Charles News

UPDATE: Waldorf Man Sentenced to 55 Years for Murder, Armed Robbery, Carjacking, After Violent Crime Spree Across Maryland and Virginia

UPDATE: Waldorf Man Sentenced to 55 Years for Murder, Armed Robbery, Carjacking, After Violent Crime Spree Across Maryland and Virginia

UPDATE 12/12/2025: Today, U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang sentenced Thaddeus Lamont Wills, 52, of Waldorf, Maryland, to 55 years in federal prison for his role in a string of commercial armed robberies. The robberies occurred in 2020 and 2021, in Prince William County, Virginia, and in Prince George’s and Charles County, Maryland. During...
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Fun Spring Events to Support Care and Community at Hospice of the Chesapeake

Fun Spring Events to Support Care and Community at Hospice of the Chesapeake

Hospice of the Chesapeake invites the community to celebrate spring with three unforgettable signature events designed to fuel its mission of providing compassionate hospice, supportive and grief care across the region. Mark your calendars for these April, May and June experiences that each offer their own blend of excitement, elegance and community impact: Bubbles...
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Sports Wagering Contributes $19 Million to the State During November 2025

Sports Wagering Contributes $19 Million to the State During November 2025

Maryland’s sports wagering market continued a strong performance in Fiscal Year 2026 by generating $19,012,033 in contributions to the state during November. Sports bettors in Maryland wagered $720,180,853 during the month and won back $622,895,669 in prizes. Sportsbook operators held 13.5% of the handle, leading to the largest single-month return to the state since...
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Maryland DNR Announces Opening Weekend Results from the 2025 Deer Firearm Season

Maryland DNR Announces Opening Weekend Results from the 2025 Deer Firearm Season

Maryland hunters reported harvesting 9,633 deer on the opening weekend of the 2025 firearm season from Nov. 29 – Nov. 30, according to data collected by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. The opening weekend harvest decreased 11.5% from last year’s official opening weekend harvest of 10,889 deer. This was 7.2% lower than the 5-year average of 10,384...
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Air Force Research Laboratory Invention Deployed by Maryland State Police Aviation Command

Air Force Research Laboratory Invention Deployed by Maryland State Police Aviation Command

Published Dec. 5, 2025 by Whitney Wetsig, 711th Human Performance Wing Commander’s Action Group – WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio; A mobile medical documentation tool developed by Air Force Research Laboratory researchers is now deployed and being tested on Maryland State Police medevac helicopters. This marks the first time medical providers are using Battlefield Assisted Trauma Distributed...
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UPDATE: Driver’s Failure to Yield Sends One to Trauma Center with Life-Threatening Injuries After Early Morning Crash in Charlotte Hall

UPDATE: Driver’s Failure to Yield Sends One to Trauma Center with Life-Threatening Injuries After Early Morning Crash in Charlotte Hall

UPDATE 12/10/2025: On Wednesday, December 10, 2025, at around 6:42 a.m., patrol units from the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to a serious motor vehicle collision in the area of Three Notch Road and Charlotte Hall School Road in Charlotte Hall. Deputies arrived at the site to find one person trapped. The...
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No Charges Filed After Waldorf Man Is Shot and Killed by PG County Business Security Guard, Police Investigating

No Charges Filed After Waldorf Man Is Shot and Killed by PG County Business Security Guard, Police Investigating

The Prince George’s County Police Department’s Homicide Unit is actively working to determine the circumstances of a fatal shooting late Monday night inside of a business. During this incident, an armed private security guard fatally shot a patron. The deceased patron is 50-year-old Donald Wayne Hunt of Waldorf. On December 8, 2025, at approximately...
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Fire Marshal Investigating Overnight Building Fire in Mechanicsville

Fire Marshal Investigating Overnight Building Fire in Mechanicsville

On Tuesday, December 9, 2025, at 3:43 a.m., firefighters from Mechanicsville, Hollywood, Leonardtown, Hughesville, Bay District, and Seventh District responded to the 38000 block of Copsey Farm Lane in Mechanicsville, for the reported building on fire. Crews arrived on the scene to find a 20 x 40 structure fully engulfed in flames and advised...
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Maryland Commission on Civil Rights Announce Settlement with Cracker Barrel Over Allegations of Disability Discrimination Involving Students with Autism at Waldorf Restaurant 

