>Forum Explores Teaching Profession
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Radhika Plakkot (standing), 2008 Calvert County Teacher of the Year and the 2010 Maryland Science Teacher of the Year, gives a lesson during the teacher forum at St. Mary’s College of Maryland that brought educators together from all over Southern Maryland. (Submitted photo)
Posted on March 13, 2011
Great Teachers are Always Learning
ST. MARY’S CITY, Md. (March 13, 2011) — What makes an excellent teacher? This year’s annual “Teach for Excellence! Teach for Change!” forum March 5 brought together area educators to learn tips from Southern Maryland’s Teachers of the Year. Each year, the Department of Educational Studies and the Student Education Association (SEA) of St Mary’s College of Maryland host the forum to explore the profession of teaching and the world of schools.
Guest workshop leaders included the 2010 Maryland Teacher of the Year, Dr. Jennifer Rankin of Garrett County, and keynote speaker Kenneth Bernstein, the 2010 Washington Post Agnes Meyer Teacher of the Year from Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Prince George’s County. Each speaker presented a lesson for the first 30 minutes, using workshop attendees as the class. They then described the strategies they use to make lessons so successful with students year after year. Those attending included faculty from public schools and the college’s Educational Studies Department, and undergraduate and graduate students from St. Mary’s.
The keynote speaker, Ken Bernstein, talked of the importance of connecting and building relationships with students. He challenged a quote by Microsoft’s Bill Gates that teachers reach a plateau of growth after the third year in the profession. Bernstein outlined the opportunities he himself has taken for continued professional growth. They included National Endowment for the Humanities summer sessions, graduate work, and leadership in his department and school. Great teachers, he believes, own the continuous need for reflection: How well did today’s lesson go, what changes will help?
>Five indicted in jail escape
>Grand jurors also report on Garrett lockup
From Staff Reports
Cumberland Times-News The Cumberland Times-News Sun Mar 13, 2011, 08:00 AM EDT
— OAKLAND — Five people who allegedly aided in the escape of Deandre Kelly from the Garrett County Jail in January were indicted by a Garrett County grand jury, according to State’s Attorney Lisa Thayer Welch.
Chiquita Annette Richardson, 27, Alexandria, Va.; Eric Mandrell Nibbins, 26, Alexandria, Va.; Richard Demoan Hall, Jr., 26, Frederick; Dionte Pierre Coley, 29, Cumberland; and Robert Leslie Marshall 27, College Park, were each charged with conspiracy to commit escape, escape, two counts of first-degree assault, two counts of second-degree assault and use of a handgun in the commission of a felony/crime of violence.
The five appeared before Judge Jim Sherbin for arraignment. Each entered pleas of not guilty and bond was set at $500,000 for each defendant.
Two additional related indictments were served with summonses, as those defendants had already posted bond when they were originally arrested on warrants issued by a district court commissioner. Amanda Sue Lambert, 23, Cumberland and Jamal Antonie Kelly, 25, College Park are charged with the same seven counts.
Warrants and indictments remain outstanding for two additional people in connection with the escape, with one of those being Kelly, Welch said.
Also indicted was Timothy Daniel Wilt, 46, Kitzmiller. Wilt had previously been charged with arson and arson/fraud following an investigation by the Office of the State Fire Marshal into the fire at Wilt’s residence in May 2010.
Welch said the state has determined that Wilt should be prosecuted for an insurance fraud violation. He was arraigned by Sherbin, who set his bond at $10,000.
Grand jurors also considered other issues relating to county government operations, including:
Jail
The jurors found some dangers at the county jail, which was housing 55 inmates at the time of the report.
The two full-time and one part-time cooks are put in danger because of the location of the small kitchen.
Sheriff Rob Corley explained that the hallway deputies use to escort inmates to and from their cells passes the open entrance to the kitchen.
The jurors also pointed out what they believed to be extreme danger to sheriff’s staff as well as health care professionals who come to the facility.
“… there are areas with no cameras inside or outside,” they wrote.
“Grand jury members have great concerns about the facility, particularly as it affects the safety of the staff. The grand jury recommends that the county commissioners prioritize a new jail project through state funding sources and/or through county budget,” it was stated in the report.
