mary’sCountyDepartmentofEconomicandDevelopment’s2009TechnologyHandbook.Thehand-book, tobepublished thismonth,includes information about morethan200technology firms, and playsan important role in thede-velopmentoftheSt.Mary’sCoun-tytechnologyindustrycluster.Itisusedthroughoutthecountyasabusinessdevelopmenttool.

Local Student Wins Third Place in Handbook Cover ContestGeorge Washington Carver El-

ementarySchoolhasbeennamedthetopenergysavingschoolforthemonthofDecember,2008,witha27percentreduction in electric consumptioncompared to themonthofDecember2007.

Theschoolsaved$1,800.On Jan. 21, the energy flag was

presented to Ms. Annette Wood,principal of GW Carver, Ms. DonnaMix, the school’s Green coordinator,andGWCarver’sEnvironmentalpro-tectors. The flag will be flown at the schoolforonemonthandthenwillbepresented to the school that receivesthehonorforthemonthofJanuary.

GW Carver Elementary Named Top Energy Saver

Minority businesses are in-vitedtoparticipateinaseminaronthe Maryland Minority BusinessEnterprise (MBE) certification processtobeheldThursday,Janu-ary29,2009,3:00-6:00p.m.,attheDr. James A. Forrest Career andTechnologyCenter.

The seminar, sponsored bySt.Mary’sCountyPublicSchools,St. Mary’s College of Maryland,and C & M Solutions, LLC, willexplain how firms are certified by the Maryland Department ofTransportation as MBE firms. Representativesfrompublicagen-cies in the tri-county area willhighlight upcoming constructionprojects and provide contact in-formation for their procurementoffices. Participants will include St. Mary’s College of Maryland,St.Mary’sCountyPublicSchools,Calvert County Public Schools,Charles County Public Schools,andSt.Mary’sHospital.Mr.Wen-dall Sutton, Assistant Secretaryfor Advocacy, Governor’s Office on Minority Affairs will provideinformationonadvocacyandout-reachprogramsinMaryland.

For more information on theseminar, contact Mr. Melvin Mc-Clintock at St. Mary’s College ofMaryland,240-895-4309;Mr.Lar-ryHartwickatSt.Mary’sCountyPublicSchools,301-475-4256,ex-tension3;orMs.WandaFenwickatC&MSolutions,301-863-7113.

SMCPS to Host Minority Business Enterprise Seminar

Though SMCPS has been as-suredthatthepeanutbutterproductspurchasedfromtheirdistributorandservedintheircafeteriasaresafe,theexpanding peanut butter recall hasprompted the school system to sus-pendservingpeanutbutterproductsuntiltherecalliscomplete.

Formoreinformationonthere-call,visittheUSFoodandDrugAd-ministration’swebsiteathttp://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/salmo-nellatyph.html#recalls.

Peanut Butter Recall Affects St. Mary’s County Schools

College of Southern MarylandPresidentDr.BradleyGottfriedhearsnumerous remarkable stories of stu-dentdeterminationinthefaceofgreatchallengesinhislineofwork.

He knows first-hand what it is like to struggle in school, and em-pathizes with the obstacles studentsface.

“Iwasnotparticularlyenthusedorhighlymotivated inhighschool,”Gottfried said. “As astudent—now with aBA, MA and PhD—the most challengingof these degrees toachieve was my highschool diploma. Highschool classes were soregimented and therewas no individuality,”Gottfriedexplained.

Gottfried’s latesteffort to help today’sstrugglingstudentshasculminated in a newscholarship program.The “Against All Odds” scholarshipfundsupportsCSM’s“CampaignfortheNext50Years.”

Gottfriedsetupasimilarfundathislastcollege,andafterthreeyearsaspresidentofCSM,hebelievesthestu-dentsandcommunitywillalsoben-efit from a similar endowment fund forSouthernMarylandstudents.

“With this endowment, I wanttoreachasmanystudentsasIcan,”Gottfriedsaid.“IfIcankeepstudentsfrom worrying about paying backstudent loans or help keep them ontrackinsteadofcuttingbackbecauseofcosts,thenmaybetheycanseetheirwaythroughcollegeasIdid.”

The Bradley M. Gottfried“Against all Odds Scholarship” willbe awarded to students currently at-

tendingorplanningtoattendCSM.Information on the scholarship

can be found on the CSM website:http://www.csmd.edu/financial/schol-arships.html.

Those wishing to contribute tothefundshouldcontactCSMDirec-torofDevelopmentJaneLoughranat301-934-7649.

CSM President Creates “Against All Odds” Scholarship

As a student—now with a BA, MA and PhD—the most challenging of these degrees to achieve was my high school diploma.

CSM President Dr. Bradley Gottfried


PunishmentCrime&


Eric Antonio Brooks, the man who last year admit-ted to stabbing a Department of Defense policeman in a neighborhood brawl in 2006, was sentenced to 10-years in prison suspended to just 18 months in the county deten-tion center for the crime.

Last year Brooks, 20, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the death of Travis Copeland.

“Nobody’s really satisfied with that on either side,” said Assistant State’s Attorney Daniel J. White. “It’s just a tragedy all around.”

The events leading up to the killing Aug. 4, 2006 were reflective of escalating tensions between groups in two separate houses that grew to deadly proportions that night.

It started when a young female went over to the home owned by James Copeland, brother of the victim, where a party was going on. Her mother went after her to bring her back to her home on Mako Way in Lexington Park as an argument of some sort ensued.

Individuals at the Copeland home, several of whom were Department of Defense police as well as U.S. Navy masters-at-arms, ventured over to the home across the street and continued the argument.

James Copeland and the mother at the other home tried to calm tensions but were unsuccessful.

Several people from Copeland’s house became em-broiled in a fight that quickly spilled into the other home where Brooks and his friends were.

Travis Copeland, the victim, got into a fight on the floor of Brooks’ home with Brooks’ friend; Brooks used a

small, serrated knife to stab Travis Copeland twice super-ficially and once fatally while the two combatants fought on the floor.

The wound lightly clipped Travis Copeland’s aorta and was the eventual cause of his death.

Brooks’ attorney, David W. Densford, said the sen-tence was appropriate given the circumstances of the case and the fact that Brooks had no other criminal record.

But, Densford said, his client realized that if he of-fended after serving his 18-month sentence, he would serve the remainder of his prison sentence.

“There’s no room for error on his part,” Densford said. “It’s [the killing] something he would do anything to undo.”

Brooks apologized for his actions to the Copeland family sitting in court.

“I’m sorry, for everything,” Brooks said.Circuit Court Judge Michael J. Stamm, who handed

down Brooks’ sentence, cautioned Brooks to watch his temper after he served his sentence.

“In this case… no one walks out a winner,” Judge Stamm said. “You’ll never forget this.

“Whenever you think about getting angry about something, you think about how you took somebody’s life.”

Judge Stamm ordered Brooks to avoid all contact with any member of the Copeland family, as well as to pay restitution to the family of more than $9,000 to help pay for the care of the two children Travis Copeland left behind.

“You put yourself in a very perilous position,” Judge Stamm said. “Why would you take a knife to break up a fight?”

California Man Gets 18 Months For Manslaughter


An indictment handed down last week by the Grand Jury against Jeremiah J. Watson for his alleged killing of Christopher Patty Nov. 24 last year increased the charges against the defendant from second-degree murder to first-degree murder.

Watson is accused of violently breaking into the home of his estranged girlfriend in Dameron, assault-ing her and taking a gun from her to allegedly shoot Patty to death, who was in the home the day of the assault.

Watson has also been charged with attempted first-degree murder against Tina Dean, his estranged girlfriend, for allegedly using the same gun he is ac-cused of killing Patty with, and turning it on her in an attempt to kill her.

Other charges against Watson include first-degree assault, first-degree burglary and stalking.

The indictment also includes the murder charge of depraved heart, claiming that Watson killed Patty “with an extreme disregard for human life.”

“The state’s position is that evidence warrants an increase in the charges,” said Assistant State’s Attor-ney Daniel J. White.

During the Nov. 24 incident, law officers allege, Watson used a shovel to break into Dean’s home and then allegedly used the same shovel to begin beating both she and Patty, who was from Charles County, about the head and body.

Dean is the mother of three children with Watson.Dean got away from her alleged assailant, an ap-

plication by police for a statement of charges revealed, and retrieved a handgun.

Dean shot Watson with the handgun, court papers state, but Watson was able to wrest control of the weap-on away from her.

Watson then allegedly shot Patty twice with the weapon and turned it on Dean, court papers reveal.

Watson is alleged to have placed the gun to Dean’s head, court papers state, and pulled the trigger, but the gun did not fire.

Watson then fled the residence while Dean called 911, court papers state. Watson was found soon after by police near the house suffering from gunshot wounds.

Patty and Dean were transported to St. Mary’s Hospital where Patty later died. Dean was treated and released.

Watson had been arrested by a St. Mary’s sheriff’s deputy just days before the shooting for allegedly vio-lating a protective order commanding him to stay away from Dean and their children who were in her custody.

Watson was arrested Nov. 20, but was released from incarceration the following day court records show.

Charges Pile Up Against Defendant In Murder Case


For the past two years detectives with the county Bureau of Criminal Investigations have been working the missing person case of Mark Tippett, 44, of Cedar Cove and on Monday and Tuesday took their search to an old well on Route 235 in search of evidence that might shed light on his disappearance.

Detectives found nothing linked to the case, said BCI commander Capt. Rick Burris but the search continues.

“We’re working full time on this,” Burris told The County Times. “We’ve been getting information sporadically.”

Detectives have continually in-terviewed witnesses that may have any information on Tippett’s disap-pearance since he went missing Sept. 3, 2006, Burris said.

Investigators decided to excavate the well based on information they had recently compiled, Burris said, in search of Tippett’s body.

Tippett was a property manager at Spyglass Apartments in Cedar Cove for 15 years before he went missing.

Burris said that detectives suspect foul play in Tippett’s disappearance.

Tippett is described as a white male, standing 6-feet tall and weigh-ing about 200 pounds. He was last seen wearing a “Johnny Cash” t-shirt and blue jeans and had a gargoyle tat-too on his upper left arm.

Tippett would now be 46 years old.

The missing man’s sister, Sherry Tippett, said that she holds out a “tiny hope” that her brother is still alive but she knows it’s unlikely.

Still, she said she was happy to know that county investigators con-tinue to pursue leads in the case.

“I’m very thankful that someone is still thinking of my dear brother,” Sherry Tippett said Wednesday. “I’m pleased they’re taking this seriously.”

Sherry Tippett said that her brother was dedicated to his work as a property manager at Spyglass apartments and seemed to be in good spirits just before he went missing.

“He was intent on making that property beautiful; he got a lot of awards for that,” she said. “Mark and I were very close.”

Detectives Excavate Well In Search For Missing Man

On Jan. 24, 2009 at about 8 p.m. four juvenile male vic-tims aged 13 to 17 years old were walking from the 7-Eleven store located at Three Notch Road and FDR Boulevard in Lex-ington Park, to the Loew’s Theatre located next door, when they were approached by eight to 10 young black males who demanded money from the victims. One of the victims at-tempted to walk around the suspects, and was struck in the head by the f ist of one of the suspects. Another victim who tried to run away was caught and tackled. A third victim was pushed around while being strong-armed by the suspects. The suspects ran off on foot after collecting cash and a bag of candy from the victims. Two of the victims received minor injuries in the altercation. Suspect descriptions were pro-vided and several deputies searched the area, but the suspects were not immediately located.

On the same evening at about 11:30 p.m., a similar at-tempted strong-armed robbery was reported, again outside of Loew’s Theatre. Two juveniles, both males aged 9 and 14 years old were leaving the theatre when they were approached by a group of young black males, who demanded money. One of the suspect males punched the older victim in his face, causing him to get a cut lip and scratched face. The victims f led, as did the suspects. Deputies responded to the scene and within a few minutes located a group of black male juve-niles in the parking lot of Millison Plaza. The victims of both robberies responded to the scene and all positively identif ied various members of the group as persons who either assaulted or robbed them.

A total of seven male juveniles aged 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, two of them 17 from Callaway and Lexington Park areas were ar-rested and charged with six counts each of robbery, theft un-der $100, and assault. The District Court Commissioner and Juvenile Services were contacted both advised to charge all participants as juveniles. Juvenile Services elected to release the suspects to their parents in lieu of detention.

Briefs

Jeremiah J. Watson

Mark Tippett

Two Robberies, Seven Juvenile Arrests:


Kevin J. McDevittAttorney At Law

Former Baltimore City Assist. State’s Attorney

Former St. Mary’s County Assist. State’s Attorney

Former Baltimore City Assist. State’s Attorney

Former St. Mary’s County Assist. State’s Attorney

CRIMINAL & DUI/DWICRIMINAL & DUI/DWIOffice:301-475-0093Cell:410-925-8992

Dorsey Professional Building22835 Washington Street • P.O. Box 952, Leonardtown, MD 20650

www.kjmcdevittlaw.com

BEN BURROUGHS JR.

BAIL BONDS

SERVING THE COMMUNITIES FOR OVER 33 YEARS

“WHEN YOU’RE IN & WANT OUT CALL BEN”7 Days a Week - 24 Hours A Day

LEONARDTOWN/ST. MARY’S COUNTY

301-475-2600CALVERT COUNTY

1-800-882-3106

CHARLES COUNTY

301-934-1830ST. MARY’S COUNTY

301-884-3106


Jean Elaine Blaney, 78,

Jean Elaine Blaney, 78, of Bruno, Minn. passed away Jan. 20 in Pine Medical Center in Sand-stone, Minn.

Jean was born Feb. 25, 1930 to Fred Hand and Ina Grisham in Chicago, Illinois. She married Robert Blaney Nov. 15, 1945 in Joliet, Ill.

She and Robert traveled throughout the southwest and Puerto Rico while Robert was employed by the military. Jean has lived in Florida, Illinois, Ne-vada, Maryland & Minnesota.

She graduated from the Col-lege of DuPage in Illinois with an Associates Degree in 1988. She enjoyed reading, cooking, sew-ing & quilting, but mostly she loved studying her Bible. She also taught many Ladies’ Bible classes in the various churches that she attended over the last 40 years.

She was preceded in death by her husband Robert in 2000.

She is survived by a daugh-ter, Janetta (Peter) Dobson of Bruno, Minn.; two granddaugh-ters, Stephanie Dobson & Beverly Dobson, both of Bruno, Minn., a nephew Scott (Joy) Irwin, two nieces Sandra Pistilli & Bridgett Pistilli of Joliet, Ill., and many other second nieces & nephews.

Memorial services were held at Danforth Community Chapel in Bruno, Minn. Jan. 24. A private graveside service will be held in Leonardtown Jan. 30.

