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June 2006 news stories

Thar he blows...
 Fat Cat Blew His Own Head Off?  
Why did DNR mislead the public into thinking this disappearance was a boating accident?  Why does the DNR have a different standard for conducting investigations for Republican fat cats than they do for the little guy who falls out of his rowboat while fishing for croakers in the Wicomico?  
First, the Ehrlich and Bush Administrations sent out swarms of Md DNR and Coast Guard boats and planes to look for a fat cat publisher who was missing from his sailboat, when they normally would have done a perfunctory search for a missing boater, now it's being reported that publisher Phillip Merrill shot himself in the head, tied an anchor around his foot and perished over the side of his boat....Now this is really getting weird...figure out how someone plans a final blow with a shotgun to his own head while positioning his body so it will go over the side...., remember, this sailboat was tossed in the wind driven seas...the body was missing for a week and authorities are tight-lipped, but convinced that this is a suicide....a very talented suicide indeed.....more in the Balt. Sun.
Statement from Merrill family calling his death self-inflicted...
With a political crony of Bob Ehrlich, Col. Mark Chaney, leading the Maryland DNR police don't expect the crab cops with guns to come up with any real investigation into this mysterious death.
Read this Washington Post report:
"Chuck Conconi, who worked alongside Merrill for 15 years as Washingtonian's editor at large, said: "It is the most improbable thing I could conceive of. From everything I could determine, he loved his life."
 Speeding Biker Dead after Crashing into Building
HUGHESVILLE --- A state trooper attempted to stop two motorcyclists doing 150 mph at Oakville early on Wednesday.  When the two speed demons hit the county line, the trooper gave up the chase.  One of the bikers went off the road and hit a building, setting it on fire.  More details as they become available.


 Governor intends to veto BG&E bill

Low-Flying Planes to Fly Over Region

Hornet simulator wired in to both coasts
  St. Mary's Commissioners deplore rape of Wildewood
Unsnarl Traffic by Changing Governors
 editorial


Duncan Quit Race for Guv

Doug Duncan, left, with former Calvert County Commissioner Bobby Swann just before he quit the race for governor in the last election.  Some politicians are noted for the races they win, others for the races they lost.  Duncan will be remembered for the races he quit.  ST. MARY'S TODAY photo
 The nice guy from Montgomery County

Two Firefighters Charged with
Brutal Assault at Benedict Marina		 Letters to the editor:
Tommy McKay Letter to his supporters

Sheriff Says Assault at Benedict Marina Being Thoroughly Investigated

Returning Property to Development District Corrects Prior Error

Man fought cop over stolen car...and other police briefs

Career Change: Commentary by Carlleen Cairns
 

Election 2006: Whitbeck worried Wood won't work...

SMO Disputes Ridge Closure Story
Firm Silent On Reason Why It Rejected Tennyson
Offer of Free Service


Hurricane Hole fishing....and more from Steve and Chelly Scala 		Navy Expresses Concern at Glazed Pine Complex Affecting Aircraft Overflight Zone

Sports Beat
With Bill McCaffrey

Annapolis Report
by Sen. Roy Dyson

Calvert Police Beat

Common Sense in Government:
Questions of Character
By Commissioner Larry Jarboe
Hackerman deal resonates
at public hearing		 Schaefer Files for
Reelection as
Comptroller of Maryland
Heathen Sought
Punk threatened and shook
old woman in dress shop robbery		 Clerk fires shots at robbers and other news briefs
Murder of Charlotte Hall salon owner still not solved, police seek identity of man seen just prior to murder of Bob Phipps Tennyson urges public to support small businesses


Calvert murder suspect fled area on a bus, found in North Carolina
Citing possible conflict of interest due to campaign contributions, Joe St. Clair quits as St. Mary's Planning Commission Chairman....story

Ballroom Boxing and other sports news...
McCaffrey's World of Sports		 First Lady of Lexington Park,
Kay Daugherty, Dead

