Charles News

Retired Sgt. Gus Proctor Honored as Hometown Hero at Southern Maryland Blue Crabs Event

Retired Sgt. Gus Proctor Honored as Hometown Hero at Southern Maryland Blue Crabs Event

The Charles County Sheriff’s Office is celebrating one of its own as retired Sgt. Gus Proctor was recently recognized during Trollinger Law’s Hometown Hero event, held at First Responders Night with the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs. The Hometown Hero program shines a spotlight on first responders who have made a lasting difference in the...
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Two Children Flown to Children’s Center, Two Adults Transported to Trauma Center After Crash in Waldorf, Police Investigating

Two Children Flown to Children’s Center, Two Adults Transported to Trauma Center After Crash in Waldorf, Police Investigating

On Friday, September 19, 2025, at approximately 4:55 p.m., EMS came across a serious motor vehicle collision in front of the Denny’s in the 2900 block of Crain Highway with multiple children suffering injuries. Police, firefighters and emergency medical services were quickly dispatched to the scene, with two helicopters requested to land at the...
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Maryland Audit Finds Social Services Agency Repeatedly Failed to Protect Foster Children, Placed Children Into Homes with 7 Registered Sex Offenders

Maryland Audit Finds Social Services Agency Repeatedly Failed to Protect Foster Children, Placed Children Into Homes with 7 Registered Sex Offenders

A state audit released on September 12th, 2025, has found that Maryland’s Social Services Administration (SSA) repeatedly failed to protect children in its care between May 2020 and May 2024, allowing them to live in unsafe environments, miss essential medical care, and, in hundreds of cases, be placed in hotels under unlicensed supervision. The...
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UPDATE: No Charges To Be Filed In Fatal 2024 Charles County Officer Involved Shooting

UPDATE: No Charges To Be Filed In Fatal 2024 Charles County Officer Involved Shooting

UPDATE 9/19/2025: Attorney General Anthony G. Brown announced his decision not to seek charges in the Friday, December 20, 2024 officer-involved shooting in White Plains, Charles County, Maryland. On Friday, December 20, 2024, at approximately 3:00 p.m., Charles County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) officers responded to a report of a kidnapping and rape at a home...
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Maryland Natural Resources Police Report for Summer 2025 in Southern Maryland

Maryland Natural Resources Police Report for Summer 2025 in Southern Maryland

The Maryland Natural Resources Police took action related to alleged violations of criminal and natural resource laws from June through August 2025. The full report regarding all counties can be found here. During those months, individuals were charged for violations including fishing without a license, hunting out of season, weapons charges, oyster and crabbing...
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Charles County Sheriff’s Office Investigating Multiple Residences and Vehicles Struck by Gunfire in Waldorf

Charles County Sheriff’s Office Investigating Multiple Residences and Vehicles Struck by Gunfire in Waldorf

On Tuesday, September 16, 2025, at approximately 11:00 p.m., patrol officers responded to the areas of Jackson Court, Hunt Place, Husk Place, and Bannister Circle in Waldorf for the report of the sound of gunshots, after which several males were seen running from the area, possibly with weapons. Upon arrival, officers learned multiple bullets...
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Waldorf Man Charged with Assault After Woman “Fell” Causing Life-Threatening Injuries

Waldorf Man Charged with Assault After Woman “Fell” Causing Life-Threatening Injuries

On Friday, September 12th, 2025, at approximately 6:28 p.m., patrol officers responded to the 3300 block of Patapsco Place in Waldorf for an unconscious female. When officers arrived, a male, who was inside the residence with the woman, told officers the woman had fallen. The woman, age 26, was transported to a hospital where...
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La Plata Man Arrested After Barricade, Assaulting Woman and Child

La Plata Man Arrested After Barricade, Assaulting Woman and Child

On Wednesday, September 10, 2025, at 8:30 p.m., officers responded to the 6300 block of Nelson Drive in La Plata for a report of a domestic assault in which the suspect, Christopher Dale Buchanan, 37, of La Plata, had assaulted a woman and a young child. During the incident, Buchanan choked the woman, assaulted...
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Rucci’s Italian Kitchen & Grille is Pleased to Announce New Leonardtown Location!