Condolences to the family may be made at www.brinsfield-funeral.com.

Arrangements by the Brins-field Funeral Home, P.A., Leonardtown.

Frances Mary Cognazzo, 50

Frances Mary Cognazzo, 50, of Lexington Park died Jan. 24 in her residence.

Born Aug. 12, 1958 in South Amboy, N.J., she was the daugh-ter of Paul M. Albrecht and Alice (Hyer) Albrecht.

Frances graduated from Key-port High School, Keyport, N.J.

in 1977. After graduating, she attended Brookdale Community College. Frances was a member of the Madame Alexander Doll Club.

Frances is survived by her parents; her husband, Edward J. Cognazzo; children, Brian M. Cognazzo, Christian J. Cognazzo, and Michael A. Cognazzo; sister, Cheryl L. Rothkopf of Cherry Hill, N.J. and brother, Robert Al-brecht of Keyport, N.J.

Family received friends for Frances’s Life Celebration Jan. 27 5 – 8 p.m. in the Brinsfield Funer-al Home, Leonardtown. Prayers were recited at 7 p.m. by Rever-end Jack Kennealy, pastor of Im-maculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, Lexington Park. A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered in St. Joseph Catholic Church, Keyport, N.J. Jan. 30 at 11 a.m. Interment followed in the church cemetery.

Condolences to the family may be made at www.brinsfield-funeral.com.


Alfons “Al” J. Frenzen, 83

Alfons “Al” J. Frenzen, 83 of Lexington Park died Jan. 20 in Calvert Memorial Hospital.

Born Dec. 16, 1925 in Ham-burg, West Germany he was the son of the late Detlef Julius Fried-rich and Bertha Henriette Fren-zen. He was the loving husband of Karin Frenzen whom he married June 10, 1966 in Hamburg, West Germany.

He is also survived by his daughter Susanne Frenzen of Or-ange Park, Fla.; his son Markus Frenzen of Lexington Park; his grandchildren Jackie Meadows of Orange Park, Fla., Jordan Fren-zen, Brianna Frenzen and Markus Frenzen, Jr., all of Lexington Park and one great-granddaughter, Emilee Michelle Meadows of Or-ange Park, Fla.

He was preceded in death by his sister Hilde Gril.

Al moved to St. Mary’s County in September 1988 from Milton, W.V. He was a merchant marine for 14 years and was a ma-

chinist who worked for Beretta, USA, retiring in 1992.

All services will be private. Arrangements provided by

the Mattingley-Gardiner Funeral Home, P.A.

Louis Daniel “Danny” Leasure, 67

Louis Daniel “Danny” Lea-sure, 67 of Baltimore died Jan. 20 in Mercy Hospital.

Born April 2, 1941 in Little Orleans, Md. he was the son of the late John Milton and Sarah Ellen Cornwell Leasure.

He is survived by his daugh-ter Michelle Willders of York, Pa.; two sons and his grandchil-dren Adam, Amanda and Alex Willders, as well has his brothers Rodger Milton Leasure of Lex-ington Park, Phillip Eugene Lea-sure of Bishopville, Md., Richard Leasure of Westminster, Md. and Dwight Leasure.

Danny graduated from Ed-munson Village High School in Baltimore with the Class of 1958. He served in the U.S. Air Force from 1958 - 1967. He was an electrician who loved music and sports.

The family will receive friends Jan. 30 from 10:30-11:30 a.m. in the Mattingley-Gardiner Funeral Home, Leonardtown, Md. A graveside service will follow at 1 p.m. in Maryland Veteran’s Cemetery, Cheltenham, Md.

Contributions may be made to Charlotte Hall Veteran’s Home, 29449 Charlotte Hall Road, Char-lotte Hall, MD 20622 and/or The American Cancer Society, P.O. Box 1032, Lexington Park, MD 20653.

Arrangements provided by the Mattingley-Gardiner Funeral Home, P.A.

Elizabeth “Betty, Jeanie” Jean Palmer, 59

Elizabeth “Betty, Jeanie” Jean Palmer, 59, of Lexington Park, and formerly of Kansas City, Mo., died Jan. 24 in her residence.

Born Dec. 19, 1949 in Leon-ardtown she was the daughter of Martha E. Krause Guy of Lex-

ington Park and the late Benedict Ishmael Guy, Sr.

She is survived by her chil-dren, Larry Dwayne Palmer and his wife Heather, Michelle I. Bruce and her husband Arnie, Carla (Carlotta) E. Palmer and Darlene I. Palmer, all of Kan-sas City, Mo.; as well as fifteen grandchildren, Devin M. Palmer, Amanda K. Abney, Jeremy A. Palmer, Sean R. Palmer, Joseph D. Palmer, Jordan A. White, Tyler Z.C. Padilla, Brett C. Palmer, Jon-athan A. White, Garrett I. Palmer, Zachary G. Bruce, Alisha C.E. Palmer, Alexis M. Palmer, Tay-lor M. Palmer and Jay R. Palmer. She is also survived by her sisters Mary Lou Schrock and Terry Mi-chelle Ortega; her brothers Bene-dict Ishmael Guy, Jr., John Alex-ander Guy and Michael Anthony Guy as well as five great-grand-children, Jasmine D.M. Abney, Autumn E. Palmer, Aubrey K.S. Abney, Issyc A. Palmer and Madi-syn N. Palmer.

Betty graduated from Great Mills High School and was a retail clerk who enjoyed cooking, play-ing bingo and cards, crocheting and making people feel loved.

The family received friends Jan. 28 from 4 – 7 p.m. in the Mat-tingley-Gardiner Funeral Home, where Prayers were said at 5 p.m. Interment will take place in Kan-sas City, Mo.

Contributions may be made to Hospice of St. Mary’s, P.O. Box 625, Leonardtown, MD, 20650.


Dorothy Mae “Dottie” Philpot, 80

Dorothy Mae “Dottie” Phil-pot, 80 of Lexington Park died Jan. 20 in St. Mary’s Nursing Center.

Born March 11, 1928 in Iowa, she was the daughter of the late Earl Otto and Mabel Marie Weller. She was the loving wife of the late Bradley Philpot, Jr. whom she married Dec. 22, 1945 in Reno, Nev.

She is survived by her daugh-ter, Delight Homan of Lexington Park; her son Bradley E. Philpot, Jr. of Reno, Nev. and her brother Robert Weller of Reno, Nev. She is also survived by her grandchil-dren, Rod Homan and his wife Melissa of California, Md., Russ Homan of Newport Beach, Calif. and Kimberly Lashley and her hus-band Kevin of Drayden; as well as great-grandchildren, Rodney and Tyler Homan, both of Hollywood, Md., Kimmie Burney of Orlando, Fla., Bradley Jake and Annika Grace Homan, both of Newport Beach, Calif., Alex and Lance Lashley, both of Drayden, Md. and seven other grandchildren as well as eight great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her brother Harry Weller.

Burial will be held March 5 at 11 a.m. in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Va.


Lurena B. Smith, 95

Lurena B. Smith, 95 of Lex-ington Park passed away Dec. 10 at Chesapeake Shores, Lexington Park.

Born July 4, 1913 in Great Mills she was the daughter of the late Walter and Susan Barber.

Ms. Barber is survived by one sister, Mary M. Barber of Lexing-ton Park, and her niece Theresa Morgan of Leonardtown.

In addition to her parents, Ms. Barber was preceded in death by five siblings, Mary E. Warner, Regina Greenwell, James B., Lee A., and John T. Barber.

A Memorial Service will be conducted Jan. 30 at 11a.m in Im-maculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, Lexington Park, with Fa-ther Jack Kennealy officiating.

Arrangements provided by the Brinsfield Funeral Home, P.A., Leonardtown.

Ralph Ignatius Thomas Jr., 27

Ralph Ignatius Thomas Jr., 27, of Mechanicsville departed this life Jan. 19.

He was born Aug. 29, 1981 in Leonardtown to Dinah M. Baker and Ralph I. Thomas Sr.

Ralph grew up in Chaptico and graduated from Chopticon High School. He was employed at Prime Ribs in Waldorf. Ralph enjoyed basketball, football, and drag racing, and he enjoyed life, socializing and spending time with his family.

Ralph is preceded in death by his grandfather, the late William E. Baker; Aunt, Mary M. Baker; Uncles John Philip, Douglas, and William Henry.

Ralph was the first grandchild born to the late William E. Baker and Mary Baker. He loved living on the farm where he was raised. He often spoke about all the good times the family had when living on the farm.

He is survived by his parents; grandparents, Mary Baker, Phil


and Rose Thomas; three sisters, Latosha, and Ashley Baker, and Keyishia Thomas; nephews, Kar-leek, DayShawn and TreyShawn and two nieces, Kaniya and Ma-laya. He is also survived by his Uncles, William (Joan) Baker, Jo-seph, James, Lewis (Gloria), John (Devon), Francis, Mark, and Paul Baker, Alfred (Lisa), Wade (Ani-ta), Michael and Calvert Thom-as; Aunts, Gladys Young, Cathy Dickerson (Donald), Joan, Deb-bie, Shirley, Mary, Bernadette, Wanda, Helen Smith (Frank), Doris Eaton (Thomas) and Clara Woodson (David). Additionally, he is survived by a host of cousins and friends.

Ralph was like a brother to his Uncles Mark and Paul, and Cousin Frank. He considered Bernadette a sister along with his sister Latosha. They were always together when they were growing up. He loved his family dearly and will be missed sorely by his entire family and friends.

Family received friends Jan. 27 from 9 – 10 a.m. in the Brins-field Funeral Home, Leonardtown. A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated at 11 a.m. in Our Lady of the Wayside Catholic Church, Chaptico. Reverend Timothy Baer was the celebrant. Interment fol-lowed in Queen of Peace Cem-etery, Helen.

Serving as pallbearers were Ivon Posey, Javon Posey, Gary Thomas, Devon Young, Ivan Thomas Jr., and James Kelvin Fuller, Jr.

Serving as honorary pallbear-ers were DeAndre Baker, James Dickerson Jr., Alfred Thomas, Karleek Baker and a host of friends and relatives.

Condolences to the family may be made at www.brinsfield-funeral.com


Braulio Fernandez Vil-lanueva, 88

Braulio Fernandez Villan-ueva, 88 of Leonardtown passed away Jan. 21 in St. Mary’s Hospital.

Born Dec. 15, 1920 in Na-guillian, Philippines, he was the son of Timoteo and Enedina Villanueva.

Mr. Villanueva was a Dis-bursing Officer at Camp John Hay Air Force Base, in the Philippine. He retired at the age of 53 and was given a special visa to come to the United States, where he worked another 27 years retiring in 1999 at the age of 78.

Mr. Villanueva is survived by his wife Milagros Aquino Vil-lanueva; children, Lilia Sison of Leonardtown, Jaime Villanueva of Leonardtown, Rolando Vil-lanueva of Middletown, N.Y. and George Villanueva of Paramus, N.J.; sister; DeMetria Casaclang of the Philippines; 13 grandchil-dren and one great grandchild.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his first wife Zosiala Biasbas Villanueva and one son Alfred Villanueva.

Family received friends Jan. 23 in the Brinsfield Funeral Home. A Mass of Christian burial was celebrated Jan. 24 at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Morganza, with Father Keith Woods officiating.

Interment was private.Condolences to the family

made be made at www.brinsfield-funeral.com

Arrangements provided by the Brinsfield Funeral Home, P.A. Leonardtown.

By Sean RiceStaff Writer

Community members concerned about a proposal to build a pedestrian bridge over Route 5 at St. Mary’s College of Maryland (SMCM) gave officials an earful at a public hearing Jan. 26.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) secured $1 million in the federal budget to build a pedestrian bridge over the high-way, which would link the two halves of the college dissected by Route 5.

The college’s capital design advisory committee hosted the recent Monday night meeting that the Historic St. Mary’s City auditorium, the latest in a series of meetings at began in late 2008.

“We believe safety is the key,” said Chip Jackson, as-sociate vice president of facilities for the college, to start the meeting. “No one wants to build a footbridge just to build a footbridge.”

Jackson said officials are still considering whether to choose a pedestrian bridge or other alternatives to alleviate the safety hazards at the Route 5 crosswalks.

The college has been accused of simply entertaining the public with hearings, but Jackson said that is simply not the case.

“I’ll say it again, the college and the city are very open to alterna-tives,” he said.

Among the alternatives under consideration are: increased light-ing and signage, “traffic calming” initiatives, a pedestrian bridge and a pedestrian tunnel. The full report is available on the college’s Web

site, www.smcm.edu/cda.Officials did not receive any footbridge endorsements from the

citizens who commented Monday night, and most called for a host of cheaper alternatives to be implemented.

“The tunnel is absolutely ridiculous,” said Rae Thompson, a local resident for nearly 45 years. “It’s very simple from my stand-point, you just put some extra lights down there,” and button-activated

crosswalks.“No Hoyer, no Cardin ever came to the college to ask us about

this,” a man commented from the audience.Resident Don Beck said the proposals do not solve the safety

problem at the second, north crosswalk, and Mattapany Road is a more pressing problem.

“I see people walking, biking, hiking. It’s a death trap waiting to happen,” he said of Mattapany Road.

Beck said digital signs in both directions of Route 5 that indicate drivers’ speeds would solve the problem.

”I guarantee you traffic coming into St. Mary’s City will slow down, it’s a human reaction,” Beck said.

“A stop sign would be a much better idea,” a student at the col-lege commented. “This also keeps speeds down for the north crosswalk.”

Another student recommended lining the roadway with short pillars, which “narrows the perceived roadway so cars go slower.”

Long-time resident Minnie Russell gave officials a list of alternatives to a bridge or tunnel.

“Why don’t you get your pencil and paper out because I have some new solutions,” she said.

Russell’s ideas included moving all classes to one side of the road, speed cameras, speed-activated traffic lights or using Public Safety officers as crossing guards during peak times.

“I didn’t see you move your pencils one time,” Russell said, drawing a laugh from the room.

In response to questions about traffic crashes near the crosswalks, Jackson said the most recent incident occurred late

last year. A female student broke her ankle after she jumped out of the way of a car speeding into the crosswalk.

Jackson said the capital design advisory committee will an-nounce their choice of the alternatives in February, and improvements are scheduled to coincide with the Maryland Heritage Interpretive Center and Anne Arundel Hall projects getting started this spring.

Citizens Sound-Off About Route 5 Footbridge Plan

Photo courtesy of SMCM


Down to Earth If you’ve ever watched one of those commercials where a parent or grandparent is baking with a child (the ones that notoriously pop up around the holidays) you can understand the warm and fuzzy feeling they impart. Although on screen you’re viewing actors getting paid to sell an appearance of closeness, the picture they’re projecting is one you can easily recre-ate in your own home.

