St. Mary's County

High school seniors whose parents or guardians are customer-members of Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative and whose primary residence is served by the cooperative, are eligible to apply for 2010 college or technical school scholarships to be awarded by the Virginia, Maryland & Delaware Association of Electric Cooperatives (VMDAEC) Educational Scholarship Foundation.

Scholarship recipients will be chosen based on three major criteria: financial need (40%), academic achievement (40%) and school and community involvement (20%).  Applicants must provide evidence of acceptance in a post-high school educational institution or program.  Scholarship funds will be sent directly to the educational institution the recipient will attend and placed in the student’s account.  Funds can be used to pay for tuition, fees and books.

Friends gathered on a cold sunny day on Feb. 21 to mark the beginning of a Collections Management Facility being built for the St. Mary’s County Museum Division on the grounds of the St. Clement’s Island Museum in Colton’s Point.

The Friends of the Museums have dedicated much of their recent fundraising towards this facility; the project received $150,000 from the county government budget in FY2009, and the Friends have agreed to cover the remaining project costs. Community members are especially encouraged to join the Friends of the Museums and to support the fundraising events.

As a result of weather-related closings during snow storms in January and February, the College of Southern Maryland has revised its spring semester, including a one-week extension to the semester.

The last day of classes will be Wednesday, May 12. Additionally, CSM’s graduation events have been rescheduled, with honors convocation on May 19, and the nurses’ recognition and spring commencement on May 20. The monthly meeting for the board of trustees is rescheduled to May 20 as well to coincide with graduation. Also affected is the start for Minisession II, which will begin March 25.

What are the key issues facing public schools today? How are schools affected by the high demands for educational success coupled with the economic downturn? Finally, if we could dream, what would we change? St. Mary’s College of Maryland’s Student Education Association (SEA) and the Department of Educational Studies will bring together top area educators, including the superintendents of St. Mary’s, Calvert, and Prince George’s public schools, to share their ideas and hopes. The colloquium, “Schools that Learn,” is 8:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Saturday, March 6, in Daugherty Palmer Commons.
[...]
The opening keynote address will be delivered by Cathy Allen, member of the St. Mary’s County Board of Education and president of the Maryland State Board of Education. She will explain the actions available to boards of education as they endeavor to shape the work of school systems. At noon, Michael Martirano, superintendent of St. Mary’s County Public Schools, Jack Smith, superintendent of Calvert County Public Schools, and William Hite, superintendent of Prince George’s County Public Schools, will share a panel on how leadership can impact change in schools as they face the demands of No Child Left Behind.

St. Mary’s County government is going to try to hand over 34 acres it owns to the Navy, just outside Gate 2 of Patuxent River Naval Air Station.

That land used to be home to part of the Lexington Manor neighborhood, which was bought out and its residents relocated to help protect the base’s airspace. A massive redevelopment plan for the Flattops property stalled as the economy soured.

Now the Navy is embarking on plans to make parts of its bases more accessible, and county officials hope this land can become part of that effort.

The Southern Maryland Criminal Justice Academy celebrated the graduation of 13 police recruits at a ceremony held Feb. 19 in at Leonardtown High School in St. Mary’s County.

The recruits completed a six-month training program, which began Aug.8. Four of the graduating officers joined the Charles County Sheriff’s Office, two joined the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office, six joined the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office and one joined the La Plata Police Department.

Census takers will hand-deliver questionnaires to rural parts of Maryland starting Monday, but residents in more urban areas will have to wait a couple weeks for the surveys.

Visiting about 12 million rural households nationwide, census enumerators plan to target rural Maryland pockets, such as some areas in Calvert and St. Mary’s counties and parts of Western Maryland.

BALTIMORE, MD (February 26, 2010) – The Maryland Department of the Environment today announced 34 recent enforcement actions seeking penalties totaling $646,225 for alleged violations of MDE requirements for water, air and radiation management, and land.