Rucci’s Italian Kitchen & Grille is Pleased to Announce New Leonardtown Location!

Rucci’s Italian Kitchen & Grille made the exciting announcement today that they’re opening a second location in downtown Leonardtown! The family owned business is pleased to be right in the heart of historic Leonardtown and cannot wait to bring the freshest & finest quality Italian fare and our bar featuring 100+ Bourbons, great Wine...
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Maryland Joins Federal Model to Improve Access and Savings to Lifesaving Sickle Cell Treatments

Maryland Joins Federal Model to Improve Access and Savings to Lifesaving Sickle Cell Treatments

Maryland Medicaid participants can now more easily access cell and gene therapies for sickle cell disease under Maryland’s participation in the federal Cell and Gene Therapy (CGT) Access Model. Participation in the CGT Access Model ensures better pricing in Maryland for high-cost medications, which helps to reduce costs and strengthen support services for patients...
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Gov Moore Announces Registered Apprenticeship Program to Expand Maryland’s Teacher Workforce and Create More Affordable Pathways to Teaching Careers

Gov Moore Announces Registered Apprenticeship Program to Expand Maryland’s Teacher Workforce and Create More Affordable Pathways to Teaching Careers

Governor Wes Moore announced Maryland’s first state-sponsored registered apprenticeship program for teaching. The program will enable aspiring teachers to receive more hands-on training, mentorship, and paid work experience while reducing the out-of-pocket cost of earning a degree and license. “If someone is raising their hand to teach our children, they should be rewarded with...
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USPS Operation Santa Now Accepting Letters From Kids and Families Across the Country!

USPS Operation Santa Now Accepting Letters From Kids and Families Across the Country!

The U.S. Postal Service has officially kicked off the 2025 season of USPS Operation Santa, inviting children and families across the country to begin writing and sending letters to Santa Claus. The beloved program, now in its 113th year, connects letter writers with generous individuals and organizations who help fulfill their holiday wishes. Beginning...
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Waldorf Felon Sentenced to 16-Years for Murdering His Girlfriend’s Husband

Waldorf Felon Sentenced to 16-Years for Murdering His Girlfriend’s Husband

Keyon Slaughter, 28, of Waldorf, Maryland, was sentenced to 16 years in prison for the December 2022 murder of Dana Bailey, Jr., announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro. Slaughter pleaded guilty to second-degree murder while armed on June 20, 2025. Slaughter was sentenced on September 12, 2025, by the Honorable Danya Dayson. In addition...
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Court Ruling Ends Vape and Smoke Shop Sales of Hemp Products That Get You High

Court Ruling Ends Vape and Smoke Shop Sales of Hemp Products That Get You High

Maryland’s courts and cannabis regulators have shut down what many people saw as a “hemp loophole.” The Appellate Court of Maryland ruled on September 9 that the state’s cannabis law is valid, that Delta-8 and Delta-10 THC were never legal in Maryland, and that only licensed cannabis dispensaries can sell intoxicating THC products. Days...
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Charles County Commissioners Meeting Update – September 9th, 2025

Charles County Commissioners Meeting Update – September 9th, 2025

Friday, September 12, 2025 – On Tuesday, Sept. 9, Commissioners held their annual Preliminary State Legislative Proposals Public Hearing. The yearly process allows residents and government officials to propose legislation to state legislators to be added to the county’s state legislative package during the 2026 Maryland General Assembly Session. Commissioners heard 23 proposals during the...
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Keep Maryland Beautiful Grant Applications Now Being Accepted for 2026

Keep Maryland Beautiful Grant Applications Now Being Accepted for 2026

The Maryland Environmental Trust in partnership with the Maryland Department of Transportation, Maryland Department of Agriculture, and the Chesapeake Bay Trust are proud to present this year’s Keep Maryland Beautiful Grants program. The deadline to apply is December 1, 2025. About $357,000 is available for this year’s grant round.  The Keep Maryland Beautiful Grants program...
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La Plata VFD Regrets to Announce Passing of Life Member and Past President Luther A. Della, Jr

La Plata VFD Regrets to Announce Passing of Life Member and Past President Luther A. Della, Jr

