St. Mary's County

Two St. Mary’s County men have been charged with animal cruelty and dog fighting offenses after a sheriff’s deputy’s investigation of pit bull fights reported last week in the yard of a St. Inigoes residence.

On Nov. 21, St. Mary’s Sheriff Deputy Stone observed a 2003 Cadillac, reported stolen from Prince George’s County, on Great Mill’s Rd., Lexington Park.

A felony vehicle stop was initiated and the operator was identified as Rodney P. McDow, 43 of Capitol Heights.

It’s a Washington monument of sorts, the last known working public phone booth in the region and one of only a handful left in the United States.
[...]

About a dozen hidden, private phone booths are in St. Mary’s County in Southern Maryland, built by Mennonite families for their personal use for religious reasons.

St. Mary’s County officials hope someday one of Washington, D.C.‘s big-name, international visitors will add St. Clements Island to their sightseeing itinerary.

Earlier this year, Queen Elizabeth II gracefully declined an invitation, but that didn’t deter Sen. Roy P. Dyson (D-St. Mary’s) from extending the county’s latest invite to Pope Benedict XVI, who is scheduled to visit Washington and New York in April.

Detectives from the St. Mary’s Bureau of Criminal Investigations again arrested a man who was charged two days ago for allegedly exposing himself while he was on work-release from St. Mary’s County Detention Center.

Related thread: Sex Offender Exposes Himself While on Work Release

In an effort to assist the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office in addressing community concerns regarding crime and police services, the Citizen Advisory Board is conducting a new Citizens Survey.

On Nov. 14,  St. Mary’s County BCI detectives obtained a Grand Jury Indictment for Eric Antonio Brooks, 19 of California, for the murder of Edward T. Copeland, 27.

The indictment was a result of a BCI investigation into an August 3, 2006 incident, when an altercation occurred at a residence on Mako Way in Lexington Park. [The Bay Net]

At 9 a.m. Nov. 19, Vernon Jon Gifford, 62 of Lexington Park, was charged with Child Abuse and Child Abuse by Sexual Exploitation

Two people were flown from a T-bone crash on Loveville Road, near the intersection of Bishop Road, at 3:15 p.m. Sunday. [The Bay Net]

St. Mary’s Sheriff’s Deputy First Class Joe Somerville

A murder indictment filed last week in St. Mary’s County raised two questions: What did detectives confront in the case that took so long to crack, and what became of the suspect since the June 2006 slaying?

Say the words “Chesapeake Public Charter School,” and some St. Mary’s County school officials begin to gush.

School Superintendent Michael J. Martirano called the county’s first charter school “a wonderful, beautiful facility” at an October meeting. During a bus tour with the state superintendent two weeks later, he proudly presented it as the county’s 17th elementary school, emphasizing the word “public” in its name.

It is a tale of two trailer parks. National and White Oak mobile home parks are next to each other off Route 235 in Lexington Park and both have been purchased for redevelopment.

Vehicular safety concerns and traffic backups along the Route 5 corridor in Leonardtown, a 2-mile stretch extending just north of MD-243 and just south of MD-245, are prompting town officials to examine ways to expand the road.
[...]

As part of the four alternatives, SHA will consider aesthetic improvements as well – ranging from pedestrian cross walks, lighting, retaining walls, landscape, and accommodations for Amish and Mennonite buggies that also utilize the right away.

St. Mary’s County shelter moves one step closer to new 30-bed facility