“The Maryland Department of the Environment’s top priority is to protect public health,” said MDE Secretary Shari T. Wilson. “A consistent baseline of enforcement actions, which we are publicizing widely, not only helps prevent further risks to public health but also deters future violations.”
[...]
Mirant – Morgantown, Charles County: On February 9, 2010, MDE issued a demand letter in the amount of $134,000 in stipulated penalties to Mirant to resolve alleged violations of air quality regulations. A Consent Decree, effective March 6, 2008, requires Mirant to pay stipulated penalties for opacity exceedances occurring in the third quarter, 2009, at their coal-fired power plants. A review of the third quarter opacity data from the affected facilities found 134 days of alleged violations. The Consent Decree requires payment of $1,000 for each day of violation. The demand letter is requesting the penalty.

The number of students needing to take a remedial math course at the College of Southern Maryland continues to be high, school officials said, even though the math is taught at the high school level.

Tom Seremet, a veteran math professor at the community college, said every year he continues to see too many students test into math courses that do not count toward the math graduation requirements at the community college.

(scroll down)

College of Southern Maryland’s Tri-County Job and Career Fair will be 10 a.m.-2 p.m. April 8 at the La Plata campus, Mitchell Road. Employers are invited to participate in recruiting students and community residents for current and future job openings and internships. Registration is $225 by Feb. 25; $275 after that. Fee includes an 8-foot draped booth, 6-foot draped table, chairs and sign. Call 301-934-7533 or 301-870-2309 or e-mail LisaWa@csmd.edu.

The St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office today released the following incident and arrest report.

ROBBERY, SECOND DEGREE ASSAULT: On February 24, the St. Mary’s County Emergency Communications Center dispatched a lookout for blue Pontiac Grand Am with Maryland registration plates. It was reported the occupants of the Grand Am had just robbed a subject in the area of Mechanicsville Road and Beverly Drive in Mechanicsville. Dfc. J. Graves located and stopped the vehicle. The vehicle was occupied by Deshaun Steven Hardaway, 21, of no fixed address; Joshua Craig Crandall-Gascon, 21, of Welcome; Nicole Marie Garrow, 19, of no fixed address; and Christine Nicole Smoot, 19, of Nanjemoy, all of whom were detained by Dfc. Graves for further investigation.

State auditors are questioning the sale of a valuable 34-acre parcel of land to St. Mary’s College of Maryland by a member of its Board of Trustees and have asked criminal investigators to review whether the trustee received undue tax benefits from the deal.

The audit, released Tuesday, says the college arrived at a purchase value of $1.625 million based on an appraisal ordered by the seller, trustee Michael O’Brien. It says St. Mary’s College paid O’Brien $800,000 and, according to a letter from the college, treated another $825,300 as a donation, which was tax-deductible.

Governor Martin O’Malley Friday submitted a list of 191 “green bag” nominations for appointment and reappointment to the Maryland Senate for State boards and commissions.

The term “green bag” derives from the historical green satchel that is used once every year to bring the gubernatorial nominations to the Senate. When not in use, the bag is stored at the Maryland State Archives. It is state tradition that a senior member of the governor’s staff delivers the “green bag” to the Senate.

SMECO recently hosted an online general knowledge quiz for more than 400 students who participated in the 16th Annual Elementary School Computer Bowl. Fifty-two teams of fourth- and fifth-graders from 33 elementary schools in Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary’s counties competed in the event.

The Elementary Computer Bowl quiz tested the students’ knowledge of mathematics, history, grammar, current affairs, and other subjects. Working in teams of six, competitors used school computers to access a special website created by SMECO to solve problems and answer questions. Teams were given one hour to complete the 75-question quiz. At the conclusion of the competition, SMECO posted the overall results, as well as results by county, on the Web site.

The Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission is looking for artists, farmers, vintners, chefs and owners of eligible local business who would like to be included in the upcoming edition of Southern Maryland Trails: Earth, Art, Imagination, a popular local guidebook featuring things hand made, home grown and authentically Southern Maryland.

The fourth edition of the guidebook will be printed in late summer of 2010 and will showcase the region’s culture, heritage, cuisine and natural beauty. The book features four Trails across the five Southern Maryland counties (Anne Arundel, Calvert, Charles, Prince George’s and St. Mary’s) and highlights art galleries, art studios, farms, B&Bs, wineries, eateries, lodgings, parks and natural areas along these Trails. It includes maps, photos and detailed descriptions of Trails sites, along with suggested itineraries and a calendar of special events at the sites. It is distributed free at Trails sites, visitors’ centers, county fairs, festivals and via the Web.