Kay Daugherty, left, Walter B. Dorsey, right, at Jack Rue's 80th birthday party held at the Roost in 1998.
ST. MARY'S TODAY photo
Sign memorial guestbook
It's WW III, and U.S.
is out of ideas from the New York Daily News		 Police Investigate Calvert Pool Drowning 
STORY
Inside Politics in the Walled City of Leonardtown...Kenny Dement's sleazy deal to give Fritz crony a $17,000 raise blocked by Board....see this week's print edition and ask why should hand-picked political chum of Richard Fritz be paid more than any teacher in the county?  Will the Democratic Central Committee allow Fritz a free ride in the election or will they appoint John Mattingly as the Democratic Party candidate? 
More of Tom Delay to kick around?  He will be back in the race for the congressional seat he just quit, depending on a U.S. Court of Appeals ruling...see this from Time Magazine

Be a Summer Flounder volunteer and help the Maryland DNR keep track of this flat fish		 Incompetent Police Actions Continue in St. Mary's
So why did the cops close down Rt. 5 in Charlotte Hall, hours after the body of a man was reported by a witness, why did a Swat Team get called in, why was the commuter bus lot closed and people unable to get to their cars?  Because of the incompetence of the St. Mary's Sheriff's Dept. and the Maryland State Police....the MSP isn't usually so lame, but even though a state cop was the first officer on the scene, they turned over authority to run the operation to the Keystone Cops Sheriff's Dept. and it was all downhill from there....St. Mary's Sheriff Dave Zylak, who lets his wife run the agency, must be letting his wife run crime scenes, too, why not just close down all traffic in the county, why just on Rt. 5, it would make about as much sense....Republican Tim Cameron, running for Sheriff is going to be one of the few Republicans to have a chance to be elected this year, Zylak is simply a Dunderhead...see more in Cheap Shots now on newsstands....

Instead of running the Sheriff's Dept., Zylak spends all his time conducting a desperate campaign to win the election with one opponent in the Democratic Primary and one in the General Election.   Above, Zylak is attending yet another campaign function for another candidate.  ST. MARY'S TODAY photo
 
   
2nd Murder
in One Week
LUSBY --- Calvert deputies and state troopers are looking for a Latino migrant worker who is suspected of shooting to death another migrant farm worker.  This murder comes just one week after a man was killed in the dormitory area of the Bay District firehouse in Lexington Park.  More		 Motorcyclist  Killed by
Teen Driver
story
Church Visits
Ohef Sholom Temple		 News Beat:  Red Cross Picnic, St. Mary's picks new Commission on Aging Director 
2 Crooks Nabbed,
1 Dead
Bank robber shot himself in head after shootout with posse of cops		 Big Crowd Greets
Dyson Campaign Kickoff 

Sen. J. Frank Raley attended the grand opening of Senator Roy Dyson's election campaign headquarters on Rt. 5 in Great Mills on Saturday.  Raley, who has supported Dyson since he first ran for office, frequently advises the senator on matters relating to the base, in his role as a founding member of the Navy Alliance, a group which has worked hard to support the efforts of Congressman Hoyer during the BRAC process.
ST. MARY'S TODAY photo by Ahmar Khan
Even Republicans were out in force
to launch Dyson's campaign
Story
2 Dead After Being Ejected from Small Boat  in Potomac Virginia Man Charged with Selling
Illegal Fireworks at Bargain Barn
Woman claims she was stabbed in Church of God parking lot....police are investigating a claim by a woman that she was stabbed in a church parking lot on Chancellors Run Road.


Fathers Day Duo Ready to bring fish in the boat....Critters columnist Steve Scala with his son Travis and a fine pair of finfish.  Bear Catches, Fish Finding and Chumslingers
By Steve and Chelly Scala
ST. MARY'S TODAY Outdoor Editors
 		 Woman Charged with Attempting to Ice Ex
 Story

Commissioner's help with Great Mills High Engineering Club guides group toward awards
How Dumb Can They Get?  
Despite being furnished an ID which states that the person is underage and cannot be served booze, five store clerks in St. Mary's sold it anyway....story
Students can increase take home pay with this tax advice from Comptroller William Donald Schaefer

LOST DOG:  Golden Retriever, wearing a microchip.  Last seen near St. Mary's City.  Answers to the name of "Swimmer", and is wearing a microchip.  He needs his epilepsy medicine immediately. 
 Please call (301)904-1494.

