St. Mary’s News

Public Invited to Calvert – St. Mary’s Metropolitan Planning Organization Council Meeting

Public Invited to Calvert – St. Mary’s Metropolitan Planning Organization Council Meeting

The Calvert – St. Mary’s Metropolitan Planning Organization (C-SMMPO), the board that administers the transportation planning process in designated areas of Calvert and St. Mary’s Counties, will hold a council meeting on Tuesday, May 28, 2024, at 10:30 a.m. in the Waterfront Lounge at the Calvert Marine Museum, located at 14150 Solomons Island Road...
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Maryland Summer-Fall 2024 Striped Bass Season Opened May 16th, 2024

Maryland Summer-Fall 2024 Striped Bass Season Opened May 16th, 2024

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources announced regulations for the summer recreational striped bass fishing season beginning May 16, 2024, which continues existing conservation measures put in place in an effort to protect the striped bass fishery on the East Coast. Striped bass season in the mainstem of the Chesapeake Bay will be open May 16; the remainder...
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Lexington Park Woman Charged for Possession with Intent to Distribute

Lexington Park Woman Charged for Possession with Intent to Distribute

St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office Deputies from the Patrol and Criminal Investigations Divisions arrested and charged Danielle Lynette Washington, 37, of Lexington Park, with CDS: Possession With Intent to Distribute Narcotics, CDS: Possession with Intent to Distribute, and two counts CDS: Possession – Not Cannabis. On Thursday, May 16, 2024, while conducting proactive traffic...
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Meet Tori Tayman, The Executive Assistant for Naval Test Wing Atlantic at NAS Pax River!

Meet Tori Tayman, The Executive Assistant for Naval Test Wing Atlantic at NAS Pax River!

Tori Tayman is the Executive Assistant for Naval Test Wing Atlantic at NAS Pax River. She provides high-level administrative support to NTWL leadership in a number of ways, including research, preparing reports, information requests and clerical functions (i.e. travel arrangements, correspondence, schedules, etc). Tori is a graduate of Chopticon High School in 2020 (the...
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UPDATE: First Responders Locate Woman Who Jumped from Thomas Johnson Bridge, Victim Succumbs to Injuries

UPDATE: First Responders Locate Woman Who Jumped from Thomas Johnson Bridge, Victim Succumbs to Injuries

UPDATE: 11:00 A.M.: We regret to say the victim has died from their injuries. No other updates will be provided. Please, if you or anyone you know is battling depression and are considering suicide, reach out to someone. You are not in this alone. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline can be reached at 1-800-273-8255...
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UPDATE: Police Make Arrest for April 2024 Shooting at Applebee’s in California

UPDATE: Police Make Arrest for April 2024 Shooting at Applebee’s in California

UPDATE 5/15/2024: Following an ongoing investigation by the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office, Jontae Lamont Proctor, 21, of No Fixed Address, was apprehended on Tuesday, May 14, 2024, in connection with the April 2, 2024 shooting at Applebee’s in California, MD. Proctor was arrested without incident in the parking lot of a business in...
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St. Clement’s Island Museum & Piney Point Lighthouse Museum Offering Free Admission to Military Members from May to September

St. Clement’s Island Museum & Piney Point Lighthouse Museum Offering Free Admission to Military Members from May to September

Through the Blue Stars Museum Program, the St. Mary’s County Museum Division will offer free admission to museums and historic sites for actively serving members of the armed forces, as well as up to 5 family members, from Armed Forces Day (Saturday, May 18, 2024) until Labor Day (Monday, September 2, 2024). Participating sites...
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Maryland’s License-Free Fishing Days Provide Access to Angling for All

Maryland’s License-Free Fishing Days Provide Access to Angling for All

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources will offer license-free fishing days for all state residents and visitors on June 1, June 8, and July 4. These annual events provide anglers a unique opportunity to explore the state’s diverse fishing without needing a fishing license, trout stamp, or registration. The department hosts license-free fishing every...
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Report Dolphin Sightings and Help Scientists with Chesapeake Bay Research