Maximum inmate capacity is 65 males and 12 females. The most inmates at any one time was 93, requiring use of the juvenile holding area.
Corley said Thursday that Deandre Kelly, who escaped from the jail in January after being arrested on drug, weapons and traffic charges, remains at large.
Seven of nine of Kelly’s associates taken into custody at that time are still jailed, including one in the Allegany County Detention Center, according to Corley.
The jail staff consists of 21 full-time and three part-time employees.
Emergency Management
Jurors learned that calls from land lines and some cell phones that are made to the 911 center are displayed on a screen and that the ability exists to track cell phones that are on the move.
A new software program on the way, called WAGON, will allow dispatchers to hook emergency calls to other stations and mobile communication devices in the state’s three western counties.
This summer, dispatching in the sheriff’s office and the 911 center will be consolidated.
The county’s emergency management agency employs eight dispatchers, seven emergency medical service providers and one emergency planner.
Sheriff’s Office
Corley informed the jurors that his office will soon have four K-9 units.
Recently, a K-9 handler from Preston County, W.Va., was hired. Another deputy is scheduled to receive handler training this spring. Funds to replace an ill 13-year-old police dog will come from money seized from drug violators.
>Garrett sheriff hopes to rekindle relationship with state police
>OAKLAND — Garrett County Sheriff Rob Corley said Thursday he is hopeful that an official relationship between his investigators and those of the Maryland State Police can be rejuvenated, but cautioned that talks are informal and in an early stage.
The Garrett Bureau of Investigation continues to exist, Corley said, but is solely a function of his office. GBI formerly included investigators from both agencies, but that relationship dissolved in late 2007.
“We’ll have to look at other counties down state that have these kinds of arrangements and see how well things are going for them,” Corley said.
>Huskies Going To States
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In a dramatic come-from-behind win at Frederick Community College on Saturday, the Northern High School girls’ basketball team defeated Smithsburg, 52-47, to claim the West Region Championship. The team, seen here in jubilation just seconds after the final buzzer, celebrated by cutting down the net. The win places the Huskies among the final four teams in the state. The Northern squad begins State Tournament play tomorrow at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. Tip-off is set for 9 p.m. Photo by Bob Carney.
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>BOE Hears From School Advisory Committees
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Mar. 10, 2011
The Garrett County Board of Education met Tuesday in the Southern Middle School cafeteria. The venue was selected to house the crowd that attended to witness two 45-minute reports presented to the BOE by the advisory committees of Kitzmiller and Bloomington elementary schools.
The committees rehashed recent arguments for keeping the two elementary schools open. The arguments included: the detrimental effects of increasing class sizes and commute times, the loss in community center and identity, the strains that would be placed on parents and students who wish to participate in extracurricular activity, the loss in the unique and quality educational opportunities offered to students by Kitzmiller and Bloomington elementaries, that the cost of running the two schools accounted for a small portion of the overall education budget, and others.
A few members of the community chose to address the board at the time set aside for public comment and made emotional pleas to keep the schools active. The board thanked all these individuals and the committees for their thoughts and presentations.
Later this month, the BOE plans to hold public hearings to further address the issue of school closure. The first of the two hearings will be held on Tuesday, March 22, at 7 p.m. in the gymnasium of Bloomington Elementary School. The second will be held at Kitzmiller Elementary School on Thursday, March 24, at 7 p.m. in the school’s multi-purpose room.
Read the original article here.
>Mountain Lake Adopts Ordinance Banning Drilling For Gas In Town
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Mar. 10, 2011
The mayor and town council of Mountain Lake Park unanimously adopted a Community Bill of Rights that “removes legal powers from gas extraction corporations within the town.”
Ordinance No. 2011-01, titled Mountain Lake Park’s Community Protection from Natural Gas Extraction Ordinance, was introduced to the council by Mayor Leo Martin. The first reading of the measure was held Jan. 6, followed by a public hearing on Feb. 3, and the ordinance was adopted at last Thursday’s regular March meeting.
At the heart of the ordinance is a statement of law: “It shall be unlawful for any corporation to engage in the extraction of natural gas within the Town of Mountain Lake Park, with the exception of gas wells installed and operating at the time of enactment of this ordinance.”