Maryland Commission on Civil Rights Announce Settlement with Cracker Barrel Over Allegations of Disability Discrimination Involving Students with Autism at Waldorf Restaurant 

Attorney General Anthony G. Brown and the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights (MCCR) announced a settlement with Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc., resolving allegations that the company discriminated against a group of students from Dr. James Craik Elementary School based on their disabilities during a visit to its Waldorf, Maryland restaurant. The incident occurred...
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2-Year-Old Flown to Children’s Center, Adult Transported to Trauma Center After Serious Crash on 301 in Waldorf

2-Year-Old Flown to Children’s Center, Adult Transported to Trauma Center After Serious Crash on 301 in Waldorf

On Monday, December 8, 2025, at approximately 7:40 p.m., police, firefighters and emergency medical services responded to the area of Crain Highway and Substation Road in Waldorf, for the reported motor vehicle collision with injuries. Crews quickly arrived on the scene to find a two vehicle collision with three patients suffering injuries. EMS found...
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Governor Moore Commits $10 Million to Nonprofit and Faith-Based Organizations to Help Protect Against Hate Crimes

Governor Moore Commits $10 Million to Nonprofit and Faith-Based Organizations to Help Protect Against Hate Crimes

Governor Wes Moore announced that his proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2027 will maintain $10 million in funding for the Protecting Against Hate Crimes Grant Program. The program, which saw its funding doubled in the governor’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget, provides vital support to nonprofit organizations and faith-based institutions for security enhancements to protect their...
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Governor Moore and Chesapeake Bay Program Executive Council Approve Revised Agreement to Protect Jobs, the Environment, and Coastal Communities

Governor Moore and Chesapeake Bay Program Executive Council Approve Revised Agreement to Protect Jobs, the Environment, and Coastal Communities

Governor Wes Moore on Dec. 2 led the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Executive Council in approving the revised Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement, which includes goals that will improve the health of the Chesapeake Bay, increase access to nature, and support livelihoods that depend on this nationally treasured resource. The revised agreement supports the environmental and...
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Historic Donation Creates New Fund for CSM Scholarships and Student Support

Historic Donation Creates New Fund for CSM Scholarships and Student Support

The College of Southern Maryland (CSM) Foundation will expand scholarships and break down student financial barriers through the Lorraine Diana ’79 and Robert Guite Pathways to Possibility Fund, established with the largest donation in the college’s history. The fund will provide students with traditional scholarships, as well as financial support for other needs which...
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Muzzleloader Deer Hunting Season Resumes December 20

Muzzleloader Deer Hunting Season Resumes December 20

The second half of Maryland’s muzzleloader deer hunting season will be open Dec. 20 through Jan. 3, 2026. The first half of the split season was held in October. Hunters may use muzzleloading firearms to harvest sika and white-tailed deer during this time. “The late muzzleloader season coincides with the holidays, offering hunters a...
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Secretary’s Message: Investment in Outdoor Recreation Pays Back Dividends Now and for the Future

Secretary’s Message: Investment in Outdoor Recreation Pays Back Dividends Now and for the Future

In the last week of October, Maryland’s outdoor recreation community gathered in Baltimore for our second annual Maryland Outdoor Recreation Summit. Bringing together the partners that comprise and support Maryland’s outdoor recreation community – local and state government, environmental organizations, educators, outfitters, and other businesses – is essential. The science is clear: time in...
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School and Weather Updates for This Weekend – December 5th, 2025

School and Weather Updates for This Weekend – December 5th, 2025

PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY: Schools will open 2 HOURS LATE on Friday, Dec. 5th, 2025. ST. MARY’S COUNTY: St. Mary’s County, Maryland is under a Winter Weather Advisory from 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, December 5, 2025.  Snowfall totals for St. Mary’s County are expected between 1–4 inches with very low temperatures. Snowfall is...
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No Injuries After House Fire in Waldorf, Two Displaced and Cause Under Investigation

No Injuries After House Fire in Waldorf, Two Displaced and Cause Under Investigation

