The Rev. Jerry Falwell, the television evangelist who founded the Moral Majority and used it to mold the religious right into a political force, died Tuesday shortly after being found unconscious in his office at Liberty University. [WaPo]

One has to wonder if BoE member Jennifer Abell used the Hawkins Gate Road parents in an attempt to make fellow board members Wise, Pedersen, and Cook look bad? Its no secret that there has been bad blood between Abell and Wise since the campaign last fall. Wanna bet we’ll see some LTEs in tomorrow’s Indy?

Leonardtown, MD A Saint Mary’s County school bus driver has been arrested after students accused him of sending inappropriate text messages and showing them pornographic movies.

Police say 40-year-old Christopher Espina, while driving the bus, sent sexual text messages to a female passenger and her friend.  On another occasion, he allegedly showed a pornographic movie to three male passengers on the bus with a portable DVD player.

We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope. Martin Luther King

Houston Chronicle

It used to be a tradition for buglers to play taps live at gravesides of our fallen soldiers. But a digital recording now fills that growing void

From a county press release

The Charles County Department of Health Division of Environmental Health Services has issued an advisory warning the public to avoid contact with the water around the following area: River Road on the Wicomico River, Newburg.

Stream samples taken on May 8, 2007, to test for bacteria in this area exceeded the maximum contaminant level for recreational use. Additional sampling will be conducted to test the water quality.

WashIngton Post

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley said yesterday that he is weighing an increase in the state’s gasoline tax and other options to help pay for billions of dollars in transportation projects that the state could not otherwise afford in coming years.

O’Malley (D) said that state transportation officials have advised him that an additional $400 million to $600 million a year in revenue will be needed to keep pace with the state’s needs during the next two decades, including a proposed light-rail Metro line connecting Bethesda and New Carrollton and light rail or bus service along part of the Interstate 270 corridor.

Washington Post

Prince George’s County leaders have faced some of the nation’s toughest restrictions on raising taxes since a referendum more than 10 years ago gave voters the right to reject increases at the ballot box.

But County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D) thinks he’s found one tax he and the County Council could raise without a referendum: a fee on telephone service. In his budget proposal for next year, he has proposed a 3 percentage point increase.