B a k -ing or c o o k i n g t oge t he r as a fam-ily has a number of benefits -- especially for those who don’t have many opportunities for gathering together and sharing time. Consider these ad-vantages to heading into the kitchen and readying the supplies.

1. Time spent together: How many families today are su-per busy, as Mom heads in one direc-tion, Dad in another, and the kids bal-ance school work and extracurricular activities? Preparing a meal or treat to-gether puts everyone in the same space, and offers a no-pressure opportunity to open up about what’s been going on in each other’s lives.

2. Cost savings: Pre-packaged foods tend to be more expensive because of the convenience they offer. Rather than spend several dollars on a store-prepared cake, save money by easily making one at home with inexpensive ingredients that are probably already in

the pantry.3. Teach and reinforce simple math

skills: Baking, more so than regular meal preparation, requires careful mea-

surement of ingredients. Count-ing, sorting, measuring, and

timing supports lessons younger children may

be experiencing in school work -

- but in a more enjoyable way.

It’s much easier for children to visualize concepts such as a d d i -tion and subtrac-tion or fractions w h e n they have t angible objects to work with.

They can also see how

these lessons relate to ev-

eryday life.4. Learn

to work together: There’s the old ad-

age that too many cooks in the kitchen can ruin the

soup. However, baking together -- and assigning individual tasks to all involved -- fosters lessons of patience, cooperation and joint effort. These are important things to understand no mat-ter one’s age.

5. Reward for hard work: The nice thing about cooking together is that the reward for all of the effort is a delicious treats when the preparation and cook times are done. Families can come up with ways to enjoy the fruits of their labor, such as game night, or inviting friends and relatives over to enjoy coffee and cake.

5 Ways Baking Is Beneficial For Families

By Ashton CarkhuffIt is the consumer’s responsibility to be

aware of the content of the products that they are purchasing. Although there are several or-ganizations that help guide consumers in a posi-tive direction while making purchases; only you have your best interest at heart. When reading food labels many consumers have already been trained to scan for portion sizes and number of calories, but there are other items that are often over looked. Consumers need to be aware of what chemicals they are putting into their bodies not only the caloric content.

It is best to read all labels when making pur-chases, even on items that seem to be healthy or environmentally safe. Companies spend millions of dollars each year trying to get their targeted audience to buy their products and they will try to get away with using words that make their product appear to be healthier and more environ-mentally friendly than they truly are. Since there are no universal organic or sustainable standards look for meaningful claims on the labels not just words like “natural” or “earth friendly.” Avoid packaging that seems contradictory for example “healthy organic cigarettes.” Choose products with fewer ingredients whenever possible. A long list of questionable chemicals can only leave doubt in your mind if that product is truly healthy for you.

Cutting through the confusion1. “Free Range” implies that the meat or

poultry product came from an animal that was raised in the open air. However according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) the “Pro-ducers must demonstrate to the Agency that the animal has been allowed access to the outside.” There is no specific time limit set for these ani-mals to access the outside.

2. USDA “Organic” labeled foods consists of 95 percent organically produced ingredients. Products that are 100 percent organic will dis-play the “100 percent organic USDA” seal. Pro-cessed products that contain 70 percent organic ingredients may use the phrase “made with or-ganic ingredients” the top three organic ingredi-ents will be listed, but the USDA seal will not be used on the package.

3. “Natural” can be used on just about any product. Until recently “7UP” was able to sell its products under the claim that it was “100 percent natural” although it contained the ingredient high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Be wary of the term ‘natural’ it is still a grey area and only the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) sets some boundaries on its meaning for poultry and meat products, other items even under the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are still not clearly defined.

4. “No Genetic Engineering” is rare label to find on food these days. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not require geneti-cally engineered food to be labeled and many companies still claim their genetically engi-neered/modified foods to be “natural.”

5. “Recyclable” means that you might be able to recycle the packaging or product in your community while “Recycled” means that the company has incorporated recycled materials into the making of the packaging or product.

Do your research. If you are unsure about a company check out their information online. Some websites that might be helpful are the Environmental Working Group EWG.org; the Responsible Purchasing Network responisble-purchasing.org; The Organic Trade Association ota.com

Think about some of the most romantic moments from cinematic history -- or even from those hush-hush conversations between friends. Kissing was likely part of what made these moments so magical. Good kissing is an art form. Think Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara in “Gone With the Wind,” or when Noah and Allie embrace in the rain during “The Notebook.” Frankly, a kiss can often make or break a romantic endeavor.

Forty-five percent of adults in the U.S. believe a romantic kiss is one of the most meaningful Valentine’s Day gifts, and 50 percent expect to receive one, according to Andrea Demirjian, author and proclaimed “kissing expert.” With so much pressure put behind one act of intimate expression -- this catalyst for hor-mone release, which has the potential to induce euphoria -- it’s best to learn how to put your best kiss forward, especially in time for Valentine’s Day. Here are ways to perfect your pucker, courtesy of Binaca Breath Freshener.

The Perfect KissIn a society where so many things are fast-paced, a good

kiss should not be -- especially if you want it to be remembered in the Kisses Hall of Fame. Gauge the moment, lean in slowly and rest your head against your partner’s. Use a finger under the chin to lift his or her face toward yours. In a fluid motion, touch your lips gently together and begin to build kissing momentum. Kiss as though you have all the time in the world, and there’s no one else but the two of you on earth. Deepen the kiss as seems fit, and don’t let it extend beyond its natural life.

Kissing Dos and Don’tsDo embrace and share other methods of touch while kiss-

ing to heighten the romantic moment.Don’t smother the person so he or she can’t come up for

air.Do take your partner’s feelings into consideration and kiss

only when he or she is ready.Don’t let bad breath ruin your kiss. Avoid pungent foods

if you anticipate kissing, and keep breath constantly fresh with Binaca FastBlast or Binaca Breath Freshener Aerosol Spray. These compact, portable spritzes are fast and discreet.

Do change kissing positions and vary who gets to take charge to add spice and variety.

Don’t smoke, or consider giving up the habit to be a better kisser. Few people want to feel like they’re kissing an ash tray.

Do kiss in private if this is your first kiss together or you prefer not to have a public display of affection, and so you can enjoy the kiss as long as you like.

It has long been known that oral health and other ail-ments may go hand-in-hand. That is why routine oral health screenings are so important. Take for example, osteoporosis. Physicians and dentists should collaborate to improve early de-tection and treatment of patients who have or may develop os-teoporosis, said researchers in the cover story of the May 2008 issue of The Journal of the American Dental Association.

The authors of the article, “Osteoporosis and Its Implica-tions for Dental Patients,” reviewed the medical and dental lit-erature to examine osteoporosis’ effect on public health in the United States. They also assessed the implications of provid-ing dental care to people who have or are at risk of developing osteoporosis.

According to the authors, the literature indicated that osteoporosis and related fractures are more common than coronary disease, stroke and breast cancer. Fractures resulting from osteoporosis can affect a patient’s quality of life, as well as result in functional impairment and increased health care cost and mortality.

Their literature search also revealed that medical man-agement of osteoporosis includes diet control, weight-bearing exercise, discontinuation of tobacco and alcohol intake, and use of medications -- including selective estrogen receptor modulators, calcitonin, anabolic agents and bisphosphonates -- that have been associated with the development of osteone-crosis of the jaw.

The authors determined that oral health maintenance is important in patients with osteoporosis, and that changes to bisphosphonate therapy or other medical treatment should be made only after consultation with the patient’s physician. “Dentists need to understand osteoporosis, its treatments and its complications to provide adequate care,” wrote the authors.

Oral Health Maintenance Important for Patients With Osteoporosis

Put Your Best Kiss Forward

Epilepsy is a general term used to classify any number of seizure disor-ders that occur regularly.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that a sei-zure occurs when abnormal electrical activity in the brain causes an involun-tary change in body movement or func-tion, sensation, awareness, or behavior. A seizure can last from a few seconds to a few minutes.

There are more than 20 different types of seizures, which can be broadly classified into two groups: 1) primary generalized seizures and 2) partial sei-zures. Seizure symptoms experienced can range from black-outs to disorienta-tion to body rigidity to muscle spasms. For others, the seizure may be small enough that no discernable signs are present except for rapid eye blinking or a few moments of staring into space.

Epilepsy can occur due to trauma to the head and brain, illnesses or cer-tain generic disorders. It can also be inherited.

In some individuals epilepsy may not present itself until puberty. Puberty is a time when the sex hormones estro-gen, progesterone and testosterone are increasing in levels and fluctuating at different rates. These hormones affect the body and the brain, changing the way the brain operates. So a person who has never had epilepsy before may begin to experience seizures during pu-berty. Others who had seizures through-out childhood may find that the seizures clear up during puberty. Again, doctors surmise both scenarios have to do with the way hormones are affecting neuro-logical impulses in the brain.

There are medications available that can help control or prevent sei-zures. Therefore, individuals with epi-lepsy can generally lead normal lives. It’s best to sit down with a doctor and explore all options before beginning medication. One may find the seizures are small enough not to warrant any drug action.

Get To Know Epilepsy


Located between ADF bingo & Mechanicsville Post OfficeCheck Us Out Onlie smac.somd.com

301-884-8096*WORLD GYM IS A FRANCHISE OF WORLD GYM INTERNATIONAL. ALL FACILITIES ARE INDEPENDENTLY OWNED AND OPERATED.

RESOLUTION FOR 2009!RESOLUTION FOR 2009!For The New Year SMAC is Proud to Announce It’s Getting A New Name...

Southern Maryland Athletic ClubF I T N E S S

World Gym, Is Coming In February

TO CELEBRATE THE NEW YEAR THE 1ST 100 MEMBERS,

$9 ENROLLMENT FEEYOU SAVE $90.00

Be sure to join our email list so you won’t miss out on our 10 year Anniversary Specials throughout 2009.

Thursday, January 29, 2009 20The County TimesA House is a Home

Did You Know?

As homeowners are forced to vacate their homes because they are no longer able to pay their mortgages, many pets are landing in animal shelters. Others are simply left behind.

There is no precise number known, nor any method of determining how many pets have been affected by rising fore-closure rates and the volatile housing market. However, with an influx of pets arriving at shelters or the reports of aban-doned animals growing, animal welfare protectors say the effects are enormous. Many pet owners simply show up at shel-ters and say they are “moving,” offering no specifics.

The Sacramento SPCA, for example, took in 100 more dogs in 2007 than in 2006. Some shelters are not being affect-ed, but where neighborhoods are hard-hit by foreclosures, the tendency for individu-als to relinquish their pets to shelters is proportionately similar.

Forced to find apartments or tempo-rary housing, those foreclosed upon are discovering that in most instances pets cannot come along. A good majority of

landlords prefer tenants do not have pets because of the potential for damage or disturbance in rental properties. Those who do allow pets, may put limits on the number and type. For example, some landlords allow a cat but no dogs.

In some cases, pets are merely left behind. Workers, real estate agents, or well-meaning neighborhoods discover the pet chained up or left to his or her own devices in the abandoned house. Those who are lucky are turned over to shelters. But many are unlucky, spending days to weeks without adequate food or water.

As more pets are finding their ways into shelters, the problem is compounded with reduced numbers of adoptions. Gen-erally, people are not bringing home pup-pies or kittens because money is tight. Older dogs, which in good times tend to last longer in shelters, then may become even less desireable.

“What we’ve always known is that when times are hard for people, they’re hard for their pets,” says Stephen Zawis-towski, a vice president at the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to

Animals. However, there are some steps that pet owners or potential pet owners can take.

• While it’s not possible to foresee ev-ery possible scenario, if your finances are not stable, or if you’re barely making ends meet, it may not be a good time to bring a pet into the household.

• If you are facing foreclosure and have a pet, speak with your local animal shelter. They may have programs where you can house the animal at the shelter for a period while you find suitable, ani-mal-friendly housing. Some shelters even waive the fees associated with such a service.

• Find out if there is a friend or relative who may be able to help out and provide foster care for a pet until you get settled.

• A pet is not a piece of property and should not merely be left behind, warn animal welfare activists. In many states abandoning animals is illegal under anti-cruelty laws. You could be prosecuted for abandoning your pet.

• Some shelters will even speak on your behalf to landlords to negotiate for pets.

The Truth About Cats and Dogs ... and Foreclosures

Coming off the recent real estate boom, lots of homeowners are finding themselves in over their heads with respect to meeting their mortgage payments. However, many homeowners with extra space are discover-ing the value of renting a room. Before do-ing so, it’s best to consider the following.

• Set the rules before anyone moves in. You’ll likely want any prospective ten-ant to share a relatively similar lifestyle to your own, such as work schedule, social habits, etc. Before anyone moves in, estab-lish rules with respect to overnight guests, drinking alcohol or smoking on the prop-erty and other issues.

• Get things in writing. Should any unforeseen problem arise (such as an un-ruly tenant), a verbal agreement will not stand up in court. You’ll need a written agreement that stipulates all rules and de-tails concerning how much advance notice is needed to move out.

• All current occupants should meet any potential tenants. Anyone who cur-rently lives in the home should be included in the tenant interview process. If a spouse leaves it up to his or her husband or wife, arguments could ensue over whether or not the person in charge made the right choice. To avoid those unnecessary arguments, make sure everyone meets prospective tenants, including the kids and even the family pet.

Tips on Renting Out That

Extra Room


A House is a Home There is a reason why our signs

are everywhere!!CALL US

Karen Alford [email protected]

CELL: 301-481-0644

Lucy [email protected]: 301-904-9914

Brooks & Barbourwww.brooksandbarbour.com

23063 Three Notch Rd.California, MD 20619Office: 301-862-2169Fax: 301-862-2179

Despite many of the headlines with respect to housing focusing on foreclosures and the sagging housing market, the home improvement business remains a billion dollar industry. Renovations can be relatively small in scale, such as replacing older windows with newer models; or bigger projects, like an upscale kitchen remodeling. Whether a project is big or small, modifications are typically done to both improve a home for its inhabitants as while increasing the home’s potential resale value down the road.

But are all home improvements projects worthy of your time and effort? From a purely financial standpoint, the answer to that question is almost always no, as home improvement projects almost never recoup for the homeowner 100 percent of what is put in when it comes time to sell a home. Of course, as the current housing market illustrates, the economy is as big an influence on the home improvement business as anything.

In their annual “Cost vs. Value Report,” Remodeling magazine compares construction costs with resale value, bas-ing their findings on research conducted on the 25 most com-mon home improvement projects in 60 different markets span-ning the country. For homeowners considering renovations, the report is a must-read, as certain projects might not prove to be the financial windfall homeowners envision when they commit to an improvment. For example, the 2007 report noted that a home office remodel recouped less than 57 percent of the cost of the project, whereas a minor kitchen remodel recovered 83 percent of its original cost.