On Wednesday, December 3, 2025, at approximately 9:25 p.m., firefighters from Waldorf and surrounding departments responded to the 800 block of Copley Avenue in Waldorf, for the reported garage on fire. 911 callers reported the garage was on fire and spreading to the attached residence. Firefighters quickly arrived on scene to find a two-story...
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70-Year-Old Man Flown to Trauma Center After Being Struck by Vehicle in Waldorf

70-Year-Old Man Flown to Trauma Center After Being Struck by Vehicle in Waldorf

On Thursday, December 4, 2025, at approximately 7:15 a.m., police, firefighters and emergency medical services responded to the area of 3315 Leonardtown Road in Waldorf, for the reported pedestrian struck by a vehicle. Crews arrived on the scene to find an adult male was conscious and breathing with injuries to the upper body. Upon...
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Comptroller Brooke E. Lierman Releases State’s First Feasibility Report for Baby Bonds Program in Maryland

Comptroller Brooke E. Lierman Releases State’s First Feasibility Report for Baby Bonds Program in Maryland

Maryland Comptroller Brooke E. Lierman today released a comprehensive report on the feasibility and potential impacts of implementing a statewide “Baby Bonds” program. The report, requested by the Maryland General Assembly, outlines how publicly funded trust accounts for children born into low-wealth households could help close the racial wealth gap, promote economic mobility, and strengthen the state’s...
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Southern Maryland Residents Called to Share Family Recipes and Stories for New Feature Film, ‘The Long Table’

Southern Maryland Residents Called to Share Family Recipes and Stories for New Feature Film, ‘The Long Table’

The Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission, the Tri-County Council for Southern Maryland, and the Southern Maryland National Heritage Area are calling on residents of Southern Maryland to submit family recipes and personal stories for a new feature film, ‘The Long Table’. Sponsored by the Southern Maryland National Heritage Area, the project aims to capture...
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SMECO Employees Raise $63,000 for Three Southern Maryland Shelters

SMECO Employees Raise $63,000 for Three Southern Maryland Shelters

Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative (SMECO) employees recently held a fund-raising event and donated $63,000 to three shelters serving Southern Maryland: Lifestyles of Maryland, Inc.—Robert J. Fuller Transitional House of Charles County, Project Echo, Inc. of Calvert County, and Three Oaks Center of St. Mary’s County. “A home is more than shelter from the elements....
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Charles County Crime Solvers Offering Cash Reward in Reckless Endangerment Case

Charles County Crime Solvers Offering Cash Reward in Reckless Endangerment Case

Charles County Crime Solvers is offering a cash reward in reference to a reckless endangerment case that occurred on November 30th, 2025, at 8:15 p.m. in which unknown suspect(s) fired several rounds from a handgun into an apartment in the 3000 block of Gallery Place in Waldorf. None of the occupants inside were injured....
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DNR Scientists Chart Future for Freshwater Mussel Restoration in Maryland

DNR Scientists Chart Future for Freshwater Mussel Restoration in Maryland

On a chilly fall morning, as fog drifted over the Potomac River, scientists with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources hauled three concrete balls out of the water. Inside each of these 25-pound, thick-walled bowls was a chamber containing several small shells—a group of year-old freshwater mussels. Their concrete shelters, or silos, allowed the...
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76-Year-Old Crossing Guard Transported After Being Struck by Vehicle in La Plata

76-Year-Old Crossing Guard Transported After Being Struck by Vehicle in La Plata

On Tuesday, December 2, 2025, at approximately 7:10 a.m., police, firefighters and emergency medical services responded to the La Plata High School located at 6035 Radio Station Road in La Plata, for the reported motor vehicle collision involving a pedestrian. 911 callers reported a crossing guard was struck by a vehicle and was possibly...
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3 Displaced and Dog Killed After House Fire in Waldorf

3 Displaced and Dog Killed After House Fire in Waldorf

On Monday, December 1, 2025, at approximately 6:55 a.m., firefighters from Waldorf and surrounding departments responded to the 9900 block of Bunker Hill Road, for the reported house on fire. 911 callers reported a heater was left on with the room currently caught on fire with one dog trapped in the home. Crews arrived...
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