It is with profound sadness that the La Plata Volunteer Fire Department announces the passing of Life Member and Past President Luther A. Della, Jr. President Della was both figuratively and literally a giant of a man—one whose presence, wisdom, and heart left a lasting mark on everyone who had the privilege of knowing...
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Commercial Vehicle Inspection Detail Conducted in Charles County Results in 33 Violations

Commercial Vehicle Inspection Detail Conducted in Charles County Results in 33 Violations

On September 9, 2025, the Charles County Sheriff’s Office Traffic Operations Unit, the Maryland Transportation Authority Police, and the Field Enforcement Bureau of the Comptroller of Maryland conducted a commercial vehicle inspection detail at 3220 Mattawoman Beantown Road in Waldorf. Officers inspected 35 vehicles, issued 33 violations, and placed 5 vehicles and 3 drivers...
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Jackpot Chasers in Charles County Miss Massive Money by One, but Win $150K

Jackpot Chasers in Charles County Miss Massive Money by One, but Win $150K

A lottery team who work together whenever a climbing jackpot makes the news are well pleased having won more than $150,000, even though they – like millions of other Americans – were dreaming about a much larger prize. It was Powerball’s near-historic jackpot roll, which topped out at $1.7 billion, that inspired their recent...
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13-Year-Old Flown to Children’s Center After Being Struck by Vehicle in Waldorf

13-Year-Old Flown to Children’s Center After Being Struck by Vehicle in Waldorf

On Thursday, September 11, 2025, at approximately 7:48 p.m., police, firefighters and emergency medical services responded to the area of St Charles Parkway and Post Office Road in Waldorf, for the reported motor vehicle collision involving a pedestrian. As fire and rescue personnel arrived on the scene, First Responders reported the striking vehicle was...
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Maryland’s Early Teal Season Opens September 18, 2025

Maryland’s Early Teal Season Opens September 18, 2025

Maryland’s September teal-only hunting season will be open from Sept. 18 through Sept. 27 in the September Teal Hunting Zone. Shooting hours are one half-hour before sunrise until sunset, the daily bag limit is six teal (blue or green-winged), and the possession limit is 18 teal, or three times the daily bag limit. Seasons and...
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Governor, Comptroller Highlight Importance of Increasing Housing Supply in Maryland

Governor, Comptroller Highlight Importance of Increasing Housing Supply in Maryland

Comptroller Brooke E. Lierman joined Governor Wes Moore in approving more than $782 million today during a meeting of the Board of Public Works. Treasurer Dereck E. Davis was unable to attend. During the meeting, Governor Moore highlighted his recent executive order directing state agencies to invest in strategies that will increase housing production in Maryland. The Board of...
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Police Seeking Whereabouts of First Degree Assault Suspect Who Is Possibly Armed with Handgun

Police Seeking Whereabouts of First Degree Assault Suspect Who Is Possibly Armed with Handgun

The Charles County Sheriff’s Office Domestic Violence Unit is seeking the public’s help locating Rome Delmar Watkins, 27, of Waldorf, who is wanted in connection with an assault involving a handgun. On Sunday, April 20, 2025, Watkins assaulted a woman inside a residence after being asked to leave. During the assault, Watkins reportedly choked...
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Sports Wagering Contributes $9 Million to the State During August 2025

Sports Wagering Contributes $9 Million to the State During August 2025

Maryland’s sports wagering market generated $9,039,368 in contributions to the state during August 2025. Sports bettors in Maryland wagered $434,220,458 during the month and won back $381,761,359 in prizes. Sportsbook operators held 12.1% of the handle. Retail sports wagering operators contribute 15% of their taxable proceeds to the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future Fund, which...
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Man Flown to Trauma Center With Life-Threatening Injuries After Vehicle Strikes Tree in Indian Head

Man Flown to Trauma Center With Life-Threatening Injuries After Vehicle Strikes Tree in Indian Head

On Tuesday, September 9, 2025, at approximately 10:20 a.m., police, firefighters and emergency medical services responded to the area of Chicamuxen Road and Stump Neck Road in Indian Head, for the reported motor vehicle collision with one unconscious. 911 callers reported a single vehicle was off the roadway and into a tree with the...
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