Charles News

NSWC IHD Employees Receive Top Navy Civilian Service Awards

NSWC IHD Employees Receive Top Navy Civilian Service Awards

Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Division (NSWC IHD) employees Frank Tse and Scott Bumgarner were honored with top civilian service awards on May 12, 2022. Tse, Systems Engineering Department chief engineer, was awarded the Department of the Navy (DON) Meritorious Civilian Service Award, and Bumgarner, Lean Six Sigma Black Belt engineer, was honored...
Read More »

Fire and Rescue Personnel Responding to 84 Lumber in Mechanicsville for High Angle Rescue

Fire and Rescue Personnel Responding to 84 Lumber in Mechanicsville for High Angle Rescue

On Thursday, May 19, 2022, at approximately 10:30 a.m., firefighters from Mechanicsville and Hollywood Volunteer Fire Departments responded to the 84 Lumber located at 37675 New Market Turner Road in Mechanicsville, for the service call. The 911 caller advised two workers were stuck in a stalled boom truck, approximately 70 feet in the air....
Read More »

NSWC Indian Head Division Employees Recognized at Command Honorary Awards Ceremony

NSWC Indian Head Division Employees Recognized at Command Honorary Awards Ceremony

Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Division (NSWC IHD) recognized individuals and teams who made significant contributions to the command’s mission at the annual Honorary Awards ceremony, May 17 at the College of Southern Maryland’s Velocity Center. “One thing my senior enlisted master chief mentors from my Navy career taught me is the importance...
Read More »

Peers Recognize CSM Professor Dr. Richard Bilsker With Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award

Peers Recognize CSM Professor Dr. Richard Bilsker With Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award

College of Southern Maryland Professor of Philosophy Dr. Richard Bilsker was recognized during the college’s 63rd Spring Commencement, and during the college’s Academic Excellence Awards program, for receiving the CSM Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award. The award is bestowed upon a full-time professor by members of CSM faculty. “The faculty excellence in teaching award is...
Read More »

Charles County Commissioners Adopt Fiscal 2023 Budget of $494 Million

Charles County Commissioners Adopt Fiscal 2023 Budget of $494 Million

On Tuesday, May 17, 2022, the Board of County Commissioners adopted a balanced General Fund budget of $494,446,200, an increase of 9.8 percent over last year. The adopted budget provides historic funding for Charles County Public Schools, makes critical investments in core programs and services, record-level investments in public safety, and does not increase...
Read More »

CSM Announces 2022 Spring Commencement Candidates for Graduation

CSM Announces 2022 Spring Commencement Candidates for Graduation

The following students were recognized as candidates for associate degrees, certificates or letters of recognition at the College of Southern Maryland’s (CSM) 63rd Spring Commencement ceremony held Friday, May 13, 2022, at the La Plata Campus. The College of Southern Maryland (CSM) celebrated 432 candidates for 438 degrees and 136 certificates during its 63rd...
Read More »

CSM Commemorates 63rd Spring Commencement with 432 Candidates Receiving 438 Degrees, 136 Certificates

CSM Commemorates 63rd Spring Commencement with 432 Candidates Receiving 438 Degrees, 136 Certificates

The College of Southern Maryland (CSM) celebrated 432 candidates for 438 degrees and 136 certificates during its 63rd Spring Commencement May 13 at the college’s La Plata Campus. The event marked the return of in-person festivities for the time-honored tradition since the beginning of the global pandemic in 2020. Of the students celebrated, 160 are...
Read More »

Berry’s D’Ambrosio Named 2022 Principal of the Year for Charles County Public Schools

Berry’s D’Ambrosio Named 2022 Principal of the Year for Charles County Public Schools

Every time he uses chopsticks, Louis D’Ambrosio silently thanks his first-grade teacher, Rose Eckmann. During a weeklong unit studying Japan, Eckman tasked her students with practicing using chopsticks to pick up pink erasers from their desks. At the end of the week, Eckmann brought in a hot plate and made the class a meal...
Read More »

Charles County Board of Education Recognizes Accomplishments of Outstanding Students

Charles County Board of Education Recognizes Accomplishments of Outstanding Students

The Board of Education at its May 10 meeting honored five Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) students. School principals annually select one student and staff member for Board recognition. Students are honored for accomplishments in the areas of academic achievement, career readiness and personal responsibility. Honored at the meeting were the following! Scarlett Castro...
Read More »