The bill also recognizes the right of the people to “a form of governance where they live which recognizes that all power is inherent in the people, that all free governments are founded on the people’s authority and consent, and that corporate entities and their directors and managers shall not enjoy special privileges or powers under the law which make community majorities subordinate to them.”
“Our town government is responsible for the health, safety, and rights of our citizens,” stated Mayor Martin. “When the county, state, and federal governments fail in their duties, it is our duty to take action.”
>Huskies hunting for first state title
>By Chris Appel, Cumberland Times-News, Md.
March 11–BALTIMORE — The calm before the storm has ended for the Northern girls basketball team, when after one of the more emotional weeks in program history the Lady Huskies resume their quest for their first ever Maryland state title when they take the court tonight at 9 p.m. to face Mardella in the Maryland 1A State Tournament semifinal at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County.
The Huskies (22-4) are coming off a week that saw them avenge a loss to Southern in the West Section semifinals on Tuesday, March 1, beat defending section champ Allegany on Thursday, March 3 and beat the reigning West Region champ Smithsburg on Saturday. They have now had five days off.
Mardella, which made it to the first round of last year’s state tournament before being bounced, beat Pocomoke 59-43 to repeat as as East Region champs.
“They are an extremely athletic team that likes to run up and down the floor,” said Northern head coach Steve Fratz. “They aren’t a big three-point shooting team, but they will shoot jump shots. And they are tough on the boards. They just crash down hard on every shot.”
The Warriors (25-1) have been rolling through competition this season, winning most of their games by a heavy margin. Fratz, whose Huskies have been involved in much closer contests during the playoffs, is hoping that fact has readied his team while leaving Mardella unprepared.
Northern’s playoffs began with an easy win over Clear Spring, but was followed by another Garrett County battle with Southern.
During the 2010 sectional quarterfinals, Northern, which had beat Southern the two times the teams played during the regular season, were upset by the Rams, 50-45. This year’s quarterfinals had the Huskies enter with two previous wins over the Rams, but this time they avoided the “trap” and rallied from a halftime deficit to win 52-44.
Kaitlynn Fratz scored 24 points, including the 2,000th of her career, and Terra McKenzie added 17 points and seven rebounds as the Huskies got their sixth win in the last eight meetings with the Rams.
Southern got out to a 24-19 lead after one half, but Northern matched the 19 points it scored in the first half with 19 more in the third quarter to lead 38-32 going into the fourth.
“We did not want to lose to Southern,” Fratz stated. “They embarrassed us last year during the same game, and I think because of how much we wanted to win we put some undo pressure on ourselves early on.”
The sectional final put the Huskies into a rubber match with the Campers after the teams spilt the pair of regular season contests. In what has been the best rivalry in the area the past couple of seasons, Northern raced out of the gates to take a 21-16 lead by the end of the first quarter, and extended its lead at halftime to 12 points (38-26).
The score was 53-40 early on in the fourth, but Allegany would get no closer than 57-50 with 3:38 remaining and the Huskies would win by the final of 72-57.
Fratz scored another 24 points, Morgan Brosnihan added 23 and Allison Yommer and Terra McKenzie combined to score another 20, to lead Northern to its first-ever win at Allegany.
“After beating Southern and getting the huge win against Allegany I was a little concerned about Smithsburg. Having gone through the games we just did and then having to travel to Frederick to play a tough team I was a little worried we’d be worn out.”
The first half against the Leopards show that Coach Fratz may have right. Northern shot just 8-for-26 during the first half, and trailed by as many as eight points in the first two quarters.
Things began to change when the Huskies started the third quarter on a 6-1 run to tie the score at 28, and kept it close for the remainder of the third.
McKenzie, who had been dealing with foul trouble, was huge for the Huskies in the fourth quarter, picking up Northern’s last 10 points of the game. She was 5-for-6 from the foul line down the stretch and finished with a total of 20 points.
Kaitlynn Fratz lead her team with 25 points.
This is the second time that a Northern team has advanced to the state tournament. The Huskies reached to the finals in 1997 before losing to Francis Scott Key 53-23.
Mardela is led by a trio of seniors: Aleshia Hoobs, Jasmine Jones and Taylor Siggers. The girls combined to score 48 of the Warriors’ 59 points in the win over Pocomoke. Siggers had 24 of them.