Another thing homeowners must consider along with cost and cost recovery are local zoning laws. A set of regula-tions that limit what a homeowner can do with their property, zoning laws play a big role in home renovations. Even if you’ve adhered to zoning regulations with past renovations, that doesn’t necessarily mean your new project will be in line with current guidelines. That’s because zoning laws often undergo changes, essentially shifting and changing in accordance with how much the neighborhood itself is shifting and changing. Some zoning concerns homeowners should definitely con-sider include the following:

* Usage issues: Most homes are classified strictly as residential properties. This means they’re solely for dwell-ing and not for conducting business. However, recent years have witnessed a boom in work-from-home situations, and many professionals have begun to turn their homes into offices. However, if you’re planning to turn your home into a place of business, such as a lagal or medical office, you’ll likely need to be granted a variance by your local zoning board.

* How you’re renovating: Zoning laws are in part de-signed to protect the value of the property throughout a given area. For example, if your home improvements will markedly decrease the value of your surrounding neighbors’ property, there’s no guarantee you’ll legally be allowed to make those improvements. Zoning laws are divided into four groups: height, bulk, density, and use. If your home improvement is designed to build your house upwards, this could dwarf your neighbors’ property, hence lowering the value of that property. Much as with usage, you’ll likely need to get a variance from the zoning board, but such a variance isn’t necessarily easy to get.

* Privacy: Part of the joy of buying a home is knowing it’s all yours. After years of renting from apartment complex-es or sharing dwellings with roommates, most homeowners embrace the privacy that comes with home ownership. When buying a home, homeowners receive a survey plot, which in-cludes something called the setback distance. Setback distanc-es are established by the local zoning board and mandate the distance between a building and the property line. This both protects the privacy of you and those around you while also keeping you safe, making your home accessible in the case of an emergency such as a fire.

Local Laws May Dictate Renovations

Thursday, January 29, 2009 22The County TimesA House is a Home

By Patrick DuganContributing Writer

In my article two weeks ago I spoke about the tax credit that new home buyers can receive. I heard from many people who had ques-tions so here is a list of some of those questions, and the answers I received from various govern-ment agencies. Please, check with your accountant or tax adviser be-

fore doing anything! I am not an accountant.

Before we start with that though, I want to let you know that almost all federal publications regarding housing programs are available at http://pueblo.gsa.gov/ . This is a great resource for those of you who are just starting your home buying search.

The first question most people ask about the tax credit is, “Am I

eligible for the $7500 credit or not?” that answer is not too hard to understand…if you are a U.S. citizen, and for the purposes of this article I am going to assume that you are a citizen, and you are a first time home buyer you may be eligible for this credit.

You must have bought the house after April 9th 2008, and before July 1, 2009. You may not have owned a home any time in the

last 3 years, and you must meet the income eligibility guidelines.

“What are the income lim-its?” For single buyers you must earn no more than $75,000 and for married couples that is dou-bled to $150,000.

“Do all types of homes qualify?” If you buy a newly con-structed home, a resale home or have a home constructed on land you own, you may qualify. Also, town houses, condo’s, mobile homes and even house boats may qualify. The key is that the home you are buying is going to be your principle residence. So, before you go out and buy that house-boat, remember the government expects you to live on it.

“Do I have to pay this back?” YES. 2 years after the credit is claimed the taxpayer would be responsible for paying the credit back at 0 percent interest over 15 years. For example, home buyer A takes the credit of $7500 in 2009. In 2011 that homebuyer would start paying back the gov-ernment at $500 per year, for 15

years. If homebuyer A sells the home, the full amount left of the credit would be due. If there is not enough profit, than the remain-ing amount of the credit will be forgiven.

“I am not a citizen, can I still qualify for this tax credit?” well of course you can. The govern-ment doesn’t want to leave out non taxpayers when they give out tax payer money. You may not be a “Non-Resident Alien” however. The IRS has a form, publication 519, that form will give you a good definition of a Non-Resi-dent Alien.

One of the neatest things about this deal is that if you do not owe money come tax time, you can actually get the govern-ment to send you a check!

I hope I answered all your questions. If there are any more questions that you think of, please contact me at [email protected]

Government Money for Your

House Boat?


Creature Feature

Wanderings

“A Jewel of Maryland”

of an Aimless Mind

By Shelby OppermannContributing Writer

You may have heard Maryland referred to as “America in Miniature”. If you haven’t then you probably will, in this the kick-off month for Maryland’s 375th birthday celebration. But, I would go even further to say that St. Mary’s

County is America in miniature. Look at what we have from end to end and side to side. My husband and I marveled at what the county and Maryland has to offer just last night, and couldn’t think of anywhere we would rather live. I’d need pages to write about everything.

The northern part of the county in a band from the Budd’s Creek/ Chaptico area across to

By Theresa MorrContributing Writer

Creepy. Really ugly. Weird looking. That’s how you might describe turkey vultures. No wonder. With their bright red bald heads re-sembling a turkey, along with big beady eyes and scrawny necks, these not-so-pretty birds easily win the scary prize.

But scary looks are what makes these scavengers spe-cial. They help the environ-ment and us by gobbling up carrion, the remains of dead and rotting carcasses, which can spread disease to humans and other animals. Maybe you’ve spotted these black-or-brown-feathered cousins of hawks and eagles feasting on a “road kill” meal along-side the highway.

No bids needed! Turkey vultures are found through-out the country and are spe-cially equipped for their role in nature. With no feathers on their heads or necks, only a bit of soft down, these crea-tures just dive head first into an animal carcass and yank out a maggot-filled mouth-ful. And a handy hooked-end

beak helps the bird to tear rotting flesh into digestible bite-sized pieces. Yummy!

Splats away! Turkey vultures don’t like to be dis-turbed while gorging them-selves at mealtime. In fact, would-be predators some-times get a surprise attack – an up-chucked splat in the face from the vulture’s foul-smelling regurgitated meal. But that’s not a problem for this feisty fowl. If some re-pulsive stuff clings to the bird’s head or neck, the sun quickly bakes away those nasty tidbits.

No fuss! No muss! Un-like other animals and birds, turkey vultures survive en-tirely on dead and decaying flesh for survival, and with-out getting sick. The stomach of this bird is amazing since it can digest those revolting meals in all stages of decay, while cleansing the ecosys-tem of disease-carrying vi-ruses at the same time. The vulture’s built-in steriliza-tion system also destroys any virus or bacteria in the food that the bird eats. And guess what? Even its droppings are clean and free of disease!

Cool dudes. Turkey vul-tures don’t sweat like you do because their urinary tract helps them to keep cool. A clear, wet substance runs straight out of the bird and down its legs, creating a nat-ural air conditioning system, cooling and sterilizing at the same time. And if any bacte-ria stick to its legs after a trek through an animal carcass, the vulture’s powerful urine kills it on the spot!

Fantastic flyers. When not devouring the world’s

worst food, these “wonder birds” spend their daytime hours soaring high above the earth. You can identify turkey vultures in the sky because they hold their wings in a dis-tinctive “V” shape, seldom flapping them as other birds do. With their long broad wings, large, binocular-like beady eyes, and keen senses of sight, smell, and hearing, they can easily spot a meal on the ground and swoop in for fast food dining. They’ll also “invite” distant friends to join, but how they commu-nicate with other turkey vul-tures is a mystery since they can only grunt and hiss.

Bathing beauties. De-spite their “dirty bird” image, turkey vultures love to preen and spend several hours a day doing just that. They like to take baths, too, if water’s nearby, then after-wards ex-tend their impressive wings out for the sun to dry them.

Now you know how these fascinating birds serve humanity. So the next time you see a turkey vulture en-joying its rotting meal, just be thankful Mother Nature’s neat janitorial service has ar-rived. And maybe you’ll even think turkey vultures are not so scary after all.

More neat stuff about turkey vultures:• Live in hollowed-out tree stumps, rock piles, caves, and on cliff ledges.• Raise one brood per year, from up to three eggs laid in cliff hollows, logs, or among rocks on the ground. Both parents incubate the eggs for about 38 to 41 days.• Have a wingspan of about 6 feet.

parts of Mechanicsville down through Oakville and Sandgates are very hilly and at some points can look Mountainous. There are roads off of Sandgates Road which have sheer drop-offs on one side or another. Stand at Christ Church in Chaptico and look across Chaptico Bay and it looks as if you are seeing the Blue Ridge Moun-tains. I always keep an eye out for Chappie the Bay Monster, you might want to also.

Speaking of Chappie, he loves the swampy area on the other side of the bridge. We have some lovely swamps in the county, me being a swamp aficionado. The proper term might be marshland, but I like swamps. It conjures up a feeling of mystery and unique sounds and smells. Bubbles rise and you wonder from what creature. Elms Environmental Center in Dameron and Point Lookout State Park have some wonderful marshy, swampy areas with long piers to explore the area. School groups visit both of those sites on a regular basis.

Everyone has heard of the breadbasket of America, cattle country, or wine country. We have all that here in St. Mary’s County. Travel down any road, including our main routes of 235 and 5, and you are fortunate to see acres of farm-land. Ridge has some beautiful open flatland which seems to go on forever. We don’t need to see the Nebraska prairies. We have every type of farmer, whether it be vegetables, animals, bees, strawberries, or grapes within a few miles of us.

Most of our restaurants and grocery stores are involved in the “So. Maryland, So Good…” campaign which features local farm products. I can’t imagine anyone saying there is no place to eat down here. We have everything from gour-met restaurants to fine French, Indian, Asian, and St. Mary’s Countian cuisine. Just speaking of one on one food service establishments only,

have you tried one of Mrs. Quade’s crab cakes with sides of history and wisdom in Bushwood, or Connie’s steak and cheese sub with a hug and laughter at Hill’s Country Store in Helen. Those are just two of the many places to get real comfort with your comfort food.

Our galleries promote, as much as possible, our local artists, we have a wealth of talented art-ists in every genre in St. Mary’s, many with na-tionwide or worldwide recognition. We also have a large amount of musicians and writers who cater to every type of taste. Any given weekend there are writer’s groups or readings somewhere. And just about every restaurant, school, bar, or gallery has some type of musical venue or play to see. Have you been to First Fridays in Leonardtown, or Three Notch Theatre in Lexington Park for in-stance? Our county fair offers views of all types of music from Gospel to country line dancers.

Of course, one of our main features is the blessing of being nearly surrounded by water with two important rivers, the Potomac and Patuxent, and bounding the south-eastern most part; the magnificent Chesapeake Bay. At the Chesapeake Bay’s fiercest it could rival the Atlantic Ocean. Many residents may say that even the rivers could rival the ocean during some of our bad storms the last few years.

I guess I am appreciative of what we have here and want to take special notice of what St. Mary’s County has to offer not only to the tour-ists, but to those of us who live here permanently. There is a great link for all the events for Mary-land’s 375th birthday year. www.maryland375.com There is so much yet to explore.

To each new day’s adventure in the county, Shelby.

Please send comments or ideas to [email protected]

Mother Nature’s Cleanup Crew


Last Week’s Puzzle Solutions

erKiddieKor n

CLUES ACROSS 1. Swiss Franc (abbr.) 4. PBS science show 8. Fencing sword12. Journey14. Notice of death15. Softened color16. Rust fungi18. Atomic Energy Authority19. Coco plum20. 41st President23. Longest division of geo-logical time24. Used to be U__25. Doesn’t sit28. Sororal concern33. ____ellenic: all Greek34. 18840 PA35. An informal debt instrument36. Relating to the ilium38. Am. Library Assoc.39. More fair41. Radioactivity unit42. Genus lutra44. Salamander45. Expunctions47. Raised platforms49. Indicates near50. Do over, as of a house51. Ghostly double

57. Shrek III director Hui60. Products of creativity61. Lariat or lasso62. Assists in wrongdoing63. Uncommon65. S____: descendant66. Adjust for functioning67. ____um: wild ginger68. Explosive

CLUES DOWN 1. Male deer 2. Emancipated 3. Puerto ____ 4. Not yes 5. Ger. highway: aut_____ 6. Perspective 7. Area Trauma Advisory Board 8. Card game 9. Popular school organization10. Old world, new11. Tokyo13. Carnivorous fish15. Unintentional act17. Elderly21. Goddess of the dawn 22. Previous Soviet Union

25. Steeple26. Largest silver coin27. The inner self28. Exchange goods29. 8th Jewish month30. Makes angry31. Lerner and _____32. Mongol tents34. Fill to satisfaction37. Vouchers40. Non-ionic detergent43. Stumble46. Staid47. ___ree: unit of temp.48. 12th Jewish month50. ____ short pulse laser52. Pan American Rugby As-sociation (abbr.)53. Long period of time (plural)54. Walking rate55. British School56. Harangue57. Sewer dweller58. ___ Dhabi, Arabian capital59. Not women64. Popular medical TV drama


23314 Surrey Way • California, Maryland 20619Fax: 301-737-0853 • [email protected]

Call Our Leasing Office For Details

Bring This Ad In To Recieve Free

Cable for One Year!

301-737-0737 301-862-5307Apartments of Wildewood

WildeRidge Apartments

Friends make $3000 donation to libraries

Friends of St. Mary’s County Library (FOL) pre-sented a $1000 donation to each branch at their recent annual brunch. This volun-teer support group has do-nated more than $140,000 to the libraries from money raised through their annual book sale. This year’s book sale will be March 13-15 at the County Fairgrounds. Donations of good used books can be brought to the Leonardtown Library.

Free movie matinees offered

Charlotte Hall library is sponsoring a free movie matinee for all library us-ers on Jan. 31 at 2 p.m. A PG movie will be shown. Snacks will be provided.

Contact the library for the title to be shown.

The next TAG meet-ings are Feb. 3 at 4 p.m. at Lexington Park, Feb. 9 at 5 p.m. at Charlotte Hall and Feb. 12 at 5:30 p.m. at Leonardtown.

Paying for college program to be held at Charlotte Hall

Tim Wolfe, Director of Financial Aid at St. Mary’s College, along with the local high school career counsel-ors, will discuss the options available to pay college at Charlotte Hall on Feb. 4, at 7 p.m. The FAFSA form will also be discussed.

Evening storytimes

An evening storytime

will be held at Lexington Park on Feb. 4 and at Char-lotte Hall and Leonardtown on Feb. 5. All three start at 6:30 p.m. Daytime sto-rytimes have resumed. A schedule of the storytimes is posted on www.stmalib.org or can be picked up at any branch.

Libraries offer book discussions

Each library offers a book discussion, which is open to the public. The following books will be discussed: Mitch Albom’s book, “The Five People You Meet in Heaven” on Feb. 2, 7 p.m. at Charlotte Hall; Dashiell Hammett’s book, “The Maltese Falcon” on Feb. 9, 6 p.m. at Lexington Park and Baroness Emmus-ka Orczy’s book, “The Scar-let Pimpernel” on Feb. 19, 7 p.m. at Leonardtown.