VIDEO: Governor Hogan Signs 105 More Bipartisan Bills Into Law, Including Statewide Overdose Prevention, More Infrastructure Funding For Local Governments, and Solidarity With Ukraine

VIDEO: Governor Hogan Signs 105 More Bipartisan Bills Into Law, Including Statewide Overdose Prevention, More Infrastructure Funding For Local Governments, and Solidarity With Ukraine

Governor Larry Hogan signed an additional 105 bipartisan bills into law, including measures to prevent opioid overdoses statewide, direct more funding to local governments for infrastructure improvements, and additional steps to divest from Russia and express solidarity with Ukraine. “Today, we are signing another 105 bipartisan bills into law, including measures that keep important...
Read More »

Southern Maryland Under Severe Weather Warnings for Monday, May 16, and Tuesday, May 17, 2022

Southern Maryland Under Severe Weather Warnings for Monday, May 16, and Tuesday, May 17, 2022

Updates will be provided throughout the day on this article. The risk of severe thunderstorms over much of our region today is ENHANCED (level 3 of 5). Damaging winds appear to be the primary threat, but hail, a few tornadoes, & flooding are also possible. Remain alert for rapidly changing weather conditions late this...
Read More »

Charles County Public Schools Students Earn Medals in Recent SkillsUSA State Championship

Charles County Public Schools Students Earn Medals in Recent SkillsUSA State Championship

Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) students from North Point High School and Robert D. Stethem Educational Center participated in the state Skills USA Maryland state championship held on April 1-2. Each year, the state championship showcases more than 1,000 Maryland Career and Technology Education (CTE) students who compete in over 90 skilled, occupationally related...
Read More »

Maryland Permanently Preserves 22 Working Farms, 3,339 Acres of Farmland in Caroline, Charles, Frederick, Garrett, Queen Anne’s, Somerset, St. Mary’s, Talbot, and Worcester Counties

Maryland Permanently Preserves 22 Working Farms, 3,339 Acres of Farmland in Caroline, Charles, Frederick, Garrett, Queen Anne’s, Somerset, St. Mary’s, Talbot, and Worcester Counties

The Maryland Board of Public Works approved 22 new Maryland Agricultural Preservation Foundation (MALPF) easements at their meeting on May 11, 2022. These easements will permanently preserve an additional 3,339 acres of prime farmland in Caroline, Charles, Frederick, Garrett, Queen Anne’s, Somerset, St. Mary’s, Talbot, and Worcester counties for an investment of more than...
Read More »

Charles County Public Library Celebrates 100 Years with Parties and Music – May 16 to May 20, 2022

Charles County Public Library Celebrates 100 Years with Parties and Music – May 16 to May 20, 2022

Charles County Public Library (CCPL) continues the celebration for its 100th anniversary of serving Charles County. Started in a single room on the second floor of the county jail on Washington Avenue in La Plata in 1922, the library was made possible by the County Homemakers Club and County Extension Agent P.D. Brown. This...
Read More »

Upper Marlboro Woman Charged After Two Separate Firebombings in Charles and St. Mary’s Counties

Upper Marlboro Woman Charged After Two Separate Firebombings in Charles and St. Mary’s Counties

With the assistance of the Maryland State Apprehension Team, Deputy State Fire Marshals arrested a Prince Georges County woman on multiple charges of arson stemming from two separate firebombings in October of 2021. Latrice Joneah Williams, 20, of Upper Marlboro, was arrested on multiple charges, including Arson 1st Degree and Manufacturing and Possession of...
Read More »

Police Officer First Class Jonathan Kelly Named Sons of the American Legion First Responder of the Year

Police Officer First Class Jonathan Kelly Named  Sons of the American Legion First Responder of the Year

The Charles County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) is pleased to announce PFC Jonathan Kelly was named the Sons of the American Legion First Responder of the Year for 2021. PFC Kelly began his career at the CCSO in 2005. In his 16-year career, he has served in the Patrol Division, Special Services Division and the...
Read More »

Police in Charles County Arrest Indian Head Man in Stabbing Case with Help from A Police Dispatcher and Bus Driver

Police in Charles County Arrest Indian Head Man in Stabbing Case with Help from A Police Dispatcher and Bus Driver