 SMECO Board Nominees Selected

Illegal Alien Nabbed in Phony
Government Check Scam

3,008 Wild Turkeys Harvested
During The 2006 Spring Season

St. Mary's Board of Appeals Considers Footnote in Woman's Application for Property Division
Obit: Services Friday, June 16th
Liquor store owner's death not the first murder for Bay District VFD ...see more in print edition on newsstands this weekend
 Man beaten with golf club, throat slit with pocket knife

Nicholas Potts, under arrest for first degree murder of James Augustus “Gus” Choporis Sign guestbook for Gus Choporis, funeral on Friday at 11 am at St. Aloysius in Leonardtown		 Man dead after his car ran off road, ran down two mailboxes and into house

Woman on overloaded raft drowns in Potomac

Child's foot found at Charles County landfill turns out to be a bear's foot

Police Beat for Southern Maryland: from Great Mills to Waldorf, local cops responded to a variety of calls...
Time for action on ethanol and switchgrass
Commentary By Dr. Terry McGuire

Letter to the Editor: Don't Tamper with Lexington Park Development District

Holy Face Pastor Marks
35 Years as Priest

Church Visits: Holy Face Church weathers the years as beacon of worship in a changing country crossroads		 Rehoboth/Ocean City Report
 by Alan Henney
Ocean City Bus Violence Continues
Ocean City bus drivers call for
help 10 times over weekend

Outlaw Bikers feel the heat from Cops

Commentary by Congressman Steny Hoyer:  Security is our top priority
Fat Cat Search
for missing publisher finally ended after two days of wasted effort
Extraordinary effort would never be given for a poor black fisherman from Oxon Hill
The Coast Guard and Maryland Marine Police finally stopped spending valuable resources looking for a wealthy publisher that they would never spend on a poor fisherman who fell out of his rowboat...planes, helicopters and boats were all out searching for a body which was likely simply miles away from where the boat was found, carried by tides and currents....but the Ehrlich Administration and the Bush Administration spared no expense for a fat cat pal....Maryland DNR police sent an amazing six boats out to search for Merrill's body which Coast Guard and DNR police couldn't hope to find unless the missing man had been wearing a life jacket, and if he had, would have quickly been found.
Phillip Merrill, publisher of the Annapolis Gazette newspaper and Washingtonian magazine, was being sought by the Coast Guard after his sailboat was found with the engine running off  Breezy Point in the Chesapeake Bay on Saturday evening.  Merrill, a former ambassador to Nato and a prominent Maryland figure is feared dead. Two boaters found Merrill's boat on Saturday night and the Coast Guard has sent a helicopter, boats and a C-130 aircraft to look for him., continuing the effort on Monday. If Merrill had been wearing a life jacket he would have been spotted by now and his lack of being found likely points to his falling overboard without a life jacket.  In most cases of people going into the water at this time of year, the body usually surfaces in about 3 - 4 days.  The strong currents and tides in the area where his boat was found off of the Calvert County coastline could easily have carried a body underwater for miles, making a search difficult. 
 More on Merrill
Bio of Merrill   Annapolis report of search		 Jail Inmates Help Cook Food for Seniors Says WW II Vet: ‘Fish Served Hard as Rock'

 
   
Killer Bikers
Cops Go After Killer Bikers in Easter Beating; Serve Search Warrants, Seize Evidence...see this breaking story on newsstands		 Rape of the Woods
Wildewood Builder Flaunts Laws, Clears 8 Acres Clean of Trees...see this story now on newsstands..
   
Arson Again?
Charlotte Hall has been plagued with arson fires up and down Rt. 5 and early on Friday morning, a trailer next to Southern States roared with flames, firefighters are working to put out the blaze just after 2 am with word on the cause expected by daybreak....		 Ghastly chow for Geezers
Awful food served to older citizens
Elderly continued to be served meals on wheels prepared in horrible conditions in Sheriff Zylak's jail.... see more in print edition this weekend....
Illegal Alien Nabbed in Lexington Park  
Buying a house in Hickory Hills?
 Read these articles:
IRS Labels Charity Loan Schemes a Scam;
 Blog Says Local Builder Part of Scam		 Letter to the Editor:
Storm Surge vs. Tidal Wave in Chesapeake Bay
 
Deadly Weekend in Calvert
Boy Killed When Car Rolled Backwards;
Woman Killed in Dunkirk
 T-Bone
Wreck on Rt. 4		 Bank at Waldorf Shoppers Robbed