LIBRARY ANNOUNCEMENTS

Factun You’re 20 times more likely to be struck by

lightning than to be bit by a rattlesnake. CommunityMechanicsville Volunteer Fire Department Celebrates 75 Years By Andrea ShiellStaff Writer

Firefighters forge a strong connection with each other in the heat of the flames they encoun-ter, a bond that is as strong as any family, and one such family can be found at “the Deuce,” home-station to the county’s premier fire de-partment which is also turning 75 this year.

All 120 members of the Mechanicsville Fire Department will be involved in the forth-coming festivities, and the Deuce will get a piece of the action as well, receiving a much-needed face-lift.

Station President John S. Montgomery said the “Deuce” station in Mechanicsville, which has been in use since the 1970s, will undergo renovations later this year to update equipment, sleeping areas, and training areas, and that the department is also working to se-cure property for a third station, to help with overflow from the stations in Mechanicsville and Golden Beach.

“We’re in the process of looking at the properties with the county right now,” he said.

When asked when a new station would be built, he could only say plans would depend on growth in the area.

In the meantime though, preparations are still underway for the station’s diamond anniversary, for which the department will be raffling off a ½ carat diamond, as well as collecting donations from sponsors for future renovations.

A celebratory parade will take place Aug. 1, followed by an evening dance, fireworks, and an open house in October.

Plans for this anniversary have been un-derway for about a year already, but station

Vice President Paul Colonna said he was happy to head up the committee.

“It’s been a long process to get everything ready,” he said, “but it’s worth it, always.”

The history of Mechanicsville Volunteer Fire Department has seen it evolve from hum-ble beginnings in November, 1934, when forty citizens gathered to discuss ways and means of obtaining fire protection for the village of Mechanicsville. A year later, the first pieces of equipment were purchased, including twelve buckets, two axes, a forty-foot ladder, and twelve badges for the newly formed “Bucket Brigade.”

In May 1937 the first fire engine arrived, and a month later the Mechanicsville Volunteer Fire Company and the Mechanicsville Volun-teer Fire Department were incorporated. Then, in May 1939, the first firehouse on the corner of All Faith Road, which would later be Mechan-icsville Road, was dedicated.

Veteran member William Groome, 88, who earlier this month was honored for 60 years of service to the department, said he first got involved with the fire department after he graduated from high school.

“I wandered around for a while, I flew 50 missions in Italy…and I came back and had a pregnant wife and no job,” he said, adding that he seen a lot of changes over the years.

Groome said one of his duties as treasurer from the mid 1950s to 1970s had been writing “gimme letters” to members of the community asking for donations.

“At that time we had no fire tax. We had to raise money and we had to beg it,” he said. “But I was a great beggar.”

Groome nodded to the station’s fire chief, Carol Craig, and he smiled. “There’s one of the

biggest changes we’ve had here,” he said. Craig said her service with the fire depart-

ment started when she was 16, and since first joining she has most recently been sworn in to her third year as fire chief.

“As far as anyone can go back and search, there has never been another female fire chief,” she said, adding that she credits her own suc-cess to her family of firemen and women.

From left to right: John S. Montgomery, Carol Craig, Robert Barnes, William Groome, and Paul Colonna.

Photo By Frank Marquart


Handy Portion GuideThere’s a portion guide that is always with you, easy to use, and isn’t embarrassing to pull out at restaurants. It’s your hand! Simply looking at your hand can help you determine the right amount to eat. For example:• Your palm = about 3 ounces of cooked meat or fish• Your fist = about 1 cup of cooked rice or pasta, cut vegetables or fruit• Your thumb = about 1 tablespoon of peanut butter, or 1 ounce of cheese• The tip of your thumb = about 1 teaspoon of oil or butter• Three fingers = about 1 ounce of chocolate• A handful = about 1 ounce of nutsAs a point of reference, most people should aim to get 5-6 ounces of meat or fish, 2 ½ cups of fruit and vegetables, 3-4 cups of grains and 3 servings of dairy each day.

Healthy BitesOn The Menu

Today in St. Mary’s County we have many wonderful options for

dining out. Each week we will feature a local

restaurant and give our readers an overview of what they can enjoy on

the menu at each location. Bon Appétit!

Hidden away on the corner of Lawrence Ave. and Park Ave. in Leonardtown is a restaurant offering a menu packed with delectable trea-sures. Owners Kevin and Barbara Thompson opened Kevin’s Corner Kafé in May of 2008. Known for their fast service and great lunch special, which includes a steaming cup of soup, ½ sandwich of your choice and a trip to their hefty sal-ad bar, Kevin’s draws a dedicated lunch crowd. The menu boasts a large assortment of sandwiches from crab cakes to shrimp salad to hamburgers and chicken salad. You can also find homemade soups and chowders and an assortment of steamed seafood. Fresh desserts made on site daily are the perfect way to round out a great meal! Beer and wine are also served.

The restaurant is open for lunch Monday thru Wednesday from

11:00 a.m. till 3:00 p.m., Thursday thru Saturday for lunch and dinner from 11:00 a.m. until everyone is served!! Private parties for up to 80 people can also be reserved. You

can always tell a good restaurant by the number of locals who frequent it, come by Kevin’s and join the many long-time Leonardtown resi-dents who dine there daily!

Recipe

Kevin’s Corner Kafé41565 Park Ave., Leonardtown, MD

301-997-1260

On The Vine

CuisineCreative

Cuisine

Yellow Tail Australian WinesThe story of Yellow Tail wines and the Casella family began in Italy

188 years ago. Today the family’s vineyards lie in Australia producing some of the most well known wines in the world. Year after year, the Casella family continues to create quality wine that is fun, flavorful and bursting with a personality all its own. The name Yellow tail comes from the yellow-footed rock wallaby, a smaller cousin of the kangaroo, that has a golden tail! These spectacular wines can all be enjoyed for under $10 a bottle and pair great with anything, a bad day, a great day, poker night, the evening news, Tuesday….. you get the picture.

Start to finish: 1 hour (plus overnight salting) Servings: 5 to 6 5 pounds chicken wings and drummettes (20 to 25 pieces) 4 tablespoons kosher salt 4 tablespoons Sriracha (Asian hot chili) sauce 2 tablespoons honey 2 tablespoons butter, melted 1 tablespoon soy sauce 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro 4 cups canola oil

Salt and ground black pepper, to taste Place the chicken in a large bowl, then

sprinkle with the salt. Toss to coat. Transfer the chicken pieces to a baking sheet, arrang-ing them in a single layer. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 12 hours.

When ready to cook, remove the chicken pieces from refrigerator and pat completely dry with paper towels, brushing away any salt. Let the chicken sit at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk to-

gether the Sriracha sauce, honey, butter, soy sauce and cilantro. Taste to check the heat level. If the sauce is too spicy, add honey. Set aside.

Place the oil in a large Dutch oven fitted with a thermometer. Heat over medium until the oil is 275 F.

Divide the chicken into 4 batches. One batch at a time, fry for 8 minutes, transferring each to a clean plate or baking sheet when done. Once all the chicken is done, increase the heat to medium-high and heat oil to 375 F.

Again working in batches, fry the chicken for 2 minutes, then transfer to a bak-ing sheet lined with paper towels. The skin should be brown and crunchy and the meat should pull away from the bones with just a bit of resistance.

As each batch is transferred to the baking sheet, season it with salt and pepper. Transfer the chicken to a large bowl, then pour the chili sauce over it. Toss to thoroughly coat all the wings, then transfer to a serving platter.

Recipe BEST BUFFALO WINGS

RedsShiraz- This popular red wine blends ripe cherries, strawberries, spice and vanilla creating a bold wine that is well balanced with earthy tones. Goes great with strong cheeses, beef and pork.Merlot- This bold, smooth wine blends ripe plum

flavors with a warm touch of spice. Merlot goes great with mild cheeses, poultry, fish, beef

and heavy pasta.Cabernet Sauvignon- Blackberry,

chocolate and rich vanilla create this full bodied wine that pairs wonder-fully with strong cheeses and cold cuts, beef and casseroles.

Whites Chardonnay- A wine that is soft, yet fresh with melon flavors that linger on the tongue. Chardon-

nay is perfect with all cheeses, poultry, pasta, vegetables and fish.

Pinot Grigio- This wine is clean, crisp and refreshing with lively green apple and pear flavors.

Enjoy Pinot Grigio with seafood, poultry and pastas.Yellow tail also offers a number of blends of these popular varietals for any taste and budget.

Super Sunday SpecialDuring Superbowl

season, beer and football almost seem like synonyms.

But what if you or your crowd prefer wine? Since most foods

served on Superbowl Sunday _ the usual array of chili, ribs, chips and dip _ are salty, David Snyder, a

wine instructor at the Wine School of Philadelphia, suggest

high acid wines such as Champagne or sauvignon

blanc.

Salting the wings prior to frying helps rid them of excess moisture in the skin, which can cause the finished product to be rubbery rather than crispy. The Asian-inspired twice-fried method helps ensure ten-der meat and crispy skin.

As with all meat, be sure to leave the wings out at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes be-fore cooking. Cold wings will drastically reduce the temperature of the oil. And cool oil doesn’t crisp well.

Serve these wings with the traditional blue cheese dress-ing, sticks of cel-ery and carrots.

Because apparently fatty foods demand fatty accom-paniments, blue cheese dip has long been the de facto

condiment of the must-have food of Superbowl parties _ chicken wings. Actually, it makes sense. Fat-on-fat usually isn’t a great pairing, but in this case it works. The tangy

bite of the blue cheese cuts through the fat of the chicken, while the creami-

ness mellows the heat of the sauce.


Healthy Bites

On The Vine

The Tea RoomThe Tea RoomOpen Daily

11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.Open Daily

11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

(301) [email protected]

26005 Point Lookout Road (Rt 5) Leonardtown MD, 20650

Business DirectoryClassifieds

The County Times will not be held responsible for any ads omitted for any reason. The County Times reserves the right to edit or reject any clas-sified ad not meeting the standards of The County Times. It is your responsiblity to check the ad on its first publication and call us if a mistake is found. We will correct your ad only if noti-fied after the first day of the first publication ran.

Important

To Place a Classified Ad, please email your ad to: [email protected] or Call: 301-373-4125

or Fax: 301-373-4128 for a price quote. Office hours are: Monday thru Friday 8am - 4pm. The

County Times is published each Thursday.

Deadlines for Classifieds are Tuesday at 12 pm.

Don’t spend what you don’t have!www.ProfessorMoneyWise.com

(301) 997-8271

Wildewood Shop. Ctr., California, MD 301-866-0777 www.petruzzis.com

$699 Adult • $399 8 & Under

Wednesday: Spaghetti Night

Prime Rib • Seafood • Sunday BrunchBanquet & Meeting Facilities

23418 Three Notch Road • California, MD 20619www.lennys.net

301-737-0777

25470 Point Lookout Road • Leonardtown, MD 20650

Authentic Mexican Cuisine(301) 997-0442

Fax (301) 997-0554

Martin’sAuto TechAutomotive and Transmission Repair

Complete Auto & Transmission Service Celebrating our 9th year at this location.

23876 Mervell Dean Road • Hollywood, MD 20636 • 301-373-2266

Spring Valley Apartments

Two bedrooms available 805-1103 Sq. ft. $938-$992

46533 Valley Court301-863-2239 (p) 301-863-6905 (f)

[email protected]

Call For Current Specials!

One 1 BR AvailableOne 3 BR Available

CORVETTES WANTED!Any year, any condition. Cash buyer. 1-800-369-6148.

Finishline Concrete

Need Concrete Work?

Quality Work

Affordable Rates

All Types Of Flat Workas well as

Decorative ConcreteStamping

Specializing In:

Call:301-399-4686

Real Estate Rentals

Waterfront w/pier, 2 bdrm. Recently refurbished - pets at owner discretion. Located in Avenue $1,000 mth. Sec Dep Req. Call 410-570-9868.

Apartment Rentals

Help Wanted

Winegardner Motor Company in search for body shop mechanics. If interested, please call Tommy Cooksey at 301-292-6500.

Vehicles

General Merchandise

Antiques, Collectables, Household furnishings, Jewelry, Coins,

Artwork, Civil war booksso much to sell!!

January 31st 9am

Fantastic Multi Estate Auction

Charles County Fairgrounds

www.charlescountyauctions.com

www.vintageaerial.com/srb2

VINTAGE AERIAL PHOTOS OF FARMS, HOMES, AND BUSINESSES

DATING BACK TO THE 1960s.

INTERESTED PARTIES CAN CONTACT:

Thursday, January 29, 2009 28The County TimesSt

. Mary’s

Show TimeGet Out & Have Fun Right Here in St. Mary’s County!

Bride Wars Rated PG, 1 hr 30 min

Hotel for Dogs Rated PG, 1 hr 40 min

Inkheart Rated PG, 1 hr 46 min

Paul Blart: Mall Cop Rated PG, 1 hr 27 min

TakenStarts on Friday, Jan. 30

Unborn, The Rated PG-13, 1 hr 28 min

AMC Loews Lexington Park 6, (301) 862-5010Shows and Rating Provided By Yahoo Entertainment. Check Local Listings For Show Times.

Now Playing

Going On

Fair Warning Serving a Taste of Ireland’s Own

By Andrea ShiellStaff Writer

What do you do with a drunken sailor? Put him in Donovan’s Irish Pub every Friday from 5 – 7 p.m. when Fair Warning is playing.

This enthusiastic trio is sure to have a song to go with each sip, and they aren’t shy about sharing.

Gary Pape, Frank Burton, and his wife Sue Burton had been members of the Southern Maryland Celtic Society (whose members regularly enjoy happy hour with the band) and began playing together in various groups more than a decade ago.

“We’ve been playing for at least a dozen years in one incarnation or another,” Sue Barton said, explaining that the trio have played together as Fair Warning for four years, not

only perform-ing regularly at the Southern Maryland Celtic Festival, which will be held the last weekend in April, but also singing and strumming for the area’s local pubs.

Sue Burton said her first ex-posure to Irish music might have been at birth.

“ N o b o d y played an in-strument, but we listened to it,” she said, list-ing groups like the Irish Tenors and the Clancy Brothers as some of her childhood staples.

Pape said his first exposure

to Irish music was during the folk explosion of the 1960s, when groups like the Highwaymen were playing Celtic mu-sic along with their regular folk repertoire.

As for Fair Warning’s set, it includes a mix of classics, like Unicorn Song, Black Velvet Band, and the ever-popular Bastards Bugger Off.

And though they can knock back Irish car-bombs with the best of them, these three have never been to Ireland. All the same, they manage to convey the homestead’s charm with a cheerful mix of traditional tunes about loss, love, and of course, lost unicorns, forging a local fan base that sings and dances along every week, sometimes even with pints of bittersweet stout on their heads.