On May 9, 2022, at 7:30 p.m., officers from the Charles County Sheriff’s Office responded to Charles Regional Medical Center for the report of a stabbing victim who had been transported to the hospital by a relative. When officers arrived, they learned the victim had actually been stabbed at the Smallwood Park and Ride...
Read More »

Police Arrest Waldorf and White Plains Men in String of Commercial Burglaries

Police Arrest Waldorf and White Plains Men in String of Commercial Burglaries

On May 9, 2022, at 1:15 a.m., detectives from the Charles County Sheriff’s Office were conducting surveillance in the 3100 block of Leonardtown Road in Waldorf due to recent commercial burglaries in which the suspect(s) were smashing out the front windows to businesses and stealing money from cash registers. During their surveillance, a detective...
Read More »

Maryland Departments of Agriculture and Natural Resources Find H5N1 Avian Influenza in Black Vultures Found Dead in Harford County

Maryland Departments of Agriculture and Natural Resources Find H5N1 Avian Influenza in Black Vultures Found Dead in Harford County

Federal laboratory testing confirmed cases of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza (HPAI) in samples taken from black vultures initially found sick and dead on April 22, and May 2 in Harford County, Maryland. Following an investigation by the Maryland Departments of Agriculture and Natural Resources (MDA, DNR) and the U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA)...
Read More »

College of Southern Maryland’s Robotics Team – The Talons, Place 10th in World Competition

College of Southern Maryland’s Robotics Team – The Talons, Place 10th in World Competition

The College of Southern Maryland (CSM) competitive robotics team – the Talons – headed to Dallas last week for the VEX Robotics World Championship where they competed against dozens of university teams from around the globe to earn the title of 10th best team in the technology category and 11th best in the skills...
Read More »

Governor Hogan Proclaims May 11-17 as National Police Week in Maryland

Governor Hogan Proclaims May 11-17 as National Police Week in Maryland

Governor Larry Hogan today proclaimed May 11-17 as National Police Week in Maryland to recognize the critical work that police officers do to keep our communities safe and honor the memory of those who have lost their lives in the line of duty. “Serving in law enforcement is one of the most dangerous jobs in our...
Read More »

VIDEO: Governor Hogan Announces Donation of Medical Supplies and Body Armor to Ukraine

VIDEO: Governor Hogan Announces Donation of Medical Supplies and Body Armor to Ukraine

Governor Larry Hogan announced the shipment of a multimillion dollar aid package, including medical supplies and body armor, to support the people of Odesa, Ukraine—a sister city of Baltimore. The Maryland Department of Health (MDH) is donating more than 485,000 bandages and wound care supplies, 95 Eternity mechanical ventilators for hospital intensive care units,...
Read More »

Charles County Public Schools and Bryans Road Volunteer Fire Department Remembers Career Educator and Life Member Keith Alan Hettel

Charles County Public Schools and Bryans Road Volunteer Fire Department Remembers Career Educator and Life Member Keith Alan Hettel

CCPS: Charles County Public Schools is remembering Keith Hettel, a longtime CCPS educator who retired in 2016 as the assistant superintendent of supporting services. Mr. Hettel passed away earlier this week on Tuesday, May 3. The CCPS maintenance and operations departments are honoring Hettel through a visual memorial located outside of the maintenance bay...
Read More »

UPDATE: Waldorf Man Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Murder at Smallwood Village Center

UPDATE: Waldorf Man Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Murder at Smallwood Village Center

UPDATE 5/9/2022: Tony Covington, State’s Attorney for Charles County, announced that on Friday, May 6, 2022, Charles County Circuit Court Judge Donine Carrington Martin sentenced Fred Odell Scott, 58, of Waldorf, to 20 years in prison for the Second-Degree Murder of John Staton and the Use of a Firearm During the Commission of a...
Read More »

Waldorf Man Found Guilty by Jury in Gun Trafficking Conspiracy

Waldorf Man Found Guilty by Jury in Gun Trafficking Conspiracy

James Hutchings Jr., 41, of Waldorf, Maryland, has been found guilty by a jury in the District of Columbia of a federal conspiracy charge for his role as the middleman in an illegal transfer of weapons involving people prohibited from possessing firearms. The verdict was announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, Wayne A....
Read More »