Rat on this robber and win big bucks  Details
Schaefer Gets $2 Million Rebate for State
Heroes at Work: Huntingtown VFD fire and rescue volunteers worked to assist three men who wrecked in this moving van.  photo courtesy of Huntingtown VFD
All My Sons Went Off the Road
A moving truck, owned by All My Sons Moving & Storage of Savage, was involved in a one-vehicle accident on Thursday, June 1 at 8:29 a.m.  The truck was traveling southbound on MD Rte. 4 in the area of Camaleer Pass in Sunderland, when, for an unknown reason, it left the roadway, striking a ditch and a telephone pole.  All three occupants of the vehicle, the driver, Robert A. Jones, 20, of Laurel, and two passengers, Morris P. Worsham, 37, of Baltimore, and Cory R. Cabral, 26, of Forest Hill, were transported to P.G. Shock Trauma Hospital where they were listed in stable condition.
Gunman threatens rescue workers at scene of double fatal wreck on Beltway

Returning for the summer season: Rehoboth/Ocean City Report
By Alan Henney
Fire Alarms Set Off
at Ocean City Hotels
 ...and read all about whale found stuck to the hull of a ship		 Family Discovers Other Son Was Actually Killed in Crash; Son Thought Dead is Alive

Calvert Jury Awards Injured Woman Large Verdict After State Farm Offered Her Peanuts

McKay Proposes Cuts to Broad Variety of Social and Health Programs
  Robert Lee Miles Dead at 85
Top Cop

 Fred Davis Files for Reelection; Cites Decrease in Crime Rate, Increase in Officers on Patrol



Wild and Deadly
Reckless Driver Runs Vehicles Off Road, Hit Dog Catcher Head On
Thugs in Waldorf beat and rob pizza driver....other police briefs from Charles County Sheriff's Dept....
Bozo Reader Says Dogs Were Harmless


Calvert Deputies and Dog Catcher Nail Fido
These officers had their hands full with this fearsome four legged canine at the scene of a house fire in Calvert on Wednesday.  ST. MARY'S TODAY photo by James Antone

Child Killed
Reckless and wild on Rt. 301

Buzzed Drivers Checked by Cops Over Holiday

Speed and Booze Ended Life of Driver, Say Police

Democrats plan bus for Hoyer bull roast

This home and marina located at Abell on St. Patrick's Creek were torn apart by Hurricane Isabel, which could be repeated this year. 

Hurricane Season Forecast for Chesapeake Bay Region:
Get ready for rough summer and fall....4 to 6 of the dozen or more hurricanes will become killer storms...get ready now....details
If you or someone in your family has diabetes, take these precautions in advance of a hurricane...details

Jenks Mattingly Makes Bid for Orphans Court Race

By Ahmar Khan

ST. MARY’S TODAY

HOLLYWOOD -- Jenks Mattingly, 62, has been a tenacious fighter and survivor all his life. He frankly admits his wife of 29 years has been a major driving force.

A lifelong firefighter, he is someone who won’t give up when it comes to helping people in distress. That makes him an ideal candidate for the Judge of the Orphan Court, the family man believes.

“Last time I was short of 120 votes,” Mattingly told ST. MARY’S TODAY. “I am not willing to give up just because I was beaten four years ago.”
...more in print edition this weekend...

 Fishing the Chesapeake Bay
with Steve and Chelly Scala
It's time to go chumming as new Rockfish season opens for entire summer...see details in this week's Critters, now online

This group of anglers aboard the charterboat, Pamela Lee enjoyed catching their limit of big stripers during the spring, 2006 Maryland season.
 Photo for ST. MARY'S TODAY by Steve Scala
 GAO Report:
GOP plans to scrap Amtrak could cripple commuter rail around the nation
Are the Republicans just crazy, putting more people on the highway with record high gas prices?
 details

 

Going south and don't know a thing about alligators or crocs? 
Learn not to be eaten

Sen. Lloyd Bentsen dies in Houston

Amtrak Resumes "Rail & Cruise" Program in New Orleans

Piney Point terminal operator had fatal accident at Texas facility
exclusive report on those who may try to turn Potomac River site into nation's newest refinery  Story