They have also released a CD. “It’s called A Reason to Drink,” Pape said, brandishing

an album cover that featured a dog with a bottle of beer to its lips. “So if anyone needs a reason to drink, we can sell them one.”

Frank tipped his glass to his fans as he relaxed after his set, explaining that, to his knowledge, Fair Warning is still the only Irish Pub Band in St. Mary’s or Calvert Counties, and for that he couldn’t be happier.

“We always see the same faces every Friday, and they’re all having fun,” he said, nodding and smiling to the cheerful members of the happy hour gentry, many of whom were ready for another drink and another song.

Sue Burton, Gary Pape, and Frank Burton.

Bride Wars Rated PG, 1 hr 30 minShowtimes: 5:30, 7:45

Hotel for Dogs Rated PG, 1 hr 40 minShowtimes: 4:30, 7:00

Inkheart Rated PG, 1 hr 46 minShowtimes: 4:45, 7:30

Paul Blart: Mall Cop Rated PG, 1 hr 27 minShowtimes: 5:45, 8:00

Taken Starts on Friday, Jan. 30Click here for Showtimes

Unborn, The Rated PG-13, 1 hr 28 minShowtimes: 5:15, 8:00


Seabreeze

CH

IL

I

FEB 3

BIG GAME

BIG GAMEFEB 3

Give Aways,

Games &Prizes!

Turn on South or North Sangates Rd. We Are Located on the Beautiful Patuxent River

301-373-5217

COOKOFFCOOKOFFEVERY WEDNESDAY NITEALL YOU CAN EAT

CRAB LEGS & SHRIMP

EVERY THURSDAY NITEKARAOKE

Chili must be in a crock pot & must be checked in before kickoff.

Popular Vote:To pick the top 5

Official Judges: Coors Light Girls

CO

OK

OF

F

1st, 2nd,& 3rdPlace

Trophies

FEB 1ST, 2009COOKOFF

3RD ANNUAL 3RD ANNUAL SUPER SUNDAYSUPER SUNDAY

COOKOFF

FEB 1ST, 2009

& Coors Light PresentFEB 3COOKOFFCOOKOFF

FEB 3

FEB 3FEB 3

Going OnWhat’s

Thursday, January 29

Drop in Salsa (levels 1 and 2)House of Dance (25741-C Three Notch Road) – 6 p.m.Class is designed for the first time dancer or slightly more experienced. Instructors for two levels will be available. Admis-sion $10. Call 301-373-6330 for more information.

Newtowne Players “The Foreigner”Three Notch Theater, Lexington ParkThursdays-Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 3:30 p.m. Call 301-737-5447 or visit www.newtowneplayers.org to reserve seats.

Deep Stack No Limit Hold’EmDonovan’s Irish Pub – 7:30 p.m.$100+$20 deep stack with $10,000 in starting chips. All proceeds go to Family First of Southern Maryland. Call 443-975-1591 for more information.

VOICES Reading SeriesDaugherty-Palmer Commons (SMCM) – 8 p.m.Korean-born poet Ann Buechner will speak from selected works during the 16th VOICES Reading Series at 8:15 p.m. The English department-sponsored reading is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Karen Anderson at 240-895-2017.

Friday, January 30

Fair Warning Irish Pub BandDonovan’s Irish Pub – 5 p.m. – 7 p.m.

CSM Presents “The Little Mermaid”CSM Fine Arts Center (La Plata) – 8 p.m.Admission $5.00. Call 301-934-7828, 240-725-5449, 443-550-6199 or visit [email protected].

Port Tobacco Players Present OLIVER!508 Charles Street, La Plata – 8 p.m.Playing January 23 to February 15.

Karaoke and Dance NightClub 911 – 9 p.m.Karaoke and danve with “A Band in a Box.”

Saturday, January 31

FAW Italian Dinner and Brown Bag AuctionFather Andrew White School – 4:30 p.m.Ages 13 and up $8.50, ages 5-12 $5.50, under 5 for $3.00. Visit www. fatheran-drewwhite.org for more information.

No Green JellyBeenz with Mr. GreengenesHotel Charles (Hughesville) – 9 p.m.$15 cover charge. Call 301-274-4612 for more information.

Sunday, February 1

Superbowl PartyVFW 2632 in California, MD – 5 p.m.Potluck snacks and food available, door prizes and 50/50 drawing. Silent auc-tion to benefit VFW National Children’s Home.

All U Can Eat BreakfastFather Andrew White School’s Home and School Association is sponsoring a community all-you-can-eat breakfast from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Friday, February 6

Spaghetti Dinner5 - 8 p.m. at Immaculate Conception Hall on Old Village Road in Mechanicsville. Cost is $10 over the age of 12, $5 for ages 6-12 and free for children 5 and under. Tickets available at the door.

Saturday, Feb. 7

Evening of Elegance & JazzThe Unified Committee for Afro-Ameri-can Contributions (UCAC) Presents a “Evening of Elegance & Jazz” Crystal Room, Callaway MD Music by: SHANG, featuring: Brain Lenair. 8 a.m.– 11 p.m. Admission: $35.00 Dress: After 5 attire Proceeds to benefit the 2009 Juneteeth Festival For Tickets contact: 301-862-4868 or 240-434-1095.


Great Mills Road Just Outside of NAS Patuxent River, Gate 2

Expires 1/31/09Excludes Sale Items.

Bring in This Ad to Receive

5% discount

LEXINGTON PARK STORE301-863-2242 • 800-762-BEDSGreat Mills Rd • Lexington Park, MD 20653

(Next to Subway & Popeyes)

LA PLATA STORE301-392-5600

6541 Crain Highway • LaPlata, MD 20646

“Serving Southern Maryland”Family Owned & Operated

Business Directory

Reserve Your Keg

Everyday Low Price!

Money Orders301-862-3600Email: [email protected]

21600 Great Mills Rd.

Route 246 & Great Mills Rd.Lexington Park, MD 20653301-862-7702

at

Care for your lawn.Not the equipment.

Thatchers. Leaf blowers. Aerators. For rent. Along with the lawncare supplies you’ll need, including advice, all in one place.

Buy what you want. Rent what you need.®

St. Mary’s Square

21544 Great Mills Rd1 Mile South of Gate 2 on

Md. Rt 246 – Great Mills Rd.

MIDAS Dealer for 25 Years

*Please Mention AdCall for appt or just stop in!• Nationwide

Lifetime Warranties• Free Estimates• Competitive Prices• Brakes• Exhaust• Maintenance• Tune – Ups• Radiators• Timing Belts• And Much More

Authorized Tire Dealer

Under New Management

Midas auto & truck center

301-862-9501

Prince Frederick410-535-3600

Waldorf301-932-9366

Additional Locations:


Newsmakers33QuestionInterview

Interviewing: John FranczykJohn is a retired firefighter from Washington D.C. who settled in Southern Maryland more than 10 years ago, and has since begun jovially stating that he spends his free time “comfort-ing the afflicted, and afflicting the comfortable.”

CT: Describe the first fire you remember fighting.

JF: One of the first ones I remember was at 14th and Flor-ida Avenue, an apartment above a store…we got up and I was standing there with a line under my arm as the smoke cleared…and there was what looked like a mannequin sitting in a chair, legs crossed, and charred black, but it wasn’t a mannequin, it was a person.

CT: Describe a funny memory of firefighting.

JF: (Laughs) We were doing a home survey inspection one time off Arizona Avenue, probably around the 5100 block of Cathedral Avenue…and everyone was complaining about having to do it…well first the maid came to the door, and then Linda Carter, Wonder Woman, came to the door, and all of a sudden there were five guys trying to get in and talk to her…meanwhile I couldn’t do anything. I kept breaking the lead on the pencil, dropping things, running into things…but she was really nice…if you ever run into her, let her know that the retarded guy who inspected her home years ago sends his regards.

CT: What do you think is the worst culprit in residential fires?

JF: Improper disposal of smoking materials is a big one, but there are a lot of other things. People will get space heaters and put them next to the drapes, for example…and fads can sometimes be a problem, like when people started deep-fry-ing turkeys…they don’t realize that if you put a frozen turkey in boiling oil it can explode. It’s just not a smart thing to do.

Leonardtown’s Volunteer Rescue Squad and Auxiliary celebrated their 34th Annual Installation of Officers Jan. 24, swearing in Shirley Lorraine Copado for her third term as President of the department.

In addition to her swearing in, Copado was honored for 20 years of service as a life-time member.

She began with the Leonardtown Vol-unteer Rescue Squad in 1988 and has served in many offices, including Vice President in 1990, followed by two three year terms as President, Treasurer for eight years, Cap-tain, Lieutenant, and Safety Officer. She has also served many years as a Delegate to the Southern Maryland Volunteer Fireman’s As-sociation and the Maryland State Fireman’s Association.

Other executive officers sworn in that evening were Vice President Donna Whites, Chief Jamie Weber, and Assistant Chief Dean Gass.

Copado Sworn in as Leonardtown VRS President

Shirley Lorraine Copado was sworn in as President of the Leonardtown Volunteer Rescue Squad on Saturday.

Chief Also Honored For 20 Years of Service


By: Linda RenoContributing Writer

Remember the old saying, “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned?” Many say this quote comes from Shakespeare, but it actually comes from a 1697 play by William Congreve called “The Mourning Bride” and is “Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned; nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.” Regardless of its source, it is all too true!

Ignatius Enders “Tank” Mattingly learned this the hard way. Born at the family home near Chaptico on Sep-tember 4, 1845, he was the son of George Sylvester Mat-tingly and his wife, Mary Edwards. In 1871, he was just 21 and apparently the “gay blade.” How he met the young lady

who wrote the letter to the right is unknown and whether he ever returned her letters is uncertain, but he did keep

this one, now in the possession of the St. Clem-ent’s Island Mu-seum who has kindly granted permission for publication.

FERNANDES DEGENNARO& ASSOCIATES

CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS

Call Me Today For More

InformationHelen Uhler

Director of Client Services301-736-8846 office

240-925-9495 cell

8235 Penn Randall Place • Upper Marlboro, Maryland 20772Telephone - (301) 736-8846 • Fax - (301) 736-9489

• Physicians and medical care groups;• Government contractors;• Attorneys and other professionals;• Construction contractors and real estate professionals:• Government agencies;• Not for profit organizations;• Retail and wholesale organizations;• Churches of all denominations;• Employee benefit plan audits and administration;• Franchisees.

Fernandes DeGennaro & Associates has serviced over one thousand clients in numerous professions and industries, including the following:

Formed in 1979Our philosophy and service objectives both emphasize client service. Continuous contact with our clients is our number one priority and we strive to provide a level of service that is both professional in quality and personal in nature. It is our ultimate desire to become as closely involved with our clients as possible, so that we can continuously maintain the detailed knowledge of their affairs necessary to provide effective service.

It is a firm policy that our clients become informed, in a timely manner, of all tax and financial issues affecting them and their organization.

www.fdassoc.com

Special Now Through March 1st!$1599

Ida was the daughter of Walter H. Grif-fin and his wife, Eleanor Bryan. She was just 16 when this letter was written. In 1882 Ida married Sydney Mudd of Charles County. She married well, as her husband served in the Maryland House of Delegates and then the U.S. Congress. Their son, Sydney, Jr. was also a U.S. Congressman.

According to her husband’s 1895 obitu-ary, “Mrs. Mudd was a beautiful woman and of a most lovable disposition.” It was also said that “In her maiden days Mrs. Mudd was not only greatly admired for her beauty among the belles of Prince George’s, but she was chosen

first maid of honor to represent Maryland at the grand tournament at Philadelphia in honor of the centennial of national independence.” Ida died at her home in La Plata on June 3, 1907.

Ironically, Tank Mattingly was also mar-ried in 1882 to Susan Blair, daughter of Wil-liam Blair and Mary Elizabeth Ellis. He died January 28, 1897 at his home in Bushwood. At the time of his death it was noted that he was President of the School Board. Susan sur-vived him, dying January 30, 1927 at “Blair’s Purchase.” Tank and Susan are both buried at Sacred Heart Church.

Ah….young love!

June 12, 1871

Igns. E. Mattingly

Sir-

Your idea of a gentleman deviates vastly from mine if you think your conduct corresponds with that to which I am always accustomed to receive from gentlemen of my social standing.

You have refused most emphatically to return to me my letters twice to my certain knowledge. Now Sir I demand them a third time. Those let-ters must be returned immediately or else I will make known to my father your ungentlemanly conduct, and ask him to see that you send them.

I would most assuredly have sent you an apology [unreadable]… do not in your conceit, flatter yourself Sir by imagining I wish to detain your “Master pieces of art” as I presume you so value them as they are quite insignificant and greatly inferior to a letter of my youngest brother so you can rest fully satisfied that your so called epistles are already packed and retained only till mine are sent back to me. In the package with my let-ters you will please send the little cross I lent you while in St. Mary’s - it was given me on the death bed of [unreadable] my dear dead aunt and I appreciate it more than anything on earth for I loved her devotedly.

Mister Mattingly this package must be forwarded at once - I’m go-ing to St. Louis in about four weeks therefore I wish to send your letters before I go. I shall expect my letters the last of next week by all means as I presume you will have finished showing them around like a green country fool that you are.

I understand Sir that you are in the habit of entertaining your host of friends- I was under the impression Sir; at the time I wrote you that you were a gentleman - now but too late do I discover my sad error. I know you Tank Mattingly and all about you therefore I will pardon your con-duct and consider the source.

The next time I undertake a flirtation by way of correspondence, I shall first find out all about that individual and should he be of such a character as you – I certainly shall drop him as I’m accustomed only and only to the society of gentleman – I have unmasked you and found you out to my sorrow – “unmasked not Man’s heart to view the hell that’s there.”

Return my letters immediately - should the postage on the pack-age be too much for your generosity – I’ll see that it is paid – so don’t be grieved at the loss of a few cents.

Ida M. Griffin T. B. Post OfficePrince George’s Co. Md.

A Journey Through TimeA Journey Through TimeThe Chronicle

301-373-4125www.countytimes.net

Ignatius “Tank” Mattingly, 1845-1897. Photo Courtesy of William R. Johnson


Boxing Gym,

Martial Arts Classes Among Ideas

By Sean RiceStaff Writer

Officials are reaching out to community members for volunteers needed to create a new youth devel-opment center in the Lexington Park neighborhood of South Hampton.

The former Carver Elementary School on Lincoln Avenue is being targeted for rededication by the St. Mary’s County Parks department as a community center for positive youth development.

“That’s my goal tonight, is to come up with some thoughts on who wants to invest … so that we can put the resources of local government, community, Lexington Park, and put all those together and come up with the best and strongest ideas so we can have a bright positive youth de-velopment center here,” said county recreation division manager Arthur Shepherd.