Report Dolphin Sightings and Help Scientists with Chesapeake Bay Research

Thousands of residents and visitors with their eyes on the water have helped scientists understand when bottlenose dolphins are visiting the Chesapeake Bay. Are you ready to be one of them? Researchers at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science’s (UMCES) Chesapeake Biological Laboratory launched the Chesapeake DolphinWatch App in 2017 to get real-time reports of...
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Maryland DNR Biologists Monitor a Critical Year of Striped Bass Eggs, Larvae

Maryland DNR Biologists Monitor a Critical Year of Striped Bass Eggs, Larvae

Laughing gulls circled and cawed in anticipation. An osprey hauled an improbably large branch through bright green treetops. It was Earth Day, April 22, and the living things on the Choptank River marked the occasion by going on as usual. But below the water’s surface, a process was underway that repeats every year in...
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The Week in Winners: $1 Million Prize in Columbia, $100,000 Big Spin Win Highlight the Week

The Week in Winners: $1 Million Prize in Columbia, $100,000 Big Spin Win Highlight the Week

The biggest Maryland Lottery prize of the past week was a $1 million scratch-off win on a ticket sold in Columbia. But perhaps the Lottery’s highlight of the week came on the morning of May 6, when a lucky lady from Baltimore visited the Winner’s Circle room at Lottery headquarters and became the first...
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CSM Commemorates 65th Spring Commencement with 449 Candidates Receiving 367 Degrees, 111 Certificates

CSM Commemorates 65th Spring Commencement with 449 Candidates Receiving 367 Degrees, 111 Certificates

The College of Southern Maryland (CSM) celebrated its time-honored graduation ceremonies in front of a packed house during its 65th Spring Commencement May 10. The college celebrated 449 candidates for graduation for earning 367 degrees and 111 certificates during three commencement ceremonies marked with laughter, cheers and applause. Of the students being celebrated, 46.3 percent were...
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Indoor Pickleball is Coming to Southern Maryland

Indoor Pickleball is Coming to Southern Maryland

Dill Dinkers Pickleball, an established leader of dedicated indoor pickleball, known for its fun, friendly, and welcoming environment, announced today the addition of its 16th regional developer. The individuals behind this partnership have committed to the development of eight or more dedicated indoor pickleball facilities throughout Southern Maryland including Calvert, St. Mary’s, Charles, Prince...
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UPDATE: Piney Point Man Indicted for Sex with a Dog and Killing a Rabbit and Hamster

UPDATE: Piney Point Man Indicted for Sex with a Dog and Killing a Rabbit and Hamster

UPDATE 5/13/2024: Sean Patrick Kraese, age 24, of Piney Point, was indicted by a Grand Jury in St. Mary’s County on six criminal counts related to the killing of animals and having sex with a dog. Indictment one stated that Kraese did knowingly distribute an obscene video of him manually stimulating a dog’s aroused...
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Firefighters Respond to Reported Structure Fire and Find Vehicle Into Residence, One Flown with Serious Injuries

Firefighters Respond to Reported Structure Fire and Find Vehicle Into Residence, One Flown with Serious Injuries

On Saturday, May 11, 2024, at 7:40 a.m., firefighters from St. Mary’s and Charles County responded to the 28400 block of St. Mary’s Avenue in Mechanicsville, for the reported smoke coming from a residence. The 911 caller, who was riding on the Three Notch Trail called 911 after observing smoke coming from the garage...
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St. Mary’s County Man Wins $50,000 on Scratch-Off at Sheetz in California

St. Mary’s County Man Wins $50,000 on Scratch-Off at Sheetz in California

A Maryland Lottery player from Southern Maryland recently topped his personal best Lottery win of $500 by a factor of 100, claiming a $50,000 top prize on the $5 Money Money Money game. “I love it. You gotta play to win,” he said while in the Winner’s Circle at Maryland Lottery headquarters. A few...
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UPDATE: Jury Convicts Man for First-Degree Murder of Teenager and Attempted Murder of Five Additional Teens in Drive-By Shooting

UPDATE: Jury Convicts Man for First-Degree Murder of Teenager and Attempted Murder of Five Additional Teens in Drive-By Shooting

5/10/2024: Latres Javontae Cockerham, 26, of California, was convicted of the first-degree murder of Joseph James Oakes, 19 of Lexington Park, and the attempted first-degree murders of five additional teenagers for his participation in a drive-by shooting that occurred on January 12, 2022. “The Defendant deliberately maneuvered his vehicle as his co-defendants rapidly fired...
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Police Investigating a Motor Vehicle Accident Involving a Mini-Bike