“They have some size on the inside with a 5-foot-11 girl who can also move well in the paint. Their best player is 5-10 and drives hard to the rim, pushes the ball on the fastbreak and likes to pull up on the baseline with a nice little jumper,” said Coach Fratz.
The coach does see areas where he thinks the Huskies can take advantage of match-ups.
“They can play an aggressive man-to-man defense if you are a good shooting team, but they don’t do it very often. If they want to pack it in with a zone and we can hit our shots we can do some damage. There could be a favorable pairing on some of their guards, too. Again, if we hit our shots early on it could open some chances to drive.”
As of Thursday night the Northern coach still wasn’t sure if any of it was actually happening tonight.
“I have to keep pinching myself. We took the three seniors (Kaitlynn Fratz, McKenzie and Brosnihan) down to see Southern in the state tournament when the girls were in sixth grade, and it’s been their dream ever since then to play there. To know we’ll be there on that same court six years later… It just doesn’t seem real.”
It all becomes real tonight at 9 p.m.
Chris is a reporter for the Cumberland Times-News. Write to him at cappel@times-news.com
>Considering the Written Word
>Former Garrett County Home Builder turned author:
Hyattsville author talks about his latest work.
By Sarah Nemeth
In a room in his apartment overlooking shades of blue and green swimming below, Hyattsville novelist Richard Morris thinks.
Although the beauty outside is inspirational—arrow straight trees slice the sky while chirps call the mornings out of their dark shackles—what flows from Morris’s pen comes from inside.
“I had a lot of things I felt I wanted to say,” he said of his books.
Morris’s first novel, Cologne No. 10 For Men, is a satire about war.
“There were a lot of things that were funny, ironic we had about the war,” he said. “[It’s] kind of an anti-war book.”
Between the covers, Cologne recounts the habit of one soldier, who found that a drop of cologne under his nose was all he needed to mask the stench of war. Eventually, the character decides that he doesn’t want it anymore—he wants to smell the odors.
Morris, who lives with his wife Barbara in Ward 4, is originally from Pittsburgh and grew up in Cleveland. He was a custom homebuilder in Garrett County and later moved to Prince George’s County where he conducted research for the National Association of Home Builders Research Center in Upper Marlboro and later with the National Association of Home Builders in Washington, D.C. With the NAHB he traveled, wrote articles and books. He retired in 2004 while living in Bowie.
>Daylight Savings Time Begins This Weekend
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Spring forward! One hour closer to spring, is the way I always justify waking up earlier…
More on the history of Daylight Savings time.
>First United Corporation Announces 2010 Financial Results
>OAKLAND, Md., March 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — First United Corporation (Nasdaq: FUNC), a financial holding company and the parent company of First United Bank & Trust, announces a consolidated net loss attributable to common shareholders for the year ended December 31, 2010 of $11.8 million, compared to a net loss attributable to common shareholders of $12.8 million for 2009. Basic and diluted net loss per common share for the year ended December 31, 2010 was $1.91, compared to basic and diluted net loss per common share of $2.08 for 2009. The net loss resulted primarily from an $11.7 million decline in net interest income, $6.5 million of net losses related to a restructuring of the investment portfolio that was intended to limit credit risk and potential market and interest rate risk from a rising rate environment, and $3.4 million of losses and write-downs on foreclosed real estate. These losses were partially offset by a net tax benefit of $8.0 million and a decrease of $18.3 million in non-cash credit-related other-than-temporary impairment charges when comparing the year ended December 31, 2010 to the year ended December 31, 2009. The decline in net interest income resulted in a compressed net interest margin, on a fully tax-equivalent basis, of 2.71% when compared to 3.56% for the year ended December 31, 2009. Interest income on our interest earning assets declined $14.7 million, on a fully tax-equivalent basis, due to the increase in non-accrual loans throughout 2009, the decline in loan balances, the decrease in the investment portfolio and the lower interest rate environment. Additionally, during 2009 and 2010, we elected to maintain an increased liquidity position. Our cash position increased significantly due to our election not to reinvest cash from called investments, repayment of loans, and growth in our retail deposit base. The increase in cash levels has had a negative impact on our net interest income for the year ended December 31, 2010 of approximately $6.8 million, or 42 basis points on our net interest margin.