Shepherd was speaking at a meeting at the former school, which is now called the Carver Recreation Center, on the evening of Jan. 22. A small group of residents and interest-ed parties responded to a community notice advertising the meeting.

“While we may not have many here tonight, hopefully this will plant the seed so we can come up with some additional programs, and not only at this facility but Lexington Park as a whole as well,” St. Mary’s County Commissioner Dan Raley said.

About 20 people arrived at the Carver Center for the meeting, and several ideas for using the facility were brought up. The main goals that emerged involved the center not only focusing on sports and recreation, but learning as well.

“Basically what happens at a positive youth development center is young people are around adults that provide a positive activities to give them the self esteem and indepen-dence they need,” Shepherd said.

Allen Nader, a boxing coach with 25 years experience who is now retired in St. Mary’s County, expressed his desire to run a boxing program at Carver.

“What I want to do is get a bunch of young people in the gym and I want to teach them to box and make them do their homework, those two things,” Nader said.

Nader said multiple after-school programs should be offered for kids at the facility, with completing home-work as a requirement to participate.

Since the school moved to its new location off Great Mills Road in 2006, the former Carver building has been underutilized, officials ad-mit. The county Board of Elections rents part of the building for storage. Another section houses county IT department office space.

“This building really needs to gain the support of the community, we have all this space and we want to draw people in here,” said Kyle Kebaugh, program coordinator at Carver. “We want to take advantage of that, and give opportunities for positive youth development.”

Commissioner Raley said the county is committed to providing ex-tra funding to get things going at the Carver Recreation Center. Shepherd

stressed that funding is the main is-sue when trying to “program” activi-ties for the center.

“I want to go with one night very soon,” Shepherd said. “It might be low key at first, just for the com-munity to come in here, at no charge in the beginning, so that we can get a hub of information going.”

“We’ve committed that we’re going to put money into developing the area out here so you can have some community activities,” Raley said, mentioning new playground equipment, basketball courts and a clear access to the baseball field.

“We’re committed to putting the resources, but we want to spend the money on things that you feel will be beneficial that the kids in the com-munity would use, and it’s not only for the kids,” Raley continued.

Shepherd arranged a second meeting for volunteers at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 5. He said within two weeks from that point hopefully the program can get underway, at least one day a week to start.

“So lets say if we started with one day a week after school program to start off with,” Shepherd sug-gested. “We’ll keep it at a nominal fee, from 3:30 to 7 o’clock. Let’s say there would be basketball, some box-ing, some karate, some dance and a homework center.”

For more information, or to vol-unteer, contact Shepherd at 301-475-4200 extension 1804, or Kebaugh at extension 1803.

&Recreation ParksCommunity Help Needed

to Hatch Youth Center

Leisure Class Instructors Needed

Photo By Sean Rice

Leisure class instructors are being sought for a variety of programs including, but not limited to: Irish dancing, hula dancing, cooking, programs for individuals with disabilities, Tai-Chi, calligraphy, daytime programs for toddlers and more. Come share your talent or pas-sion and get paid for it.

Please complete a prospective instructor survey found at http://www.co.saint-marys.md.us/recreate/Forms/INSTRUCTORPROSPECTsurvey.pdf and mail or email it to Christina Bishop, 23150 Leonard Hall Drive, P.O. Box 653, Leonardtown, MD 20650 OR e-mail to [email protected]

Trips & ToursRegister Now!

Cherry Blossom Festival and Parade

Baltimore Aquarium

New York City – A Day on Your Own!

White Water Rafting in Western Maryland

IMPORTANT TRIP INFORMATIONA cancellation of a trip will be determined 10 days prior to the trip date; parties will be notified if a trip is cancelled due to a low response. Trips

cancelled due to low registration and will receive a 100% refund. Trips will travel on a round trip coach bus with heating and air conditioning. Most buses offer a restroom and reclining seating. All trips require a pre-reg-istration deadline to insure enough participants; a minimum of 26 partici-

pants are required for a trip. If space is still available after the deadline, late registrations will be accepted. Due to the early planning of trips the cost of the coach bus service could increase slightly. If the fee increases you will be notified upon registration. Passengers under the age 18 must be

accompanied by an adult. Bus trip reservations are final; cancellations will not result in a refund. For more information call 301-475-4200 x1800 or 1801.http://www.co.saint-marys.md.us/recreate/Forms/FormA.pdf Join the Trip information email list!! Send an email to: [email protected] indicate your desire to be placed on the email notification list for trips and

tours. Get up-to-date trip dates and share your trip and tour ideas.

Enjoy the beauty and spectacular events in your own back yard, without the hassle and frustration of driving to the city. The Nationally known Cherry Blossom Festival and Parade is a family day just waiting for you, while in DC don’t forget to visit the museums. Registration Deadline: March 20, 2009

Date: Saturday, April 4, 2009 Time: 8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Cost: Transportation only $34 per person

Have a great family day at the Baltimore Aquarium, with time to walk the Inner Harbor, take a boat ride or visit one of the many famous sites. Registration Dead-line: April 17, 2009

Date: Saturday, May 2, 2009Time: 9:00 am – 4:00 pmCost: Includes entrance to the aquarium, dolphin show, the 4D Immer-sion Theater and transportation

Seniors 60+ $61 Adult 19-59 $62Student 12-18 $53 Child 3-11 $51Children under 3 $25

Join us on a fun filled day in McHenry Maryland for White Water Raft-ing or Rock Climbing and Hiking. Registration Deadline: July 1, 2009 Date: July 18, 2009Time: 6:00 am – 10:00 pm Cost: $125 per person (includes fees for Rafting or Rock Climbing and Hiking)

Enjoy the early summer sites of New York City. Plan your own personal itinerary in visiting Manhattan, China Town, or anywhere in the city. Take in a show or take the ferry to Staten Island, it’s your day have a great time. The bus will drop you off in the Times Square area and pick you back up at the same location. Registration Deadline: May 22, 2009

Date: June 13, 2009Time: 6:00 am – 12:00 amCost: $88 per person

Arthur Shepherd, recreation division manager for St. Mary’s Parks and Recre-ation department, shares his ideas for a youth development center at the former Carver school in Lexington Park.


Raiders Cruise Past Knights in RematchHigh School Hockey

By Chris StevensStaff Writer

WALDORF – The difference between the Leonardtown hock-ey team’s Jan. 13 game with St. Mary’s Ryken and the Jan. 23 rematch was plain and simple for head coach Rob Barthelmes.

“The Raiders showed up and played tonight,” Barthelmes said after four different Leonardtown players scored goals in an 8-3 victory over the Knights at Capital Clubhouse, evening the season series between the two rivals one win apiece. “All of our players worked hard and did the things needed to win the game. It was really nice.”

Sophomore forward Charlie Yates led the way with four goals and an assist, but he received plenty of support from his teammates, as three other Raiders found the net in LHS’ biggest win of the season.

“We just try to work together as a team and pass the puck a lot to get everyone involved,” Yates said of the opportunistic Leonardtown scoring attack. “This time we really wanted to win and we took [Ryken] out.”

Much like the previous match-up at Tucker Road Ice Rink, the two teams spent much of the first period feeling each other out, and then Yates started a three-goal blitz by poking a rebound past fresh-man goaltender Greg Myers at the 8:38 mark of the period. One min-ute and 40 seconds later, after Gordy Bonnel (one goal and an assist on the evening) and Yates led a rush up-ice, Robert Reinhold smacked anoth-er rebound in to make the score 2-0. Kyle Wright added another goal in the final two minutes of the period and Ryken never really recovered.

“We can’t get off to slow starts like we did tonight,” said Knights assistant coach Chris Palombi. “I just think lack of

mental preparation was the prob-lem tonight, but after the first 30

minutes our guys did great. “We just have to play the full

game and we’ll be much better off later in the

season.”The Knights,

who fell to 2-6 on the season, got goals from Matt McGowan, Brock Bailey and Sam Vogt

For the youthful Raiders (now 3-5-1 this season), who have only two seniors on the roster, this win goes a long way towards their aspirations of being a contender in the highly competitive Maryland Scholastic Hockey League’s Southern Division.

“It’s important we do well in these types of games so we can car-ry it over against the better teams, said sophomore goaltender Sean

Urlocker, who got the win and was untouchable for the game’s first 20 minutes.

“We’re a really young team, and everyone else in our division

has a lot of seniors, so we should be

able to compete for a champion-

ship these next two years,” Yates added.Photo By Chris Stevens

Photo By Chris Stevens

Leonardtown’s Charlie Yates and Brock Bailey of St. Mary’s Ryken battle for the puck.

The Knights’ Peter Martin handles the puck under pressure from The Raiders’ Zachary Barthelmes.


High School Basketball Sp rtsHigh School Hockey


LEONARDTOWN – Another game against a top Washington Catholic Athletic Conference team, another case of “almost” for the St. Mary’s Ryken girls’ basketball team.

Despite 17 points from sopho-more guard Zakiya Chambers-Hunter and 15 from senior center Erin Leddy, the Knights let a nine-

point lead get away in a 65-55 loss to Good Counsel Jan. 21 in the Ryken Gymnasium.

“Good Counsel is used to play-ing in that pressure situation,” Ryken coach Tara Everly said of the Falcons’ 47-23 second and third quarter run that broke the game open. “We don’t have the experience that other teams have in those situations.”

“Our shots were falling and we played well as a team,” Leddy ex-

plained. “We just broke down quarter by quarter.”

The first quarter saw the Knights (5-9 overall, 2-6 in WCAC action) come out like gangbusters to take a 16-9 lead after one, and a Leddy lay-up early in the second quarter gave the Knights their biggest lead at 18-9.

“I’ve been working on the moves this week in practice,” Leddy said of her 10-point first half that saw everything from darting drives to the hoop to a spinning left handed floater in the lane. “We’ve been practicing going to the basket because our shots haven’t been falling.”

Ryken’s shooting took another unwanted break as Good Counsel (14-3 overall, 7-2 in WCAC play) went on a scoring binge that lasted most of the second quarter and into the final minute of the third when a Symone Lyles fast-break lay-up gave the Falcons a 56-36 lead.

“When other teams step up,” Everly said, “we’re still not sure how far up we have to step up to compete with them.”

The Knights got a big basket to end the third on a running three-pointer by Chambers-Hunter, but they still trailed by 17 going into the fourth quarter. After a slow start, Hunter, Leddy and freshman guard Katie McCormick (10 points) led another Ryken burst that ended with Molly Grund’s hook shot in the lane with under a minute to go to shrink the Falcon lead to seven.

The Knights’ inexperience showed with three late turnovers that allowed Good Counsel to convert

three of five from the free throw line to seal the win, but Leddy and Everly believe the Knights will get better as the season progresses.

“Every night, it’s never easy,” Leddy said. “We just have to play as

a team and learn from each game.”“I tell the girls ‘every day, you

want to be a little bit better,’” Everly said of motivating the team. “By the end of February, we’ll be a better team.”


In previous years, the Leonardtown boys’ basketball team has gotten off to quick and successful starts, only to be hampered late in the season by

fatigue and a lack of depth.This season, head coach Jake Heibel is not worried about either

as the Raiders possess quality bench play and an air-tight defense that has kept them in the conference title race most of this season.

“I’ve never had a team where I’ve played every player, and I’ve done that this season,” Heibel said of a roster that has a healthy mix of experienced guys and eager role players willing to do what it takes for Leonardtown to be successful. “You’re always worried about a relapse like last season, but I think we’re a different team because of the depth we have, and that can always help you.”

Aside from senior leaders Moe Stone, Jeff Wettengel and Gerell Shingles, Heibel is happy to have players like junior Tod-drick Daniel, who is often consider the Raiders’ best defender,

and sophomore Nick Shade, who has done well in extended minutes as the back-up point guard.

“It really has been a team effort with these guys,” Hei-bel said proudly.

The Raiders are currently 9-5 and have not lost two games in a row all season, thanks to their tough defensive

play, which has kept opponents under 50 points six times so far this season.

“That’s our goal, to hold teams under 50,” Wettengel said. “We have to play good defense because we’re not as big and as athletic

as other teams and we haven’t scored like we thought we would this season.”

The players and head coach give full credit for their ex-

cellent defensive play to assistant coach David Layman, who Heibel says retooled and worked extra hard to get the Raiders playing the kind of solid, aggressive man-to-man that has been their trade-mark under Heibel since he began coaching at the school five seasons ago.

However, everyone agrees that Heibel, in his 13th season as a head coach in St. Mary’s County (he previously coached at Great Mills), is front and center as the leader of this team and associated closely with the boys’ hoop team’s success in recent years.

“He is the face of Leonardtown basketball,” Wettengel said without hesita-tion. “He has a great attitude for the game and he’s been like a father figure to everyone on the team.”

“Everybody on the team feels that way about coach, I know I do,” added Stone, the leading scorer who is currently fighting through a leg injury.

With depth, defense and respect all around, the Raiders could be a team to watch once regional play begins at the end of February.

“I think if we stick to our game plan,” Wettengel said, “we won’t be a push-over in the regionals.”

Deep Raiders Staying In Contention

Upset Slips Through Ryken Girls’ Fingers



Photo By Chris StevensPhoto By Chris Stevens

The Knights’ Raven Manigualt surveys the floor while the Falcons’ Jess Hentrell defends.

Ryken’s Katie McCormick dribbles during last Wednesday’s night WCAC battle with Good Counsel.

Moe Stone is the leading scorer for the Leonardtown boys’ basketball team, which is still in contention for a SMAC title this season.

Defensive efforts like this one from Tyler Gladu have helped the Raiders keep six opponents under 50 points this season.

Thursday, January 29, 2009 36The County TimesSp rts

Moore’sDriving AcADemy

Available at Two Locations:Leonardtown & Mechanicsville

Winter Special!

From November through February bring a friend with this coupon and pay just $275.00!! Evening and Night class

available. Call today and save yourself a seat!

Call To Register: 301-472-1702

FactunIn recognition of its roots in rugby, the center of the playing field for every

Super Bowl contains a single blade of grass from Hampstead Heath, London.

Thursday January 29WrestlingNorth Point at Chopti-con, 7 p.m.Great Mills at Leonard-town, 7 p.m.

Friday Jan. 30Boys’ BasketballPatuxent at Chopticon, 7:30 p.m.North Point at Great Mills, 7:30 p.m.Calvert at Leonardtown, 7:30 p.m.Archbishop Carroll at St. Mary’s Ryken, 7:30 p.m.

Girls’ BasketballChopticon at Patuxent, 6:30 p.m.Great Mills at North Point, 6:30 p.m.Leonardtown at Calvert, 6:30 p.m.St. Mary’s Ryken at Archbishop Carroll, 7:30 p.m.