Police Investigating a Motor Vehicle Accident Involving a Mini-Bike

On Thursday, May 9, 2024, at approximately 12:47 p.m., police, fire and rescue personnel responded to the area of North Essex Drive and Saratoga Drive in Lexington Park, for the reported motor vehicle collision involving a pedestrian. Crews arrived on the scene to find a single vehicle had struck a mini-bike with the adult...
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226 Fallen Firefighters to be Honored at NASCAR Xfinity Series Race in Daytona, August 2024

226 Fallen Firefighters to be Honored at NASCAR Xfinity Series Race in Daytona, August 2024

Release and all photos taken by and thanks to Whelen, NASCAR, and Richard Childress Racing: We were extremely proud and honored to bring so many to our booth for the unveiling of the special paint scheme for the No. 2 Whelen Chevy Camaro honoring 226 firefighters who died in the line of duty, and...
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Lexington Park Man Sentenced to Life in Prison for Murder at Hollywood Volunteer Fire Department Carnival

Lexington Park Man Sentenced to Life in Prison for Murder at Hollywood Volunteer Fire Department Carnival

UPDATE 5/8/2024: State’s Attorney Jaymi Sterling announced today that Devron Ny’Quez Murray, 20, of Lexington Park, Maryland, was sentenced to life in prison plus five years consecutive to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for the shooting homicide that took place at the Hollywood Volunteer Fire Department Carnival on July 15, 2022. Following...
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Beginning of First 5-Year Review Webster Outlying Field and Completion of Sixth 5-Year Review of Naval Air Station Patuxent River

Beginning of First 5-Year Review Webster Outlying Field and Completion of Sixth 5-Year Review of Naval Air Station Patuxent River

The Department of the Navy and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 3, with concurrence from the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE), are beginning a Five-Year Review of existing Record of Decision (ROD) documents and ongoing remedial (environmental cleanup) actions at the Webster Outlying Field in St. Mary’s County, Maryland, and completed...
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Celebrate the Start of Summer at the Great Mills Splash Bash Pool Party!

Celebrate the Start of Summer at the Great Mills Splash Bash Pool Party!

St. Mary’s County Government’s Department of Recreation & Parks (R&P) has the announced the upcoming temporary closure of the Great Mills Swimming Pool in preparation for summer, outdoor operations. The Great Mills Swimming Pool will be closed from Thursday, May 16, 2024, through Friday, May 24, 2024, for removal of the dome bubble and...
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Two 2-Year-Olds Flown to Children’s Center After Accidental Overdose in Great Mills

Two 2-Year-Olds Flown to Children’s Center After Accidental Overdose in Great Mills

On Wednesday, May 8, 2024, at approximately 7:25 p.m., police and emergency medical personnel responded to the 19000 block of Summerwood Court in Great Mills, for the double accidental overdose. The 911 caller reported two 2-year-old children had ingested pills. Crews arrived on the scene and requested a helicopter for both children a short...
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Villaruel Named Law Enforcement Officer of the Year for NAS Patuxent River

Villaruel Named Law Enforcement Officer of the Year for NAS Patuxent River

St. Mary’s County Government recognized Cpl. Marc Villaruel for his exceptional work as a Department of Defense Police Officer at NAS Patuxent River at the St. Mary’s Law Enforcement Appreciation Day May 7. The event recognized the contributions of law enforcement officers at local, state, and federal offices within St. Mary’s County, and included...
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UPDATE: GoFundMe Started for Family of Five After California House Fire Displaces Them, Fire Deemed Accidental

UPDATE: GoFundMe Started for Family of Five After California House Fire Displaces Them, Fire Deemed Accidental

UPDATE 5/8/2024: Fire Marshal Report and GoFundMe added. On Saturday, May 4, 2024, 6:47 p.m., firefighters from St. Mary’s and Calvert County responded to 21880 Magnolia Drive in California, for a house on fire. Crews arrived on scene to find fire showing from an 2-car attached garage extending to the 2 Story Single Family Residence. The...
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