Ice HockeySt. Mary’s Ryken vs. Thomas Stone at Capital Clubhouse (Waldorf), 5 p.m.Leonardtown vs. Bowie High School at Capital Clubhouse (Waldorf), 6:45 p.m.

SwimmingLeonardtown/North-ern/Westlake at Lackey, 7:30 p.m.

WrestlingLeonardtown at Arundel High School tournament

Saturday Jan. 31WrestlingLeonard-town at Arundel High School tourna-mentSt. Mary’s Ryken at WCAC championships

(Bishop Ireton High School)

Boys’ BasketballSt. Mary’s Ryken at Cesar Chavez (Washing-ton, D.C.), 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday Feb. 3Boys’ BasketballDeMatha at St. Mary’s Ryken, 7:30 p.m.

Girls’ BasketballSt. Mary’s Ryken at Elizabeth Seton, 7:30 p.m.

Ice HockeyLeonardtown vs. St. Mary’s Ryken at Tucker Road Ice Rink (Fort Washington), 5 p.m.

WrestlingChopticon/Great Mills/Huntingtown at Great Mills, 5 p.m.Leonardtown at Calvert, 7 p.m.

Wednesday Feb. 4Boys’ BasketballLackey at Chopticon, 7:30 p.m.Great Mills at Calvert, 7:30 p.m.Leonardtown at North Point, 7:30 p.m.

Girls’ BasketballMontrose Christian at St. Mary’s Ryken, 5 p.m.Chopticon at Lackey, 6:30 p.m.Calvert at Great Mills, 6:30 p.m.North Point at Leonard-town, 6:30 p.m.

High School Sports Schedule

01/29/09-02/04/09BleachersA View From The

looking Beyond The Gridiron

By Ronald N. Guy Jr.Contributing Writer

The NFL lost one of its true gentlemen recently when Tony Dungy resigned as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts. In the pressure cooker that is professional sports these days, we’ve come to know the head coach as the blood-shot eyed maniac screaming at players and officials on the sidelines or delivering one of those infamous, coming to a beer commercial near you, post-game meltdowns. And who can blame them? Accept-ing a head coaching position is done with the knowledge you’ll almost certainly be fired – and

thus become another victim of a demanding, impulsive owner and fan base who insist upon immediate results, possess an indefatigable lust for victory and an intolerance of defeat. Yet there are a select few that have been able to transcend the madness of coaching at the highest level and thrive with-out sacrificing basic human decency or their own dignity. Tony Dungy is one of those rare people.

Dungy, a soft-spoken, ce-rebral man with uncompromis-ing moral principles remains unchanged by over a decade of coaching in the NFL. At his first stop, Dungy built the once sorry, no-account Tampa Bay

Buccaneers into a consistent winner. From Tampa (yep, you guessed it, he was fired), he took the reigns in Indianap-olis and fostered the growth of a promising young quarter-back named Peyton Manning into a perennial MVP candi-date, a Super Bowl champion and a sure-fire Hall-of-Famer. Dungy’s expanded resume in-cludes being the first African American coach to win the Su-per Bowl, 10 consecutive play-off appearances and posting no less than 12 wins in a season since 2003 (heck, the Redskins haven’t won 12 games since 1991)! That’s amazing. But what’s more impressive is how Dungy did it. In comparison to

some of his more volatile peers, Dungy didn’t yell at players like Mike Ditka and he didn’t belit-tle them like Bill Parcells. He preferred constructive conver-sation to confrontation. Dungy never seemed to compromise how he treated a person for the sake of winning a football game. Dungy’s players were given, and returned, respect. That’s not meant to disparage the accomplishments of those other great coaches. The NFL is incredibly competitive and unapologetically brutal on the unsuccessful. But while we can’t begrudge coaches for us-ing harsh tactics, we shouldn’t lessen our admiration of those employing a more transforma-tional approach. Players per-formed for Ditka because he demanded it; they performed for Dungy because they want-ed to. Parcells motivated the football player within the per-son; Dungy inspired the per-son within the football player. Dungy didn’t just pursue the desired outcome, but focused on developing relationships that would, almost without no-tice, achieve the outcome.

Dictatorial leaders have their place, but their shelf lives and effectiveness are often brief. Eventually the inflam-matory message starts to sound like Charlie Brown’s teacher. Conversely, Dungy’s trans-formation approach is lasting and far reaching. It was a re-freshing alternative in the NFL and a reminder that leadership starts with an ability to connect with people. His is a leadership model with application not just in a locker room, but also in a boardroom, a small business or a home. Recently, Dungy decided to turn in his coaching whistle to pursue his many civic interests full time. The NFL’s loss is society’s gain. Dungy didn’t just make his players better on the football field, he also made them better people. There’s little doubt he’ll have the same effect on people in whatever endeavor he pursues. And that is a rare skill best applied beyond the gridiron. Football is just a game, but life is serious business…and it could use a Tony Dungy. Good luck coach, thanks for remind-ing us that a respectful conver-sation is always more effective than a boiling argument.

Extra Point: This bone chilling cold has me longing for some good ol’ Southern Mary-land summer steam (or at least temps that will support human life!). So it was therapeutic to see a recent advertisement for The Masters…and the impec-cable spring landscape at Au-gusta National. It was a site for sore eyes. Come on Tiger…get well.

Send your comments to [email protected]



A little over a year ago, when the Hughes-ville Softball Association decided to cut ties with the older, more-established Little League and align itself with the American Softball As-sociation, it was a bold gamble that League president Joe Therres was willing to make.

As the league begins its second spring af-filiated with the ASA, Hughesville is thriving and Therres is proud of the strides the league has made since the move.

“We had 125 players in 2007, and last year we went up to 200 players, and we’re very hap-py with the growth,” Therres said of the move which allows players from all over, mainly in the Mechanicsville and Charlotte Hall areas of St. Mary’s County, to participate in the league. “Eliminating the residential boundaries has

helped us grow, and anyone who wants to play can play now.”

HSA now offers free instruction and clin-ics for players of all age levels, including the 6 to 8 age group, which Therres views as a cru-cial age for softball players.

“We would have to move them up the mi-nor league, and it was a big gap there” in talent and playing time, Therres explained.

“We had six teams in the instructional league and we were really lucky with the

coaches we had in the league.”The team rosters were kept to a minimum

so players could receive equal playing time and at bats, preparing them for an advanced level of softball that the ASA provides.

“It allows us to be flexible, we can do what we feel is best for the program without wait-ing for approval from anyone,” Therres said. Along with the instructional league and pro-grams, the HSA also has an indoor facility that has batting cages and ample space for throwing

and pitching instruction, which is free for all players.

Even though Hughesville is now an ASA league, Therres looks forward to collaborat-ing with the still-existing and successful Little League in playing some games this season, as well as taking pride in the fact that HSA’s suc-cess has sparked a growth of ASA in the state of Maryland.

“No one’s ever organized an ASA league with our success,” he said, noting that due to the growth of Hughesville there will be a rec-reational league series tournament this com-ing July in Catonsville that will be followed by the Nationals Tournament at Oak Ridge Park a couple of weeks later. “That’s two levels of tournament that allows more players to play.”

A local league will also join HSA in ASA this coming season, as the Lusby-based SYB Optimist League recently voted to switch their affiliation from the Babe Ruth leagues to ASA affiliation.

“It’s catching on and growing,” Therres said proudly.

Sp rtsRisky Move Pays off Big for Hughesville

Softball

Photo Courtesy of Joe Therres



It’s all about fun and laughter for these HSA instructional All-Stars during a team photo last season.

HSA’s Bailey Rawlings covers home during the 12U ASA Eastern National tournament.

Alyssa Peregoy of the Hughesville Softball Association fires a pitch to home plate in the 12U ASA Eastern National Tour-nament in York, PA this past summer.


1First Year of Maintenance Free when you purchase any NEW John Deere Select Series Tractor ($379.99-$509.99 value, varies by product). This promotional John Deere Maintenance Plan includes break-in service and one maintenance service. Break-in and maintenance coverage includes transportation and labor for maintenance service and maintenance parts will be replaced with Genuine John Deere Parts. Offer valid December 30, 2008, through March 2, 2009, at www.JohnDeere.com or authorized John Deere dealer locations only. Offer not valid on prior purchases. No credit if offer refused. No substitutions or cash value. Void where prohibited, licensed, restricted or taxed by law. Break-in and maintenance requests must be redeemed no later than March 2, 2010. 2Offer ends March 2, 2009. Some restrictions apply; other special rates and terms may be available, so see your dealer for details and other fi nancing options. Subject to approved credit on John Deere Credit Revolving Plan, a service of FPC Financial f.s.b. For consumer use only. After promotional period, fi nance charges will begin to accrue at 17.9% APR. A $1.00 per month minimum fi nance charge may be required. Upon default of your account, the interest rate may increase to 19.8% APR. 3Dollars off offer ends March 2, 2009. Prices and model availability may vary by dealer. Some restrictions apply; other special rates and terms may be available, so see your dealer for details and other fi nancing options. Available at participating dealers. John Deere’s green and yellow color scheme, the leaping deer symbol and JOHN DEERE are trademarks of Deere & Company.

D32CUAI6014 -CARROLL'S 3X10-00270309

12 Months2

No InterestNo Payments

FOR

$200OFF ALL

X300 SERIES3

$500OFF ALL

X500 SERIES3

$550OFF ALL

X700 SERIES3

$200 retail bonus on all Z445s and Z465s3

VISIT US AT WWW.JOHNDEERE.COM

Z445

Buy any Select Series™ tractor

now and get the

first year’s maintenance

FREE.1

X534

NOW IS THE TIME TO GET THE BEST DEAL. AND THE BEST DEALER.

17723 Three Notch Road • Dameron, MD • 301-872-5553Mon-Fri: 8am-5pm; Sat: 8-Noon; Closed Sunday

4-YEARL I M I T E D W A R R A N T Y

Sp rtsSt. Mary’s College

Dover, Del. – Senior guard Rashawn Johnson poured in 32 points in helping the Wesley College Wolverines overcome a 12-point second-half deficit to post a 97-93 victory over the St. Mary’s College of Maryland men’s basketball team Saturday afternoon in a Capi-tal Athletic Conference clash.

The win strengthens Wesley’s (11-5, 8-0 CAC) grip on the top spot in the CAC standings as the Wolverines remain undefeated in con-ference action. Despite having five Seahawks in twin figures, St. Mary’s (13-4, 6-2 CAC) dropped its second league contest as SMCM falls into a two-way tie for second with the University of Mary Washington.

Down 70-58 with 13:36 remaining in the game, the Wolverines clawed their way to their first lead of the contest with a 17-4 run as John-son sunk a pair of free throws and finished with 10 more points in the run. Junior guard James Stratton extended Wesley’s lead to 88-81 at 4:30 as Stratton nailed a pair of three-pointers.

The Seahawks fought back with a 12-5 run in a three-minute span to knot the game at 93 with 1:26 to go. Stratton clinched the win with a lay-up (00:22) as St. Mary’s missed the potential tying basket with nine ticks on clock, then turned the ball over three seconds later.

Stratton finished with 22 points as he and Johnson combined for 54. Sophomore Rudy

Thomas added 10, while se-nior forward Alphonzo Wright grabbed 12 rebounds.

Junior guard Camontae Griffin led the Seahawks with 27 points as Griffin connect-ed on 10-of-17, while fresh-man guard James Davenport matched his season-high with 15 points off the bench on 6-of-9 shooting, including going 2-of-3 from behind the arc.

Senior center Alex Irmer contributed 13, while sopho-more forward Mike Fitzpatrick had 11.

Sophomore guard Alex Franz had a solid game for SMCM with 10 points, a game-high seven assists, and six boards, while senior forward Calvin Wise hauled in a game- and season-best 13 caroms.

St. Mary’s owned a 54-48 halftime advan-tage after opening up with a 7-0 run, increasing that lead to 10 five times with the last one com-ing at 1:27 (52-42). Johnson led all players with 18 points on 7-of-10 from the field, including notching 3-of-5 long-range shots, while Griffin wasn’t far behind with 17 on 6-of-10 shooting.

Dover, Del. – The St. Mary’s College of Maryland women’s basketball team overcame a 16-point deficit, but dropped an 85-82 over-time decision to Wesley College as the Wol-verines outscored St. Mary’s, 12-9, in the OT period for the Capital Athletic Conference win Saturday afternoon.

Staring at a 16-point shortfall with 14:02 remaining in the contest, St. Mary’s (5-11, 3-5 CAC) clawed its way out of the hole with a 27-13 run to only be down 73-71 at 1:37 following a three-pointer by sophomore guard Megan Seeman.

Seventeen seconds later, senior forward Allie Scott stole the ball and led to the fouling of senior forward Kiely Murphy at 1:16. Mur-phy sank her two free throws to knot the game at 73.

The last 50 seconds of regulation were intense, as freshman guard Ambre Burbage missed two free throws with the second miss being rebounded by Murphy who then turned it over.

The Seahawks reacquired the ball at 00:21 as Burbage turned the ball over, but sophomore guard Jamie Roberts’ three-point attempt with three ticks on the clock was blocked by sophomore

guard Cory Boyd, sending the game into OT.Seeman gave her squad a 76-74 lead with

3:19 to go in overtime, but the Wolverines (10-7, 6-2 CAC) closed out the game on an 11-6 run for the victory.

Wesley’s junior forward Colleen Thomas led all players with a game-high 24 points off the bench as Thomas was 10-of-19 from the floor and grabbed six caroms. Boyd helped the cause with a double-double on 17 points and 14 assists as well as four steals. Sophomore forward Angie Owens added 15 points and six rebounds.

The Wolverines tallied a 44-38 margin at intermission behind 11 points from Boyd. Af-ter a 19-19 tie, Wesley jumped out to a 33-24 lead at 5:55. Roberts paced the Seahawks with 14 first-half points, while Scott had 10.

Seeman finished with a career-high 18 points as she connected on 8-of-11 shots, in-cluding going 2-of-2 from downtown.

Roberts, Scott, and Murphy each tal-lied 14 points, while freshman guard Bethany Townsend contributed 12 off the bench. Scott and Murphy both registered double-doubles as Scott hauled in a game-high 12 boards and Murphy pulled down 10.

Wesley Remains Atop of CAC Standings

With Win Over Seahawks

Seahawks Suffer OT Loss at Wesley

Photo By Frank Marquart

Appraiser Fair SoftballPAGE 38PAGE 10

Hughesville Thrives Off of Move to ASA

THURSDAY JANUARY 29, 2009

UndersizedOver

AchieversPage 35

St. Clements Island Museum holds Annual Fair

The County Times 2009.01.29 (Hi-Def)

Documents

Transcript of The County Times 2009.01.29 (Hi-Def)